SaaS is the target of Linux now

When I read another article about people's problems in using unity, I thought to myself: when we are worried about how the desktop interface should be designed, are we putting our focus where we shouldn't be?

Shouldn't we be looking at the application ecosystem for the development community? In other words, is it because the rapid development of software as a service (SaaS) has led the development community to claim that the field is "settled"?

The article I'm talking about is Bruce Byfield's blog post in Linux Magazine, which focuses on the flaws in launchpad software. One of the Ubuntu developers is worried: Canonical is almost completely out of relationship with the Ubuntu community because the company has repeatedly stressed that the unity interface should not be as easy to configure as the previous interface.

I suggest that you have time to read this article of Byfield, because it describes the differences in ideas between the old and new Linux communities. But this divergence, and the ensuing troubles, suddenly led me to ponder the question: are we all concerned with the wrong object.

The unity debate aroused my interest in several ways. At its most fundamental, it can arouse my interest because I am not the most faithful fan of unity. I like the concept of interface, but like most Linux users, I am very nostalgic for the ability to configure the interface as it pleases.

On a broader scale, it seems that the unity problem appears to be a lack of this configuration, reflecting a new trend in the interface: A lightweight, fast, beautiful container, the browser, and a browser that is really critical in a mobile interface that is increasingly reliant on SaaS.

But my problem is that we seem to focus too much on the interface, but Linux is the other half of what makes a good desktop operating system: Apps are still not considered strong competitors. And I am polite to say so.

At its most basic, Linux has what it needs: A powerful Office suite, a file manager, a browser, a text-editing tool, and a music library system. But if you need anything else, you can either run the virtual machine or surf the Internet.

I was nervous about this before. Last week, I posted a link on Twitter and reprinted an article about Canonical's recent focus on the business desktop, and Twitter reader Andrékoot responded to a noteworthy post, seemingly outlining the idea of every commercial Linux developer for the app:

"If there is SaaS outside, who needs (enterprise) applications?" The biggest problem is that current developers lock in, and proprietary non-standard systems ... "

Many of us, including myself, Think SaaS is the saviour of Linux desktops. SaaS gives Linux the flexibility to avoid the obvious: desktop-side Linux has not been successful because of its beautiful interface; in fact, it has not succeeded because of the apparent lack of application. I would add that this view is basically correct, at least in the eyes of ordinary users.

However, SaaS has changed all this. cloud-based applications allow anyone with a browser access to the same applications, regardless of the operating system they use. Obviously, this is what everyone wants to achieve, not just what Linux wants to achieve. Microsoft's upcoming Windows 8 and Apple's current OS X lion have clearly demonstrated what it used to be called "Application Sequencing" (appification). The unity of Canonical is an attempt to explore this pattern. Even the aforementioned LibreOffice are also working on the online version.

The problem I'm worried about here is that as we turn to SaaS, we seem to have discarded this: the native Linux application domain is worth the effort. I can't remember a new major innovation in the Linux application field was donkey. (LibreOffice, it's actually a branch version of the Office suite that existed before). Before that, what was the major innovation? Is it chrome (another browser) or Amarok and Banshee (both of which are excellent music players with a marked itunes footprint)?

In the midst of the chaos of the interface, Linux has not completely abandoned the field of desktop? If so, if Linux does indeed put all its hopes on SaaS, then the desktop Linux community should admit it to itself, Frankly accept the fact that SaaS is now the target of Linux.

Is that a big mistake? If you have read the article I wrote yesterday, I will know that I am becoming more and more uneasy about it. I think it's best to stay focused on native solutions, designed to keep Linux focused on companies and the general mass consumer market that don't want or need every part of the data to be outside the cloud environment.

Of course, don't overlook SaaS, but also don't overlook the development of native Linux applications.