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."

Comments

"Quaint"

[lostmongoose]

What he calls 'quaint' I call 'usable.'

Re:"Quaint"

[MurukeshM]

I think he's referring to the artwork there. And I must agree. Some icons look a lot better now, and programs like update manager look a lot better, and cleaner. The current LightDM login screen is way cooler than the old GDM one. Though I can't make head or tail of the Software Centre's icon ,not at the size I usually see it (looks like a shopping bag or something?).

oblig. Red v Blue

[History's Coming To]

Didn't I tell you to quit making up animals?

Re:Finally

[LurkerXXX]

Maybe if you have a tablet. It's a HUGE waste of space, extra mouse travel, and generally crappage on a desktop wiht a large monitor. I'm slowly moving all the machines I use to Linux Mint. Still Debian based, but with a sane interface for a desktop with a 24" monitor.

Quite different...

[pushing-robot]

They've released a few screenshots demonstrating the cleaner, lighter typeface and refined iconography.

Re:Finally

[Chris Burke]

My problem with Unity isn't appearance (it's very pretty and slick looking), it's functionality.

In particular I'd like to single out the scroll bars as an abomination. I'm running Ubuntu Classic and I still can't get away from these fuckers. Not having the scroll bar appear unless I mouse over the little rectangle that appears to the left of where the scroll bar marker would be is god-awful. That the little rectangle appears inside the application window and thus can be obscured by, say, a same-colored selection rectangle (as happens in the file viewer, geeqie image viewer, and plenty of other apps) means I basically have to fucking *guess* where the scroll bar should be.

Is there an obvious "make scroll bars not retarded" option I'm missing? Is this shit supposed to be good on a tablet? Am I supposed to be glad that my desktop has a tablet interface?

I'm actually scared of upgrading my friend's desktop to a newer version of Ubuntu. He's computer illiterate and has been using Ubuntu more-or-less fine for several years now, but I know him and while I can tolerate even the most bone-headed of interface (I used old versions of Mentor Graphics for example) this shit is going to drive him insane and he'll stop using it.

Re:First

[SteveFoerster]

No, that would be Queer Quetzal.

Meh, Software Center

[Artifex]

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.

Re:Meh, Software Center

[Nerdfest]

You can also install it through the software manager.

Re:Meh, Software Center

[thelamecamel]

The software centre took forever to load in 11.10, but is waaaaay faster in 12.04. It's actually usable now and I prefer it to Synaptic for my simple needs because the installations are handled by a daemon: you can start something installing, queue up a bunch more installations, close the GUI, and it will keep downloading/installing everything in the background.

Forgot obligatory disclaimer

[SteveFoerster]

Not that there's anything wrong with that.

Re:Finally

[Anonymous Coward]

Thanks! Worked like a charm!

Re:Finally

[Roadmaster]

Yes, set LIBOVERLAY_SCROLLBAR=0.

http://www.webupd8.org/2011/04/how-to-disable-overlay-scrollbars-in.html

Hope it helps!

Re:Finally

[pablomme]

Does normal seeking in the scrollbar work again (middle-click) ?

It indeed does.

Whose retard disabled seeking in a bar designed essentially to seek ?!

I don't know who the owner of the retard in question is, sorry.

Re:Finally

[steveha]

I'm actually scared of upgrading my friend's desktop to a newer version of Ubuntu. He's computer illiterate and has been using Ubuntu more-or-less fine for several years now, but I know him and while I can tolerate even the most bone-headed of interface (I used old versions of Mentor Graphics for example) this shit is going to drive him insane and he'll stop using it.

I have been using an Ubuntu 11.10 computer with MATE installed, and I am happy with it. I have removed all the overlay-scrollbar packages and the result is a nice usable GNOME 2.x desktop.

http://mate-desktop.org/

Long-term, the future is probably Cinnamon, which is built on top of the new GNOME 3.x libraries but aims to duplicate the desktop features of GNOME 2.x.

http://cinnamon.linuxmint.com/

steveha

Advice: Overuse of the Red Channel in Colors

[monoqlith]

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.

Re:unity...

[X0563511]

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).

Re:Finally

[mirix]

Still Debian based

I don't really understand this line of thought. People use Ubuntu, dislike it, then move to (K|X)buntu or Mint... What's wrong with plain old Debian?

I must be missing something.

oops

[mirix]

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?

Re:oops

[horza]

So you don't get hundreds of megs of useless libraries installed that you don't need. Kubuntu won't install the Gnome shared libs, and Ubuntu won't install the KDE or xfce4 libs.

Of course many of us tend to just install software based on both GTK and QT4 so end up sucking a lot of them in anyway whether under Unity or KDE4.

Phillip.

Re:Finally

[Osgeld]

for me its the install process, the others its 1 disc and its like 90% of what I need already there in record time, debian wants to reach out for every single thing and when you have a shit internet (like I have 1Mbs) just getting a base system installed with a command prompt can turn into a couple hours

I would rather use debian, I am rather fond of it ... though I would rather just get an os on the machine and go about whatever it was I wanted to do

Re:Finally

[steveha]

I don't really understand this line of thought. People use Ubuntu, dislike it, then move to (K|X)buntu or Mint... What's wrong with plain old Debian?

The Debian installer doesn't work as a live CD. I don't know where you can go to get a live CD with a standard Debian system on it and a GUI desktop that Just Works.

The Debian installer doesn't sort out all your hardware as well as the Ubuntu installer does. I have several laptops and I can boot an Ubuntu disc on any of them, and a GUI comes up with WiFi working. I am able to install Debian, but it would need to be with the laptop plugged in to a wired network, so I could manually install packages for the WiFi stuff until it works.

While I know a lot of people seem to hate PulseAudio, I want it running. With Ubuntu you just get it; with Debian you need to sort it out yourself.

Before "Unity" I could basically install Ubuntu and be productive right away. Now there is a step where I have to disable Unity and set up some other desktop, but that's still easier than installing Debian and fixing everything.

On the other hand, for servers, I run Debian Stable and I have for many years now. Rock solid reliable, and none of the above issues matter. (If I need to boot a server from a live CD, I can just use the Ubuntu one. But my servers are reliable and I basically never need to do that.)

steveha