Will The Linux Desktop Soon Be Irrelevant?

[dedanna1029]

http://www.linux-mag.com/cache/7733/1.html

Some of us are still waiting for the year of the Linux desktop. Some think it’s already here. One thing is certain however, Linux does not have a majority desktop market share. By the time we get there, perhaps the entire idea of what a Desktop is will have been re-defined, thanks to “The Cloud”.

I still have issues wrapping my head around all this... I still use CLI.

We’ve all been hanging out for the “year of the Linux desktop” (whatever that means) but we’re still waiting. Let’s face it, we’re going to be waiting for a while.

Good! But I don't think we have been. Look at all the "I want it pretty" people already.

[viking60]

" All that doesn’t matter though, things are going to the cloud, a place where all your dreams can come true. Or where anyone can steal your information. Well, I’m sure it’s one of those anyway."
Ain't that the truth. The road to hell is paved with gold.

I want it on my box - I want control over my own photos I want to control my own documents!
And I am fairly simple minded, so it is OK if it is pretty (Give me some more time on that one dedanna )

[dedanna1029]

It's okay.

I don't like the idea of "cloud computing" either, although I do track it on my twitter, just to see where it's going.

[R_Head]

Cloud computing is awesome depending on your requirements. I would not use it for sensitive information but we use it at this very moment.

Lets see... E-Mail, Facebook, Tweeter, Hulu, Netflix, Troubleshooting (most anything), Banking, Shopping, Google Docs? Gee I guess all we need is a browser! Chrome OS perhaps

The management overhead simplifies when you have to deal with a single node instead of thousands.

In another hand, a single point of failure will be created...

There is no magic pill, silver bullet, network utopia... you give some to gain some

I will endorse Cloud Computing depending of the usage. I can say is a good overall approach.

[viking60]

I sure hope the bank does not put my account information on a cloud.

[dedanna1029]

Yeah, I kind of look up in the sky now, and say "y'know, you guys just aren't as pretty as you used to be..."

[viking60]

Ain't that the truth....

[dedanna1029]

Yeah. On a sad serious note, it really is the truth...

Why they had to name it "cloud computing" I'll never know. Between that and pollution, I'm missing a wonderful element of my childhood now. Remember the days of kicking back in a grassy field, and playing the game of "what does that cloud look like?"

[viking60]

Yes you never get to old for that game - you just forget to do it. They have polluted our image.

[b1o]

People should afford a computer which can run a "normal" OS, Cloud computing is for those small netbooks and is great when you are on the run, but at home i would never use it.

I like to keep my data to myself, if i write source code i want it on my own computer, if i write a science report i want it here not where google/microsoft or anybody else can get a hold of it without a fight with my firewalls and myself.

If you can't afford a desktop computer and rather go for one of those sleek netbooks you don't know a lot about computers, netbooks goes for what 800 $? (3000-4000 norwegian kroner) you can get a good working desktop for the same price, run linux on it and it will run like a dream

Laptops are a little more expencive so i see why people would want a cloud os, but do you realy need a laptop, or are you just to lazy to get up from the bed and sit at your workstation

[dedanna1029]

Amen! Or, are you just that hooked on computing that you have to have a computer everywhere you go (including on an airplane, at the store, everywhere), or are so non-communicative with real life and people that you have to have it? Or maybe you have no life, so you have to have it? Or maybe you can't wait 15 minutes to drive to the doggone store without having to make that irrelevant post to Twitter to say that you're going to the store? Who cares what you're doing every second of the day besides you?

Laptops are ridiculous.

[R_Head]

When I was taking the Cisco CCNA certification, the term used for the Internet is the Cloud. Anyway, is false to call it Internet, is not an Internal Net, the name came from the US Dept Of Defense for their Internal Network. What we know for Internet is in reality an Extranet (External Net), so since is in a place that we can not control, is up in the "air' sort of speak, is called the Cloud.

Is another way of calling web base applications.

Anyway, you can safeguard your data on your computer if you wish, but is a double edge sword. The convenience of accessibility can be the disadvantage. I would say, anything that you wish to be public, leave it on the cloud. If you have copyrighted material, a stand alone system would be the way to go and publish your intellectual property in the cloud, same as printing books.

You can manage the interactions with cloud computer with Tokens, PKI, Certificates, Encryption and so on... Like the bank does with your account.

A good example of cloud computing could be a home Web Server. Imagine that you have a setup like that at home. You log in remotely with a Netbook, Laptop, PC and so on via an encrypted session, from anywhere around the world. I personally will love to have some like that. You know where the server is and you know who is handling it. The same concept could apply to any Enterprise. And that, is cool !