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Ubuntu 12.10 Quantal Quetzal Out Now; Raring Ringtail In the Works
An anonymous reader writes "The six month cycle that Canonical adheres to for Ubuntu releases has come around again today. Ubuntu 12.10 'Quantal Quetzal' has been released. There's a whole range of new features and updates, but here are the most important: WebApps — treats online services as if they are desktop apps (Gmail, Twitter, Facebook); Online Services — control logins to all your services from a single window and get them integrated into search results (e.g. GDocs for file searches); Dash Preview — right click any icon, get a detailed preview of what it is; Linux kernel 3.5.4; GNOME 3.6; Nautilus 3.4; latest Unity; No more Unity 2D, fallback is the Gallium llvmpipe software rasterizer; Default apps updated (Firefox 16.01, Thunderbird 16.01, LibreOffice 3.6.2, Totem, Shotwell, Rythmbox); Full disc encryption available during install; Single, 800MB distribution for all architectures." It's now available for download. The next version, due in six months' time, will be called Raring Ringtail.
From the announcement:
The timing is such that users can experiment before deciding if they want to invest in Windows 8 or go with an alternative and bypass that confusing new user interface Microsoft will be shipping.
(emphasis mine)
I'm even more eager for Trolling Tuna, which will usher in the year of Linux on the desktop.
Not that patient. I'll settle for Wanking Walrus.
Why haven't we created a single, standard shell API?
Not disagreeing with you, but... http://xkcd.com/927/
"Is that dad? Either that or Batman's really let himself go."
You know, I've been down on Unity as much as the next guy, until a wild thing happened: my 13 year old son sat down in front of it, never having used it before, and started navigating and using it like it was the most natural thing in the world.
I was shocked, he didn't have any of the old UI paradigm hangups that I have, he looked at it with completely new eyes, and was immediately productive with it, using it in ways that had not been obvious to me.
After seeing this, I really had to reconsider my Unity griping. These guys really know something about usability, and while yes, there are flaws, they seem to be getting ironed out.
Drinking habits can be dangerous. You can choke on the cloth and the nuns will wonder where their clothes are.
To get rid of the annoying adware/spyware in Unity.
$ sudo apt-get remove unity-scope-musicstores unity-lens-shopping
Real nerds run whatever the hell they feel works best for them and don't bother with trends.
Maybe I'm a wide-eyed optimist, but I see a lot of potential in Ubuntu to bring desktop Linux to a whole new level.
I'm holding out until Wascally Wabbit is released.
I can't say I'm comfortable with the direction Ubuntu is heading regarding privacy, online services and "apps" and more.
The whole Amazon shopping "lens" is by far the most blatant issue. I'm sorry, no operating system (or truly, any program) should build in covert, opt-out only targeted adware/spyware/affiliate, especially without informing the user. The error is all the more egregious because it is made by an OS that is supposed to be respecting your privacy, tuned for the user's benefit, and generally operating under the ethos of Linux and the open source community. How much trouble could it have been to let the user decide for themselves which elements the search/lens system would use? Those that had any sort of affiliate/financial benefit, upon its first activation would provide a notification to the effect of "Please note that the Amazon lens appends the Ubuntu referral/affiliate ID to searches made on the website. This means when you purchase an item on Amazon that you found using the lens, Ubuntu will receive a small portion of the proceeds. Please note that we at Ubuntu do not receive any record of what item your purchased or any other personally identifiable data related to your Amazon transaction. We encourage you to leave the affiliate ID opted-in as it helps us to bring all the great software in Ubuntu to you without cost, but if you wish to opt out simply uncheck the box to your right. You may also enter another affiliate ID if you check the box below and enter the information of your preferred supporter". With this honesty, I can gather that many users would leave the affiliate ID intact. It is completely unacceptable to not provide this information.
Thanks to Canonical demonstrating their lack of ethics when it comes to the Amazon lens, I'm increasingly suspicious that the OS is not designed with user preference and privacy, but instead puts covert financial benefit ahead of everything else. For instance, I think the lenses and web-apps themselves are dangerous from a security standpoint as it seems that by incorporating both local and remote/Internet results and programs, without the discreet choice of the user to do so, it obfuscates what data resides where, especially amongst the less technical users who need the most protection. There should be clear definitions of local, offline data and remote, online data and all users should have to make the conscious choice to say "Yes, I want my desktop search or application to interact with and pull data from the Internet, and this is exactly how". I also have to wonder how much of the data prevalent in these searches is being harvested - if Canonical is willing to covertly include their Amazon affiliate in the default desktop search of their OS, I don't see any reason why they wouldn't just as covertly take any information that their WebApps/OnlineServices/Lenses etc... and make it available for sale.
Users of a Linux OS, much less the vanguard desktop Linux OS which acts as the face of Linux to many newcomers, shouldn't have to worry their OS is being designed to undermine user experience, preference, and privacy for profit. It damages the entire Linux and open source community, which have brought many users to their distributions by saying "Hey, we're not like those guys. We put user experience and ethics before profit. Look, its all Free and Open etc...". While it isn't exactly fair to the entire Linux and FOSS community, Canonical's actions will bring down judgements of hypocrisy and be an easy sticking point for critics and competitors. I know many will say "Just apt-get remove XXXYJASDJFDFDSD if you don't like it" or "Switch to another distro", but realize that especially for those who are new to Linux/FOSS, they aren't going to stick around for that if they have a bad experience - they'll just leave.
Linux and FOSS have made some huge gains in the past few years, especially on the desktop. Look at all the new development and interest brought simply by the announcement that Steam will be coming to Linux.
I'm trying to get away from "social" apps, not get more into them.
Glad to see I'm not alone in my sentiments towards the "social" apps".
If only they had a 'KILL' button for 'em.
No, ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZÅÄÖ.
I'm waiting for Ölande Ödlan. "Beer guzzling lizard"
Now try to open a second one.
ctrl + alt + t
ctrl + alt + t
ctrl + alt + t
ctrl + alt + t
now I have 4 terminals open, how many do you want?