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Progress on Plasma

ubuntustudio.org

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Re: Progress on Plasma

#71

Post by mixedCase »

simonh wrote: post #59

Why is it that the basic unit of distribution for anything Linux is a Distro? Want to serve web applications? Here’s a server distro. Want to work on penetration testing? Here’s a distro. Want to develop embedded systems? Another Distro. Creative arts? Distro again. The OS level fragmentation of Linux is maddening, when you consider that what these actually all are is different operating systems. Why does the Ubuntu…

Some people want or need a tailored experience that they don't have to configure much if at all. e.g. making Linux suitable for near-real time audio work, restricting Linux to a set of well-tested stable packages for high uptime, making it as close to a standards desktop experience where the expectations are set by Windows and MacOS, making it sandbox absolutely everything by default because you have reasons to be extremely security-conscious, etc

Many of these goals are incompatible or at least unfriendly to each other, so you need tailored experiences. And that's fine.

Some of us don't. I use Arch btw.

Re: Progress on Plasma

#72

Post by mroche »

CoolGuySteve wrote: post #32
flyingpenguin wrote: post #14

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don't want to defend Gnome because I also can't stand it over KDE most of the time, but I think GNOME is built for one actually useful thing... laptops. Gnome feels good on a computer with a single small display.

I'm probably the last person who still uses Unity and it's for this exact reason. I set the launch bar to auto hide and use the compiz Expose clone hot corners to switch windows. It all just gets out of the way. I don't know why Gnome didn't adopt the Unity menu bar integration, instead you get to waste space on the taskbar on the bottom AND that useless status bar on the top.

> I don't know why Gnome didn't adopt the Unity menu bar integration, instead you get to waste space on the taskbar on the bottom AND that useless status bar on the top.

Are you referring to the Window List extension? Why not use Dash to Dock instead, or even Dash to Panel (not sure if it’s current state, I don’t use it) which will also replace the main top status panel.

I’m a GNOME user on a single display (X because NVIDIA and 3D industry apps) and it works well for me. I do like the other DE’s though, I’m pretty agnostic in that sense.

Re: Progress on Plasma

#73

Post by overgard »

I hate to say this, but I feel like the only way we'll ever have a popular and coherent linux desktop is if some large company found it worth their while to consolidate all of this (and actually had the muscle/influence to get people to go along). (I guess you could kind of say that's what happened with Android -- though obviously for mobile and not really in the right spirit). The current linux user-space reminds me of like feudal Europe or something, the idea of anything important coming out of all the bickering just seems like a lost cause. It's forever doomed to be just-usable-enough but never in any way that it'll gain any sort of adoption.

Re: Progress on Plasma

#74

Post by mixedCase »

the_angry_angel wrote: post #43
kevinherron wrote: post #5

I wish KDE had the same level of resources behind it as GNOME does. I keep occasionally trying new versions of GNOME but it feels like a DE optimized to look good in screenshots and always falls short when actually using it. KDE on the other hand looks relatively good and is infinitely more usable to me. It's got some rougher edges and a weaker application ecosystem but still comes out ahead for me. I also vastly pre…

I switched some years ago to KDE from Gnome. The only thing I wish I had from Gnome is the quality of text rendering. Maybe it’s subjective, maybe it’s a measurable thing. I’ve not looked, but I feel KDEs text rendering is worse on my daily driver.

Linux apps pretty much universally do font rendering via FreeType. Have you tried switching to Cantarell? I for one fell in love with Inter UI back when I used Plasma.

Re: Progress on Plasma

#75

Post by rvz »

fit2rule wrote: post #4

As a longtime user of Ubuntu Studio on a very productive DAW, this is welcome news - XFCE has certainly been a great choice for the last few years, but KDE has a lot more to offer, especially now the resource usage is comparable. I have a feeling it'll also sway MacOS DAW users to take a closer look at just what Linux has to offer pro audio users - amazing latency specs, even when compared to Mac, which has tradition…

> I have a feeling it'll also sway MacOS DAW users to take a closer look at just what Linux has to offer pro audio users

I'm sorry but I just don't see this happening anytime soon. Linux distros like this don't have the mindshare that Windows and macOS already have and these users still use the proprietary software like GarageBand, Logic Pro, FL Studio, Reason and Omnisphere. And no, wine doesn't count for them.

'Professional Audio Users' won't bother with a Linux distro that doesn't have 'official support' for their existing proprietary setup if they were to attempt to migrate. If they're lucky to get exactly everything running on their unsupported system via Wine on their chosen distro, plugging in their favourite hardware should better recognise it or not crash Wine. The moment one of those issues occurs, they'll go back to macOS or Windows and will be staying there for a long time.

Also, one needs to define 'Linux support' in terms of DAW software.

Re: Progress on Plasma

#76

Post by CoolGuySteve »

mroche wrote: post #72
CoolGuySteve wrote: post #32

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm probably the last person who still uses Unity and it's for this exact reason. I set the launch bar to auto hide and use the compiz Expose clone hot corners to switch windows. It all just gets out of the way. I don't know why Gnome didn't adopt the Unity menu bar integration, instead you get to waste space on the taskbar on the bottom AND that useless status bar on the top.

> I don't know why Gnome didn't adopt the Unity menu bar integration, instead you get to waste space on the taskbar on the bottom AND that useless status bar on the top. Are you referring to the Window List extension? Why not use Dash to Dock instead, or even Dash to Panel (not sure if it’s current state, I don’t use it) which will also replace the main top status panel. I’m a GNOME user on a single display (X becaus…

No I'm talking about how the "File Edit " etc menu is drawn in one and only one place like in MacOS so that every application doesn't waste screen space drawing their own menu.

Re: Progress on Plasma

#77

Post by magicalhippo »

xyquadrat wrote: post #31
coopsmgoops wrote: post #11

Earlier quoted context omitted.

KDE has their own plasma distribution, I've never used it but it seems like a solid option

To elaborate on this, we (we as in other developers in KDE, not me personally) have created KDE Neon ( https://neon.kde.org/ ) which is Ubuntu LTS + the latest KDE software. It's great for using the up-to-date KDE Plasma & application versions while having a stable base in Ubuntu LTS. I've personally used it for nearly 3 years now, and never had any problems with KDE Neon. It probably isn't a good option if you'd lik…

I've been a happy KDE Neon user on my secondary desktop, an Intel NUC, for about 3-4 years now. I use it multiple hours each day and it's been a very pleasant experience, as in it does its thing and doesn't get in my way.

Was seriously considering using it for my primary desktop, but that'll have to wait until there's a viable RDP alternative.

Re: Progress on Plasma

#78

Post by fit2rule »

rvz wrote: post #75
fit2rule wrote: post #4

As a longtime user of Ubuntu Studio on a very productive DAW, this is welcome news - XFCE has certainly been a great choice for the last few years, but KDE has a lot more to offer, especially now the resource usage is comparable. I have a feeling it'll also sway MacOS DAW users to take a closer look at just what Linux has to offer pro audio users - amazing latency specs, even when compared to Mac, which has tradition…

> I have a feeling it'll also sway MacOS DAW users to take a closer look at just what Linux has to offer pro audio users I'm sorry but I just don't see this happening anytime soon. Linux distros like this don't have the mindshare that Windows and macOS already have and these users still use the proprietary software like GarageBand, Logic Pro, FL Studio, Reason and Omnisphere. And no, wine doesn't count for them. 'Pro…

I have 15 years of experience running Ubuntu Studio professionally, and 20+ years doing pro audio with other platforms. I'm currently producing/engineering in a high end studio loaded with all the latest high end gear, and I stand by my statement: Ubuntu Studio is clearly a viable, professional platform now.

I've done a ton of work with this, and its a rock solid and highly stable DAW platform. More so than MacOS' recent Catalina clusterfuck .. and light years ahead of Windows' headaches.

Sure, its not the hype-intensive candy land of Windows/MacOS, but then again .. that's the point, entirely. From the get-go, Ubuntu Studio packs an amazing punch - just installed, out of the box, there's more happening in this OS as a DAW than on either MacOS or Windows, and even after a fresh install of either of those options, you'd still need to spend hundreds of bucks on programs and plugins just to match what Ubuntu Studio offers. Plus, go through all the hassles of installation, iLok, free plugin installation nightmares, etc.

You'd be surprised just how great things are, out of the box, if you'd just get over your prejudice about it not being 'mainstream' enough to support your ideals for what constitutes 'professional' DAW usage.

I run REAPER and have tons of VST plugins from my Windows DAW onboard the Ubuntu Studio rig - they just plain work.

Sure, it doesn't get the attention it deserves from pro audio developers - but that is changing. Lots of devs are seeing Ubuntu Studio rise in the scene. And this is only going to improve with this inclusion of KDE ..

Re: Progress on Plasma

#79

Post by mroche »

CoolGuySteve wrote: post #76
mroche wrote: post #72

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> I don't know why Gnome didn't adopt the Unity menu bar integration, instead you get to waste space on the taskbar on the bottom AND that useless status bar on the top. Are you referring to the Window List extension? Why not use Dash to Dock instead, or even Dash to Panel (not sure if it’s current state, I don’t use it) which will also replace the main top status panel. I’m a GNOME user on a single display (X becaus…

No I'm talking about how the "File Edit " etc menu is drawn in one and only one place like in MacOS so that every application doesn't waste screen space drawing their own menu.

Oh, right. It’s been such a long time since I’ve used unity I completely forgot that was a thing, my bad.

Most of the time when I think about Unity these days I think about the sidebar launcher and the maximized window mode integration, not the rest of the features it provided; I didn’t get to spend a lot of time in Ubuntu.

Re: Progress on Plasma

#80

Post by mslack616 »

I've never used Ubuntu studio but this caught my attention, and to be honest it makes a whole lot of sense to me. I understand though that it's really bad news for XFCE users.
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