On Mon, 16 Feb 2015 14:44:04 +0100
Didier Kryn <kryn@???> wrote:

>      Hi folks.

>

>      Considering Devuan is a major lifeboat of free Linux-based OS,
> I'm anxious about its destiny and therefore trying to figure out who
> is onboard, I mean the audience.

>

>      1) It is clear, by reading this list that part of us are mostly 
> concerned with servers.

>

>      It is perfectly arguable that people involved in servers' 
> deployment do not want to dedicate time to tweaking a Linux-based
> desktop.

Hi Didier,

I'll explain my motivations, and perhaps others are in my boat...

My Daily Driver Desktop is currently Wheezy, soon to be either Manjaro
minus systemd, PC-BSD or Devuan. Yes, I use servers, such as Dovecot,
but primarily I create content.

In my opinion, GNU/Linux is my OS, and my GUI is just a small component
bolted onto my OS with a few standard bolts. I don't hold my GUI
responsible for the likes of network connectivity: I have CLI software
to do that. IMHO, my GUI is a guest of my OS: My OS tells the GUI "my
house, my rules", not the other way around.

In other words, I can take any old "server Linux", install Openbox,
dmenu, and some office and authoring apps, and I'm all set.

Furthermore, I want to be able to take an adjustable wrench and
screwdriver and modify or repair my OS. I don't want to use
scarce, complex, expensive specialized tools. I want my OS modular,
with thin, well defined interaction between the parts. You know, like
Linux ten years ago.

So my position is this: I'm mainly a desktop guy, but give me a server
OS with access to Openbox, spreadsheet, LaTeX, a good spreadsheet (I
like Gnumeric, but who knows how long that will remain uncontaminated),
Inkscape, some sort of pixel editor (was Gimp, but, ummm), Python, C,
and I'll take care of the rest, without telling my distro to put in all
sorts of handyisms for me.

SteveT

Steve Litt                *  http://www.troubleshooters.com/
Troubleshooting Training  *  Human Performance