On Tue, 7 Oct 2014 17:45:20 -0400 Rich Freeman <ri...@gentoo.org> wrote:
> > And when you look at stuff like Freedesktop the goal is for you to be > able to plug a USB headset in and have it suddenly usable for phone > calls, just like on any other modern OS. > Here is where I, among many others I would hope, differ philosophically. The key phrase is "just like any other modern OS." Is the function of an OS to do everything for the user? In my view, an OS is merely an enabler. It provides a general framework for executing programs. Anything beyond this basic, nonspecific functionality is to be left entirely up to the user. Freedesktop, or any of its equivalents, should remain just another option among a wide array of options that is enabled by the basic OS. The danger arises when a certain clique of developers, with the backing of corporate big bucks, unilaterally decides that a general, nonspecific OS is somehow antiquated, "old school," and irrelevant for modern times. For such a clique, an OS cannot be bare or sparse, but absolutely must incorporate certain "features" as standard and inviolable components. To give an example, regarding freedesktop (FD), color management is one such feature. Formerly, color management (CM) was implemented by the user in his own way using a variety of available tools. Now, however, CM is to be accomplished as an integral part of the FD environment with no need for user supervision, and, even though FD is supposedly only an option, more and more image/graphics software will likely be written to utilize only the FD approach rather than to keep CM open and flexible. All other alternatives to CM will then be left to slowly rot and wither away. FOSS developers have to maintain an awareness that there is no One True Way. A computer has always been and always will be a general purpose machine. Therefore, the only rational philosophy for OS development is for an OS to empower the user to apply this generality for his own needs.
