Developer focus for Fedora workstation

[Alex G.S.]

Adam Batkin wrote:

> Personally I think it's useful to consider what OS X and Windows do, and
> whether Fedora can do better, but if there's any competition it's between
> Linux distros. If we want more users we should go after Ubuntu and Linux
> Mint users first.


The problem isn't as simplistic as "let's build a vertically integrated
desktop solution" and then hope that there's some magical migration from
Mac and Ubuntu Unity or Linux Mint users over to Fedora, it's a more
complex problem than it might appear.

Fedora Workstation is about becoming the de-facto reference platform for
developers doing commercial and/or important projects, a standard.

But the problem is that currently Fedora isn't that go-to platform, it's
Ubuntu:

Example #1:

Let's take the Nvidia Jetson TK1 ARM developer board, this by default runs
Ubuntu pre-loaded on the board.

https://developer.nvidia.com/jetson-tk1

Example #2:

Steam for Linux, Valve used Debian for SteamOS and recommends Ubuntu for
the desktop.

"Ubuntu is our favorite version of Linux. Interested in giving it a whirl? "
--- Valve

http://store.steampowered.com/about/

That's the real problem at hand.  Fedora is losing out to Ubuntu as the
standard reference platform and not engaging with developers from outside
it's own community.  This then translates into things like server
deployments and lost opportunities on the OEM side.  But oddly enough
Fedora and it's community are major contributors to the most important and
fundamental Linux projects like the kernel, systemd, graphics, OpenStack
and more...

That's why I think bothering with the desktop environment layer and making
a default experience isn't feasible and doesn't make any sense given the
"upstream" nature of Fedora.

Desktop environments make the distribution a replaceable commodity.  If
you're a GNOME user then you can move from Fedora to Ubuntu to Arch or
anything else and still keep using GNOME with minimal disruption.  The same
applies to any desktop environment including KDE.  People moving away from
Fedora can do so easily because of this. To get the latest upstream
development versions they can just add a PPA in Ubuntu or just install Arch
or a derivative like Antergos, they don't need Fedora for that.

That's why I suggest that Fedora developers and contributors interested in
the desktop environment layers should form their own independent SIG's
(special interest groups) and have that be a layer above what is defined as
"Fedora Workstation". That is "Fedora Workstation" should not be a mere
"showcase" for a particular desktop project but an expansive platform.
 There would be no "default" desktop environment at all or even the concept
of a default.

If these SIG's want to go ahead and create their own hand-crafted
experiences let them do it.  Containers could really be an innovative way
to allow many different and potentially incompatible desktop experiences to
exist on the same system.  These things are only possible if you further
separate the layers here.  It's also wise from a political perspective
because you could engage many diverse communities around Fedora Workstation
this way.  They would feel like equal stakeholders and not feel like
second-class citizens.

Embracing the diversity with SIG's is the way to rally the wider developer
community around Fedora Workstation.


On Wed, Aug 20, 2014 at 8:13 PM, Adam Batkin <adam at batkin.net> wrote:

> On 08/20/2014 06:49 PM, drago01 wrote:
>
>> No. The biggest competitor is not Mac but Windows it dies not only have
>> a way bigger marketshare but also trys to support  a wide range of
>> hardware (like us) the only difference is that is has better support
>> form hardware vendors. This becomes even more true if you include the
>> non US market. So stop focusing to much on Apple there are other
>> (bigger) competitors out there.
>>
>
> Is Windows really our competition?
>
> I see Windows in "Microsoft shops" (i.e. Windows servers) and in
> "corporate" environments where I don't think Linux (or Mac) has a chance.
>
> The Fedora Workstation PRD defines 4 specific cases (Student, Independent
> Developer, Small Company Developer and Developer in a Large Organization)
> and I would wager that for cases 1, 2 and 3 the competition is largely Mac
> and to a smaller extent, Ubuntu.
>
> Still, I think most of what I've been throwing out there is applicable
> whether the "competition" is Mac, Windows or Raspberry Pi.
>
> People (rightfully) spend a lot of time comparing with Mac because Mac has
> risen very quickly from almost non-existence to a disproportionate
> percentage of the developer community. So what did Apple do correctly to
> attract so many developers (most of whom are deploying to Linux) that
> perhaps we can improve upon, to bring them back, or bring new people in?
>
>
> -Adam Batkin
>
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