Ubuntu's "Lucid Lynx" Enters Beta 366
ActionDesignStudios writes "The upcoming release of Ubuntu, titled 'Lucid Lynx,' has just entered the beta cycle. Alongside the usual desktop and server versions, a special version has been released that is designed to run on Amazon's EC2 cloud service. This release of Ubuntu does away with the brown 'Human' Gnome theme we've all become accustomed to, replaced by a new version Canonical says is inspired by light. The new release also includes much better integration with social networking services such as Twitter, identi.ca and Facebook, among others."
Re:"Does away with" the Human theme? (Score:4, Insightful)
That's funny, after upgrading I still have Human as an option. It's just not the default for new installs.
This must be some new definition of "does away with" which actually means something completely different.
Humans are now obsolete and will be done away with, is what it means.
Re:f1rst p0st (Score:2, Insightful)
Re:Using it since Alpha 1 (Score:3, Insightful)
It almost makes sense.
Re:Using it since Alpha 1 (Score:3, Insightful)
Why? What's the point of having more than one window open if everything's always maximized? I've seen it many times, but I've never understood it.
Re:Window Buttons (Score:5, Insightful)
Ubuntu is the mainstream Linux GUI and it uses windows to display applications. The way in which windows are controlled matters a great deal. As Shuttleworth says it's not a democracy and he can choose, but all software has users and if they're not convinced that changes are made for the best reasons then of course they're going to do what they're allowed to do: talk about it.
This change hasn't been justified on any grounds. It puts the 'Close' button near the 'File' menu and other drop-downs which makes it easier to misclick and close applications. It's not a common layout across WIMP GUIs. It's an unnecessary and pointless variation on what people expect.
Very easily? So it's a multichoice box somewhere in the GUI then?
The non-easy solution was to modify or make a gconf key. Is that really the easy way of doing it?
Re:f1rst p0st (Score:4, Insightful)
I think that the dream of a mainstream community-based OS is dead now.
At least Fedora does not have these delusions of grandeur. It is a testbed for Red Hat, I'm OK with that. I don't want my OS to be interesting, for fuck's sake. I want it very predictable and unobtrusive. Is it too much to ask?
Re:Slow News Day? (Score:3, Insightful)
Re:Slow News Day? (Score:5, Insightful)
OMGZZZ!!! Lucid Lynx enters beta!!! is slashdot having a slow news day today?
Ubuntu enters beta every six months. It's news for those of us who like beta-testing Ubuntu.
Just because a story appears on Slashdot front page does not mean that you have to click "Read More" and then have to come up with something to comment. Go ahead and skip an article if you don't find it interesting. No seriously, go ahead. No one is going to stop you. You won't get an achievement saying "Did not comment on articlezor!".
What I want to know is ... (Score:5, Insightful)
The new release also includes much better integration with social networking services such as Twitter, identi.ca and Facebook
Why should an operating system "integrate" with a social networking service?
Re:One step forward, two steps back (Score:5, Insightful)
Both of these are pretty much show-stoppers, especially the ATI issue. Is a month long enough to sort out a problem this serious?
They've probably been planning around this longer than a month already. Anyways, as for ATI, x.org shouldn't have to plan around ATI's schedule, especially with their history of support.
Re:What I want to know is ... (Score:3, Insightful)
Because "operating system" means more than you think it means. It ships with a desktop manager which allows email, IM, and other communication services to access the dock. That's what "integrates" means.
Re:Slow News Day? (Score:3, Insightful)
Ubuntu enters beta every six months. It's news for those of us who like beta-testing Ubuntu.
And it's more important than that for those of us that like to stick with a LTS version of Ubuntu; this is the first Beta in a while.
Re:Using it since Alpha 1 (Score:1, Insightful)
Not only that but Mark's Comments towards the end of this bug report [launchpad.net] posted in a previous slashdot story [slashdot.org] have really opened my eyes as to what a dick he really is when talking to his users.
There's lots of reasons to keep the close buttons on the right by default and yet Mark can't come up with one reason to move them, just a lot of nonsense about "his plans" which he doesn't want to share.
He is absolutely not being a dick. Just take a look at the rubbish people are throwing his way. Nothing he's said could be considered harsh to any but the most sensitive and fragile of souls out there and it's usually those fragile fools throwing the most mud.
The design team made a decision, and they've said they'll take on board any reasonable criticisms but most of what's going on is cry babies with their, "Listen to me, I want it this way, just because, and if you don't do what I say then I'll take my bat and ball and use another distro."
It's fine to take the view that you don't like where the buttons are and it's easily changed too. Just because someone wont do what you want just by crying and screaming at them via bug reports, etc. without being reasonable is hardly unusual. If I demand you to stop reading Slashdot just cause I want you to with no good reason and being a baby while I ask would rightly be met with a no. It's not the end of the world where the buttons are now and there's a way to put them where you want. How most of the posters can justify their positions on this in any way mystifies me.
Re:Slow News Day? (Score:3, Insightful)
Ubuntu enters beta every six months. It's news for those of us who like beta-testing Ubuntu.
I disagree, based on the current amount of time for which the beta has been out. Those of us who like beta-testing Ubuntu should have known this, oh, 4 or 5 days ago, when it happened.
For those of us who like beta-testing Ubuntu, this is olds, not news.
Re:Music Store (Score:3, Insightful)
Sounds like they filter all the crap out for you already, leaving only music by real musicians. You should be happy for that, less risk of making a mistake when buying music.
Re:Using it since Alpha 1 (Score:3, Insightful)
A logical one.
It's not logical at all on a platform which puts the menu bar right below the window title. Wanted to click "Edit", but hit the close button instead? Too bad.
About those crazy buttons (Score:5, Insightful)
As I have already commented [slashdot.org], I think this is a horrible idea. Windows is not going to change its window buttons, I have to use Windows, and I dread this change. And, if you have to put the buttons on the left, the most-commonly-used button (the Close button) should be in the left corner, so that in the common case where I have a maximized window, it's easier to hit.
I went ahead and read through Mark Shuttleworth's comments about the bug. In summary: they want to try some new cool stuff, they want to shake things up and not be bound by the past, they have some ideas (not described) for ways to use the right-hand side of the menu bar. (He was even talking about moving the scroll bar away from the right side of the window, on the grounds that few people use it, and scroll wheels/touchscreen interfaces are becoming the big new thing. This doesn't give me the warm fuzzies either.) They are shipping the beta like this to see what actual reactions are to this idea.
I went ahead and listened to the podcast [ubuntu-uk.org] also (the relevant bit starts around 0:39 into the podcast). Ivanka Majic said many things, but IMHO did not adequately explain why they think this is a good idea. Some vague comments about how they are actually testing things. She said many commendable things, such as talking about how new users can find it really hard to even understand just what Ubuntu is. And she said something that sounded like her department was behind the "papercuts" project, of which I firmly approve. But if you are trying to understand what the heck is going on with those crazy buttons, you can skip the podcast.
So, if (like me) you dread these new buttons, the best thing you could possibly do is to actually get a copy of the Ubuntu beta and try it out; then post, not just opinions, but informed opinions supported by personal experience. "I tried to click on the Edit menu and closed my window" (if that actually happens to you) should be much more persuasive than "I looked at your screen shot and I can already tell I hate it".
By the way, check this out: http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=1430585 [ubuntuforums.org]
So, I'm planning to download the Ubuntu Beta ISO image, and install it (possibly in VirtualBox), and try the thing out. Then I will add my voice to those commenting on the new buttons.
steveha
Re:Brown is down? (Score:3, Insightful)
Brown is replaced with purple and black by default. Good luck making a racist analogy with that.
Re:Using it since Alpha 1 (Score:4, Insightful)
cof *regedit* cof!
As Lord Vetinari said.... (Score:1, Insightful)
People LIKE olds - its what they're familiar with.
Why do people like Ubuntu? (Score:5, Insightful)
I know this is going to seem like trolling, but humour me here. What is it, that people honestly see in this distribution?
I used both Jaunty and Intrepid; Jaunty for probably two months. I've been using Linux for 15 years now, and I honestly feel that Ubuntu was, without any hyperbole, the single worst Linux distribution that I've ever seen. I absolutely hated it.
Why? Sound (ALSA) dropping out randomly and continually, kernel panics from nVidia drivers, and the completely non-orthagonal design, with Gnome being hard-welded to the rest of the system, were the three main reasons. I don't like Gnome at all, and when I tried to remove it, rapidly found that I couldn't. I generally use Ratpoison in either Linux or FreeBSD.
Then there's the horrid mess that is upstart, and the usual Debian tendency to change absolutely everything they can, purely for the hell of it, such that even basic things like setting up an fstab for the most part doesn't work. Hard drives get mounted some other way, that I wasn't able to find. Add to that, the "quiet splash," options in GRUB, which remove the ability to debug a faulty installation, leading to the infamous "black screen of death." I honestly felt that the overall design was seriously less transparent than Windows; and if I started really trying to change things, the entire system very rapidly started to fall apart.
Are people really so superficial, that a nice shiny Gnome theme (for the first few minutes before the system dies, at least) is the only thing that is considered important?
Re:Why do people like Ubuntu? (Score:5, Insightful)
After Redhat mismanaged the discontinuation of RedHat Linux in favor of an enterprise focus, many people started fishing around for a replacement default Linux. (Yes, I know Redhat still has a desktop product, but the impression people got was that Redhat was going totally corporate.)
Add to that the legendary (even promised) instability of Fedora, which is explicitly and without apology presented as a testing vehicle.
In comes Ubuntu with the Circle of Friends [underconsideration.com] imagery, the Ubuntu code of conduct [ubuntu.com], the word ubuntu [wikipedia.org] itself ("open and available to others"), and the promise of "Linux for Human Beings".
The rapid growth of Ubuntu to #1 on Distrowatch [distrowatch.com] was propelled by evangelism done by the same power users whose opinions are apparently not worth being listened to anymore.
Harden the f*** up! (Score:3, Insightful)
OK disclaimer first. I haven't seen it yet. I haven't seen a screen shot yet. I haven't read anything yet. I'm still running 9.04.
But I can absolutely see reasons to support this.
I recently enabled the Group and Tab Windows in Compiz.
I was staggered by the functionality and possibilities, but frustrated by the usability. Right click on title bar? Nothing. Anything in the Windowing menu (Top left under icon)? Err, nope. AFAICT, the only way to make any use of it is knowing the key stroke combos. It's like learning all over again! And this is the only way to control the GUI itself! No integration into the Windowing UI?
So, from my perspective, you need a way to control the newer MDI technologies, and if they stick it in the window bar where _/[]/X was, stick that same _/[]/X wherever you want.
Eye candy will definitely win some converts. If it's an opportunity for Ubuntu to lead and someone else to react, then what have you got to lose?
ws
Re:Why do people like Ubuntu? (Score:4, Insightful)
Kubuntu works great for those folks that don't care for Gnome. Perhaps you should try it before going all apeshit on the distro and complaining about it.
5 seconds of research on Google shows how to use Ubuntu without Gnome. /sigh
Re:Why do people like Ubuntu? (Score:3, Insightful)
I'm a long time unix user. The early releases of ubuntu were just beautiful, i ran them as they came (defaults were sane).
The last releases were buggy, full of stupid changes (tomboy and mono, insane default desktop options). I have a long gconf list now which i apply on a new install. They seem to be able to break features with every release. They also change default applications with every release (im, torrent client, etc. ... new default apps don't have all of the features the older ones had).
All in all, Ubuntu 9.04 was my last ubuntu. I am sick and tired of the work i have to put in to keep it running.
Cheers,
-S
Re:Using it since Alpha 1 (Score:3, Insightful)
Aside from being convention it's predictable and convenient since its order never changes depending on if the window can be minimized and / or maximized. If there is a risk in closing a window (e.g. unsaved work), then the app can simply override the default close behaviour to allow the user the chance to cancel. This would have to happen regardless of where the close button is.
Re:Why do people like Ubuntu? (Score:2, Insightful)
People like you, who obviously seem to have fun at dealing with things such as ALSA, nVidia drivers, Ratpoison, FreeBSD, upstart, fstab, disk mounting, and GRUB won't probably like Ubuntu. People who don't want to deal with such things, will probably like Ubuntu, because it does a decent job of hiding the technical details from them in such a way that they can actually use the system. So, what you seem to perceive as a lack of transparency in the system design, is deliberate and seen by many as a feature instead of as a defect.
It isn't simply a matter of people being superficially drawn to a "nice shiny Gnome". It's actually that they want to use their computer without having to understand the gory technical details of the software installed in it.
Re:Why do people like Ubuntu? (Score:3, Insightful)
> What is it, that people honestly see in this distribution?
The short answer? Jaunty was the first Linux distribution which, out-of-the-box, wasn't pure shit on a modern laptop. Now, admittedly Ubuntu may not be unique in that sense... I guess I could try Fedora again. No, wait, I couldn't.
I don't like Gnome functionally, aesthetically, or philosophically, but since the only really reasonable alternative right now is KDE4, I'm seeing it as the lesser of two evils...
c.