Ubuntu Wiki

Ubuntu Open Week - Xubuntu - Cody Somerville - Sat, Oct 27, 2007

15:29 < TheSheep> here :)
15:29 < keithcleaveruk> yeah
15:29 < TheSheep> Hello, I will try and talk about Xubuntu
15:29 < TheSheep> My name is Radomir Dopieralski and I'm a xubuntu user since Dapper
15:29 < popey> TheSheep:  you here in place of Cody?
15:29 < TheSheep> popey: seems so, at least until Cody shows up, I don't know what happened
15:30 < TheSheep> popey: this is a little improvised
15:30 < TheSheep> popey: is this ok?
15:30 < popey> well it would be nice to get hold of cody of course
15:31 < TheSheep> I will step down as soon as he appears
15:31 < popey> it's fine by me
15:33 < TheSheep> As you might already all know, Xubuntu is an Ubuntu derivative, with GNOME environment replaced with XFCE
15:33 < TheSheep> It shares the Ubuntu repositories and most of its core, so the main difference is a different set of default applications and different default settings
15:34 < TheSheep> The applications were chosen to make the desktop still as useful and powerful as possible, while limiting the memory footprint and keeping everything fast.
15:35 < TheSheep> So, for example, we have Abiword and Gnumerica instead of Openoffice
15:35 < TheSheep> GQview instead of gThumb
15:36 < TheSheep> the general rule of thumb is that we prefer GTK applications that don't have GNOME dependencies
15:36 < TheSheep> although Xubuntu also includes some applications with GNOME dependencies stripped entirely or reduced to minimum
15:37 < TheSheep> These applications have a -gtk suffix added in the repositories
15:38 < TheSheep> As you can see, Xubuntu is a nice thing to use if you have older hardware
15:39 < TheSheep> But it's also very good for people who just don't like to waste memory or cpu power on bells and whistles
15:39 < TheSheep> Many xubuntu users use it on computers that could easily run Ubuntu
15:40 < vinze> <picard_pwns_kirk> QUESTION: is the web browser still Firefox?
15:41 < TheSheep> picard_pwns_kirk: yes, we still use Firefox
15:41 < vinze> <keithcleaveruk> QUESTION: I don't know if you can answer this one, but is the plan to do future releases at the same time as the regular Ubuntu?
15:42 < TheSheep> keithcleaveruk: so far the releases were synchronized with Ubuntu, with maybe a day of delay, but I'm not sure about the current plans
15:42 < vinze> <Lardarse> QUESTION: Is there a list of Xubuntu-prefered applications available somewhere?
15:43 < TheSheep> Lardarse: for the current, up-to-date list, just check the dependencies of the xubuntu-desktop package
15:44 < TheSheep> http://packages.ubuntu.com/gutsy/metapackages/xubuntu-desktop
15:44 < mzungu> vinze: not really an answer to my question - we have lots of old hardware here in africa - even 486 pcs
15:46 < TheSheep>  < mzungu> QUESTION: what would be the minimum hardware specs to
15:46 < TheSheep>                 comfortablr run Xubuntu?
15:46 < vinze> Lardarse, the default packages are at http://cdimage.ubuntu.com/xubuntu/releases/gutsy/release/xubuntu-7.10-desktop-i386.manifest
15:46 < TheSheep> mzungu: a pentium class processor seems to be a must, and at least 64MB of ram to even get this running. Personally I was running a stripped-down xubuntu on P90 and 96MB ram
15:47 < TheSheep> mzungu: it wasn't comfortable, but it was possible to get the work done
15:47 < vinze> <desertc> QUESTION: Would this be something you could run on a Crusoe processor or even an ARM processor?  What's the smallest form of computer on which Xubuntu can run?  Are there any embedded Xubuntu machines?
15:47 < mzungu> ok - so a 166 pentium 1 with 64mb is ok?
15:50 < TheSheep> Xubuntu is not really a perfectly streamlined, light ditribution for very old hardware -- there are much better distributions for that. Xubuntu tries to strike a balance between user-friendliness and lightness.
15:50 < TheSheep> desertc: I don't know about architectures like ARM, my guess is xubuntu may be too heavy for them.
15:51 < TheSheep> Xubuntu can be easily further stripped down, the cups and hplip daemons disabled, screen resolution lowered, many services removed
15:52 < TheSheep> However, at some point you really need to recompile the kernel
15:52 < TheSheep> This xubuntu doesn't do by default
15:52 < TheSheep> < desertc> QUESTION: Are there some situations where you've seen Xubuntu  where you thought it was especially well suited?
15:53 < TheSheep> desertc: my desktop :)
15:53 < vinze> <picard_pwns_kirk> QUESTION: Xubuntu is just regular Ubuntu with different apps and a different window manager, right?
15:53 < TheSheep> desertc: but seriously, we use it in our computer laboratories on the university, over 300 workstations
15:53 < TheSheep> desertc: we have mixed hardware, but all the workstations must have the same software -- so xubuntu fits here nicely
15:54 < vinze> desertc, also, it's very well suited to run from a USB drive due to its lightness
15:54 < TheSheep> desertc: xfce has also some buildin kiosk functionalities, so you can use it for setups where the users are not supposed to be playing with settings
15:55 < TheSheep> picard_pwns_kirk: mostly yes, we also have different default settings, so there are differences in what services start, etc.
15:55 < TheSheep> picard_pwns_kirk: but the core is the same
15:56 < TheSheep> picard_pwns_kirk: in particular, it's possible to make Xubuntu from Ubuntu manually, by just isntalling some packages and changin some settings
15:57 < TheSheep> About the future plans of Xubuntu
15:58 < TheSheep> I don't know the absolutely current status, I've heard Jani is stepping back, but I don't want to spread rumors
15:58 < vinze> TheSheep, that's correct
15:58 < TheSheep> I can tell about the plans from several months ago
15:58 < vinze> Lionel (mr_pouit) is the new lead dev I believe
15:58 < TheSheep> Gutsy includes some more GNOME dependencies than Feisty did
15:58 < TheSheep> in particular, on gnome-vfs
15:59 < TheSheep> the decission was made because these libraries are not really so heavy in gnome
15:59 < TheSheep> and becuase "removing dependencies" on them would mostly consists of copy-pasting code from them
15:59 < TheSheep> they are pretty straightforward
16:00 < TheSheep> we are looking forward to the gvfs library, I hope some dependencies can be easily resolved when it's out
16:01 < TheSheep> I think the worst problem so far is that we don't have a working and maintained cd burning application
16:02 < TheSheep> Gutsy includes GNOME's Brasero
16:03 < TheSheep> We also don't have such excellent documentation, although most of the howtos and docs work in xubuntu the same as in GNOME
16:04 < TheSheep> On the plus side, the help channel is much less busy, so it's much easier to get help tehre
16:04 < TheSheep> there
16:05 < TheSheep> We are always looking for people willing to help.
16:05 < TheSheep> Programmers who know GTK and can 'strip the deps' are of course very needed, but the distrubution always needs more hands to help
16:06 < TheSheep> We need people to package applications (especially ones not included in Ubuntu)
16:06 < TheSheep> and to maintain them.
16:06 < TheSheep> We need people to triage bugs and write documentation
16:07 < TheSheep> We are much smaller group than the ubuntu dev team, so there are definitely more opportunities to do something really cool
16:08 < TheSheep> plus, the xfce environment is really well designed and sleek, so it's a pleasure to work with it.
16:09 < popey> thanks very much TheSheep for stepping in!
16:09 < TheSheep> to reasume, I think that Xubuntu is definitely worth a try for everyone. It's different from gnome or kde, but people who like it, like it very much.
16:09 < TheSheep> Thank you everyone for you attention
16:09 < vinze> Thanks TheSheep
16:09  * popey cheers for TheSheep 
16:09 < keithcleaveruk> /,e seconds popey
16:09 < keithcleaveruk> */me
16:10 < BonesolTeraDyne> TheSheep, you deserve a medal for making it through this talk as well as you did.