WHY NOT?

Dear Linux Magazine Reader,

Our cover story this month on the competing desktop technologies

Xgl and AIGLX highlights yet another example of the rivalries at play in the ever-changing world of open source. But at least these fledglings get along better than many others in the nest. There is something about the GPL that helps rivals get along. Beneath all the com-plications (some personal and some technical) is the realization that, if your code is better, I’d be crazy not to use it, and if my code is better, you’d be crazy not to use it. Of course, problems always arise around this issue of what you mean by “better.” You’ll learn lots more about Xgl and AIGLX later in this issue. For now, I’ll return to another rivalry that has been in the news recently. I used this space two months ago to give my opinion on the quality of the rhetoric that has recently passed between the supporters of KDE and Gnome. (To summarize, my position is: everyone should just choose the desktop they like and quit screaming about the desktop they don’t like.) Of course, a few loud voices sound like a revolution. The greater portion of Gnome and KDE users share my sense that there is no very good reason for trashing someone else’s desktop. Still, since I made a point of singling out the controversy, I should also shine some light on a more positive development.