The most eloquent such requiem appeared over at LinuxPlanet, but I've heard others share similar concerns. Take Eazel's problems as a wake-up call, they say, and concentrate on the server, where Linux is both more proven and more established within the computing mainstream.
To me, that's nonsense. Not only is the Linux desktop far from dead, it's right on track.
To put things into perspective, consider that Eazel's contributions to the Linux desktop, even were the company still going today, have not been as critical as they were hyped to be. The company's main and only major open source contribution was Nautilus, a pretty and functional file manager, but still little more than the Linux equivalent of Windows Explorer. Now, don't get me wrong, Nautilus is quite a piece of work and has some interesting features, such as the ability to "zoom in" to areas of your desktop. But I don't know how much such features will be missed; I certainly won't miss them much.
Nautilus was never deemed to be a critical component of any Linux GUI. For users of the GNOME desktop, Nautilus is but the prettiest among a number of available file managers, ith aspirations of becoming the preferred default. Meanwhile, in the world of KDE, Eazel has always been a non-issue. KDE's Konqueror component combines file manager and Internet browser in a manner similar to Internet Explorer, and it is sufficiently attractive and functional that Nautilus was never coveted by the KDE crowd.
The majority of the hype I heard for Nautilus came from three sources:
- Eazel itself, trying to leverage its development of Nautilus into revenue-producing services that never materialized;
- GNOME fans, hoping that Nautilus would propel GNOME past KDE to become the premier Linux desktop;
- Those who were simply bedazzled by how gosh-darn pretty Nautilus was.
Are Eazel's problems any cause for concern for those still working on Linux desktops, and for those who aspire to have good Linux-based alternatives to Windows and other proprietary GUIs? Not at all. The development of GNOME, KDE, and other desktop components is still proceeding at a rapid pace. Commercial products that run Windows applications under Linux (VMware and Win4Lin) are stable and work well, and the open source emulator Wine isn't far behind.
Will Linux desktops ever become more popular than Windows desktops? It doesn't really matter. It's enough, I believe, for Linux to establish itself as a credible alternative for those who want more flexibility and openness than Windows provides. This will be even more important when Intel starts shipping Itanium chips next week. Those power users looking to transition away from RISC-based Unix workstations will have an easier time moving to Linux on Itanium than they will moving to Windows.
Over the next weeks I'll be overhauling my own Linux workstation to run a combination of Windows and Linux applications. To me it's the best of all worlds--being able to use commonplace software when necessary, and cutting-edge open-source applications when possible. I'll neither be running nor missing Nautilus. From here, the prospects for the Linux desktop are looking better than ever.
Does the demise of Eazel effect your plans for using desktop Linux? Tell Evan in the TalkBack below or in the ZDNetLinux Forum. Or write to Evan directly at evan@starnix.com.
