Enlightenment Returns To Bring Ubuntu To ARM 198
mu22le writes "Enlightenment, the daring window manager that disappeared from our collective radar years ago, is back to bring Ubuntu to ARM. The bet that E developers made years ago to neglect 3D, compositing, and make a fast and versatile 2.5d engine may have finally paid off. The current popularity of ARM-based devices could be a niche that the Enlightenment Foundation Libraries can fill comfortably."
Re:Fonts are too small (Score:5, Insightful)
E17 doesn't give you the option to do that without going into the config files and manually editing them. It's not something that is any problem for more experienced Linux users but it is the kind of thing that may hurt adoption of E-17 Ubuntu.
Well that's good news (Score:4, Insightful)
I'm happy to see Enlightenment getting some more exposure. I may have to dust it off and take the latest version out for a spin again. I've been using XFCE for a year now and it's high time for an arbitrary switch to a new DE.
Re:Hot ARM netbook market? (Score:3, Insightful)
Really? Honestly? Or is it just media hype?
I think it's just a slashdot hype, as Linux runs on ARM and Windows doesn't so... I use Linux but honestly the competition is moving at about the same pace as Linux, the gap isn't closing much.
Re:Fonts are too small (Score:1, Insightful)
One would think that Ubuntu would package their distro with the defaults set to reasonable values. They do this for many other packages, so I don't see why the window manager would be any different.
Also, kudos to Enlightenment for sticking to their philosophy; I prefer a WM that helps me just get on with my work. I'm not a Mac user who likes staring at the shiny toolbar renderings and 3D compositing effects while watching billable hours go by. Eye candy is for time wasting. Computers are tools. Aesthetics has its place, but when more effort is spent on making a UI pretty as opposed to functional, then the whole point of the exercise has been lost.
I blame Apple, for turning computers into fashion accessories.
Re:payed (Score:4, Insightful)
one of my pet peeves is seeing "payed" instead of "paid" and "loose" instead of "lose.
Just because the spellchucker doesn't pick it up doesn't mean it's correct...
not for long (Score:3, Insightful)
Hardware will catch up in due course.
Re:not for long (Score:5, Insightful)
Hardware will catch up in due course.
For each and every hardware that catches up and gives you $n hours of battery life there will always be hardware that chooses to not catch up, and as result gives you 2*$n hours of battery life.
Personally, I disable animations on every computer I use just because they are wasting my time. 3D effects are nice for a few minutes, but become irrelevant after that. The important part of a window is not its decorations, it's the client area.
Re:Fonts are too small (Score:3, Insightful)
The catch is that you need to KNOW these commands. I spend a lot of time in terminal personally, but I can think that someone who does not know will struggle.
Re:Fonts are too small (Score:3, Insightful)
I'm not a Mac user who likes staring at the shiny toolbar renderings and 3D compositing effects while watching billable hours go by.
Nor am I, I'm a Mac user who gets on with his work. Congratulations on making wild generalisations based on the default animation style of a persons window manager...
That's funny (Score:5, Insightful)
Because at this point Apple's computers and OS are _by far_ the most conservative in appearance compared to other major players.
Re:not for long (Score:3, Insightful)
On Linux I think it'll be a bit longer, because 3d drivers, especially free ones that can be shipped out of the box, continue to lag behind actual hardware support.
Re:Fonts are too small (Score:3, Insightful)
You are an experienced Linux user and you think you need to edit config files to change setting in your GUI? It has not occurred to you to try using Gnome, KDE, LXDE, XFCE, ICE WM or numerous others that let you change settings from the GUI - have never edited a config file to change a KDE setting, and my desktop is very far from the defaults.
You are a liar - either an idiot, an astroturfer, or a troll.
Re:Fonts are too small (Score:3, Insightful)
Good luck with that. I'm an experienced Linux user and I got a mac. Used MacOS for three months exclusively... never could get used to it. The thing is MacOS is designed to be intuitive, but not user friendly.
The thing is you don't have to tinker with configuration files in linux. Yes its there, but you don't have to do it. Have you actually tried just using the default Ubuntu install and not messing around with GUI settings? It's actually quite nice. The problem is you've gotten used to doing things a different way over the years and you know you can make things work the way you want it to if you find the right configuration file.
All MacOS does is remove the configuration options. So it forces you to get used it. Unfortunately, I never could. I usually have several things opened at once and switch between them. Under MacOS I have to push the F9, watch the pretty expose animation look around the screen, and then click on the app I want. Every time I push F9 apps are in a different spot. Under Ubuntu I just click on the item in the taskbar which is always on the screen and the task is always in the same spot (unless I reorder it by dragging it to a different spot in the taskbar). In MacOS I can cut and paste files to move them to a new folder. I can't set keyboard shortcuts to change songs in iTunes, I have to use the little remote control (which I've lost). etc, etc.
Under MacOS you are forced to do things the way Steve Jobs wants you to do them. With Linux you can do things whatever way you want to do them.
I can save you some money if you do the following: Instead of forcing yourself into doing things the way Steve Jobs wants you to do them, why not force yourself into doing things the way Mark Shuttleworth wants you to them? Install Ubuntu and keep the default GUI settings. Just resist the urge to tinker. I've found Ubuntu to have a better thought out user interface than MacOS.
Typing this from a MacBook Pro with Ubuntu. Just wish it had a pgdown, pgup, home, end, a second mouse button, more USB ports, a working audio in port, and especially DELETE key. I guess Steve Jobs never has to delete stuff that comes after the cursor so the Macbook Pro doesn't need it.
Re:Fonts are too small (Score:5, Insightful)
The elephant in the room is that the only reason that anyone is considering E17 is that there are no proper drivers for the hardware. The current generation of ARM SoCs that are being used for this kind of application all come with a GPU that can handle OpenGL ES 2.0. That means that they have a fully programmable pipeline and are massively overpowered for running something like Compiz. With proper drivers, they could handle pretty much any effects that you wanted to throw at them, including things like ripple effects (which require pixel shaders).
E17 doesn't use 3D acceleration, so it suddenly has an advantage when you are on a platform with missing 3D drivers. Add 3D drivers, and suddenly E17 is using the CPU while everything else is using the GPU, and E17 will be dumped because it gives you less battery life.
Re:Fonts are too small (Score:5, Insightful)
Only if you move them. The Exposé sequence is based on the position of the windows on your desktop. It's not random. If none of your windows move, the order won't change.
Unless a window has opened or closed. If you now have an odd number of windows, then there is a significant chance that all of your windows have moved. If you now have an even number of windows, then at least the apps on the last line have moved.
You could always try clicking on the application's icon in the Dock, which is always on the screen (unless you move it). Those icons don't move, either, unless you move them.
Uh, the Dock is a gigantic failure in UI because it expands and contracts as new icons appear, representing new windows. Only if all the apps you use are pinned will the dock begin to work as you suggest, but every time you connect a removable device, insert a CD, or experience a popup window from the OS, everything in the Dock moves. So you are lying...
Just like Exposé windows.
Yes, just like you lied about those.
In MacOS I can cut and paste files to move them to a new folder.
I assume you mean can't. With good reason: it breaks the metaphor. When you cut text and fail to paste it, it disappears.
So what? Windows solves this fine by fading icons you've cut. Or maybe that's patented? Snicker.
Moving isn't exactly difficult: just open up adjacent Finder windows and drag.
Harder for some people with trouble using the mouse.
Keyboard users can use mv in Terminal.
Enjoy the lengthy Apple paths. Also, using mv breaks the metaphor (snicker #2) of directories-as-Apps-with-a-single-icon.
Linux with Compiz presents a superior interface to OSX because it does all the stuff OSX does but better and more configurable. I disabled my gnome-panel and use avant-window-navigator from the AWN testing team PPA, and I use compiz' hot corners to give me a live mipmapped view of my four virtual desktops in one corner, and to line up all my windows (again, mipmapped and nice and smooth) when I mouse to the other corner. And I get to retain all the keyboard-controlled goodness at the same time. OSX has somewhat smoother animations since Xgl was canned, and while we wait for a replacement to not suck, but I don't need the magic lamp effect to my dock. It is kind of nice, though, and I miss it a little. So I'll give OSX one consolation point.
Don't pretend that OSX's lack of configurability is an asset. It is not. Having one default behavior is valuable, but preventing choice is not a benefit to the user. It is a benefit to the company. And when people see my Compiz desktop, they start throwing rocks at actual macs. Of course, to be fair, when people see iLife, they start throwing rocks at Linux... but that's not because of the OS GUI.