Mubuntu is the tentative name of a Multimedia derivative of Ubuntu, currently being planned. This page is the starting point for these plans.

NOTICE!

We have moved to #mubuntu on Freenode. All further IRC collaboration should be done there. Thanx joejaxx.

Ultimate Goal

To build a solid multimedia editing distro based on Ubuntu-Gnome.

Status

Work has begun on sorting through the packages. The main work is currently being led by C.Kontros. We are using Reconstructor at the moment to do some test ISO builds and to discover the limitations of this application. Cory is effectively the lead unless anyone has any reasonable objection to this, as he has experience leading people and has enough spare time to handle it at the moment.

The plan at the moment is:

• Multiple metapackages. Mubuntu-desktop, mubuntu-desktop-settings, and mubuntu-artwork will be the base. Then on top that can be added: mubuntu-audio, mubuntu-video and mubuntu-graphics, further divided if necessary. Perhaps divide each one by universe+main and multiverse, and that would be sufficient.
• Use only packages in official Ubuntu repositories
• Use the 686 kernel

Input has come from LaserJock on the best approach to this process.

Polls for User Opinions

• [http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=266678 Poll 1 - ISO format: CD or DVD]

• [http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=266709 Poll 2 - System arch: x86, AMD64, or PPC]

• [http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=266736 Poll 3 - Kernel]

• [http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=267220 Poll 4 - Desktop environment]

• [http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=267317 Poll 5 - Home dir as Desktop]

Contributors

• C.Kontros (MMA)
  • PROJECT LEAD
  • Planning
  • Art
  • Testing

• DanaOlson

  • Planning
  • Packaging (limited time/experience)

• ForestBond

  • Working further upstream
  • Advice/opinion
• Ttoine
  • testing (with interested sound engineers of two professional studios)
  • writing documentation ; I started on my website about music and ubuntu ; only in french at this time
  • providing hardware is possible

• ChrisWagner

  • Packaging - At this point, I haven't played with Linux audio stuff enough to know what will need packaging, but I'll try to help if someone points me in the right direction.
  • Testing

We currently need someone to handle theming and building of a webpage. Who ever does this, this should be their main focus. - C.Kontros

• HuwWilkins

  • Art Director

Goals

A Solid Foundation

Biggest contribution we can make to Linux desktop multimedia creation is with integration. Press upstream developers for lash support; that's a big piece of the integration issue.

• LASH is definitely a MUST. I have reached out to the debian maintainer for seq24 and ZynAddSubFX I think to build with LASH support. This won't make it to Edgy I am afraid. And I have had no response yet.

JACK

Do we want to start jackd automatically? This is probably not useful to anyone not doing audio work all the time.

• No. I don't see why we would want that. LASH handles JACK, doesn't it? The only possible reason I could see would be if we can use it as the sound server over everything else (no ESD, no aRtsd, etc), but I don't think that is possible. Besides this, I don't know how we would detect what the optimum settings for JACK will be for everyone's PC... That's an exercise best left to the user, I think.BRBR

• I think the most important thing is that JACK "Just Works" for users with as little hassel and setup as possible, in true Ubuntu fashion. - Derick_eisenhardt(2006-09-17@23:47CDT)BRBR

• I agree, but I don't know how this will be possible. Everyone has a different soundcard, and JACK itself does no kind of detection of settings. Plus, tons of users in the forums are using on-board crap audio controllers, and they don't generally work well... One set of settings won't work, and we can't possibly guess what will and won't work for every single card. If someone is running an amazing card on an old Pentium 2 system, the settings would have to be different than the same card on a Xeon, for example. Or a dual AMD64 system with on-board sound card is going to be crap too. I think this is part of the reason why JACK itself doesn't auto-config itself. Too many possibilities. We could try with a setting of about 10ms latency, as it should work for most people... But then what sampling rate do you use? People are going to want 48KHz, but some cards only support 44.1KHz... See the problem here?BRBR

• I suggest that a jack control gui could be launched at startup, but the user has to start jack by himself (ttoine)BRBR

• Jack makes quite a demand on the system, so it will be a hindrance on lower powered systems at times when the machine is not being used for realtime music making. So I would be in favour of only starting it when it is needed. RobertPersson2

• As for the jack gui, qjackctl is not bad at all, but it would be really good to have a gtk2-based one. The jack gui for OSX handles netjack, which qjackctl does not. I think that would be an important feature. RobertPersson2

• jackdmp (multi-processor jack) looks like it will have several advantages over the current jackd, even on single processor systems. http://www.grame.fr/~letz/jackdmp.html

Menus

I think that the key to having this a usable system will be to organize the menus properly - music apps, video apps, graphics apps should not be all in one big jumbled mess. I am not familiar enough with the menu system to know the best way to approach it, but a change to every package I think is not required. We can just add additional menu entries or some such.

• It is possible to let people organize by themselves with the menu editor of their DE, when provided... Or to make a script that can redifine automatically the .desktop files.

• Since we are going to use Gnome is the current structure of "Sound & Video" adequate? I dont know if actually splitting the menus into "Sound" and "Video" would help. See [http://img145.imageshack.us/img145/2954/menuaw3.jpg screenshot]. - C.Kontros

Desktop Environment

Dana and I have decided that we are going with Gnome. Demudi did it, so it is possiable for us to do it also. With the intensity of the applications that we will be running, fairly current hardware should be used. The specs should be the same as Ubuntu. Therefore Gnome should be a fine choice. Further decisions should be made with using Gnome in mind. The challenge will be retaining the admin functions of Ubuntu's Gnome desktop while trimming down the size of the install disk. Demudi was fairly stripped down in this aspect. Its .iso is 558 megs. -C.Kontros

Art & Themes

Desktop Theme

Personally, I think that whatever theme we choose should match Ardour, or Ardour somehow be coaxed into looking like the theme because Ardour is the central cruz of audio under Linux (aside from JACK). Really. Ardour is the only choice for a decent multitrack application of pro studio caliber. I don't mind having a dark theme like Ardour, it might be better on the eyes when staring at the screen for hours... But do apps like seq24 follow the theme then? This is a rather low priority, but it'd be nice if Ardour would obey the system theme by default anyhow.

• I currently like the "feel" of the [http://www.ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=266101 screenshots] I have posted of test disks. A kinda Black/Yellow/White theme. Light on the yellow. Maybe good for highlighting things? I need to get some screenshots of a current Ardour. I plan on having a feel close to that.-C.KontrosBRBR

• Well, perhaps we can spend less time on that by choosing on http://www.gnome-look.org/ some theme that are in the way we need. When the only thing to do will be to make artwork, I think the most important will be done : a fonctionnal way to make music with Ubuntu Linux. It will be more easy to find people to make customized art-work when we can show what is Mubuntu.BRBR

• Thats actually what I did. What I have posted is just a general guide for whomever get involved with the theme aspect. I have a current commitment from panickedthumb from Ubuntu-Forums to handle whatever needs to be done for themeing.-C.KontrosBRBR

Theme

[http://www.gnome-look.org/content/show.php?content=46153 Neutronium]?

Icons

[http://www.gnome-look.org/content/show.php?content=38964 Tango-noir]?

Wallpaper

[http://www.ubuntustudio.com/wallpaper/UStudioBG-xi0nblue-1600x1200.png xi0nblue] revamped maybe?

• This absolutely must change before a release. That wallpaper is for a separate project (my project) and I want them to be kept separate. I don't object to using my speaker logo, however, it would be limiting to stick with speakers for a project which is to include video and art. -DanaOlson

• Up to 2560x1600 for those people with 30" LCDs
• A dual monitor version.

Bootsplash

Splashscreen

GDM/Logon

Mubuntu Metapackages Breakdown

mubuntu-desktop

Package to form the foundation of Mubuntu. This should retain as much of the Ubuntu admin functions as possible.

mubuntu-artwork

Easy one. Package that contains all the Mubuntu artwork. Themes, wallpaper, icons etc...

mubuntu-desktop-settings

This is for desktop settings.

mubuntu-audio

All applications deemed nessessary to provide a working PC studio environment. This is the package most users of other derivatives will be interested in, so they don't get forced into a different desktop environment with a new theme and such.

mubuntu-video

Video editing apps. List?

• Currently the state of "open" video editing seems to be lacking. There are some promising apps coming ([http://www.diva-project.org/ Diva]) but none seem to be at a really usable level yet. Am I mistaken? - C.KontrosBRBR

• You can have a look at this projetc, http://garbure.org/ . They made some live cds for multimedia, and one is for video editing. So just see the list of apps they use.

mubuntu-graphics

A current, complete set of 2D/3D manipulation applications. ie: Inkscape, GIMP, Blender and so on.

• I need to get some more opinions on this. - C.KontrosBRBR

So, basicaly, we spoke about two meta-packages for the basics, one for common packages, and one for multiverse/restricted packages. I think we must do packages with the essential, and then, study the possibility to make other meta-packages for midi, video, etc... The idea it that not everybody as the same need of packages, so, perhaps the best way could be to organize meta-packages so that people can easily choose and install only what they need. I make a start of list here:

• Mubuntu -> install all the meta-packages below

• Mubuntu-basics
  • jackd (the jack daemon, one program "to rule them all")
  • qjacktcl (good gui to control jackd)
  • ardour (essential tool for audio recording)

  • ubuntustudiolauncher (launch applications in the good way for real time) --> this is a bad idea, IMO. LASH is the way to go. Realtime should be automatic anyhow.

• Mubuntu-multiverse
  • (start the list here)
• Mubuntu-soundwork
  • rezound (tool to edit wave)
  • jamin (mastering tool)
• Mubuntu-midi
  • rosegarden (good midi sequencer)
  • hydrogen (rythm sequencer)
  • seq24 (midi sequencer)
• Mubuntu-synth
  • ams (alsa modular synth)
  • zynaddsubfx (good synth)
• Mubuntu-effects
  • omins (set of ladspa effects)
  • tap-plugins (Tom Szilagyi's set of ladspa effects)
  • jack-rack (allow to make rack of ladspa effetc, patched in jack)
  • swh-plugins (Steve Harris’s set of ladspa effects)
  • mcp-plugins (for alsa modulat synth)
  • fil-plugins (set of ladspa effects)
  • cmt (set of ladspa effects)
  • caps (set of ladspa effects)

Don't hesitate to comment, complete the list, etc... Of course, that's just an idea. (ttoine)

• My thoughts on this are the fact that if I want to make music, I need the following: ardour, jack, seq24, zynaddsubfx, hydrogen at minimum. So to get these, I install the metapackages that contain them - mubuntu-basics, mubuntu-seq, mubuntu-mastering, etc. and I end up having EVERYTHING installed anyhow. So either we simply use one big package, or we use many packages that depend on different *sets* of applications. If I want seq24, I don't want Rosegarden. But installing a package how you have laid it out, I get both. I don't want both. Do you see the problem? If we get both, then the division into many smaller metapackages by type is just pointless. -DanaOlson

• Let me clarify what I mean by "sets of applications." My preferred combo is: seq24 + zynaddsubfx + hydrogen + ardour. Other people wouldn't want those, and they might choose: rosegarden4 + ams + specimen + ardour. That's what I mean. The problem is that there are infinite combinations. But having a metapackage contianing all sequencers, and one with all synths, etc just ends up with everything installed anyhow. I hope this is clearer. -DanaOlson

• Well... the only interest of separating by kind of application is that some people could be interested by only midi apps, some other by audio+midi apps, etc... My choice will be only audio apps, since I only work with real intruments and so don't need midi or synth. Perhaps we don't need to separate every kind of apps, but for sound engineers working in studios, it is important to provide a good solution wih selected audio apps, that they can test without having to install everything. It was in that way I started this list. If you think it is not important, so, I let it down.

Also, there are tons of audio apps you are not accounting for... The list is here: http://ubuntustudio.com/wiki/index.php/Important_Audio_Software

For packaging requests, I have that here: http://ubuntustudio.com/wiki/index.php/Software_Packaging_Efforts

• I just want to make a precision : the idea was to ease testing of apps... I know that everyboy don't need the same set of applications.... and of course, that having the same kind of applications is not very util. But only the people who know the softs, like us, don't need meta-packages, since they know what to install. The Idea was to ease the installation of categories of softwares for beginners tests.

• Beginners will want everything installed and make a choice by trying the software or following tutorials. I don't object to breaking them down further, but it's extra work for what will amount to nothing. New users don't know what they want, experienced users know how to get what they want, and they won't want to install every MIDI app via a metapackage. -DanaOlson

LASH

This package probably needs to go into Debian, if we want the extra line added to /etc/services (that file is maintained by Debian). I (Forest) currently have the packaging part done. I just need to get it accepted by Debian, and have not been through that process in the past. I also need to chat with netbase maintainers to get /etc/services modified (one additional port for lash -- lashd crashes without it). netbase maintainer: Anthony Towns <ajt AT SPAMFREE debian DOT org>

• Debian has lashd, as does Edgy. Is this your doing? It still does not work correctly. What do we need to do to fix it?
• Must we wait for LASH ? can we now provide a working solution with what is available, or for will be for Edgy ? (ttoine)

Kernel with realtime preemption

Soon, the realtime patches will be integrated into the mainline kernel. [http://www.internetnews.com/dev-news/article.php/3627831] That is still 18 months away.

• Perhaps we can work on an optimised kernell, with the optimisations suggested ont the ubuntusudio project. It is possible to make it available, I did it, and it works well. There's just a small bug with the splashy configuration at startup, that's why I don't speak too much about it on forums.

• Those are not proper packages, and they will never be accepted into Ubuntu like that. We are avoiding 3rd party repositories, and according to the current poll situation, most people just use the default kernel anyhow. Either way, someone is working on patching the Ubuntu kernel to see if it can be done, and we will take it from there by contacting higher up the Ubuntu chain to see what can happen. -DanaOlson

Comments

• The UbuntuStudio page previously contained a (very bare) spec for what would basically be the same thing as Mubuntu. The wiki page for UbuntuStudio has been set to redirect to this page, and I notified the author of the spec (as registered at https://launchpad.net/distros/ubuntu/+spec/ubuntu-studio). - ChrisWagner

• I will make a quotation of one of my sound engineer friend : "no matter what it looks, if you can work a day on, if it is fonctionnal, and if it sounds great". Do you think it is possible with Ubuntu (or Mubuntu) ?
• Since you guys already have the mubuntu metapackages all thought out, I think it would be an excellent idea to give install options for them during the installation. For example, people working on audio production might not want extra graphics programs like GIMP on the computer. Would it be too hard to have "Everything" as a default, and the option to remove some metapackages as an additional option? Also, some help files on the desktop would be welcome. Stuff along the lines of optimizing the kernel or getting your latency down low, or how to tweak JACK.