Monthly Archives: August 2012
Amarok 2.6 released
KDE is proud to announce version 2.6 of Amarok music player. While it brings a reasonable set of new features, the focus of this release was on bug fixing and improving the overall stability. The new features are a complete overhaul of the iPod, iPad and iPhone support including solid support for device playlists; transcoding for iPod-like and USB Mass Storage devices; the Free Music Chart service is now activated by default; embedded cover support for Ogg and FLAC files; and album art support for tracks on the filesystem and USB Mass Storage devices.”
Gnome thro the way
In the mid 1990’s, the Linux desktop experience was provided by such aesthetically striking components as the fvwm window manager, the Xaw toolkit, and the Midnight Commander file manager. That was more than enough for many early Linux users, quite a few of whom, having written their own custom modelines to get X working with their monitors, felt no need for a desktop system beyond what it took to get their xterm windows arranged nicely. Every community has its discontents, though. In this case, one of the first groups to get itself properly organized was the KDE project, which started hacking on an integrated desktop environment in 1996 and which, by the middle of 1997, had some interesting results to show.
The problem with KDE, of course, is that it relied on the Qt toolkit, and Qt was not, at that time, free software. This decision led to epic flame wars that put current squabbles (GNOME 3, or systemd, say) to shame; they just don’t make flames like they used to. Some attempts were made to get Trolltech to change Qt to a free license, but Trolltech was not yet interested in considering such a move. It is interesting to speculate on what might have happened had Qt been relicensed in 1997 rather than three years later; one of the deepest divisions within the free software community might just have been avoided.
Then again, maybe not. We’re not entirely happy without something to fight about, and Emacs-versus-vi, by virtue of predating Linux entirely, was old and boring even in 1997.
The stated goals of the newly-launched GNOME project were straightforward enough: “We want to develop a free and complete set of user friendly applications and desktop tools, similar to CDE and KDE but based entirely on free software.” The project would be based on the GTK toolkit which, to that point, had only really been used with GIMP. The project also planned to make heavy use of the Scheme language — an objective that faded into the background fairly quickly.
GNOME itself remained very much in the foreground. Compared to KDE it had a different license (even after Qt was freed), a different implementation language (C vs. C++), and a different approach to the desktop — all fodder for plenty of heated discussions. Miguel was from early on an admirer of Microsoft’s ways of doing software development and tried to push many of them into GNOME. Companies were formed around GNOME, including Helix Code/Ximian (eventually acquired by SUSE) and Eazel (which followed the classic dotcom trajectory of burning vast amounts of money before its abrupt death). There was clearly a lot of activity around GNOME from the very beginning.
The project produced three major releases: 1.0 in 1999, 2.0 in 2002, and 3.0 in 2011. The 2.0 release provoked a flood of criticism as the result of the project’s focus on removing options whenever possible. A perceived arrogance on the developers’ part (one described some user-requested window manager options as “crack-ridden bogosity”) was not helpful. The GoneME fork was started in response, but did not get very far. Over time, enough features returned to the desktop, and things improved enough overall, that most users made their peace with it and stopped complaining.
The 3.0 release, instead, has provoked a flood of criticism as the result of the removal of options and features. A perceived arrogance on the developers’ part has not helped the situation much. The MATE desktop fork has been started in response; it’s too early to say just how far it will get. Meanwhile, a few features have found their way back into subsequent 3.x releases, and some users, at least, have made their peace with it and stopped complaining. Others, needless to say, have not.
Where to from here?
Fifteen years in, it would be hard to argue that GNOME has not been a success. The project is arguably the most successful Linux desktop available. It has an advanced code base, lots of developers, a well established foundation with a fair amount of corporate support, and more. There must be no end of free software projects that can only dream of the level of success that GNOME has achieved.
That said, there is a visible level of concern within the project. The relentless criticism of GNOME 3 has proved discouraging to many developers, and the millions of new users that GNOME 3 was supposed to attract have not yet shown themselves. Distributors are making noises about trying other desktops, and Ubuntu, arguably the highest-profile GNOME-based distribution, has gone off in its own direction with yet another fork. Meanwhile, the desktop in general looks like a shrinking target; the cool kids have gone elsewhere and GNOME seems to not be a part of it. In this situation, what’s a project to do?
Allan Day’s GNOME OS post shines some light on what at least some of the project’s developers are thinking. Much of it looks like a continuation of GNOME’s recent work — completing the GNOME 3 user experience for example. Some seems like basic sense: making the system easier to build and test would be near the top of list. Others are unsurprising, but may not get the results the project is after.
The post never uses these words, but the GNOME project clearly wants to put together yet another “app store” infrastructure wherein third parties can offer proprietary applications to users. For whatever reason, enabling proprietary applications has always been seen as the path to success; the whole point of the venerable Linux Standard Base exercise was to attract that kind of application. Making it easier to add applications to the system can only be a good thing, but it will not, on its own, cause either users or developers to flock to the platform.
GNOME also clearly plans to target tablets and handsets. Again, the objective makes sense: that is where a lot of the buzz — and the money — is to be found. The problem here is that this space is already crowded with free (or mostly-free) alternatives. Android dominates this area, of course; platforms like Tizen, Plasma Active, webOS, Firefox OS, and ChromeOS are also looking for users. It is far from clear that GNOME has something to offer that will make it stand out in this crowd, especially since Allan does not expect a “touch-compatible” version of GNOME 3 for another 18 months. As Eitan Isaacson put it recently:
He has an interesting counter-suggestion: GNOME, he says, should aim to be the platform of choice for content creators. There could be some potential here; this is not an area that large numbers of projects are targeting, and incumbents like Mac OS seem vulnerable. Where content creators lead, others will often follow. There are some obvious obstacles (codecs, for example), but this is a target that could possibly be reached.
Most likely, though, GNOME will continue its drive for mainstream success and those millions of new users. The project might just get there: it retains a solid code base, many talented developers, and a supporting ecosystem. One should never underestimate what a determined group of developers can accomplish when they set their minds to it. The rest of us should either support them or get out of the way and let them follow their path. Watch this space over the next fifteen years, and we’ll all see what they are able to achieve.
Familiarize yourself with open-source’s terms and concepts
Ubuntu is free open-source software, that, along with its openness, provides a stable, secure, full-fledged platform, used and enjoyed by millions and millions of users across the world.
While, for users familiarized with Ubuntu, the open-source software and its “directions” are known and appreciated, for newcomers coming from the proprietary world, the openness is perceived as exciting yet “mysterious”, in the sense of not being able to understand how an open community is built, sustained and constantly developed and enhanced.
DoctorMo has published/updated an interesting document focused on free open-source software, clearly explaining step-by-step key points of the open ecosystem on which Ubuntu (and Linux in general) stands.
Visually pleasant slides (packed into a “continuous” document) expose in a graphical manner relevant concepts, such as the Commons (resources accessible to users, regardless of social status, financial “state”, country of origin, religious belief, age, gender, political orientation, computer skills, community involvement, etc), copyright (such as BSD, MIT, CC-BY, CC-BY, Share Alike, etc), proprietary software, crowd funding, support funding, etc.
The mentioned document gathers a bundle of interesting informations useful to plunge the freshmen into the open-source basics, featuring the handy ability to present, in a matter of minutes, key points useful to draw a minimalistic yet effective map of core values that govern the open-source “universe”.
The document is available on http://doctormo.deviantart.com/art/Free-and-Open-Source-2-323411054
GNOME Contacts landed in Ubuntu 12.10 as default
GNOME Contacts is a handy utility, allowing the user to easily create, edit and manage accounts via a double-sided approach, meaning, GNOME Contacts ca be used for both locally-based and online contacts (“covering” online services such as Facebook, Google, Windows Live, etc).
Clarity is definitely an aspect properly managed by the Contacts, launching the app, summons a dialog where the user can select the usage manner (Use Local Address Book and Online Accounts, local or online), taking the local “path”, further opens its main “empty” view, “ready” to be filled with contacts.
Adding a local contact is as simple as clicking the top-left New button and filling the numerous available contact fields, such as Contact Name, Email, Phone, Address, etc, as well as per-contact avatars.
Searching a contact is to be performed by typing a word (when the GNOME Contacts’ window is focused), action that summons a top-left search area (basically, the search method is search-as-you-type), clicking the Escape key, closes the search area.
GNOME Contacts landed in Ubuntu 12.10 by default, consequently, accessing the useful tool is to be performed by typing contacts in Dash’s search area.
Ubuntu 12.04 CD to Give WUBI The Boot
There are many ways to install Ubuntu on a computer, some of which are simpler and easier than others.
WUBI (Windows Ubuntu Installer) is an example of the easy approach. It offers the Ubuntu curious a relatively safe way to install Ubuntu on their PC from within Windows – negating the need for disk partitioning and adding an easy way to ‘uninstall it’ through Windows ‘Add or Remove’ feature.
Current Behaviour
Currently, when a user inserts an Ubuntu CD or USB image into a computer running Windows, a window pops up with a set of options. Once of these is to proceed with installing the OS under Windows. The following simple-screen is then presented.
But changes to way the way the tool is provided in Ubuntu 12.04 are now being discussed.
Disabling Installation
Canonical’s Rick Spencer, in a mail to the Ubuntu Development mailing list, proposes disabling the ‘install’ feature when an Ubuntu 12.04 USB or CD is inserted into a computer running Windows.
This change, he argues, would be of overall benefit to Ubuntu users and Windows users: –
1. We will be able to do maintenance and enhancements to wubi outside of the Ubuntu development cycle.
2. Significant reduciton of QA work for an already over-streched QA team.
3. Better overall 12.04 quality, and less stress at release time.
4. We won’t get stuck with a poor (or worse) user experience on the CD since is a good chance that wubi will not work properly with Windows 8.
I am proposing these changes to the plan because:
1. The key use case for wubi is being able to download and run the installer on Windows, not installing from the ISO.
2. Wubi is difficult to test, so has been difficult to assure that it will meet the quality standards we have set for 12.04.
3. There are no developers treating wubi as their top priorities. This combined with the QA difficulties has historically caused late breaking changes that add stress at release time and frequentily invalidate already executed ISO testing.
4. Most significantly, Windows is changing it’s boot system with Windows 8, and it’s not clear how wubi will work with Windows 8, if at all.
(sic)
Not the end of WUBI
No decision has been decided at the time of writing, but it’s important to note that WUBI installation would continue to be possible, and supported, but would require a separate download of the WUBI installer from the Ubuntu website.
Do you use WUBI? Would you miss not being able to install Ubuntu within Windows directly from the CD?
Ubuntu 12.04.1: LTS maintenance release
Summary: The current LTS release of the Ubuntu operating system will shortly get its first maintenance release — one of four due over its five-year support lifetime.
As most Ubuntu users will know, Ubuntu 12.04 is a Long Term Support (LTS) release. As an LTS, Ubuntu 12.04 (Precise Pangolin), released on 26 April 2012, is scheduled to receive updates and support, for both the desktop and server versions, until October 2017. What many Ubuntu users may not know is that Ubuntu 12.04 will see maintenance releases over this period. The first of those, 12.04.1, is due on 23 August.
During its five years of life, Precise Pangolin is scheduled to receive three further maintenance releases: 12.04.2 on 7 February 2013, Ubuntu 12.04.3 in mid-2013 and Ubuntu 12.04.4 on 24 January 2014.
One of the most annoying aspects of installing modern software is the frequently drawn-out process of downloading and installing updates — updates that are replacing software elements installed earlier in the process, and therefore increasing the total install time. This is because a release install image freezes the software at a fixed point in time, after which the image rapidly becomes out-of-date. As a result, an install is often accompanied by a large number of updates, with the volume of updates getting larger as time passes.
With a long-lifetime LTS release, the update problem is exacerbated. A partial solution is to occasionally update the install image during the span of the product’s lifetime. The Ubuntu maintenance releases are such updates, and new installations performed using a maintenance release get the benefit of fewer updates required as part of a fresh install. Users who installed early on in the life cycle, and regularly applied updates as they became available, don’t need to worry about the maintenance releases because they already have the updates installed.
Since the majority of updates tend to appear during the early phase of a product’s life cycle and the frequency of fresh installs falls, it makes sense to schedule maintenance releases to taper off towards end-of-life. With Ubuntu 12.04, all the planned maintenance releases are scheduled for the first two years of its five-year support lifetime.
If you’re planning a fresh install of the current LTS version of Ubuntu you’ll save on install time if you wait for the first maintenance release. If you’re hungering for the next Ubuntu release, 12.10 (Quantal Quetzal), you don’t have that long to wait — the first beta is due on 6 September and the final release on 18 October.
Online Accounts landed in Ubuntu 12.10 as default
Quantal Quetzal is definitely an exciting Ubuntu development cycle, where, judging by the latest weeks’ announcements, are to land new fresh technologies, a solid step towards real innovation featuring both bold and creative ideas, focused on delivering high-quality desktop and “online” experiences.
Ubuntu Web Apps (not landed in 12.10 yet) have been created as a powerful reliable bridge between the desktop and the web, basically, being designed as fully integrated web bits into the handiness and versatility of the Ubuntu desktop, consequently, navigating via the web-browser to Gmail, 1-click away allows the user to “catch” and later use Gmail as a desktop app, with its own icon, presences in the Dash, etc.
The Web Apps are not mere web links, but solid code “immersed” into the desktop, taking advantage of various technologies, such as Online Accounts, a handy System Settings addition that houses numerous web places with relevant functionalities, such as entering one’s Facebook account, etc, as well as managing various online accounts.
Online Accounts have just landed in Ubuntu 12.10, being implemented into System Settings (by default).
Clicking on it, opens a default set of available services, such as Facebook, Flickr, Google (Gmail, Google Docs, Google+, Youtube, Picasa), Twitter, AIM, Windows Live, Salut, Jabber, Identi.ca, Yahoo!.
Managing one’s Twitter account details features a double-sided approach, meaning, navigating toSystem Settings-->Online Accounts-->Twitter , opens the authorization sub-panel, where the account details can be entered, and, opening Gwibber, automatically opens the System Settings’ Online Accounts, directly on the Gwibber-specific “page”, clicking on Twitter follows the mentioned authorization process.
A definitely interesting aspect of Online Accounts is the hassle-free account maneuvering, meaning, entering the account details for Twitter in the System Settings’ Online Accounts, automatically pushes the Twitter account into Gwibber (when Gwibber is launched), removing the need to type the account details again in Gwibber.
The hassle-free account managing is not limited to Twitter, the displayed online services are featuring integration with various desktop apps, after typing an account, clicking on it, reveals the available to-take-advantage-of desktop apps.
Furthermore, the provided services are managed separately, in the sense of allowing the user to 1-click away disable a particular service, while retaining other usable services.
The at-the-moment targeted applications are Gwibber, Shotwell and Empathy, with specific integrations for various functionalities.
Adding a Google account into the Online Accounts, stores the account details for usage with the displayed apps, consequently, opening Shotwell and choosing to publish an image to Picasa adds one’s Picasa credentials (from the Google account) automatically from Online Accounts.
Online Accounts is a clear and “open” utility that displays the full list of supported apps and online services, by navigating to Add account-->Show account that integrate with the user can easily observe the whole integration “environment”.
Ubuntu is becoming popular in India
If you live in India, Ubuntu is not for you if:
1. You are a hardcore PC gamer and want to play the latest edition of Crysis.
2. You are a professional filmmaker and/or sound artists and want professional grade applications.
If you are none of the above then you are a potential Ubuntu user. But, why would you use Ubuntu over Windows? There are numerous reasons:
Ubuntu is free of cost.
The chances are you are using unauthorized software (which some people also called pirated) on your machine. It is really expensive to run a Windows machine. If you want to work in the language of your choice such as English, or Bengali, or Hindi, you need Windows 7 Ultimate license which costs ₹ 11,448 on Flipkart. ₹ 11,448 is the cost of Nexus 7 tablet. What do you want – a tablet or a Windows 7 license?
MS Office Home Edition costs ₹ 5,000 & if you’re thinking about getting the Professional edition then please be ready to shell out about ₹ 15,000. Then you need a decent antivirus to protect your system (even then you won’t have any guarantee that your system will be safe). So, you end up paying around ₹ 25,000 for running Microsoft products on your system. If you are running an unauthorized copy of Window not only is your data at risk but also you are doing something wrong and illegal.
With Ubuntu you get everything for free — the OS, applications and security.
Ubuntu is free of viruses
Though no system is immune to attacks, not even Linux based systems, the open source nature of development and UNIX-Like design of Ubuntu makes it extremely secure. That is the reason stock exchanges and big organizations use Linux over Windows. On Ubuntu you don’t have to worry about viruses or any attacks ever again in your life. You won’t have to think twice before connecting a USB stick worrying that there can be virus on it.
All the apps you need
It is extremely challenging under Windows to find and install trusted applications. Most apps are adware and you never know when you are installing a malware or spyware on your system. Just hunting for apps on the Internet takes you to sites which puts your PC under risk.
Under Ubuntu there is an App Store called Ubuntu Software Center which allows you to install apps from trusted source. It’s just like the Google Play Store — extremely easy to use. There are thousands of apps which can replace your Windows apps – VLC for movie, Rhythmbox of music, LibreOffice for Microsoft Office, GIMP for Photoshop and much more. The great news is all these apps are available for free of cost and you get all the upgrades for free too.
No Need To Buy New Machines
Windows is resource hungry and you may need powerful machines to run the latest version. On the contrary Ubuntu can run on the latest and the greatest hardware as well as old machines. So, you can bring your old machines to life with Ubuntu.
Ubuntu vs Windows: The Shrinking Gap
If we look at the disadvantages Ubuntu has over Microsoft Windows we see a very tiny market. Hardcore gaming is a very tiny fragment of the Indian market and most of these gamers are moving to consoles. According to a recent study the Indian gaming industry was estimated at around ₹ 790 crore in 2009 and out of this console accounted for ₹ 580 which is more than 75% of the Indian gaming market. For casual users and kids there are a lot of popular Windows games which can run on Ubuntu using a program called WINE. So, Ubuntu does cover a little bit of casual gaming. That leaves the professional film or audio editing market, which once again, is a tiny market.
That leaves a huge market for Ubuntu. A market where Microsoft Windows has no real value to offer.
Managing your machine
From a user’s point of view Ubuntu is far more easier to manage and maintain than Windows. You don’t have to worry about drivers for devices like printers, most of the devices should work out of the box. One thing that a user needs to keep in mind is to buy Linux supported hardware. This is not an uncommon practice. When we go out to buy stuff we do look for compatibility. You don’t go and buy any shoe, you buy the one that fits you well. So, when you go to buy hardware such as printer or scanner or web camera just make sure it works under Ubuntu and you will be fine.
Challenges
However India poses some challenges which are non-existent in the western world. One of the challenges is the lack of high-speed broadband and Ubuntu’s dependence on the Internet to install the needed drivers and applications. If you want to install Windows on your aunt’s machine, who doesn’t have a decent or any Internet, it’s no big deal. All you need is bunch of CDs with drivers and needed apps.
That’s not true with Ubuntu.
What will really help users is the availability of Ubuntu DVDs which come with all needed drivers and main applications, so when you install Ubuntu on an offline machines everything works out of the box.
To solve this problem the company can work with local vendors to sell Ubuntu CDs. This can also create a business model for small PC shop keepers as they can sell such DVDs for ₹ 20 25(a DVD costs around ₹ 5 10 so they will still make a profit of ₹ 15 per DVD. It will still be more than ₹ 11,400 cheaper than Windows.) The good news is these DVDs, unlike Windows, can be used on multiple machines.
Another good news is that Canonical, the parent company of Ubuntu, is exploring the Indian market through partnerships with Dell to bring Ubuntu pre-loaded PCs where everything works out of the box.
I have always criticized Ubuntu for entering markets too late with too little to offer, but in this case I do believe that Ubuntu can turn India into its impenetrable fort. They have made the right move and Windows 8 will give them the little push they need to capture the Indian market.
Note: A series on how Ubuntu can be your perfect desktop is coming so keep an eye on this site. And feel free to suggest what kind of Ubuntu related articles you want to read.
I feel localization is one of major impact on india and it is recommended by central government
pacesettergraam 