Default Applications 11.10

Talk about default applications here! I would like to see Thunderbird and VLC as defaults.

i'd take smplayer with mplayer2 over vlc any day of the week.

thunderbird would be nice though.

Chromium! (now, I will wait patiently for somebody to flame me...) :popcorn: But seriously, i really do think it should be the default, but I know that so far, most other people on this forum wouldn't agree with me. :P

I love Chromium, its all i use! But for some reason Firefox seems a better fit for Ubuntu. I don't know why.

I always use VLC on windows but Im sure theres better options in Linux :)

I vote thunderbird for sure! I hate Evolution its just horrible and I still haven’t figure out how (or if) I can switch the integration from evolution to thunderbird. I can't get my hotmail account to work with evolution at all. When I use Thunderbird (on windows and mac too) I have no problems what so ever and it sets everything up for me!

*Banshee as default video-player As banshee supports video there's no need for Totem anymore.

*Shotwell viewer as default image preview As shotwell is now full and fast there's no need of eye-of-gnome anymore

*Openshot in the place of pitivi Openshot is a lot more powerfull tool

*Maybe get rid of gwibber ??

Ken UK said: I hate Evolution its just horrible

I had one other person at work running Linux (Ubuntu 10.04), company of 400 people, and I lost him due to massive malfunctions in Evolution.

Thunderbird now supports the lightning calender, so I don't no why this would be a problem in 11.10.

I don't even understand why ubuntu has a default mail client.

Most people use webmail and people who use pop/imap probably already have a client they like.

Yes, ditch Gwibber. It's useless and hangs/crashes without fail every time I launch it... And I only installed Ubuntu again (I've been Linux-less for a while) yesterday, so it shouldn't be a config issue! There has to be something more stable, surely.

I agree on Thunderbird as well. I'd agree on VLC too, but I'm happy to fetch that separately (video players are something I like to have more than one option for anyway).

Well let's see. Dropping Evolution, Evolution-data-server, Empathy, Totem, Rhythmbox, EOG, Brasero... Hmm, I wonder what exactly is left of Gnome. :guitar:

-Remove Totem if Banshee´s video playing has matured. -Replace Pitivi with Openshot -Remove both Tsclient and Vinagre or replace them with Remmina -Replace Firefox with Chromium (Chromium looks really native in Natty) -Replace Evolution with Thunderbird -Replace Tomboy with Gnote

and for free time: radiotray and/or clementine

How about giving the user the option to use the default or download and install popular alternative. eg.

firefox or chrome vlc or totem banshee or rhythmbox

Just a few basic alternatives for essential apps which it will then download and install if you choose a package not included on the CD.

The installer can even ignore the option if you're not connected to the internet.

Before giving any of these options, there should first be a radio selection for Default or Custom.

Shouldn't be hard to implement. What do you think?

cobolt01 said: How about giving the user the option to use the default or download and install popular alternative.

eg.

firefox or chrome vlc or totem banshee or rhythmbox

Just a few basic alternatives for essential apps which it will then download and install if you choose a package not included on the CD.

The installer can even ignore the option if you're not connected to the internet.

Before giving any of these options, there should first be a radio selection for Default or Custom.

Shouldn't be hard to implement. What do you think?

Yes I support this opinion. But perhaps it would be better if those were installing options and if a beginner could not decide which one to choose, there would still be a default option. Like this. Which internet browser you want to install as the default browser? If none is selected, Firefox (1) is installed. (1) Firefox (2) Chromium (3) Epiphany

Yes, but wouldn't that conflict with the idea of ubuntu being an OS that works out of the box?

And by the way, if you do a minimal install where there is no mail-client or web-browser installed it actually already asks you what you want to do ;)

ShadowDragon said: Yes, but wouldn't that conflict with the idea of ubuntu being an OS that works out of the box?

;)

It's still going to work out of the box, your just getting an option to choose a default program.

It's not like your messing with drivers.

Personally I like having choices during install for default programs.

benjamimgois said: *Banshee as default video-player

As banshee supports video there's no need for Totem anymore.

Banshee is rather greedy for resources and has more difficulty with broken files.

Harry33 said: Yes I support this opinion.

But perhaps it would be better if those were installing options and if a beginner could not decide which one to choose, there would still be a default option. Like this. Which internet browser you want to install as the default browser? If none is selected, Firefox (1) is installed. (1) Firefox (2) Chromium (3) Epiphany

How is Epiphany on this list before Opera?

Also, having been a long-time chrome user, I think Firefox 4 is just as satisfying in terms of performance, and with all the additional add-ons for Firefox, it's really a no-brainer unless Google manages to make another quantum leap in performance.

cobolt01 said: How about giving the user the option to use the default or download and install popular alternative.

eg.

firefox or chrome vlc or totem banshee or rhythmbox

Just a few basic alternatives for essential apps which it will then download and install if you choose a package not included on the CD.

The installer can even ignore the option if you're not connected to the internet.

Before giving any of these options, there should first be a radio selection for Default or Custom.

Shouldn't be hard to implement. What do you think?

Great idea! :)

I never really understood the question if anything is default or not. How much easier than in ubuntu can installing something else get?

ninjaaron said: How is Epiphany on this list before Opera?

...

Because Opera is proprietary software, though freeware with open source components.

I am hoping we can replace Totem with something based on e.g. the Muinshee UI for Banshee.

Aside that I am looking forward to the IM and contact improvement in GNOME3.

Finally I am looking forward to davidz's Goa project which will make configuring and using web accounts much easier and hopefully integrate e.g. Google Calendar and GMail with the GNOME3 desktop.

Upstart needs to be replaced with systemd. I know there is opposition from the server team to this till after the LTS but I believe this is a great chance to standardize Linux and I believe Ubuntu should be part of this as early as possible. Also I doubt we want to be stuck maintaining Upstart for another 6 years alone with the lead maintainer having left for Google (some what known as a black hole for contributors). Aside Systemd' technical merit naturally.

AppStream (basically USC ported to PackageKit) hopefully can replace USC and mark another successful cross distribution effort.

gnomeuser said: I am hoping we can replace Totem with something based on e.g. the Muinshee UI for Banshee.

Wow i didn't knew about muinshee (banshee interface), it's mockup looks awesome !

[IMG]http://fc00.deviantart.net/fs70/f/2010/208/a/5/Muinshee_2_0__by_chawsum.png[/IMG]

cobolt01 said: How about giving the user the option to use the default or download and install popular alternative.

eg.

firefox or chrome vlc or totem banshee or rhythmbox

Just a few basic alternatives for essential apps which it will then download and install if you choose a package not included on the CD.

The installer can even ignore the option if you're not connected to the internet.

Before giving any of these options, there should first be a radio selection for Default or Custom.

Shouldn't be hard to implement. What do you think?

I think that is a fantastic idea! Like some others have said, these options should be available if you choose a "Custom" install instead of "Default." I think it would be interesting if it were point and click the icon option you want to install, like that scene from the Social Network where you click on prettier girl in a side by side comparison :P

benjamimgois said: Wow i didn't knew about muinshee (banshee interface), it's mockup looks awesome !

Muinshee has existed for a while, it is a Banshee backed version of the classic Muine player. You can run it today using muinshee from the standard Banshee package (the meego interface is split out in banshee-meego). The mockups have not been implemented, so the look is more like the original Muine interface. The experience is intended to be very album centric. I suspect given the workload for 2.1.x-2.2 is to hefty to see the mockups implemented by the core developers but patches are naturally welcome. I would suggest waiting till the GTK#3 port has happened though.

One reason Banshee rocks, multiple UIs on the same database without losing any of the power of a full library oriented player.

Yeah banshee is an amazing player, its incredibly extensible. And since it got default in 11.04 its been getting so much more work done on it!

screaminj3sus said: Yeah banshee is an amazing player, its incredibly extensible. And since it got default in 11.04 its been getting so much more work done on it!

You are going to love 2.2 once it comes out. All kinds of much needed improvements and hopefully also merging some long awaited features.

http://www.omgubuntu.co.uk/2011/04/musings-on-banshee-2-1-0-and-turning-off-the-daily-ppa/

regardless, as awesome as Banshee is, I suspect this is getting a touch offtopic for the topic at hand.

CreativeReach said: Talk about default applications here!

I would like to see Thunderbird and VLC as defaults.

+1,000,000 on VLC. It's lightweight and if VLC can't play the file, then no other program can (I've yet to find a player which could play something that VLC couldn't). I've also found VLC to be significantly better at playing higher quality videos too. With Movie Player (Totem) I've experienced significant frame rate drops on .mkv files which VLC played perfectly. VLC also skipped through the video files without problems too; Movie Player tended to just crash.

Harry33 said: Because Opera is proprietary software, though freeware with open source components.

Even with that its magnitudes better than epiphany:P

Throne777 said: +1,000,000 on VLC.

It's lightweight and if VLC can't play the file, then no other program can (I've yet to find a player which could play something that VLC couldn't). I've also found VLC to be significantly better at playing higher quality videos too. With Movie Player (Totem) I've experienced significant frame rate drops on .mkv files which VLC played perfectly. VLC also skipped through the video files without problems too; Movie Player tended to just crash.

Yeah I've never understood why totem is the default player in so many distros. There are multiple players that are superior to it, including vlc.

screaminj3sus said: Yeah I've never understood why totem is the default player in so many distros. There are multiple players that are superior to it, including vlc.

I have asked it by my self some time ago, but i saw on the IRC that VLC is not included by default in Linux distributions, because of the same reason some codecs are not included by default. There are some technology of the codecs included in VLC being patented (like Mp3 and H264), at least in the US.

The best 5 community-created indicators into official repos, we need indicator-fish :P

Totem is also very stable and reliable even if it isn't the best player out there. Plus it adapts really well with GTK themes.

screaminj3sus said: Even with that its magnitudes better than epiphany:P

...

Could very well be the case, but proprietary software cannot belong to default installation.

christoph411 said: Chromium! (now, I will wait patiently for somebody to flame me...) :popcorn:

But seriously, i really do think it should be the default, but I know that so far, most other people on this forum wouldn't agree with me. :P

I love it too, it's all I use.

i would love to see something a little bit more, maybe an option during install asking what browser / email etc... you would want to install.

not a way to install all application but just the basic stuff i often change application straight after install.

as for evolution / empathy and gwibber i like that they are there and would install them if they were not default anyway, And VLC is a MUST for me!

Warpnow said: Totem is also very stable and reliable even if it isn't the best player out there. Plus it adapts really well with GTK themes.

I have found it crashes quite often from personal experience. Skipping through 720p videos and whatnot usually cause it to break, unlike VLC.

• Some fresh games perhaps? I know there are die-hard klondike and minesweeper fans out there, but for the sake of not looking too 90'es-ish...

• I'd choose VLC over Totem any day. Can't the codec-problem be resolved just like it is being resolved now, by offering the OMG-illegal-codecs option during installation? My "must-need" of VLC is that it's the only player that can handle the eye-candyish, and often alternatively placed, subs of anime fansubs.

• gwibber/MeMenu/Empathy-combo is broken to me. The idea is nice, but it either needs to have a more visual presence (as part of the desktop, chat integrated in a sane way), or no presence at all (I'd open the program when I need it); not this half-way I'm-there-but-not-really-presence. I hope for Gnome 3 to adress this.

• Firefox vs. Chromium? Hmm...tough one. I'm currently using FF4 so I can't say anything about FF5; what I do know is FF4 crashes on me from time to time and has more video-streaming problems than Chromium, Chromium is much more solid to me in that sense. Perhaps they'll blow us away with FF5, I hope so, I'm a bit wary handing google more power.

• Thunderbird vs Evolution? Meh... what we need is to make that (e-mail-handling) a part of the combined social-oriented desktop that gwibber/MeMenu/Empathy is trying to be. Again, use the desktop for this, combine it with Unity and your whole social-control-central is just one Super+D click away (that's the shortcut for minimizing/de-minimize all windows to dock).

Just my 0.02$

Maybe Shutter for screenshots?

remove pulseaudio and set alsa and esound... pulseaudio sucks alot.... ;)

ZarathustraDK said:

Me too vote for VLC.... It's simple and super !

• I'd choose VLC over Totem any day.

Evolution may be ugly and buggy, but it's the only email client for Linux that even tries to implement exchange/global address book. Exchange compatibility is necessary for most existing corporate environments. Certainly every company I've worked at over the last 6 years and my University before that had an exchange based system. If you want to plug a Linux computer into a Windows network then it's important to have exchange compatibility for emails and the corporate address book.

My suggestion is that Evolution be radically improved so that it's easy for anyone who wants to have a Linux workstation on a Windows network (and looks better that outlook)\

Companies are less likely to change their server than they are likely to change a workstation. Having a better exchange email client would really help with that, especially in the office environment.

Johnsie said: Evolution may be ugly and buggy, but it's the only email client for Linux that even tries to implement exchange/global address book. Exchange compatibility is necessary for most existing corporate environments. Certainly every company I've worked at over the last 6 years and my University before that had an exchange based system. If you want to plug a Linux computer into a Windows network then it's important to have exchange compatibility for emails and the corporate address book.

My suggestion is that Evolution be radically improved so that it's easy for anyone who wants to have a Linux workstation on a Windows network (and looks better that outlook)\

Companies are less likely to change their server than they are likely to change a workstation. Having a better exchange email client would really help with that, especially in the office environment.

Have you tried Thuderbird? According to the recent newsletter, they are implementing a calender and contacts for google as well as U1.