PopOS is making a NEW DESKTOP, and it's GREAT for Linux

Earlier this month, a POPOS desktop engineer casually dropped on a reddit conversation that PopOS would prefer to develop their own desktop, using RUST, so let's see why that's amazing!

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First, it will be called "Cosmic" just like the current GNOME + Extensions configuration that PopOS ships. Second, it will be written in Rust, from scratch. Third, it will follow the FreeDesktop specification, so it will be interoperable with other desktops.

They also aim for more stability, and less resource usage than GNOME, with greater configuration options.

This is important, because it means that PopOs is going the same route as Unity did in the day: only write a new shell, but don't spend too much resources on re-writing everything around it, apps, window managers, settings panels, etc...

What will it look like? Basically like what today's Cosmic desktop looks like: dock on the botton, top panel, launcher to open apps and search... It makes sense to not disturb user's habits and not re-make the whole experience. It will also have the auto tiling features PopOS users already enjoy.

The desktop won't be here for 22.04, that's for sure, and I personally wouldn't expect it until 2023.

But why create yet another desktop environment? Won't that split development efforts and hurt the Linux desktop in general?

Let's get that out of the way: this is a very common misconception, but it's not how things work.

You can't always make your own vision for something coexist with the vision the original project has. Sometimes, the two are incompatible. In that case, you have 2 options: you create your own vision, and start working on it, or you forget your vision, and stop working on a project whose goals you no longer share.

Basically, if you don't fork, or create your project, you'd stop contributing anyway, so no one loses manpower in the end.

Now, why would PopOS and System76 feel that they can't keep using GNOME?

This is obviously a move to try and not be impacted as much by the GNOME planned changes.

GNOME is moving in its own direction, that PopOS hasn't really liked all that much in the past, and it doesn't seem that relations are improving, as incendiary blog posts and tweets keep being fired on a regular basis from GNOME contributors and System76 employees.

PopOS had already made a first move by renaming their shell "Cosmic", when they decided to ship a variety of extensions out of the box on their distro, to implement a vision closer to what they'd like their users to have.

Still, it seems that these extensions aren't enough: they are in general kinda hacky, can be broken with every major release of GNOME, and have no chance of ever getting upstreamed, so they'll be a burden on System76 for however long they'd decide to keep using them.

Now, my opinion about this is pretty positive. I think it's great that PopOS is developing their own desktop. I thought it was great when Ubuntu developed Unity. I think it's awesome that we have multiple desktop choices on Linux.

Basically, I think that each distribution should have its own specific "thing" that makes it unique, or it doesn't really have a reason to exist.
elementary OS has its own desktop environment and appcenter, Fedora has all the latest tech, Arch is the most bleeding edge distro, Gentoo is super optimized for your hardware, and a lot of other distros bring their own more minor spins on these bases, that serve a purpose.

[boroborable]

honestly, DE written in rust would have happened, soon or later. but with good software architecture, extensibility, customization base, its not an easy task. probably will take a good few years for something usable. I hope for the best.

[ozrencupac]

I think they should add a post install window that asks you about your previous os and choose the accent colour, theme and layout
It would be great for new users

[AdamDymitruk]

Performance and memory management shines in rust. They can overtake KDE with this.

[CrypticConsole]

Rust has advantages over C in that it is memory safe by design and memory errors are almost impossible. This is important because over 1/2 of all CVE in Linux kernel is caused by memory safety issues.

[Blueeeeeee]

Hopefully this will turn into something good and help the Linux desktop move forward !

I still wish there was more collaboration between different desktops, like this one and Cinnamon, though.

[SkyyySi]

TL;DR: For end users, Rust usually means that it'll be both fast and stable, as Rust is much safer than something like C. Or rather, it enforces its security rather than requireing the developer to "just not f it up".

[acvrat]

Aside from the shots being fired back and forth between System76 and GNOME, I've been using PopOS as my main Linux distro for a while now(also installing it on friends computers too, and they love it!) and so far I've always liked what System76 has done.

I never tried their hardware but that seems cool too and if they're coming up with hardware, their own OS and even a new DE written from scratch and in Rust they might become "the Apple of Linux". Not referring to the bad parts of Apple ofc, but the cohesiveness that comes from the fact that they also manufacture and create basically everything that ends up in their products.

Really excited to see how this goes and to try this new DE!

[JeremySoller]

Way to put on the pressure, now we really do have to make it great!

[luizotavio]

I love the idea of new DE's! I also really miss unity

[jaimiepotts]

another great video Nick! :)

I've been thinking a lot about this topic and others related to it recently i.e. distros, desktop environments, fragmentation etc.

I think the position that I've come to is that core, under-the-hood components in Linux desktop (e.g. application packaging/package management, display server, audio etc) are things that really do not benefit from a variety of implementations. These are usually technical challenges that benefit the most from widespread co-operation.

However, when it comes to say the more UX, "aesthetic" side of things, (e.g. desktop environements, theming) then I think variety is fine as ultimately different groups have different visions and tastes. As long as there is a large enough group and resources available to support say a new DE then that's fine. Although I think you make a good point at 8:34 that there is no point of say a new DE or distro if it's basically just a copy of something else but slightly rebranded.

[gwgux]

PopOS made Gnome usable for me with their COSMIC extensions to it. Their devs get it. The know what makes a good desktop environment based on what I'm seeing that they've done. I'm really excited to see what they come up with when they remove the chains of Gnome.

[alpfelisleo]

Rust is a great choice as low level language. Hopefully kernel development will follow the same steps in the future as well. Thanks for the coverage Nick.

[realtimestatic]

I really like Pop!_OS more than vanilla gnome so I'm really excited to see what they come up with!

[SaltyNotSweat]

When you don't like where a project is going, sometimes you have to say to yourself "Well, Fork this"

[ryanz]

I hope they make it look closer to what Cinnamon, KDE or XFCE looks like, rather than the tablet interface of gnome

[trapspringer]

You make some really good points beyond just gnome. I really like how you mention the variety

[PwrXenon]

So glad to just use kde and avoid all this confusion

[keverut]

I'm kind of torn on this decision. On the one hand, I don't blame System76 for wanting to ditch GNOME. GNOME has been charting a path that more and more Linux desktop users are refusing to take everyday. They have become completely disconnected from and, in my opinion, openly hostile towards users that don't share their vision. On the other hand, I'm kind of growing tired of having yet another niche desktop environment that doesn't meet the needs of all users. Cinnamon, Pantheon, and all of the others you listed don't offer anything new whatsoever, and seem to limit what their users can do. I love competition, but I don't see how having all of these desktops helps. BTW, I've been using Linux for 25 years and I have gone through a lot of different DE/WMs, yet I still keep coming back to KDE because of its flexibility.

[o_nazim]

Love you, Nick! You're a YouTube gem! ❤️

[BDRNGLM]

I didn't know about slimbook 🤷‍♂️ Thank you ! 😁