Desktop Linux losing application support from Songbird
Fewer than 1 in 100 desktops in the U.S. run Linux, and most are in the hands of developers, not consumers.
Application developers who want to support Linux are now getting the message and, reluctantly, dropping their support of consumer desktop applications.
On its blog, Songbird developer George Auberger called the decision to drop Linux support from the open source music player "painful."
Some of you may wonder how a company with deep roots in Open Source could drop Linux and we want you to know it isn’t without heartache.? We have a small engineering team here at Songbird, and, more than ever, must stay very focused on a narrow set of priorities. Trying to deliver a raft of new features around all media types, and across a growing list of devices, we had to make some tough choices.
Some analysts will be quick to call this the death knell of Linux outside the server, and when it comes to the traditional desktop -- keyboard, big TV, mouse on the counter, box under the desk -- they may well be right.
But Android phones run Linux. Chromium netbooks will run Linux. Meego phones are Linux. Handheld Linux is going strong, and those applications will filter into other types of devices over time.
It's not just the dream of desktop Linux that's ending. It's the desktop era.