So GNOME 2.8 is out today, and I must say I’m impressed. Lots of great stuff in there – looking forward to the System Tools, but the simplified hardware management is probably the most attractive new feature for me. One thing that concerns me, however, is the inclusion of Evolution into the release.
My objection is not at all related to the Evolution application; I’m a satisfied Evolution user, and in fact am looking forward to the additional functionality the software will provide when paired with the GNOME calendar system. But I have to ask: at what price these come these functions?
If Microsoft were to integrate Outlook into Windows, most people would be *screaming* about the additional security risks, and questioning the motivations behind the insertion. Now GNOME is not Microsoft, so the conspiracy theories aren’t really applicable here, but I think there are legitimate questions to be asked about the reasoning for the move.
Integrating a full-featured, very capable PIM into the desktop packaging yields obvious benefits – “integrated innovation” as Microsoft might call it – but as Microsoft has proven with Windows Media Player and Internet Explorer on countless occasions, it brings substantial risks with it. Beyond the security implications, there are the questions around bloat. They’re not new; GNOME installs its web browser Epiphany, for example, despite the fact that I use Firefox and thus have no need for it. So the question is, is the introduction of GNOME another step down the line towards bloat, or an intelligent response to a genuine need?
For my own usage, it’s likely the latter, as I’ll clearly benefit from the integration. But other users – particularly non-Evolution users – may disagree.
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