Moblin makes the Linux 'desktop' more Mac-like
Linux Foundation president Jim Zemlin talks up Moblin
(Credit: Matt Asay/CNET)For years, Linux enthusiasts have tried to win an unwinnable war: displacing Microsoft's hegemony in personal computers with Windows clones. Though Lindows was perhaps the first to make a serious attempt at replicating the Windows experience, all the Linux "desktop" vendors have tried it, and all with the same result:
Failure.
This isn't because Linux isn't any good as a personal computer operating system. It's because such copycat tactics have doomed Linux to always being a cheap facsimile of Microsoft's idea of what the personal computer should look like and do.
With Moblin version 2.0, the Linux-based operating system Novell and Intel designed specifically for the Netbook market, the Linux "desktop" crowd seems to finally have the right idea: change the game, not simply the price tag.
I spent Thursday working on the Moblin-based Asus Aspire One (AOD150-1165) Netbook. I am still getting used to the somewhat cramped keyboard (with a hyperactive trackpad that is hard to avoid given the lack of space), but Moblin, itself, is pretty impressive, even though it's still very much in beta.
Having used various Linux "desktops" over the years (Canonical Ubuntu- and Novell SUSE-based, primarily), the thing that most impressed me about the Moblin experience is that it's nothing like traditional Linux "desktop" experiences. In fact, it's not really much like Windows, either.
The closest it comes to being a clone of anything is in paying tribute to some of the best Mac OS X features (like Expose), which perhaps isn't surprising given that Ubuntu's Mark Shuttleworth has suggested Linux must outdo the Mac to win.
One of my favorite things is the concept of the M-Zone ("Me-Zone"):
Diagram of Moblin's M-Zone
(Credit: Moblin.org)You can think of it as "home base," as it offers a central place to capture your recent activities (e.g., documents you've been working on, music you were listening to, etc.). Someone that had been using the machine before me had The Pixies geared up on Last.fm, which I simply clicked on and, Voila! "Monkey Gone to Heaven" started to play. Score one for Intel for knowing my musical tastes.
If that sounds business-y and grown up, I suppose it is, but Moblin is about much more than how to get one's corporate job done. Like the Mac, Moblin takes notice that life is more than corporate drudgery, and the UI reflects this. One part that I really liked was the "People" option on the Toolbar panel:
Moblin's People panel
(Credit: Moblin.org)This is a great view into instant messaging conversations and a reflection of Moblin's nod to the real life "work" that we do, and how we do it. Again, very similar to the Mac in its emphasis on "the other work" we do.
Over the next week or two, I expect to spend more time with Moblin, and to give neighbors, co-workers, and family time on the machine to see how they fare. Stay tuned.
Some are projecting that Linux will regain 50 percent of the Netbook market. Perhaps. But if so, it won't come as a result of the clone wars Linux developers have been promoting for years. It will come from the game-changing tactics that Moblin, now under the guidance of the Linux Foundation, and others bring to the personal computer party.
At present there are arguably too many mobile open-source platforms. Based on what I've seen with Moblin, however, it may well be the Linux distribution to beat in the mobile market, at least for Netbooks.
Follow me on Twitter @mjasay.
Matt Asay brings a decade of in-the-trenches open-source business and legal experience to The Open Road, with an emphasis on emerging open-source business strategies and opportunities. Matt is vice president of business development at Alfresco, a company that develops open-source software for content management. He is a member of the CNET Blog Network and is not an employee of CNET. Disclosure. You can follow Matt on Twitter @mjasay. 
Maybe I spend a lot of time doing serious things on my Mac Pro at work. To me, monkey go to heaven doesn't sound all that business-y to me, but maybe I'm missing some kind of cultural reference?
The author doesn't realize some of us actually do work on our Macs. There's nothing further than the truth than claiming Macs are only for the "other work" whatever the heck that means. Games/
Presentations, software development, video, photo management, database management, creation of online educational material, etc., is par for the course for me. Click panels that the above may be the most appropriate way to interact with an underpowered netbook that doesn't have the oomph to do real work. There's no reason to sully Macs with such a characterization. And in fact, and Tim Cook and Steve Jobs has pointed out over and over again, Apple's not interested in making such underpowered computers incapable of doing "real work."
The author should compare this new, interesting, interface with Palm, or Windows Mobile or the iPhone, not Macs. Because that's not where it's aimed.
Also, I agree that if you're constantly trying to emulate Windows, you're bound to fail (for my own part, I've used Fluxbox for years as my UI on Linux, since it is far more useful to me than a "start+taskbar" clone). Thing is, you have to provide users with something that they can wrap their heads around in short order, and at the same time be more useful than the standard Windows UI. Do that, and suddenly the game changes...
More importantly: way to go on the Pixies! Nothing like finding a pleasant corner of good taste in a world full of terrible music to brighten up your day.
a. the current Android "desktop", where you run Android apps only.
b. the Moblin "desktop", where you can run Android apps AND standard Linux desktop apps.
Android would be an ideal base for this, because it already:
1. provides a "light" UI (i.e. non X Server) alternative for size & power constrained devices.
2. supports the hardware that will likely be included in ALL future mobile devices (touchscreen, 3G, GPS, accelerometer, compass, etc.).
3. supports cell phone calls, SMS, etc. (an oFono complement/alternative).
4. implements a highly stable & secure application environment (Dalvik VM).
5. supports a commercial app store for free & paid applications.
6. supports multiple CPU architectures (x86, ARM, MIPS,...).
Moblin isn't all that much like Mac OS
Here's the perfect $250 netbook for me:
- Display: 10 inches
- Battery: 8 hours (or more)
- Storage: 8 GB SSD
- Weight: 1 kg (or less)
- Processor: 800MHz
- Memory: 512MB
As you can see, comfort and portability are the most important factors.
I'll be more than happy with a 800MHz/512MB netbook as long as it provides a decent display and keyboard. All I need is a browser.
In fact, Gnome 2.26 is ridiculously far ahead of OS X in terms of desktop features. KDE 4.2 is pretty far ahead (not tried 4.3 year).
Moblin is not Mac-like, and that's a very good thing.
It looks great!!
With the new "fanless" Atom, this thing is a winner.
Can't wait until they embed it directly in the chip for fast power on...
Personally I think Moblin builds on the journal concept introduced originally in the Sugar interface...the first linux "netbook" interface created for the OLPC. The basic UI concepts..like the icon styling along the top of the moblin UI really strike me as having evolved from the Sugar heritage.
http://www.sugarlabs.org/index.php?template=gallery&page=media_07
The m-zone looks to me like an evolution of the big board desktop client originally introduced to support the mugshot online desktop experiment Red Hat started from a couple of years ago.
The real question moving forward is how strong an influence will the moblin2 UI be on Gnome Mobile and Gnome 3.0+. The shell concept being discussed for Gnome 3.0+ seems to share a common heritage to the Sugar interface that Moblin2 does and makes strong use of Clutter just like Moblin2.
-jef
- by trboyden May 27, 2009 10:30 AM PDT
- To all you Mac hyper-ventilators, Matt was simply using a reference to how the interface of Mac OS X and Moblin are different to the common look and feel of your typical Windows or Linux desktop ? nothing more, nothing less. You all need to just chill out rather than jumping on an author that is actually paying a compliment to the (in some people?s perspective) well designed Mac user interface.
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(19 Comments)There is no doubt that Macs are nice (I use a MacBook); but it?s not the end all of computing devices, merely a tool that is the best choice for some people. Windows-based and Linux-based devices can and are just as good for the purposes they excel in, namely gaming, business communication, and servers.
I look forward to seeing what the Linux Foundation does with Moblin and I hope they expand its vision to other platforms than just Netbooks. Attempts at innovating the user interface of computers should be celebrated rather than criticized. For far too long we?ve been stuck with staleness that the Windows graphical user interface represents.