Linux Mint Redesigns GNOME 3

I may get my partly-fried desktop back in a while, so I may be aggressively trying out lightweight distributions again in the near future.

Meanwhile, on an off-topic note, I really admire what the Linux Mint team plans to do with GNOME 3 in Linux Mint 12. Here's a screenshot of their GNOME 3 design, posted on The Linux Mint Blog:

GNOME 3 with MGSE in Linux Mint 12

The major innovation is the introduction of Mint GNOME Shell Extensions (MGSE), a series of desktop add-ons that can be enabled or disabled to suit the user's comfort level with standard GNOME 3. With all MGSE features enabled, Mint 12 looks like the kind of GNOME 3 desktop I can live with. My single biggest complaint about GNOME 3 when I recently tried it in Sabayon 7 was the lack of a window list. It was really annoying to have to click the Activities button in the top left corner to switch between open windows. If you can create desktop or panel shortcuts in the MGSE-modified desktop, I may really enjoy Linux Mint 12.

My only real problem with GNOME 3/MGSE is the two-panel configuration that I used to always eliminate in GNOME 2 whenever a distro used it. Vertical space is at a premium on my laptop.

Though I've been using Linux Mint Debian Edition on the laptop for a while, I may have to check out the Linux Mint 12 main edition when it comes out.

The Linux Mint Blog » Blog Archive » Linux Mint 12 Preview:

'via Blog this'

MSNBC.com Videos Don't Work on Unity

Doug Roberts of Linux Journal wrote a blog post about the inconveniences of the Ubuntu bug reporting system. What struck me, however, was the problem that drove him to Ubuntu's Launchpad site:

So I noticed a few days ago that videos on msnbc.com had stopped working. I’m running Ubuntu 11.04 and Unity.

This reminds me of the reason I first decided to stick with Xfce over GNOME. In my case, it was that YouTube videos played more smoothly, but Flash seems to have a lot of problems with GNOME-based desktops.

Ubuntu Bug Reporting (Again) | Linux Journal

Mark Shuttleworth's Column in Linux User #100

In the latest issue of the British magazine Linux User, the editors hand over their regular column on Ubuntu to Mark Shuttleworth, the founder of the Ubuntu project. Shuttleworth uses the column to explain the thinking behind the new Unity interface in Ubuntu 11.04. This little section caught my eye:

Touch and games are our inspiration. When we set about designing Unity, we drew inspiration from the world of consumer electronics. We wanted to produce something that felt more lightweight and easy to use than a traditional PC interface. We also wanted to take advantage of the incredible graphics technology that is found in every modern PC.

We studied game system interfaces, like the PlayStation and Xbox. We studied mobile products like the iPhone and looked for ways we could embrace ideas from those environments in the desktop. In particular, we took the view that touch-centric interfaces would come to the PC, and we made sure that key pieces of Unity are touch-friendly.

I had two reactions to these statements:

1. Does anybody think Unity is lightweight? In my experience, Unity, being based on GNOME, has been about as unwieldy as GNOME. 
2. Can an OS designed for tablets and mobile phones still be a good fit for traditional computers? If Unity trims its bloat and becomes a great OS for netbooks, tablets, and smartphones, will users of desktops and traditional laptops still be able to tolerate it? Can one OS really work on the variety of electronic devices available to the public? Or does Shuttleworth expect traditional computers to disappear entirely?

Linux User's Ubuntu Column #100, by Mark Shuttleworth

Ubuntu 11.04, Unity Released to Mixed Reactions | Linux Journal

Linux Journal has a collection of reactions to Ubuntu's Unity interface. According to online polls, so far the most common reaction has been indifference.

The main relevance of this debate to lightweight desktop fans is that a widespread rejection of Unity, Gnome 3 and KDE 4 might make Xfce a more popular desktop even for non-lightweight distros.

Ubuntu 11.04, Unity Released to Mixed Reactions | Linux Journal