[ubuntu-studio-devel] DEs and how they relate to media production use

[Len Ovens]

And some personal feelings as well.
In the past I have tried lubuntu, xubuntu and KDE as they relate to use 
with the studio metas. I tried unity and gnome shell, but was not able to 
evaluate them well as they seemed to require more than my system had to 
offer. They seemed "exclusive" to those who could afford new and fast HW. 
Even my new laptop found it could not keep up with the computational 
requirements. In my mind this continued to make xfce the DE to use.

I have used Linux for about 20 years now and started with slackware back 
when the default boot was text only and X was a play thing that needed 
more memory than most people could afford (I can get a whole system for 
what 16MB of Ram cost then). The WM at the time was TWM and then FVWM. KDE 
was the first modern style DE with a menu that did not have to be crafted 
by hand (or as was more aften the case, came with anything you might load 
so that the menu looked full, but many selections didn't do anything) but 
rather updated itself as SW was added. Effects became common and then 
gnome came along. There was a point that KDE started to use more cpu than 
I had and getting to "artsy and effecty" for me and so I started using 
gnome. I had a tape based studio with an Atari that I did sequencing on... 
the PCs didn't have anything as good or stable. I moved to AudioSlack when 
it came out with the hope I could record audio, but the SW wasn't really 
there yet and sub GB drives were still normal too. I tried other audio 
distros too. but found nothing better at the time. Somewhere in the early 
2000s (2004 maybe?) I bought what was one of the better MB/RAM/Audio 
cards. and not too long after installed some different audio distros to 
try again... with some success. I don't know when I first started using 
UbuntuStudio maybe 2008-2010ish after a move to another city. I had done 
very little with my computer for a few years and liked the newer stuff 
happening in audio.

Anyway, I like some of the features of the newer WM/DEs I have tried a 
modern version of FVWM, which is still being developed. It is fast and 
light there is not doubt, but it takes a lot of hand tweaking of config 
files to do anything.

There has been a trend in linux distros not too long ago to include as 
many apps as possible. I am guessing there were two reasons for this: To 
show off how many free apps there are in the linux world and because it 
used to be hard to install stuff. Audio distros went through that too but 
there are now so many apps available there is just not enough room. So 
people have to be more picky.

things seem to be swinging the other way now. Many distros are pretty 
bare. The installation tools are easy to use and really, most people use 
about three applications for everything. So unity, gnome shell, 
xfce-wisker and some of KDEs new environments are right on target for most 
users.

I am noticing also, a simplification in the settings area. Many normal X 
settings are hidden. focus follows mouse cannot be set from the settings 
screen as an example. Having more than one workspace (FVWM was normally 
set up with at least 3 sets of 4 screens) is there, but hidden and not 
really set up... most users find it confusing.

Linux is crossing over from a desktop made for development, to a system 
made for the end user. I think this is the right path. In the end it will 
bring better working hardware drivers to Linux.

However, things are more tricky for distros like UbuntuStudio and other 
development based distros. There are desktops around that still have all 
the things that make development nice, but we have the task of making 
creative tools work well with the latest desktops too. They are not going 
away and it is the direction all DEs are going. The xdg based menus seem 
to be on their way out to be replaced by panel menus, lens based menus, 
and search based menus. (aside from the show everything as icons deal that 
android and win8 have chosen)

We have talked about workflow based applications in the past and I think 
we were on the right track. I think it is what will fit in with the new 
DEs that we are seeing. Remove the clutter of the workflows not in use and 
present only the applications needed for one workflow at a time.

What I am saying is that we can just map our applications over into some 
DEs (LXDE, xfce and KDE), but others we can't really. I have tried just 
adding an applications menu to unity and it does work, but it hacky and 
takes away from that DE. We need something better. There are add-on menus 
for gnome shell too, but I have not been impressed with their quality so 
far... they are also a hack right now.

--
Len Ovens
www.ovenwerks.net