OpenSUSE defaults to KDE
Promises ongoing GNOME lovin'
OpenSUSE is defaulting to the KDE desktop in the installation process beginning with the next release and onwards.
An announcement of the switch was made Thursday via a mailing list posting by product manager Michael Löffler.
Although SUSE Linux has historically been a major backer of KDE, the desktop environment was given equal weight to GNOME after Novell acquired SUSE Linux in 2004 along with the Ximian folks that previous year.
When openSUSE 11.2 is released into the wild, the installation process in the DVD installer will default the radio button to KDE. It's a small switch, but then, a lot folks tend to just cruise on through the default options.
However, the openSUSE developers say the decision won't leave GNOME at the curb.
"We want to make clear that both desktops are considered equal citizens within the openSUSE Project, and this will not have any impact on the quality of the GNOME desktop within openSUSE. GNOME will continue to be offered as a top-level installation choice, and we will continue to strive to provide the best GNOME and KDE desktop experience," Löffler wrote.
Version 11.2 is expected to hit sometime in November. ®
COMMENTS
Good news
Suse was always my preferred distro and I really liked their KDE tweaks, when they switched to Gnome as the default the whole thing seemed less polished. The latest version of KDE4 isn't bad (still a little clunky in places) so hopefully given that they decided to wait a bit longer before releasing Suse 11.2 I'm hoping that when it does ship it'll restore my faith in that particular distro.
Incidentally never met a Suse-hater that actually knew how to use the management tools that come with it so they usually just start banging on about how crap YaST is.
Good for OpenSuSE
This is good for OpenSuSE. Nowadays it's easier to have a nice Gnome desktop (lots of distros work in that area), so I think that Gnome support wont suffer. OpenSuSE's KDE support has been great and now it may just become better.
KDE4 is leaving beta status, so the timing is perfect too :-)
For me DEB > RPM && Qt > GTK && KDE > Gnome, so it's a hard choice. We'll see.
Gnomorons
Gnome is fine & isn't the problem, KDE also isn't the problem, rather the morons who support one team over the other. Until we decide to get behind anyone who will promote Linux & that includes Gnome as well as KDE, various other desktops also, then the rest of the user world will look upon us as zealots, just like the Shi'ite Muslims. Not all Shi'ites are murderers but the ones most of us hear about are. Those zealots who discriminate between versions of Linux & versions of the desktop are major buttheads.
Ubuntu is great as is OpenSuSE, as is Fedora, Mandriva, Debian, Xandros, Slackware, so on & so forth. All of these differing versions, yes I know some are based on another, have given something towards the movement. Are you by debunking the capability of one or other of the selections built? Perhaps what they're offering isn't perfect or even suitable for home or office use right now but later on, like much of the Open-Source movement even the not-so-hot stuff developed for Linux has become a rich piece of software or become a part of something different to what it is now. Does that make it bad? I think NOT!
If OpenSuSE gets one of the others to Linux then it's a major win, if it's Fedora or Ubuntu, it's a major win. If KDE or Gnome get you in, that's great, if it's XFCE, Compiz's UI settings or Enlightenment, then wonderful. Get off your wanker-high-horse & do something for Linux rather than be part of the problem.
Criticising whichever distro or desktop someone else uses is as childish as the old my car's better than yours, even though each car does a different job. We all want Linux to prevail over Windoze & MAC but it won't whilst there's an argument over which parts we think are crap. All those others see is Linux is crap. Whose to blame? You's to blame. Be part of the solution rather than the problem.
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