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Code Name, Theming Update Announced For Ubuntu 12.10
benfrog writes "In a blog post, Mark Shuttleworth announced some changes for Ubuntu 12.10 (due in October), including the code name (Quantal Quetzal — no, really) and a theme update. He said, 'That will kick off with a project on typography to make sure we are expressing ourselves with crystal clarity – making the most of Ubuntu’s Light and Medium font weights for a start. And a project on iconography, with the University of Reading, to refine the look of apps and interfaces throughout the platform. It’s amazing how quaint the early releases of Ubuntu look compared to the current style. And we’re only just getting started! In our artistic explorations we want to embrace tessellation as an expression of the part-digital, part-organic nature of Ubuntu.' Some other more meaningful announcements include a focus on the cloud in the server version and the lack of a transition from Upstart to systemd."
What he calls 'quaint' I call 'usable.'
If they spend more time on the appearance, maybe I will actually enjoy Unity.
The code names are just priceless
Didn't I tell you to quit making up animals?
Please consider this account deleted, I just can't be bothered with the spam anymore.
Ubuntu 10.04.2 inherited a GTK problem which has persisted through every release since; it's in the Debian code base as well.
Some random time after logging in to a Gnome session, mouse clicks get lost (usually within 30 seconds to 5 minutes of login.) Not just clicks on menus or windows, but all mouse clicks. KDE, however, works fine. So do the lesser known non-GTK desktops that I've played with.
Unfortunately, the bug surfaces almost immediately in GTK-based installers such as provided by Ubuntu, Kubuntu, and Debian. Which means that even getting an install done requires that you use the text mode installer (which is muy painful.)
At this point the only installation I've found that I can use is Fedora's KDE edition.
On the bright side, it's another year before 10.04.1 drops from the support list and I have to upgrade.
The problem occurs on an ASUS P5QL Pro mobo, my friend's Acer laptop with trackpad, and a buddy's HP laptop with trackpad.
Doesn't anyone test any more?
(And no, despite years of C/C++ programming, I have absolutely no interest in finding and fixing the problem myself. I have other work to do. I'm content with the simple "workaround" of dropping Ubuntu and GTK based systems, particularly as I hate Gnome 3 with a passion.)
I do not fail; I succeed at finding out what does not work.
>part-digital, part-organic nature of Ubuntu.'
Don't tell me they're going to make my desktop start smelling brown, too....
I actually like the fact that Ubuntu is very organized and providing a direction for Linux desktops, but their UI choices have been idiosyncratic, to say the least.
They've released a few screenshots demonstrating the cleaner, lighter typeface and refined iconography.
How can I believe you when you tell me what I don't want to hear?
I don't like Unity either, but my plan for 12.04 is to keep Ubuntu, with which I'm otherwise still satisfied, and install MATE. There's no reason to throw out the baby with the bathwater.
Space game using normal deck of cards: http://BattleCards.org
... should be called "Somersaulting Shark"?
I dumped that for Synaptic Package Manager as soon as I could.
Don't need to be loading lots of graphics and junk on my lightweight netbook when I'm just trying to manage packages through a menu.
Get off my launchpad!
Not that there's anything wrong with that.
Space game using normal deck of cards: http://BattleCards.org
I can't wait for the release of Ubuntu Varicose Veins
Not because I don't think it's cool and all that. I just tend to forget what half these otherwise useful programs are for after awhile.
Libre Office is hanging on by a thread though.
I had "Probing Penis"
Harrison's Postulate - "For every action there is an equal and opposite criticism"
If it looks like a shopping bag, that's exactly what it's supposed to resemble. The icons for Google Play Store (formerly Android Market) and AppsLib also look like shopping bags.
> In a blog post, Mark Shuttleworth announced some changes for Ubuntu 12.10 (due in October), including the code name (Quantal Quetzal — no, really)
No, really? Another stupid codename? You can knock me over with a feather right now!
You happened to know those were called "overlay scrollbars". Not everybody does. How should one use a search engine without knowing the name of what one is looking for?
At least [a screenshot of Windows 8's Metro-style start panel] still nowhere near as hideous as Windows 8 will be. Can you imagine if Microsoft designed the whole UI like that?
At least Microsoft still leaves the old UI installed by default and fully supported. A press of the super key toggles between the traditional Windows 7-style desktop and the new metrosexual start panel. (That's more than "app status" to me.) To match that, Canonical would actually have to put some effort into making a usable GNOME fallback, such as by adopting GNOME 2-based MATE or GNOME 3-based Cinnamon.
People would flock to Mac/Linux in droves!
Yes, if Microsoft were to force all applications to run as Metro-style applications in the start panel, plenty of users would plan for migration. Microsoft understands this and keeps the familiar desktop and its associated Win32 API fully supported.
Hairy Hard-on is so four years ago.
you don't like it. right?
gee willikers your top priorities on an operating system is a theme, icons and fonts! Good thing its open source so that everyone will get a glimpse of the brilliance it takes to make an OS that is perfect in any situation, so you have all this time to piss away making a theme that 90% of the people will change instantly!
Red is the color of alarm, of fear. It is abrasive to the eyes and to our visual processing system and is often used to signify errors for these reasons.
I know it seems unoriginal but Ubuntu needs to move over to a blue/green color palette. Mac OS X and Windows screens heavily utilize blue for this reason. It is psychologically soothing. It makes you feel like you're awash in the operating system as opposed to standing apart from it. I think if Ubuntu switches over to bluish colors we'll see a sharp increase in adoption.
Im a LONG term Ubuntu user and Ive moved across to Linux mint because UNITY is just not useable for a power user. .. they need to make it useable ! talk about not seeing the flood for the raindrops
Its slow (even on a HIGH end, large RAM quad core machine) and buggy then trying to USE it is just annoying and I have had three honest attempts to adapt to it....
For the pretty graphics and typography -
Indeed. I wish they would stop "fixing" what isn't broken. Even KDE is pushing it lately, for me.
I don't think this is a poison specific to Ubuntu or GNOME, it seems to be everywhere.
What am I supposed to do? Stop updating? Pretend it's still the last decade?
It's like everyone's trying to become the Next Big Thing as far as interfaces go, but the hardware is lagging seriously behind (eg, this stuff would be awesome on holographic tablets a-la science fiction games).
For large sets, this will be our guide even unto death, for the LORD will work for each type of data it is applied to...
i think there is a tint2 script for that.
Also, what is the point of the separate x-buntus?
Why not just apt-get install $other_window_manager, if that is what you want? Why is it a different distro?
Sent from my PDP-11
I'd prefer names that I can easily pronounce while drunk. :p
...and then there was bash
It reads like a press release for a product from some multi-billion dollar company; not a Linux distro. You can almost play bullshit bingo with that.
"Upstart knows everything it wants to be, the competition wants to be everything. Quality comes from focus and clarity of purpose, it comes from careful design and rigorous practices. .. For our future on cloud and client, Upstart is crisp, clean and correct."
"So there’s an opportunity to refresh the look. That will kick off with a project on typography to make sure we are expressing ourselves with crystal clarity – making the most of Ubuntu’s Light and Medium font weights for a start. And a project on iconography, with the University of Reading, to refine the look of apps and interfaces throughout the platform."
"In our artistic explorations we want to embrace tessellation as an expression of the part-digital, part-organic nature of Ubuntu. We love the way tessellated art expresses both the precision and reliability of our foundations, and the freedom and collaboration of a project driven by people making stuff for people. There’s nothing quixotic in our desire to make Ubuntu the easiest, steadiest, and most beautiful way to live digitally."
To me anyway. After being forced to endure that piece of rubbish called Unity, I have now gone back to the core, Debian.
At least it's not run by a megalomaniac with no understanding of consumer choice.
I feel your pain, Ubuntu went nutty so I switched to mint. Mint 10 just ended support this month, 11 and its implementation of gnome 2 is half broken and 12 uses gnome 3, which is perfect for my 2Ghz AGP workbench machine. Theres mint LXDE, but I dont like LXDE is disjointed as a DM, so I finally settled down on xubuntu (XFCE) runs fine, nice DM, up to date for a while too
So they'll dump Unity for Xmonad? Way ahead of them.
Don't kid yourself: holographic tablets, in fact all computer interfaces as seen in entertainment - are garbage. They exist specifically to be incomprehensible to the audience, so you don't have to fill out everything that's on there, yet they always seem highly functional because the plot demands them to be.
I use os x so I already have a usable unix desktop, stop being open source cheapskates and buy a real unix box you bums.
Scared wannabe-Linux-user here -
Isn't raw Debian supposed to be Free-Software-Holy as in theory, but missing a bunch of day to day drivers and stuff? While I think I'm stuck on Windows because of the zillion mini-apps I downloaded this year, I keep eyeing Mint with xfce as the underdog distro to move to - most of the Debian Goodness, but a few (gasp! horror) "blobs" that help Just Make Things Work, plus I keep hearing xfce is one of the better UI's for Ex-Windows users.
(Sorry, what's so hard about Right-Click/New/Make new folder or document type? None of the UI's I tried got that right!)
Also, I got burned twice by Ubuntu, but I keep hearing that Raw Debian while upstream-pure requires all kinds of installs that terrified newbies aren't ready to handle. I wan'na support the philosophy, not run a rigorously pure OS! Gimme a training wheel blob so I can use it today!
My first Journal Entry ever, in 8 years! http://slashdot.org/journal/365947/aphelion-scifi-fantasy-horror-poetry-webzine
How is it that an interface that can restructure itself on the fly supposed to be garbage? Sure, it would suck if you were just waving at air - but these interfaces are also said or hinted to have some kind of tactile feedback. Some canon even goes so far as to explain it via force fields or whatnot.
Like I said, far off in the future if ever, but it seems everyone wants interfaces to start behaving that way now.
For large sets, this will be our guide even unto death, for the LORD will work for each type of data it is applied to...
Okay, in the spirit of discussion, let's try a counter-view
What happens if a user wants to "relax"? I'm still on XP because as far back as the MS "Longhorn" previews in 2004 to a fighting edge in 2009, XP was the workhorse, the OS that just got $hit done while MS fiddled with Vista. Sorry, I'll live with crap bugs in an App, but not an OS. So currently Win7 looks legit, sure, but I need more perspective than that. I need to know what's beyond Win8 Metro-iOS Wannabe. I need to see what Win9 becomes.
Back to Ubuntu. I got burned by Ubuntu TWICE, (with no data risk, fortunately just testing!) once with what later became a known bug in Dapper Drake in 2006, and one last year with whatever-damn-distro-year it was, my test machine was doing fine until one of the new releases completely melted it and it refused to boot. Nope. NOT HAVING THAT on anything resembling a "production" machine. That was the end of Ubuntu for me. Why can't they just do "updates that work" like (gasp, wait for it) MS? "Service Pack 1,2,3" are basically seamless updates to the XP core, and yes, it basically Just Works.
I refuse to remotely back up my data and re-install every six months because the Ubuntu Updater can't competently update between versions.
My first Journal Entry ever, in 8 years! http://slashdot.org/journal/365947/aphelion-scifi-fantasy-horror-poetry-webzine
Just install gnome-session-fallback, log out and select Classic Gnome. To move or install indicators etc, alt+right click.
Ubuntu has their LTS (Long Term Support) releases for that.
http://www.ubuntu.com/business/server/overview
That being said, for the desktop I've moved to Mint, because Ubuntu doesn't appear to listen to a large chunk of users like me who hate, hate, hate Unity.
Despite what some might say, I like unity, it's taught me new things, like unmaximize, I had never used that before, and simply don't know how I got by without it. Furthemore and working scroll bars are a privilege that should not be cannot taken for granted, also it encourages better hand eye precision, often requiring pixel perfect mouse control to expand a window (before it snaps to full screen of course).
It's also showed me the path to being greener, by refusing to work consistently on two monitors, and teaching me I really only need one, even if I have to window switch constantly this is a bonus as it improves my memory having to remember what's hidden where rather than lazily being able to see it.
it doesn't end there, it's a playful little tike, and often, and finds new ways to create games, never a dull moment.
So I am really pleased the next release does not impact on unities cheeky charms and instead focuses on important things, like better icon artwork.
Minty Gnome.
Can anyone tell me what’s this weird obsession with fonts? They are just fonts, dammit. This is like Lada contemplating what precise color their interiors will be. Any news on funding Wayland? Naaah. Any news on funding PulseAudio? Nope. Wait, there is a new SDK coming out? Bahaha! almost got you for a minute there! There is nothing. Instead, let’s take out our crayon pencils and design new UIs and fonts first. Sure, UI and font design has it’s place, but after you have a working OS people can develop for. This is what most people don’t understand. When Microsoft announces a new API or a new SDK, it gets a quick mention in the press and then the press shifts focus on UIs and new gizmos, but the difference it makes for developers is huge. And people buy OSes depending on what apps they can run on.
Well I was speaking more towards "things which look like computers on TV" then anything else, but the point also stands: using an interface for an extended period where your arms aren't resting on something to be supported becomes extremely tiresome. It's also impractical to have a touchscreen desktop monitor for pretty much the same reasons.
There are very good reasons most interfaces have lasted as long as they have (i.e. the computer mouse).
Just use software that shares your philosophy, where updates don't remake the whole software package. Go with one of the less well-known window managers like Openbox or FVWM or even a minor desktop like XFCE. Build workflows around old mature tools like shells and terminals rather than graphical file managers. There are lots of projects that are not trying to become the next big thing, but none of them are associated with KDE, GNOME, or Ubuntu.
Penny - plain text accounting
There is now a Linux Mint Debian Edition that is not based on Ubuntu at all, but the rolling release of Debian Testing. My Ubuntu just went EOL and I'm seriously considering LMDE as an alternative, though I still need to research about installing Opera and if Money Manager ex (mmex) will run without issue. I was able to run it as a Live DVD too.
> Ubuntu has their LTS (Long Term Support) releases for that.
LTS means shit. They have closed off every bug I filed with something like "this appears to be fixed in the next release, closing." It's amateur hour over there.
Oh yeah, colours? My rule of thumb is not to use anything, the name of which I cannot pronounce without doubting myself.
Also I actually USE a COMPUTER as opposed to a netblet tablet bablet , so if it's unity then it's DOA for me.
You can't handle the truth.
Canonical, just please stop using the silly names for important things like repositories that you may actually need to remember. When I have only cli access on a server and know the version number (like 11.10) perfectly well of the package I want it's a nightmare trying to figure out if it was jaunty this or hypocritic hippo that or whatever.
Well, I'm halfway there. The GUI I tend to use only when it's needed to convey information (eg a graphics editor, videos, games etc). Moving files around, editing configuration files, system maintenance etc - I tend to do all this in a terminal.
The trouble is that Openbox etc are TOO minimal. I can function, but not happily. XFCE seems to be the happy medium, in my case.
For large sets, this will be our guide even unto death, for the LORD will work for each type of data it is applied to...
Microsoft have already said that the Win32 API is now legacy and will only be updating their WinRT API going forward.
All WinRT applications have to be obtained through the Windows Store, as I understand it. Where does this leave companies that develop applications for internal use as opposed to for sale on the Windows Store?
What is the difference between MATE and Cinnamon, which is available as a PPA for LinuxMint 12, but will be an install choice in LinuxMint 13 schedule for May? Is MATE the default desktop now for LinuxMint?
because you can do a new font while high 24/7.
you can not fix pulseaudio while high 24/7.
world was created 5 seconds before this post as it is.
Just Another Fucked-Up Name
stupid names is one of the reasons Linux gets little respect in the mainstream markets and media.
The servers need a better way to be managed than paying Canonoical an absurd amount of money. I'm all for them having that, but if I have less than a handful of servers that I want to manage packages, updates and configs... I need something much cheaper than Landscape and something much easier to use than Puppet.
Zoonotic Zebra, for the cross-platform infectability it will provide.
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I use Gentoo and opensuse these days on my desktops and laptop, but Ubuntu/Unity on my netbook. It does work very well with small netbook screens, which was the original intended application (at first Unity was just for the netbook edition). It's extremely difficult to use on a big desktop screen, especially if you have to do big-boy work with a lot of multitasking. There's a reason why the desktop metaphor has been the dominant gui design for the past 30 years.
Windows is falling into the same trap with Windows 8. I guess smartphones and tablets are just so cool now that the same interface must work everywhere.
If you don't understand any of my sayings, come to me in private and I shall take you in my German mouth.
How much does Microsoft charge to set up this internal "app store"? Apple charges $300 per year, and the business needs to have a DUNS number (the process to obtain which I don't know). And at first, only businesses with more than 500 employees could have their own internal iOS app store.
Which would end up giving iOS a cheaper TCO than Windows RT if all that software can't be obtained for $1,900, the price of a Mac mini server + 3 years of a private iOS app store.