WHY NOT?
WHY NOT?
Dear Linux Magazine Reader,
Our cover story this month on the competing desktop technologies
Xgl and AIGLX highlights yet another example of the rivalries at play in the ever-changing world of open source. But at least these fledglings get along better than many others in the nest. There is something about the GPL that helps rivals get along. Beneath all the com-plications (some personal and some technical) is the realization that, if your code is better, I’d be crazy not to use it, and if my code is better, you’d be crazy not to use it. Of course, problems always arise around this issue of what you mean by “better.” You’ll learn lots more about Xgl and AIGLX later in this issue. For now, I’ll return to another rivalry that has been in the news recently. I used this space two months ago to give my opinion on the quality of the rhetoric that has recently passed between the supporters of KDE and Gnome. (To summarize, my position is: everyone should just choose the desktop they like and quit screaming about the desktop they don’t like.) Of course, a few loud voices sound like a revolution. The greater portion of Gnome and KDE users share my sense that there is no very good reason for trashing someone else’s desktop. Still, since I made a point of singling out the controversy, I should also shine some light on a more positive development.
Buy this article as PDF
(incl. VAT)
Buy Linux Magazine
Subscribe to our Linux Newsletters
Find Linux and Open Source Jobs
Subscribe to our ADMIN Newsletters
Support Our Work
Linux Magazine content is made possible with support from readers like you. Please consider contributing when you’ve found an article to be beneficial.

News
-
Linux Mint 20 Reaches EOL
With Linux Mint 20 at its end of life, the time has arrived to upgrade to Linux Mint 22.
-
TuxCare Announces Support for AlmaLinux 9.2
Thanks to TuxCare, AlmaLinux 9.2 (and soon version 9.6) now enjoys years of ongoing patching and compliance.
-
Go-Based Botnet Attacking IoT Devices
Using an SSH credential brute-force attack, the Go-based PumaBot is exploiting IoT devices everywhere.
-
Plasma 6.5 Promises Better Memory Optimization
With the stable Plasma 6.4 on the horizon, KDE has a few new tricks up its sleeve for Plasma 6.5.
-
KaOS 2025.05 Officially Qt5 Free
If you're a fan of independent Linux distributions, the team behind KaOS is proud to announce the latest iteration that includes kernel 6.14 and KDE's Plasma 6.3.5.
-
Linux Kernel 6.15 Now Available
The latest Linux kernel is now available with several new features/improvements and the usual bug fixes.
-
Microsoft Makes Surprising WSL Announcement
In a move that might surprise some users, Microsoft has made Windows Subsystem for Linux open source.
-
Red Hat Releases RHEL 10 Early
Red Hat quietly rolled out the official release of RHEL 10.0 a bit early.
-
openSUSE Joins End of 10
openSUSE has decided to not only join the End of 10 movement but it also will no longer support the Deepin Desktop Environment.
-
New Version of Flatpak Released
Flatpak 1.16.1 is now available as the latest, stable version with various improvements.