Re: [9fans] off-topic: why linux lost the desktop

["Brian L. Stuart" <blstuart@bellsouth.net>]

>>        The question is rather: What killed the Plan 9 desktop?
>>
>>      1) Lack of modern GUI and GUI development kit
>>      2) Lack of Object Oriented GUI configuration tools
>>      3) Lack of a decent web0browser
>>      4) Lack of a decent communication/messaging client
>>      5) Lack of an Office Applications suite
>>      ...
>>      ...
>>      ...
>>      z) Last, but not the least, hate towards C++ and love for the Go
>
>    But that's the list of benefits, isn't? :)

Precisely.  The correlation between what makes something
good and what makes something popular is small but negative.
One of the primary reasons I stopped using Linux was that
it was becoming too mainstream and just like all the
commercial junk out there.

In general, I don't have any objection to reinventing the
wheel.  If no one ever did, we wouldn't have the pneumatic
tire.  But just fiddling about the edges and deciding what
color it should be is the worst of R&D sins.  It's BORING.

If you ever watch the TV shows that are competitions of
creative work, the most damning thing a judge can say is
that it's boring.  The same is true of software development
and engineering.  Besides, it it becomes unfun very quickly
if you can't start something new with a clean sheet of
paper at least every few months.

BLS