Official stance on a Natty update (11.04, AKA Femtobuntu)

It'll happen when it happens. I've been a little cramped for time, with work and biking and all the things I can do now that the sun stays out for more than 10 minutes.

Estimated changelog:

• Port script to Ubuntu 11.04
• Add Unity support
• Add GNOME3/GNOME2 choice
• Add XFCE support (tentative)

Additionally, MDU 12.04 will be the final official update to MDU. Its codename will be "Hellabuntu", in support of the Make Hella- Official group. It will follow MDU 11.10, "Nanobuntu", so named in honor of the nano text editor.

Previously, I was using a naming convention that took the lowest SI prefix and suffixed "buntu" onto it. Nanobuntu skips over "Picobuntu" (pico is what nano is based on), since pico is not open-source.

Re-licensing the project

After much deliberation and research, I have decided to put my foot down and stop using the GNU Public License (GPL) for future releases of MDU. I understand that the terms of the GPL explicitly state that derivative works must be GPL'd, but I'm consciously breaking the terms of the license. Starting with the next version of MDU (most likely 11.04), the script will be licensed under the much more free (as in freedom) MIT license.

If anyone has a problem with the re-licensing, I invite you to take a look at the comparitave lengths of each license. The MIT license reads, "you may do whatever you want with this code." The GPL reads, "you may do whatever you want with this code, provided it does not use any non-free libraries and the derivative works must be licensed under the GPL." Yikes.

Attobuntu Update 2

Not too much going on lately, but there have been some significant changes to the script.

• Added support for Openbox and Blackbox
• Improved choice tree for *box segment: Now has all of the choices of the other sections (minus CUPS)
• Fixed the bug for rare moments when the script didn't terminate with a reboot
• Fixed the k/ubuntu-restricted-extras lockup bug

I am looking into adding support for Xfce, LXDE, and Unity. These will probably be implemented in MDU 11.04 "Femtobuntu", due out on the 28th of April this year.

You can get 10.10.2 "Attobuntu Update 2" from the Launchpad, Github or my Personal Version Archive.

Thoughts on Unity

Unity is going to replace the GNOME shell in Ubuntu 11.04, "Natty Narwhal". This recent development gives me very mixed feelings. I've never been a huge fan of Unity, even going far enough to recommend against it when people ask me about it. A few unfortunate aspects of Unity caused me a great deal of unease when I heard about this change.

1. Unity requires hardware acceleration.
   I have always loved Ubuntu for its ability to operate on older hardware. I run MDU on laptops with hardware older than some people I know. I tried to boot into Ubuntu 10.10 Netbook Edition in VirtualBox and was greeted with a nice, fat error message:
   
   As it turns out, Unity literally cannot run without hardware acceleration thanks to its grounds in Mutter, immediately turning off potential users. ("Why can't I just boot to my desktop? What does this mean?") Unless Unity somehow stops requiring hardware acceleration, I see this as being a potential roadblock to Ubuntu's success. At the keynote, Mark Shuttleworth stated that the new Unity will use Compiz instead... here's hoping it does.
2. Unity takes control away from the user.
   The Unity interface is clean. Very clean. It has a nice Applications menu in the top-left (sporting the Ubuntu Circle of Friends logo) with an application-switcher panel on the left edge of the screen. Along the top is a typical-looking GNOME panel... one that is not customizable. As far as I'm aware, Unity itself cannot be themed (please correct me if I'm wrong) and the top panel cannot be changed without logging out, then logging into a standard desktop GNOME session. This defeats the entire purpose of Unity -- simplicity.
3. Unity just isn't for everyone.
   I do not like Unity. I could even go far enough to say that I simply cannot work in Unity. It feels like I've turned "baby mode" on... it feels less like I'm running an operating system on my machine, and more like I'm playing with a toy. I know this feeling is not shared by everyone, but I also know more than a few people for whom this applies. I simply like GNOME 2.x better. At this point, it's a KDE/GNOME discussion, but isn't that the entire reason Kubuntu exists in the first place? The ability to choose is what gives Ubuntu (and the MDU project) its strength. By forcing Unity on everyone (by default), we lose that ability to choose.

These (rather outstanding) problems with Unity will seriously cripple any potential Ubuntu release. As a side note, I've already begun experimenting with other Linux versions1 -- not because I have a problem with Ubuntu, mind you! Simply because I disagree with the decisions that Canonical is making in regards to Ubuntu's direction.

Don't worry, though! MDU will continue to release on-time as long as I can manage to do it, and I will most definitely enable the user to choose if they wish to have Unity installed on their system or not.

Amendment 04/13/2011: GNOME 3 isn't much better, either. It has most of the flaws of Unity. My ideal DE is something like what GNOME 2.32 is now. I seriously hope someone forks it and continues development.

1Fedora is a strong contender in this race. It is the distribution that Red Hat is based on (therefore uses yum instead of apt and installs from *.rpm files instead of *.deb files). Look into it if you're feeling ready to take on a slightly more advanced GNU/Linux distribution.

MDU 10.10 "Attobuntu" released!

The Attobuntu final release can be downloaded from my Personal Version Archive, the Github, or the Launchpad.

The only change from the RC is a fix to the KDE install. Happy Ubuntu release day!

Attobuntu RC now available

The Attobuntu release candidate can be downloaded from my Personal Version Archive, the Github, or the Launchpad. Enjoy!

Minimal Desktop 10.10 "Attobuntu"

The next version of MDU, slated for release in less than six days (that's right, I'm working at a Day 0 release), is nearing completion. I've committed the latest test version to the Github, and you can also get it from the PVA. An announcement will be made on Launchpad, Freshmeat and here when the version goes gold. The generator's update will happen sometime in the next two weeks (there's only one or two things that have changed since the generator was completed).

What has changed:

• Added a script to be added into rc.local that will properly update the Opera repositories (especially if the computer is on a wireless network)


• Removed some packages that don't exist in maverick


• Added Fluxbox support

All in all, no major changes so far. Aptitude was rumored to be removed from the final version of Maverick, but it's still in the daily ISO, so it seems to be fine.

Stay tuned!

MDU-SG

I am happy to announce that version 1.0 of the Minimal Desktop for Ubuntu Script Generator (see title) is now officially online. It is marked for MDU version 10.10, which is currently in beta, but it also works well for 10.04.2. The generator is an implementation of an idea that Stacy R. had back in June, and it is hopefully an easy way to get an MDU installation off the ground more quickly.

The frontend was coded by me, and the backend was coded by Terrance. More information can be found on the About section on the generator.

For now, enjoy! Please post any bugs you find through the comment system on this post, or use the Feedback form on the generator.

Minimal Desktop for Ubuntu Script Generator « Link

Addition to the team

Remember back in June when I asked for PHP programmers? Well, a friend of mine named Terrance has stepped up to the plate and made an alpha version of the online script customizer. There are still a number of bugs to be worked out, but it's a great first step!

We welcome Terrance to the team and I'm very glad he offered to join us.

Update: The online script customizer can be found here. It's still in beta, but it works pretty well.

Permission granted!

Not too long ago, I contacted Canonical customer support for permission to use the Ubuntu name and logo in relation to this project. In response, I received the following email.

Dear Anthony,

Thank you for contacting us and your interest in and support of Ubuntu.

Canonical is the official sponsor of the UBUNTU project and owns the trade marks, both in the word and logo form, relating to the project.

To keep the balance between the integrity of our trade marks and the ability to customise UBUNTU, we've tried to define a reasonable trade mark policy that allows our Community to use UBUNTU and to promote the project. In case you haven’t seen it, that policy is at http://www.ubuntu.com/aboutus/trademarkpolicy.

We do encourage people to make custom versions of UBUNTU, and we have established a "remix" concept to allow for this. Remixes are derived versions of UBUNTU. Where the changes from the official UBUNTU product are minimal the UBUNTU trade marks may be used, but only to identify that the system is based on or built on UBUNTU.

Once again, thank you for your support of the UBUNTU project.

Kind regards,

Michelle,
Trade Marks Team

Michelle Surtees-Myers
Ubuntu - Linux for Human Beings

What does this mean? It means we can use the Ubuntu logo and name, as long as we don't claim to be officially sanctioned or affiliated with the Ubuntu project (which we don't). Huzzah!

Project's renaming

In order to be more compliant with the Ubuntu trademark restrictions, I have renamed the project "Minimal Desktop for Ubuntu" (thanks duanedesign for the name).

Announcing Zeptobuntu 10.04 Update 2!

This is probably the biggest "update" (I hesitate to call it that) that I've done on the script yet, besides adding KDE support. Speaking of which, the 10.04.2 script integrates the choice between GNOME and KDE. Additionally, the script now has a "default setup", which is what is built if the user just hits Enter a bunch of times. As a part of creating the default install, I had to rework the syntax of the script (unfortunately have to perform all string operations on the numerical choices... I feel dirty).

Probably the hardest thing was changing the way libdvdcss2 (DVD playback support) is installed. It used to invoke a script that was installed with the libdvdread4 package, which is the standard method. However, this caused complicated output, and I wanted a simpler way. So, after detecting which architecture your computer has (32-bit or 64-bit), it simply downloads the appropriate package file from Medibuntu and installs it.

Oh, and I removed that broken option to move the minimize-maximize-close buttons over to the right. Didn't work at all. :P

Check it out here: https://launchpad.net/ubuntu-desktop-minimal/+milestone/10.04.2

Logo redesign

The image is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 License, meaning you're free to take it and use it anywhere with modification as long as you link back here or credit me in some way. The Ubuntu logo itself is trademark Canonical, and its use is subject to the terms of the Ubuntu trademark policy.

UMD Logo (800x800)
UMD Logo (192x192)
UMD Logo (64x64)
UMD Logo (PSD format)