GNOME is Better and the Practically of Linux

In Linuxville today Eric Griffith demonstrated why GNOME is better than KDE and Attila Orosz explained what you need to know about systemd. Reviews of Semplice 7, Mint 17.2, and Mangaka caught my eye and Matt Hartley compared Linux to OS X saying, "I believe Linux is a more practical solution than OS X."

Eric Griffith, in a guest post at Phoronix.com, today declaired KDE is dying of "a thousand paper cuts." He compared and contrasted several key areas and made some valid points. The media players he compared went to GNOME as did login screens, encryption, software managers, and system settings. KDE in Fedora didn't show well for him at all. In fact, he said GNOME feels like a complete or cohesive environment while KDE feels like a bunch of pieces all put together because of a common toolkit. Griffith loves KDE and probably won't continue using GNOME after this week, but he said he's probably going to recommend GNOME to new users from now on.  He hopes that KDE will take his post constructively and "fix the pitfalls." He suggested the developers start caring about form as well as function and listening to the VDG (Visual Design Group). "Presentation matters."

Matt Hartley today said that Linux is more practical than OS X, first, because it can run on a wide variety of hardware. In fact, he said "almost anything" whereas OS X runs only on approved hardware. Then he noted that a kernel upgrade can fix hardware issues many times, but OS X users will have to wait for an official update or revert to an earlier version. Linux beats OS X in installation, software installation, default file managers, and desktop customization. He concluded, "For years now, I've heard that using OS X is easier than other operating systems. And while I agree they have some very strong software titles, the belief that it's easier is pure nonsense."

Three reviews are worth mentioning today. Jesse Smith reviewed Semplice Linux 7 in this morning's DistroWatch Weekly. Semplice is a Debian-based distribution with its own desktop called Vera. Vera is built with GTK3 and seems minimalistic, but Smith said he enjoyed using it. The software choices left him wanting but overall Smith said, "On the whole I liked Semplice. I think Semplice is a good match for people who want to try Debian as a rolling release distribution."

Jack M. Germain reviewed manga and anime distro Mangaka that ships with Elementary OS's Pantheon desktop. He just fell in love with its wallpaper and said, "If you prefer to tweak your Linux settings to the max, you will find Mangaka and its Pantheon desktop a bit too limiting. However, if you want an unusually gorgeous background and a very simple Linux OS that has little or no learning curve, the Linux Mangaka distro can be a real joy to use."

ArsTechnica's Scott Gilbertson reviewed Linux Mint 17.2 and concluded, "Mint 17.2 is well worth the upgrade."

Elsewhere:

* Systemd – What You Need to Know, & Distrowatch Weekly systemd usage poll

* Allen Day Elected to GNOME Foundation Board of Directors

* Enjoy another video of the Scion release!, & Openmandriva – a brief review