[UBUNTU] running LiveCode on 11.x

[Richard Gaskin]

Richmond Mathewson wrote:

> Cannot say I like either GNOME 3 or Unity; am holding onto what Ubuntu coyly
> calls "GNOME Classic" as long as possible.
>
> If I have to, I will migrate to XFCE.

I use Ubuntu 10.10 on my laptop for the same reason you do:  the first 
iteration of Unity in 11.04 was bunk.  There, I said it.  Unified 
menubar makes sense; hiding it by default makes no sense.

While Canonical's been fixing Unity I spent some time with Gnome Shell. 
  Kinda like it.  Still takes some getting used to if you've been using 
Linux a while, but in many respects more polished than Unity's debut 
version.

I used XFCE in Xubuntu on an old machine here for a while to try out 
that distro (that machine has since moved on to Ubuntu Server).  If 
you're looking for the "classic" Linux experience, XFCE delivers, and 
well.  Lighter and more responsive than either Unity or Gnome Shell, 
it's an excellent choice for older hardware.

But as a UI guy I'm fascinated by the ongoing evolution of DEs, and look 
forward to the release of Ubuntu 11.10 in the next week or so. 
Following the design discussions on the Ayatana list and playing with 
the betas, it looks like Unity's finally becoming the useful UI it was 
always intended to be but had previously fallen short.

There are still some things I'd change in Unity, but then again I have a 
wish list for OS X and Win8 as well.  At least with Unity, I have the 
opportunity to do more than just wish:  as a community project I can 
participate directly in the design process, submitting ideas and 
contributing to those submitted by others.

Richmond, if you have time and interest you may consider creating an 
account with Canonical's LaunchPad and diving in.  With so many people 
involved it's not like any of us can dictate what we want, but we can 
work with the community to assist the evolution of the UI in ways that 
are impossible with closed systems.

--
  Richard Gaskin
  Fourth World
  LiveCode training and consulting: http://www.fourthworld.com
  Webzine for LiveCode developers: http://www.LiveCodeJournal.com
  LiveCode Journal blog: http://LiveCodejournal.com/blog.irv