Underlying DE for the Workstation product

[Alberto Ruiz]

On Mon, 2014-02-03 at 15:35 +0000, "Jóhann B. Guðmundsson" wrote:
> You must realize by Alex statements ( as well as the fact the several 
> alternatives of desktop environments exist in the first place ) that end 
> user will chose what *he* thinks what works best for him and his 
> workflow not what *we* think is best for him or what *we* think is 
> workflow is which in turns shows in the end of the day it's better for 
> us to provide a larger inventory of products since it will increase the 
> odds that the end user will find something *he* likes and *can use* for 
> *himself* with us.

That's only true for a certain subset of users (users like you, pretty
tech savy and with strong opinions about the features and setting of
your environment).

However most people don't choose much. The OEM manufacturers chose for
them, and eventually the only choice you can make is between a Mac and a
Windows PC. They just want _a computer that works_, they don't care
about what's in there as long as they can install the applications they
care about and they can perform the tasks they need the computer for.

The bottom line is this, when you don't know the difference between two
options, you can't possibly make an informed decision, and you rely on
other people to make that choice for you (should I buy a Mac or a PC?
Android or iPhone?).

>From that perspective, letting the user choose seems pretty much like
asking them to stick to what they know (pressummably a propietary OS).

On the other hand, we can't possibly offer a well defined set of
integrated features if we don't have a unified, single offering. It is
simply unrealistic to support every single DE and let the user choose.

Because at that point, at the face of choosing on which one we implement
things first, we've no knowledge on where should we focus. But possibly
worse, when people out there want to target their apps for Fedora, they
don't know what environment should they be aiming for as they all have
different interface guidelines.

This is in essence the difference between a project and a product.
Projects tend to be an inclusive set for people to cooperate, however,
products are on the other hand opinionated and restricted by nature to
be able to serve to its audience.

Linux was never about choice[0]
[0]http://www.redhat.com/archives/fedora-devel-list/2008-January/msg00861.html

-- 
Cheers,
Alberto Ruiz