Notes from the Mousepad

With the successful Beta release of Xubuntu 8.04, I got to thinking of some of the qualities that have always drawn me back to using Xubuntu.  I know that people have spirited feelings about their desktops of choice in the Linux world, but I thought I’d present a few reasons (8.04 reasons, to be exact) why Xubuntu (or Xfce in general) makes a good desktop environment choice, and why Ubuntu or Kubuntu users should consider using Xubuntu in place of their Gnome or KDE environments.

So, with all due respect to my Gnome- and KDE-using brothers and sisters, here they are:

1) Relative lightness – The Xfce desktop loads more quickly than Gnome or KDE desktops, and Xfce applications are built with an emphasis on lightness.  Xubuntu does have a handful of Gnome-based applications (and hence, some Gnome dependencies), but the developers avoid Gnome-lib heaviness where they can, and applications that require Gnome libraries have been only been chosen because they provide vital end-user functionality.

2) Xubuntu is extensible – I used to work at a deli when I was in college, and my boss used to tell me, “You can always add more, but you can never take away.”  He was referring to putting ingredients onto sandwiches, but his statement can also apply to Xubuntu.  You can use the breadth and depth of the Ubuntu repositories to add extra features and functionality that you may want, but the heavier Gnome or Mono libraries aren’t built into Xubuntu’s core, so you can also stick with the lighter choices if the default Xubuntu system suits your needs.

3) You know what you’re doing – Let’s say you’ve been using Ubuntu or Kubuntu for a while, and know your way around a Linux environment.  You know mv, cp, ls, grep, what a “.whatever” file is for . . .  So you don’t need a distro that’s going to hold your hand quite as frequently.  Xubuntu provides you with most of the same features of Ubuntu, but also doesn’t get in your way with a GUI for everything.  This may not be an advantage for some, but may not be a nuisance for those who are knowledgeable about their systems. Continue Reading

The Xubuntu documentation for 8.04 is done, and the doc-centered folks are now working on updating the wiki.  There are still quite a few holes in it for now, but we’re working fairly quickly.  I like the new menu bar.  It makes it easy to get around.

Also, I know it’s not much notice, but tomorrow (Wednesday, 2008-03-26) Jono Bacon is leading a Xubuntu-focused meeting in the #ubuntu-meeting channel on the Freenode IRC network.  The meeting will be held at 1900 UTC (2pm Chicago time).  We’re going to discuss Xubuntu’s mission and strategy, and discuss how to pull in some additional development and packaging help.  The Xubuntu team has had a bit of turnover as a result of some internal disputes over default package selection recently, and we think that coming to some kind of a consensus on our project goals will help focus our efforts and help put some of the conflict to rest.

I feel like Xubuntu is moving in a good direction, though.  Cody Somerville looks to be the person who will be leading the project, and he has a good idea of what Xubuntu is about, is technically proficient, and knows how to argue a point rather than getting mixed up in a bunch of jibba jabba.  All good qualities to have in a project leader.  (Cody also made that wiki menu bar on the Xubuntu wiki.)  As much as anyone pays attention to a wiki, perhaps having a well-set wiki with clear paths to help people start getting involved will help things along a little bit, too.

I’m preparing an interblags post that will contain 8.04 reasons for why Ubuntu and Kubuntu users should consider using Xubuntu (it might be more like 8.04 reasons why I like Xubuntu . . . I’m not sure), but it’s not ready yet.  I only have 7.04 reasons so far.  My post should be Hardy, not Feisty.

The Fedora folks continue to update their Xfce live-cd spin.  Since their initial efforts using Fedora 8, they’ve made some changes in the look of the spin – for example, using the default Fedora wallpaper and the Mist icon set.  Application selection (seemingly an on-going issue with Xfce-based distros – trying to balance being lightweight while still being user-friendly) continues to be ironed-out.

While I primarily work with Xubuntu, it’s great to see projects like Fedora and Foresight Linux embrace Xfce, too.  The more people that we can have using Xfce, reporting back bugs, and submitting patches, the better Xfce will be.

As an additional note, the Fedora wiki links to the upstream README file for xfdesktop.  It provides a few little-known customizations that may be of interest to some Xfce users.