Re: [Fsuk-manchester] google plan new OS?

[Tim Dobson]

Chris Rogers wrote:
> It's the best hope yet to break the MS stranglehold on the PC. IBM 
> didn't manage it with OS/2, probably because of the PS/2 architecture 
> and their licensing approach. Apple didn't manage it, possibly because 
> their OS is so tightly linked to their own hardware but also because 
> it's expensive gear. Linux is gaining ground but very slowly, partly, I 
> feel, because it's so fragmented, with dozens of different distros.

On a technical level, the big questions are:

* will it use x11 (if not, for us, it's probably pointless)
* will it base itself on a well known packaging system
* will it radically change GNU/Linux permissions stuff (a la linspire 
which ran the UI as root)

Personally, I suspect it could be pretty much gOS - which is a Google 
orientated Commercial Ubuntu deriv.

I'm worried about proliferation on non-standard ways of doing things, 
whether they are free software or not. Android is a classic example of a 
lockin implemented in free software.

I'm unsure about it, but I suspect most other people are pretty 
tentative regarding it...