It’s hard to admit but it’s happening and you can see it in the likes of Ubuntu 12.04 desktop (and earlier releases too) as well as Fedora 17. The first indicator was the need for advanced 3D video drivers in order to support the new desktop goodies. Sound like Aero/Glass yet?

This morning while I was updating a client’s Ubuntu 12.04 server was that there seemed to be a request to convert /etc/resolv.conf to /etc/resolveconf. This might seem like a subtle change but when you read the manpage for resolvconf you realize that your server is going to be running a few more daemons that you previously didn’t need. (I do not know enough about resolvconf and I’m certain the author would not be wasting our time but it feels wrong that we need a daemon where the traditional methods worked fine)

I watched a talk recently where the speaker pointed me to this doc. The interesting point is that the original Unix distro was only 10K lines of code. This speaks volumes considering the millions of LOC that are in the current distros. You did not get a GUI in 10K but it was a functioning OS. My complaint is that the dependency on current hardware and daemonizing everything that moves feels like a move away from the Linux roots.

PS: This will likely widen the splinter between the *nix and the BSD groups.