Xmms on Red Hat Linux version 8.0
We’ve seen a lot of changes to the Linux desktop over the past 10 years. Going through some old screen shots I turned up this Red Hat version 8.0 (pre-Fedora) screenshot. It’s simple, it’s elegant, and really light-weight compared to today’s desktops. We advanced technologies like Compiz for 3D graphics and can now do all kinds of flashy desktop effects, some functional, some not. In the race to standardize an OS for different hardware we seem to have lost sight of elegance and simplicity. For me the icons, the layout and the software in Red Hat Linux version 8.0 was terrific. It did the job. The real problem back then was hardware and that has mostly been taken care of, but not thanks to UI design, but back end kernel engineering.
