Is Maui Shell the future of the Linux desktop?

2 years ago 569

There's a caller Linux desktop connected the skyline that offers thing special. But are the developers and designers focusing connected the close features and audience?

Image: PegasuStudio/Shutterstock

Once upon a time, Stephen King said of writer Clive Barker, "I person seen the aboriginal of fearfulness and his sanction is Clive Barker." What does that person to bash with tech? Not much, but it is apropos to what I'm astir to discuss.

Recently, the Linux assemblage recovered itself with a caller upstart darling successful the mix. That darling is called Maui Desktop.

Great. Another desktop to vie successful an already flooded field? Hold up … this 1 is special.

It's each astir convergence.

Great. Another effort to resuscitate a antecedently failed concept. You mightiness arsenic good person started this retired with "Wuzzzup?" oregon "Talk to the hand."

OK, capable with the popular civilization references, what's the large deal?

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Thankfully, with the assistance of Nitrux 1.8, it's present imaginable to get a glimpse of what Maui Shell is going to look like. Even though it's precise overmuch successful the aboriginal stages (with the proposition it mightiness travel retired of beta successful Fall 2022), I'm not going to lie: It's impressive.

Before you leap implicit to Nitrux to cheque it out, cognize that it is precise overmuch successful beta, and the 1.8 merchandise of Nitrux is lone meant to springiness you a glimpse of what's to come. From the glimpse I've beheld, it looks similar the developers and designers of Maui person taken the champion bits from a fig of Linux desktops and rolled them into one. It has a interaction of simple OS's Pantheon, a spot of GNOME goodness, a sensation of KDE, a sprinkle of Cinnamon and adjacent a dash of Deepin Desktop. Roll each of that into 1 desktop and you person Maui Shell.

Of course, astatine the moment, it's not each that impressive. The default desktop consists of a dock with 2 entries and a apical barroom with a strategy tray and notification country (Figure A).

Figure A

Click connected the exertion overview (or immoderate they program to telephone it) fastener to uncover categories of apps (Figure B).

Figure B

You tin unfastened astir of the installed applications, but erstwhile you spell to unfastened the Maui Settings app, you'll find it doesn't appear. Why? Beta.

But wherefore different desktop?

This is the large question and 1 I person a mates of responses to. First, however, I privation to code the elephant successful the room.

Convergence.

Wait, what? Convergence is simple. You person a mobile telephone that runs an OS successful a reasonably emblematic fashion. However, underneath the hood, there's a subsystem that waits to observe the beingness of a dock. Once a idiosyncratic docks the mobile device, the OS transforms to "desktop mode," wherever it behaves much similar a desktop OS and each is displayed connected an outer monitor.

Sounds great, right?

There's a precise sticky contented with this: the deficiency of a reliable, marketable Linux telephone to converge with. Yes, there's the Pinephone, but the information is the Pinephone is much for developers and the hard-core. No substance however bully Pinephones are, they volition ne'er find their mode into the hands of mean users. Why? Because they are neither Android nor iOS. And the elemental information is the satellite of mobile devices is nether the crushing sway of Google and Apple. There's nary mode of getting astir that.

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So, though the thought of convergence is truly cool, it's lone that mode successful concept. In reality, you'd beryllium moving with an underpowered desktop that wouldn't beryllium astir arsenic susceptible arsenic a non-convergent machine. And, obviously, the biggest contented is that the developers of Maui Shell volition soon find retired that unless they program to make an app that tin overlay connected Android devices, there'll beryllium precise fewer users taking vantage of convergence and much users conscionable wanting to enactment with a cool-looking desktop.

Which is astatine the bosom of the issue.

Linux has plentifulness of desktops. But you see, Linux and open-source are each astir choice. And astatine the infinitesimal there's this occupation galore of america often person wherever it tin beryllium a spot of a situation to urge the close desktop for the close user.

GNOME is astir the astir unchangeable and performant desktop connected the market, but it's travel astatine a outgo of being not acquainted capable for caller users.
KDE is incredibly acquainted but adds a fewer bits that could origin problems for caller users.
Pantheon is amazing, but mostly lone shipped with simple OS, which suffers from a terrible deficiency of installable applications successful its AppCenter.
Cinnamon is simply a large desktop, but it's a spot aged schoolhouse for those who'd similar thing a spot much modern.
Xfce is conscionable excessively much.
Enlightenment is truly cool, but mode supra the heads of caller users.

So, you see, determination is simply a spot for a caller desktop … truthful agelong arsenic it knows what it is. And that's what I judge the developers and designers of Maui Shell should beryllium concentrating on—a desktop that offers conscionable the close blend of each the bully parts of each existing desktop to culminate into a UI that offers thing for each benignant of user. But the people assemblage should beryllium the caller user. Why? Because that's the precise people each Linux organisation should person its sights on. Linux distributions person been preaching to the choir for years now, and it's done thing but punctual the choir however overmuch they emotion being successful the choir and small to gully successful caller members.

Maui Shell could alteration that. If (and that's a large if) it doesn't propulsion convergence arsenic its fig 1 feature. Sure, marque convergence a portion of it, but erstwhile you already person the makings of a desktop that could beryllium perfect for caller and aged users alike, you've got your hook built-in. Use it.

And for those who are curious, I highly urge you download a transcript of the Nitrux 1.8 ISO, rotation up a virtual instrumentality and spot what Maui Shell is each about. Just remember, this is precise overmuch successful beta, truthful don't expect to usage it for overmuch much than a footwear of the tires.

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