Other Open-Source / Linux Letdowns For 2018 From File Creation Time To Flatpaks
Here is round two of some other letdowns or Linux/open-source initiatives that didn't pan out for 2018:
RoundCube-Next - After raising more than $103k for RoundCube-Next for "creating the future of email", there is virtually nothing to show for this web-based email / communication client. All signs point to it being dead in the water and the code repositories haven't been touched since 2017.
No Vulkan Wayland Compositor Yet - Since Vulkan 1.1 it should be technically possible to write a Wayland compositor using Vulkan APIs, but that has yet to be fully tested. Last year there was work on a Vulkan renderer for KDE's KWin, but that hasn't been touched now in nearly twelve months.
Most Desktops/Apps Still Not Showing File Creation Time - Since 2017 there's been the statx system call for providing enhanced file information like a file's creation time and other attributes. Statx is supported by the key Linux file-systems, but still not widely used yet for exposing file creation times more commonly and other data.
Lack Of Adobe / Autodesk / Microsoft Programs - This one is fairly obvious but was brought up in the forums, so figured I'd mention it... We'll see if any of these popular but proprietary programs make it to the Linux desktop in 2019.
Flatpak vs. Snappy - Both Flatpak and Snappy for app sandboxing/distribution continue with no signs of convergence. Flatpak is more widely adopted and supported by different Linux platforms while Ubuntu continues pushing Snappy. Snappy does have the benefit of having more flagship applications like Spotify being available while Flatpak wins on its technical merits and adoption.
If there is any other interesting open-source initiatives/ideas/goals that didn't pan out in 2018, feel free to chime in via the forums or Twitter.
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