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Ubuntu will switch from X window server to Mir

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Re: Ubuntu will switch from X window server to Mir

#21
post #18
post #16

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If Linux idiots weren't senselessly married to terrible in-group traditions and the status quo, it wouldn't have taken 20 years (or Canonical) to replace the clusterfuck that is X.

The problem isn't Linux idiots (whatever that means) or their cautionary tendencies, it's Canonical.

Care to elaborate? Your comment reads as a sentence-long "NO, YOU!" right now. What about Canonical is a problem, and who are they causing the problem for?

As a "Linux idiot" myself, I hear your disapproval of the parent post, but am curious to hear the details that support your opinion (I might be able to learn something from it).

Re: Ubuntu will switch from X window server to Mir

#23
The other possibility - I just saw an article on phoronix noting the adoption of the Android window server layer (SurfaceFlinger or something like that) on ubuntu mobile. Not familiar at all with android underpinnings, but would that be another alternative to Mir? i.e. more modern window server, actively developed by Google dollars, etc?

Re: Ubuntu will switch from X window server to Mir

#24
post #14

I don't understand all the negative reactions. Canonical is recognizing various problems in making GNU/Linux mainstream. They are then innovating at a deeper level (fixing root causes rather than duct-taping) to ultimately attempt to really attract the layman to a mobile or desktop GNU/Linux distro. Devs don't need to target Mir if they don't want to, Linux users can switch to another Debian if they don't like it, an…

Regardless of the technical considerations, Linux and its surrounding ecosystem has a long history of many different companies co-operating on core software. Canonical's philosophy seems to fly directly against that - so far we have: Launchpad / Upstart / Unity / Mir Launchpad is free-software by name only, and Canonical actively discourage you to setup your own instance. Upstart hasn't been widely adopted outside of…

Upstart is a bad example. pacman is a package manager only used by Arch Linux and nowhere else. Should Arch abandon it because it hasn't seen wide use yet? Better yet, there are plenty of package managers that are better than both aptitude and pacman (http://nixos.org/). Should we abandon the technically inferior solutions for the technically superior ones?

Unity is the same way: it is open source. If you don't like it, fork it and fix it. Or use one of the alternatives. This is not Windows or OS X. Vote with your feet and move over to Gnome 3, Xfce, LXDE, or another DE. If enough people do, Canonical will see the effects and stop putting effort into Unity.

IMHO, Linux and its surrounding ecosystem has a long history of everyone trying to pull it into their own direction. Companies are often forced to cooperate when they don't have another choice, but if they did, they would push their own ideas of what the infrastructure should be on everyone else.

Re: Ubuntu will switch from X window server to Mir

#25
post #11

I don't understand all the negative reactions. Canonical is recognizing various problems in making GNU/Linux mainstream. They are then innovating at a deeper level (fixing root causes rather than duct-taping) to ultimately attempt to really attract the layman to a mobile or desktop GNU/Linux distro. Devs don't need to target Mir if they don't want to, Linux users can switch to another Debian if they don't like it, an…

You are sacrificing your objectivity, there is no reason other distros cannot be 'just as shiny' as Ubuntu or Mac OS. Furthermore it is horrible because Canonical has a history of secrecy and authoritarianism and they absolutely go against the spirit of open source software development.

If the "spirit of open-source software development" can't stand for distro maintainers to have strong control over what goes in their own distros, this open-source spirit sounds pretty authoritarian itself. If (for example) I want to maintain my own window manager for my distro and I provide the source under a free license but don't accept outside contributions into my own distribution, what is wrong with that? Isn't that part of the freedom of free software?

Re: Ubuntu will switch from X window server to Mir

#27
Also - kind of a noob question but: my assumption is all the recent ubuntu controversy is over ubuntu desktop. Does this affect the ubuntu server distro at all? Especially since I am trying to learn how to create a well provisioned ubuntu server vm for use with linode deployments...

Re: Ubuntu will switch from X window server to Mir

#30
post #18
post #16

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If Linux idiots weren't senselessly married to terrible in-group traditions and the status quo, it wouldn't have taken 20 years (or Canonical) to replace the clusterfuck that is X.

The problem isn't Linux idiots (whatever that means) or their cautionary tendencies, it's Canonical.

Yes

The linux idiots have one glaring example: PulseAudio

Throw away user experience, system stability, judicious use of CPU for what?

It certainly improves certain details of the user experience, when it works correctly, also usually consuming more CPU than flash player

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