8 of the worst open source innovations of the decade

Open source innovations are not all successes. Some errors occurred throughout the timeline. Let’s look at a few.

Image: Jack Wallen

Over the years, Linux and open source have been a master class about slow burning. Linux has become the champion of the cloud, IoT and containers out of the blue. And while it has not reached the “world domination” status it swore in the early 2000s, Linux desktop is still alive and kicking in momentum.

But that does not mean that it has all been successful; a few stumbling blocks have even been en route. Let’s look at some of the worst open source errors of the decade.

SEE: How to choose between Windows, macOS and Linux (free PDF) (TechRepublic)

The steam engine

The Steam Machine would prove that gaming on Linux could succeed. They already had Steam running fine on Linux, but Steam wanted more. To make that “more” happen, they developed the Steam Machine, a Linux-based game console with the aim of switching PC gamers to the console. It failed. Worse, it failed in such a way that nobody knows why it failed. What should have been certain disappeared into memory.

Although there was speculation as to why the Steam Machine failed (delays, cancellations and high access costs), an official word was never heard. The only indication of failure is the removal of Steam Machine listings on the official site and statements as “product unavailable” from any vendor who ever promised to sell the hardware. It’s good that Steam can still be installed on Linux; otherwise gaming on Linux would have been a complete and absolute failure.

SEE: More decade in reporting (TechRepublic on Flipboard)

Ubuntu Unity

This is hard for me. Why? Because I was actually a big fan of Unity. The internal desktop environment of Canonical was stable, reliable and one of the most efficient on the market. The HUD alone made Unity worth using. But unfortunately Canonical made a serious mistake when it came to Ubuntu Touch and Mir.

The purpose of the two as the new standard for the Ubuntu desktop was the death knell for Unity, because Mir just wasn’t ready. To make matters worse, the delay caused by Mir / Touch resulted in a huge lack of innovation on the Ubuntu desktop. Canonical eventually scrapped everything and chose to migrate to the GNOME desktop as standard.

Ubuntu telephone

Speaking of Ubuntu Touch, the Ubuntu phone was a spectacular failure. I owned one of the first Ubuntu phones released and from day one I found it almost impossible to use. The Ubuntu Touch interface was more than terrible. The person who came up with the idea of ​​”scopes” should have been removed from the project.

Canonical had the perfect interface with Unity; if the company had transferred Unity to the mobile interface, it could have been a success. Instead, Canonical opted for an interface that no mobile user would even find viable remotely. Moreover, there were virtually no applications available and the quality of the telephone call was absurdly poor.

The Ubuntu phone would better stay with its Ubuntu Edge concept phone – the one that finally promised to achieve convergence.

SEE: 2010s – The Decade in Review (ZDNet special function)

Ubuntu Edge

Yes, this is a second Ubuntu phone on the list, so it feels a bit. Truth be told, this phone had a serious promise. Ubuntu Edge was not only the first device to promise true convergence, it was elegant and powerful – on paper.

Before it could reach production, Ubuntu Edge had to be funded. Canonical tried to raise $ 32 million through crowdfunding. Surprisingly, the company has broken records by raising more than $ 12 million, making it the largest ever crowd-funded campaign.

Unfortunately, this phone that sounded so incredibly great on paper was not delivered, making it one of the more heartbreaking stories about vaporware in the history of Linux. Ubuntu Edge could have been the phone to make Linux mobile a reality. That was 2013. It is six years later and we are only now seeing companies bring Linux phones to life, and they are doubtful at best. It was a sad, sad day when we found out that Ubuntu Edge would not be there.

Apartheid Linux

I am not going to refer to links for this despicable Linux distribution; instead, I will only illustrate one of the negative effects of someone who has the ability to roll out “own distribution.” In contrast to the goal of Hannah Montana Linux to bring new, younger users into the Linux and open source fold, Apartheid Linux focused its attention on hatred, intolerance and white power. At no point in the history of open source was Linux ever used for such a disgusting purpose.

This distribution is so terrible, I even hesitated to add it to the list for fear that someone would google it and be addressed with the language and images of hate. Save yourself from the inevitable rise in blood pressure and don’t bother.

SEE: Decade in Review 2010 – 2019 (CNET)

Diaspora

Diaspora is a distributed social network that consists of a group of independent nodes that work together to form a network. Because it is distributed, the network belongs to nobody. On paper this is a great idea and with a license under the GNU-AGPL-3.0 license it gets even better.

The work started on Diaspora in 2010 and the first Diaspora Pod was released that same year. Unfortunately, the founder of Diaspora committed suicide in 2011; reports of his death were linked to pressure related to Diaspora. Diaspora 0.0.1.0 was released in October 2012. From 2019 version 1.0 is nowhere to be seen. Unfortunately, the promise of the social network distributed by Diaspora is still a dream.

SEE: Photos: 10 apps to manage work stress and mental health (TechRepublic)

RethinkDB

RethinkDB had to become the open source database for pushing real-time updates for query results to applications. RethinkDB used the ReQL query language, an embedded, domain-specific language for Ruby, Python, Java and JavaScript. The most promising feature of RethinkDB was first-class support for real-time change feeds.

According to those behind RethinkDB, the failure was a combination of “inexplicable perversity of human nature and clever machinations of MongoDB’s marketing people”, as well as the failure to build an experienced go-to-market team, lack of numerical support above 64-bit float and terrible marketing. In the end, RethinkDB was very quickly surpassed by people like MongoDB.

SEE: The open source decade, fed by cloud and GitHub (TechRepublic)

Samsung DeX for Linux

It should not have surprised anyone that Samsung dropped the ball on DeX for Linux. This was one of those pieces of technology that had so many Linux fans put to the mouth to hold in their hands. After all, who doesn’t want to have the option to connect an Android phone and have it converted to a full Linux desktop? I know I would do that.

But in 2019, Samsung decided to cancel the DeX for Linux. My guess is that this was yet another example of that great mythical beast that “came together” and wavers and fails. Such a promise leads to such disappointment. Until so long, DeX, you were an incredible ray of hope as long as you lasted.

SEE: 10 largest Android flops of the decade (TechRepublic)

Honorable mention: Hannah Montana Linux

Although it does not fit into the 2010-2019 timeframe for the TechRepublic decade in Review series, Hannah Montana Linux deserves a mention.

Before I point the spot with the spot at this distribution, I at least want to give the developer props for his intention. The purpose of Hannah Montana Linux (HML) was to appeal to younger users. That’s great, and at the time, Hannah Montana was a solid starting point.

What was Hannah Montana Linux? A Linux distribution with a purple and pink theme, with KDE as the desktop and the character of the Disney channel in the front and center. While attracting younger users to Linux is an honorable goal, HML would have been better served by adding at least some applications that would be appealing to users, rather than doing nothing more than using KDE as the theme.

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