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#REDIRECT [[Linux range of use#Desktop]]
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'''Desktop Linux''', also '''Linux on the desktop''', is the application of the [[Linux]] [[operating system]] on a [[desktop computer]].
== History ==
Historically, [[UNIX]] and other [[Unix-like]] operating systems have been utilized on [[Server (computing)|servers]], [[Mainframe computer|mainframes]], and [[workstation]]s in corporate or scientific environments.
Beginning in the latter 90s, a few [[Linux distribution]] companies, such as [[Mandriva|MandrakeSoft]], began to advertise their systems for low-end desktop computers. However, it was not until Apple released the first version of [[Mac OS X]], a UNIX-like system, that Linux began to be seen as a serious alternative to [[Microsoft Windows]] on desktop computers, in both corporate and home environments.
Since the turn of the 21st century, a growing number of Linux, and even [[Berkeley Software Distribution|BSD-based]], distributions have originated with a dedication to the desktop market. Perhaps the most famous/popular of these distributions, as of 2007, is [[Canonical]]'s [[Ubuntu (Linux distribution)|Ubuntu]] distribution.
== Advantages ==
Image:XglCompizCube.png|150px|thumb|[[Compiz]] 'cube']]
Desktop Linux has long been touted by its users, vendors, and advocates as a more security-conscious, stable OS for the desktop computer {{Fact|date=May 2007}}, compared to Microsoft Windows, which has been c'''''Bold text''[[[[Link title]][[[[Link title]][[[[Link title]][[Link title]]]]]]]]'''riticized throughout its history for its security and stability problems. {{Fact|date=May 2007}}
=== Desktops ===
The two most popular desktop environments are [[GNOME]] and [[KDE]]. These are rather large collections of desktop programs, rather than bare bone window managers such as [[FVWM]], [[IceWM]] amongst others.
=== Applications ===
Most Desktop Linux distributions are developed and deployed with an assortment of applications developed by third-party projects, such as [[KDE]], [[GNOME]], [[GIMP]], [[Mozilla Firefox]], and [[OpenOffice.org]]. This is to make sure that the user will be less prone to looking for basic applications which he/she may be lacking. Many programs that accomplish the same purpose as closed source couterparts exist. Through compatibility layers such as [[Wine (software)|Wine]] Windows and Mac applications can run.
=== 3D user interfaces ===
In addition, with the development of [[Xgl]] and other hardware-accelerated user interface architectures, 3D environments have experienced greater demand from both potential and veteran Desktop Linux users. [[Beryl (window manager)|Beryl]] is the most common example of this.
==Disadvantages==
=== Applications ===
Desktop Linux has been maligned for its lack of name-brand applications in comparison to its [[proprietary software|proprietary]] and [[closed source software|closed source]] counterparts, [[Microsoft Windows]] and [[Mac OS X]]. Desktop Linux advocates have blamed the more recognized application vendors, such as [[Adobe Systems]], for their alleged shunning of Desktop Linux systems and users in favor of users of either Windows or Mac OS X.
=== Drivers ===
The aforementioned 3D user interface environments also have come under scrutiny because of the usage of proprietary and closed-source drivers for the [[graphic card]]s, from [[Nvidia]] or [[ATI]] upon which the environments are dependent. In response, independent developers have reverse-engineered the drivers to write new free and open source drivers.
In addition, in 2006, [[freedesktop.org]] began a project called "Nouveau" in order to create free and open-source drivers for Nvidia cards. [[AMD]] has promised open source drivers for the [[ATI]] [[Radeon]] graphics cards (which it now owns) in 2007.
== Year of Desktop Linux ==
Since at least 2001, a [[meme]] known as ''"(year) will be the year of Linux on the Desktop"'' has been published by a number of tech-related magazines, referring to the prior year's experiences of supposed "gains" for [[Linux adoption]] by [[business corporation]]s; these gains can vary in reason, such as the installation of a Linux distribution onto the desktops of workers for organizations or companies who may not be immediately or otherwise involved in the computing industry, or the acceleration of development for specific applications which find their greatest usages on desktop Linux distributions, or the pre-installation of specific Linux distributions onto [[personal computer]]s being sold by PC manufacturers such as [[Dell]], [[Hewlett-Packard]], or other corporations. The meme, which is used on an annual basis, has been roundly criticized as redundant and overreaching.
== See also ==
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* [[Beryl (window manager)]]
* [[Cairo (graphics)|cairo]]
* [[Compiz]]
* [[Desktop Linux Consortium]]
* [[Desktop Linux Summit]]
* [[Desktop wars]]
* [[KDE]]
* [[GNOME]]
* [[Xgl]]
* [[IceWM]]
* [[GNU]]
== External links ==
* [http://www.desktoplinux.com/ DesktopLinux.com]
* [http://www.psychocats.net/essays/linuxdesktopmyth ''The Linux Desktop Myth'']
[[Category:Linux]]
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