I am pretty sure I am asking this in the wrong place and a moderator is gonna move it or close it or something. But, I want your opinion on the Linux desktop. Is it dying? Has KDE and Gnome failed this year? Is Ubuntu losing users? What do you say?

No idea what you're really asking here.

Do you mean "Linux desktop", as in "Linux replacing Windows as the desktop OS"? It's still making headway, but slowly as it has been. If you mean "What do you think of the GUI's available", then you'll never get a good answer. That's like asking "What's your favorite food?"...EVERYONE will have a different answer. It's all personal preference. I enjoy the new KDE, as it gives me the very, VERY clean desktop I like (auto-hidden panel w/systray and task manager, and ONE icon on my desktop, the Lancelot launcher). Others hate it, and like KDE3.x...still others like Gnome, and people rave about Unity. They're all equally hated and loved...and there's always Enlightenment, XFCE, IceWM, and others, too. The GUI has very little to do with Linux...everyone picks their favorite GUI, as they do their favorite distro.

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Jesus christ. EVERY YEAR i hear the same goddam thing! "is the Linux desktop dead/dying?"

Please people, just use and enjoy your computer, PLEASE. Been using Linux since almost 20 years now, and never-ever paid attention to "how live the Linux desktop is". Can we just leave this way of thinking behind? There's no race!

There's only people who enjoy (or don't) what they do. Stop paying attention to hype.

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Which one? I use KDE. It works fine for me.

Umm ... no?

Umm ... no? KDE and GNOME are both evolving. It's a little painful for some users, but noone is being forced to stay on the leading edge of desktop technology if they aren't comfortable there.

I dunno ... maybe? I think it is a bit early to judge how many will permanently leave Ubuntu versus how many new users will join in.

I think it will all work out for the best if everyone finds something they can be happy with. After all, there are plenty of options for people unhappy with the leading edge of desktop technology. Ubuntu users may find happiness with Xubuntu and Lubuntu. Others may be pleased with recent developments in Mint.

Seriously, this is Linux. We all have plenty of options to choose from.

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Thanks for your responses and sorry if I asked a question that is frequently asked. I was just reading some articles on the web and noticed there was a lot about the linux desktop dying and just wanted some responses. Guess it isnt a big thing.

No.

No. Also, it should be have not has. Plural.

Hard to tell since there is really no accurate way to know how many people are using it. I see Mint has surpassed Ubuntu at distrowatch but I don't know what the totals were in recent months for a comparison.

There are probably more developers in Linux now than there ever was. Even if it ever "dies", I will still use it. And there will always be developers and users. Yes there are distros for your average point and click users. But Linux so damn powerful if you really want to do things other than play games and surf the web.

Rumors of linux's demise have been greatly exaggerated. Some of the lightweight desktops like LXDE and xFce are getting a little bit more popular. IMHO

I don't think so. But I do know for sure, you,me,and everyone else does not get out of here alive.

the linux desktop isn't dead/dieing, it's alive and well, we still have a very small market share, but we always have. Every year or so we get a new "year of the linux desktop" declaration, and another wave of "linux on the desktop is dead" comments. Many of us just ignore them and go about our business, because regardless of these declarations, the linux desktop never seems to "take over" magically, nor does it sink into obscurity. It doesn't seem to be going away, and while it might not be eating into MS's profits significantly, it has a large enough user and developer base that it will continue for a while at least.

Gnome and KDE have not failed - Unity and gnome-shell have received some bad responses but I doubt people will care given some time. KDE seems to be doing just as well as it has been as well. Besides that, gnome and KDE are not the only desktop environments around, and many linux users forgo the DE entirely and just use windomanagers like fluxbox.

As for ubuntu losing users, well, I don't know. Maybe they are, if so I don't see it as a major problem. Mint, which seems to be where the people upset at ubuntu are turning, will probably be able to survive on a debian base if ubuntu drops off. Even if ubuntu is losing users, though, it's still very popular and I doubt we'll be saying goodbye to it anytime soon.

Is it dying? Has KDE and Gnome failed this year? Is Ubuntu losing users? What do you say?
No way!

Here's my opinion,
More people than ever have started using Linux in my area. Companies have started selling their laptops with Linux installed on it. Even if GNOME and KDE die(which is most probably not possible) i can assure you that you will have better options .You know, what is the beauty of Linux- "people need something , they develop it."

I think it is dying.

That's journalism for you

When it's a commercial venture, even if only to attract advertising revenue, it attracts readers by attention-grabbing titles and content. A PITA because it would be useful if the titles reflected the content to save us having to read things to see if they are relevant to our interests.

No Linux isn't dead. I see more people annoyed at the new UIs and switching to more lightweight GUIs but that's about it.

This is my perspective. Your mileage may vary.