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I am a bit confused. A lot of it looks like Ubuntu, but with slightly different GUI. At first I thought it was just a variant of Ubuntu(like Kubuntu, Xubuntu, e

I am a bit confused. A lot of it looks like Ubuntu, but with slightly different GUI. At first I thought it was just a variant of Ubuntu(like Kubuntu, Xubuntu, etc)...is it? How does it differ from it? Sorry if this seems like a naive question. I am really interested in trying it out...will do so shortly after I am done my exams :P

aroman 13y ago
Hi, thanks for the interest! Our desktop interface and apps are actually quite different from Ubuntu, though we are an Ubuntu-based distribution. To give some concrete examples: - We use our own desktop environment and window manager, Pantheon and Gala, respectively.[1] - We write many of our own apps in-house or work closely with the third-party apps we ship with. For example, our music player, settings application, and calendaring program (to name a few) are all written completely by us. Our mail program, web browser, and photo management app are developed by third-parties who we have strong developer and personal connections to. - Similar to the above point, we have our own human interface guidelines[2]. You might find you like it more than Ubuntu's. - elementary OS is extremely fast and lightweight. Our ISO is ~200 MB less than Ubuntu's, and our OS boots faster and is more responsive. A simple youtube or google search should back me up here. I hope this was helpful to you and perhaps others. Again, we really appreciate your interest and curiosity. I'd definitely encourage you to give it a whirl once you've aced your exams :) [1]: http://elementaryos.org/journal/meet-gala-window-manager http://elementaryos.org/journal/meet-gala-window-manager [2]: http://elementaryos.org/docs/human-interface-guidelines http://elementaryos.org/docs/human-interface-guidelines
- sandGorgon 13y ago
  Why browser and mail program ? I mean I can understand usability considerations of photo apps and music player, but you can do so much more by dropping effort on those two apps. I dont mean it in a "resistance is futile" kind of way - but more in terms of not-immediately-needed kind of way. Especially the browser. Webmail suffices for now - I know people want a Sparrow-like mail app on the desktop, but there is so much more effort that can be put in on projects like color calibration, Redshift-like functionality [1], etc. You are off to a decent start - I really, really hope that you guys dont start building Twitter apps. Instead you should expose API guidelines for things like Contractor (OSX Services?) and have something like extensions.gnome.org - but maybe in Vala for performance. Just my $0.02. [1] http://jonls.dk/redshift/ http://jonls.dk/redshift/
  - aroman 13y ago
    All of the apps you mentioned are third-party. We do not directly develop the mail or browser programs. I'm not sure what you meant about Contractor, because we definitely do have API guidelines for it. Also, there is an excellent third-party Twitter app for elementary OS called Birdie: http://birdieapp.github.io/ http://birdieapp.github.io/ I appreciate the input :)
  - sciurus 13y ago
    Free software color calibration has actually come a long way in the past few years thanks to Richard Hughes work on the software and hardware side. https://lwn.net/Articles/460678/ https://lwn.net/Articles/460678/ http://www.hughski.com/ http://www.hughski.com/
- clockwork_189 13y ago
  Thank you for the reply! :) I will definitely give it a whirl. I have been playing around with the rasp Pi and given that your OS is approx 200MB, I wanna try seeing if I can make the two work together(or if someone else has, do let me know). Good job btw!
  - Someone 13y ago
    "~200 MB less than Ubuntu's", not 200 MB. It is over 700 MB.
    - clockwork_189 13y ago
      Whoops, I misread. Well, still doesnt mean cant try it :P

aroman 13y ago

Hi, thanks for the interest! Our desktop interface and apps are actually quite different from Ubuntu, though we are an Ubuntu-based distribution. To give some concrete examples: - We use our own desktop environment and window manager, Pantheon and Gala, respectively.[1] - We write many of our own apps in-house or work closely with the third-party apps we ship with. For example, our music player, settings application, and calendaring program (to name a few) are all written completely by us. Our mail program, web browser, and photo management app are developed by third-parties who we have strong developer and personal connections to. - Similar to the above point, we have our own human interface guidelines[2]. You might find you like it more than Ubuntu's. - elementary OS is extremely fast and lightweight. Our ISO is ~200 MB less than Ubuntu's, and our OS boots faster and is more responsive. A simple youtube or google search should back me up here. I hope this was helpful to you and perhaps others. Again, we really appreciate your interest and curiosity. I'd definitely encourage you to give it a whirl once you've aced your exams :) [1]: http://elementaryos.org/journal/meet-gala-window-manager http://elementaryos.org/journal/meet-gala-window-manager [2]: http://elementaryos.org/docs/human-interface-guidelines http://elementaryos.org/docs/human-interface-guidelines

sandGorgon 13y ago
Why browser and mail program ? I mean I can understand usability considerations of photo apps and music player, but you can do so much more by dropping effort on those two apps. I dont mean it in a "resistance is futile" kind of way - but more in terms of not-immediately-needed kind of way. Especially the browser. Webmail suffices for now - I know people want a Sparrow-like mail app on the desktop, but there is so much more effort that can be put in on projects like color calibration, Redshift-like functionality [1], etc. You are off to a decent start - I really, really hope that you guys dont start building Twitter apps. Instead you should expose API guidelines for things like Contractor (OSX Services?) and have something like extensions.gnome.org - but maybe in Vala for performance. Just my $0.02. [1] http://jonls.dk/redshift/ http://jonls.dk/redshift/
- aroman 13y ago
  All of the apps you mentioned are third-party. We do not directly develop the mail or browser programs. I'm not sure what you meant about Contractor, because we definitely do have API guidelines for it. Also, there is an excellent third-party Twitter app for elementary OS called Birdie: http://birdieapp.github.io/ http://birdieapp.github.io/ I appreciate the input :)
- sciurus 13y ago
  Free software color calibration has actually come a long way in the past few years thanks to Richard Hughes work on the software and hardware side. https://lwn.net/Articles/460678/ https://lwn.net/Articles/460678/ http://www.hughski.com/ http://www.hughski.com/
clockwork_189 13y ago
Thank you for the reply! :) I will definitely give it a whirl. I have been playing around with the rasp Pi and given that your OS is approx 200MB, I wanna try seeing if I can make the two work together(or if someone else has, do let me know). Good job btw!
- Someone 13y ago
  "~200 MB less than Ubuntu's", not 200 MB. It is over 700 MB.
  - clockwork_189 13y ago
    Whoops, I misread. Well, still doesnt mean cant try it :P