I really like the consistent progress that's being made by the Linux audio community. Other aspects of the open source world might garner more attention or more reaction, but the focused and dedicated effort to work out the kinks in the Linux arena in terms of audio, multimedia playback and driver support is nonetheless news. How well these three areas grade out during the next two-three years will go far in determining how close the world is to a ubiquitous, low cost Windows alternative on the desktop. One which isn't good enough but just plain good. Quite a bit of progress has already been made, but more remains to be done at both an individual and a coagulative level. Most importantly, growth and progress are happening organically from the inside-out. No one has had to save it from it's own success, as was initially predicted by some at the outset of Linux's emergence. The community has shown the mettle to stick at improving the state of the Linux experience one aspect at a time. There are, of course, still a great deal of shortcomings. However, it goes without saying that the pieces are aligned for a bright future for the Linux desktop.
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