Welcome to Ubuntu! As a regular contributor to the Ubuntu project, I think it’s great that you are partnering with Canonical.  Because of the agreement you signed, Canonical will be able to hire more people to work on Free software.  Also, your contributions will help Ubuntu continue offering their OS at no cost to users.  These are great things.

As things get going, though, there is one big thing (or a set of big things centered around one request) that you need to do to make the Ubuntu-Yahoo! user experience better.  In short, you need to index the crap out of Ubuntu- and Linux-related sites.  For example, if I do a Yahoo! search for launchpad bug 387765, I need the first link that comes up to be a link to the actual bug page for Launchpad bug #387765.  As it stands now, a Yahoo! search for that phrase brings up two results, neither of which are relevant.  The first of the two results is a link to the Debian Bugs page on Launchpad.  As a contributor, this is not what I need.

For comparison, the same search on Google brings up 273 results, with the first result being a direct link to the bug report on Launchpad (which is now closed, thanks to the efforts of Fabien Tassin and the other Chromium packagers and hackers)).  Google’s results not only link me directly to the bug that I am inquiring about, but also link me to a large number of pages that may be relevant to that bug report.

The example that I provide above concerns search results that are beneficial for contributors and developers, but what about regular users?  When I search Yahoo! for “Dual boot Windows 7 and Ubuntu,” the first page in the search results is for the Ubuntu 8.04 “Dual Booting,” official documentation page.  This page is out of date, especially given our migration to Grub2 in the 9.10 release.

These are just two examples, and my searches are likely not representative of the multitudes of search requests made daily on your site for Ubuntu-related tasks.  Moreover, I won’t pretend to understand how incredibly complex indexing the web can be.  I’m just writing to note that there is room for improvement, and I would like to see improvement so that our users can use your service to get relevant search results.

After all, improving Linux-related searches would be a win-win for us and for you.  Ubuntu developers and users would get their work done, and problems solved, more quickly and effectively, and you would get more regular users performing their searches on Yahoo!  This sounds pretty good to me.  Here’s to hoping it can happen.

In thinking about UbuntuOne, there are a number of factors involved; it involves the need to build a sustainable business, trademark issues, and the level of one’s own comfort with using non-free software. To me, there it also involves issues of community, and the difference between the Ubuntu project and Canonical as a corporation.

This isn’t an exhaustive list, but the topics do allow for at least an initial framework for talking about things. So, if you’ll humor me for a couple of moments, here are a couple of my thoughts regarding these topics.

Some Caveats

First, I’ll get a few things out of the way. Yes, I’ve used You Tube and I use Gmail. The irony of my giving UbuntuOne a hard time for being non-free while I use these services is not lost on me. As for email, I have previously looked for options outside of Gmail, and am still considering other options. With regard to YouTube, there simply isn’t anything else that remotely provides something of the scale of that service in a free software context, nor do any free software services have the opportunity to provide a scale big enough to support a similar service. I think I am realistic about these things.

Moreover, I do understand that, as it is now, UbuntuOne is just a tool to synchronize files across desktops, and that I don’t have to use it if I don’t want to. I know UbuntuOne is currently available as a, “you can have a small beer for free, and you can pay money if you want a bigger beer,” service, and I have nothing against Canonical making money. I want the company to be successful.

Finally, with regard to the trademark issue, this is not a big deal to me, either, as Canonical owns the trademark, so they can violate even their own recommended guidelines if they want. No one has said that what they are doing is breaking any kind of law. It’s kind of like them painting their house pink or something. Someone else might not think it’s the best idea, but it’s Canonical’s house. It’s their decision, and that’s fine with me.

From my points above I think it’s clear that I am willing to make certain sacrifices of my computing freedom to use certain services, I know Canonical needs to make money, and I’m not concerned with how Canonical handles their trademark business.

Jim, dude, what is your beef?

My main concerns are that, while this might seem like a small application for now, it is a non-free element that is going to become more integrated with our desktops over time. Also, while Google and Twitter and Facebook may have their own reasons for keeping apps closed, Ubuntu is not Google or Twitter or Facebook, and (to me) Ubuntu (and I would like to think Canonical) operates under a somewhat different set of principles. Let me expand on these items.

UbuntuOne is currently a small service

A primary concern is that while this is a relatively simple service for now, it is going to get much bigger, and they show no intention of ever opening it up. Per the summary of this upcoming talk, there are significant plans to build more user-friendly applications attached to this closed-source web application.

I know people can get by without UbuntuOne’s cross-desktop file synchronization for now, but they are going to build a lot of other (probably really cool) functionality into this service, and it looks as though the back end of it will all be closed. If more and more applications are built around this closed web-app, it will make it a shame to miss out on some of those cool features while using Ubuntu if I want to avoid closed applications.

Depending on the level of integration, we may then find ourselves in a spot where we are using an open OS, but a good number of our favorite tools and applications are tied in with closed web-apps. As I posted on identi.ca, “If we go from having a closed desktop, to an open desktop that is strongly linked to a closed ‘cloud,’ what have we gained?” If the web becomes “the new operating system,” how will it help us if that new operating system is closed? While shipping only the open client as part of the distro may not technically violate the principle of “We only ship Free software (with the exception of some binary blobs to make some basic hardware work),” attaching it to a closed web application (to me) violates the spirit that principle.

Ubuntu != Google

Granted, what I have described above already appears to be somewhat of a reality. It certainly is getting more common for desktop client apps to be open while attached to closed web services. So why does this matter with UbuntuOne? To me, the difference is that Ubuntu, the Ubuntu community, and (even to a certain extent) Canonical are not Google. We are not Facebook or Twitter. The folks involved in Ubuntu work hard to create Free software. The distribution we work on is based on Debian, which has built itself up using the principles of Free software, and without which our project would not exist. I know that Canonical is a for-profit company, but we still have a choice here. We can’t control what Google does with their web applications. We can’t control Twitter’s Fail Whale. But we (Canonical / Ubuntu) can control this, and, to me, the Ubuntu project is supposed to be different.

We devote a lot of time to removing non-free software from our systems. Community developers work hard, paid Canonical employees work hard, and the folks in charge at Canonical spend a lot of the company’s own money so that we can remove non-free stuff from our systems, and I am thankful for all of this. With UbuntuOne, though, we’re getting more non-free components associated with our desktops when we should be working to get less non-free components associated with our desktops. It seems counter to the mission of the Free Software community aspect to have the parent company of this distribution actually introducing more non-free elements into the software ecosystem.

What really raises flags for me this time around, and perhaps I’m a little late to the game, is that we’re actually bringing the non-free components into direct integration with the desktop. It’s not like Soyuz (one of the main back-end components of Launchpad) or the (currently non-free, but soon to be Free) Launchpad, which have been developer and software building tools, and have limited integration with the desktop . . . but this actually integrates with our desktops in a non-developer-centric manner. I guess that’s why I didn’t notice or pay as much attention to the other non-free elements provided by Canonical previously – because they weren’t tightly integrated with the Desktop.

Could Canonical still make money from UbuntuOne as Free software?

I’ve got to assume that the folks working at Canonical considered whether or not they could do this in a Free manner. I have only read that the back end is closed, and that there are no plans or roadmaps in place that point to making it Free software. I haven’t heard anything along the lines of, “Yes, we considered it, but we didn’t think it would work out because of X, Y, and Z.” They are a business, and they have every right to not open up those kinds of discussions to the community, but based on the nature of their business I think it’s fair to assume some conversation along those lines occurred.

I am not a business guru, and I know that trying to make money off of an open platform in a real business world is a difficult nut to crack. That’s what we keep working toward, though, and I think that’s at least part of why so many people contribute to Ubuntu. UbuntuOne may currently have a closed back end, but with it now being released to the public, the cards are on the table. We can now talk about it. I know this is a Canonical effort, but I think there are lots of other smart people in the community, and it seems like it could be worthwhile to have a discussion about ways to monetize UbuntuOne as a Free software option. Perhaps this could be a good discussion for UDS.

I guess I should close by noting that I have written this because I do like Ubuntu, but what drew me to Ubuntu in the first place is that it is based around building Free software. I recognize that there are certain sacrifices that need to be made in areas we can’t control, but we have a choice here. Free software is what got us started, it’s what we work on, and I do not see a tremendous amount of value in fixing bug #1 if we get there by integrating ourselves with non-free networked systems.

from          Stephan Arts <stephan@xfce.org>
date    Thu, Feb 26, 2009 at 6:30 PM
subject    Xfce 4.6.0 Released!!!

After more than two years of development, Xfce 4.6.0 has just been released.

Xfce 4.6 features a new configuration backend, a new settings manager,
a brand new session manager and sound mixer as well as several huge
improvements of its core components. A list of all the changes since
the last release candidate can be found on this page.

A visual overview of Xfce 4.6 is available here:
http://www.xfce.org/about/tour

Download Xfce 4.6 from the Downloads section of the Xfce website:
http://www.xfce.org/download

Regards,
The Xfce development team.

All interested parties should take a quick peek at the desktop tour that is linked-to above, but Xubuntu users won’t need to download anything from the Xfce website – Xfce 4.6 will be included by default in Xubuntu 9.04. 

CONGRATULATIONS to the entire Xfce development team!

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.

4) Reasonably well-documented – A handful of folks have done a lot of work to bring the full-scope of Ubuntu’s quality documentation to Xubuntu for the 8.04 release.  The Xubuntu wiki is undergoing an overhaul, too.  Long-gone are the days (version 6.10…) when Xubuntu’s documentation wasn’t even updated between releases, so the information that you need to get going is available right from your Xubuntu system.  (Now if we could just do more work on Xfce’s own documentation…)

5) Easy to contribute to, valued contributions – The Xubuntu development team is small, which means it’s easy to get involved and contribute.  Have you been hacking away on Ubuntu artwork, but haven’t been getting your contributions into the releases?  Xubuntu has one person who works on all artwork – why not collaborate as part of a small artwork team?  If you are a budding MOTU, you can help package updated Xfce components.  If you are a Drupal nerd, you can help out with the Xubuntu website.  I understand that all projects need help, but Xubuntu could be an option that is right for some people.

6) Hacker ethic – Yes, Gnome and KDE have more community support than Xfce.  Gnome development forges ahead with a large developer and userbase and the support of several large corporations behind it, and KDE has its own large and thriving community.  Yet Xfce is developed by a handful of hackers who have day jobs, and they’ve still managed to create a technically sound desktop environment.  I think that is pretty cool.

7) Hackability – Although I am not a hardcore coder myself, I’ve heard from numerous experienced developers that the Xfce code base is clean and good.  If you are interested in coding, why not get involved in a project that has a clean codebase, and would appreciate your help?  If are interested in Python application development, take a look at the pyxfce bindings for creating Xfce applications in Python.

8.0) An easy transition – The transition to the Xfce environment on Xubuntu is an easy one, particularly for users of Gnome.  The Xubuntu default settings (particularly in regards to the menu bar setup) have been configured in a way that is similar to Gnome’s setup, and Thunar (the Xfce file manager) looks and works in a manner that is very similar to Nautilus, the Gnome file manager.

8.04) Xubuntu has a logo with a cute mouse in it.

I’m not going to pretend to say that Xubuntu has all of the functionality that is present in the Gnome and KDE desktops of Ubuntu and Kubuntu – Xubuntu can’t mount Samba shares by default, and I’m sure that other people can point out other areas where the Xfce desktop in Xubuntu is currently lacking.  But for everyday computing tasks, for users who have lower-powered hardware, for developers who want a system that uses less-resources on their well-powered hardware . . . Xubuntu is a worthwhile option.

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.

Kevin is leading things up, and though things are still in preliminary stages, I think it will go well enough. It sounds like we’ll have a mix of application-specific talks, some coding talks, some work on understanding the Gnome frameworks and UI conventions. … It sounds like there’s room for everyone to participate.

After that, Kevin, Tristan and I walked over to 400 S. Wells and met up with a group of volunteers from Free Geek Chicago for an organizational meeting. I hadn’t been out to Free Geek since the second week in April, so I was excited to hear that the group is starting to use Xubuntu Feisty Fawn on the computers we build – we had previously used Xubuntu Dapper Drake.

In the words of Taylor, “Feisty Fawn is the bomb.” It was funny to hear him say it like that, but it also felt very good. I had known Feisty was good, but you sometimes take things for granted when you work closely with them. You see how much better something can be, and lose sight of how good it already is Even though I’m not a developer, it was nice to get positive feedback about a project I had assisted with.

I told them that myself and at least one other person are going to be hacking on some Xubuntu documentation this summer, and they were excited to hear it. They want to have more documentation and educational resources available for people who earn or purchase their computers. After all, what good is a free computer if you aren’t familiar with the OS and you don’t know how to use it? Dave and I laughed about being baffled by the huge lists of installable programs when we first were using Linux. The range of choices can be overwhelming.

As usual, there’s a lot of activity in the free and open source software world in Chicago. I’m still glad to be a part of it.

dpkg --get-selections | grep '[[:space:]]install$' | awk '{print $1}' > packagelist.txt on the old machine,

then:
sudo apt-get -u install `cat packagelist.txt` on new machine,

That should work. Only disadvantage is that you’d have to download the installed packages from the ‘net onto the new machine, rather than having them available via a CD. The advantage, of course, is that you have burnt one less CD, and will automatically download the most recent version of your packages.

Much like Windows XP Starter Edition, [Windows Vista Starter] will be limited to emerging markets such as Brazil, Colombia, India, Thailand, Indonesia and the Philippines, mainly to offer a legal alternative to using unauthorized copies. It will not be available in the United States, Canada, Europe, or Australia.[4] It will have many significant limitations, such as only allowing a user to launch three applications with a user interface at once, not accepting incoming network connections, a physical memory limit of 256 MB, and will run only in 32-bit mode.[5] Additionally, only AMD’s Duron, Sempron and Geode processors, and Intel’s Celeron and Pentium III processors are supported.

This is one of the reasons why I’m glad GNU/Linux is available in versions that are both free as in freedom, and in versions that are free as in beer. It’s sad that Microsoft considers Windows Vista Starter an acceptable way to cater to emerging (read: third world?) markets. No wonder GNU/Linux is seeing much greater levels of acceptance in other countries compared to the U.S. – who would want to pay for an operating system with so many restrictions tacked on top of it?

Free Geek Chicago is kind of like Habitat for Humanity, but for computers. Basically, people can work at the facility for 20 hours (over several weeks), and then earn a free computer. People can also buy computers from us, but for the most part it is kind of like a work-study program because your 20 hours of volunteering is spent learning about computers. You learn how to do an initial test of a computer, take a computer apart, test the individual components, put the computer back together, install an OS, and then do a final test of everything to make sure it works. We also test all RAM, and use a drive-wiping program to remove all data from the hard drives that people have donated.

Because we’re working with computers that have been donated by people, the computers are usually at least a few years old, and aren’t exactly super powerful. Still, we usually get decent PII’s and PIII’s, which certainly have enough horsepower to do most day-to-day tasks. Our distro of choice is currently Xubuntu, so it’s nice to see Xubuntu being used to benefit others.

If anyone in the Chicago area has a computer that they’d like to donate, or would like to volunteer at Free Geek Chicago, please visit the Free Geek website via the link above. We’d be glad to have your help and support.