I personally think the biggest problem for some dragons in the Linux community is that Shuttleworth is not out to personally destroy Microsoft, or humble Bill Gates, like they are.
Well...
https://launchpad.net/ubuntu/+bug/1I believe part of the problem is this, and I wish I could explain lucidly and at length why I feel this way, but:
Those who don’t understand Unix are doomed to reinvent it, poorly.
– Henry Spencer
There's a reason or three I'm still running Xubuntu 9.10, and haven't blindly upgraded like I have (and regretted) in the past.
Why?
So far, there's nothing the newer versions offer that I don't already have, and plenty I don't want.
More and more of the core systems are getting dependent on stuff I don't want, don't need, or are just a bad idea IMO, and I'm getting less choice in the bargain.
Stuff like PulseAudio infecting everything, NetworkManager doing a BLASTED job of managing my network, WTH does ConsoleKit
actually do besides spamming up the process tree, UbuntuOne not letting VLC in on their party, all of these things are only the tip of the iceberg.
Don't get me wrong, everybody here knows I love Linux.
I love what it stands for, I love the freedom it gives me, I love the software that wouldn't have been possible otherwise, and yes, I greatly appreciate what Ubuntu has done for the Linux community.
But I'm not afraid to pull off the fanboy mask and face just how soiled the penguin's undies have gotten lately.
More and more it's beginning to feel like a bunch of capricious but oh-so-functional hacks piled in and bolted on like Frankenstein parts to something that was at one time elegant and promising.
I wish I could have listened to the original presentation, but if any of
THIS is to be believed, I may keep the Windows on any new computer I purchase, just for insurance.
Lennart Poettering seems to think it's FUD, but everything in that paper and slideshow has been bugging me about Ubuntu and Linux in general since at least 7.10.
I wish I had a Big Idea
tm that would take all this, unify it in purpose and utility, then implement cleanly so we can all decide if Linux is just a more advanced Unix, or
something else entirely to Unix like Windows was to DOS.
...But I just don't have the time, intelligence or resources, and the job is too multi-faceted for one guy to do much about anyways.
I don'tknow if any of this is reason for the slide in Ubuntu's popularity, but it certainly gives ME a case of chronic facepalm.