Shuttleworth to hire developers for Gnome, KDE, QT

[pt123]

Not sure why this doesn't seem to be posted here but this is the biggest Ubuntu news in sometime:
http://blogs.computerworld.com/ubuntu_to_work_more_with_larger_linux_community



That's about to change. Mark Shuttleworth, CEO of Canonical, the company behind Ubuntu, announced in his blog that Canonical will be "hiring a team who will work on X, OpenGL, Gtk, Qt, GNOME and KDE, with a view to doing some of the heavy lifting required to turn those desktop experience ideas into reality." "Those desktop experiences ideas" are Ubuntu's design ideas. Shuttleworth recently said he wanted the Linux desktop to be better than the Mac's interface. He's now putting his money behind this idea.

Mark's blog
http://www.markshuttleworth.com/archives/162

I am really excited about this, and can see Ubuntu and Linux for Desktop becoming more popular if this works out.

[zmjjmz]

Yay.

[smartboyathome]

I think this is great. Mark is really starting to contribute to Ubuntu's core OSS in general. Go Mark! :D

[EdThaSlayer]

Mark Shuttleworth is the messiah! Something must have send this prophet down to this planet. Maybe, one foretold the coming of an evil operating system that would leave people in debt and created the anti-evil, Mr.Shuttleworth. Just wanted to tell a story, basically, keep it going Mark. :guitar:

[myusername]

awesome

[mrsteveman1]

It has been funny to watch fanatics react to this announcement, blasting him and ubuntu in general for the most ridiculous reasons. Ubuntu makes it too easy to use linux! Everything is perfectly fine, nothing to see here, move along!

The truth is, X11 needs serious work, and the distro as a whole could benefit from attention to detail and work on usability. Things can only get better if more people are actively working to improve it.

[SunnyRabbiera]

But maybe Cannonical would be better as a sponsor though to them, as opposed to taking in its own team that will only work on Ubuntu implementation.

[EdThaSlayer]

But maybe Cannonical would be better as a sponsor though to them, as opposed to taking in its own team that will only work on Ubuntu implementation.

By doing this Canonical is not only helping Ubuntu, it's also helping the Linux world in general. Remember, they contribute to KDE,and GNOME by doing this.

[kpkeerthi]

I love this man for what he's doing for linux!

[airjaw]

Awesome.. this is like 50% of the complaints we see..the UI and KDE/Gnome etc etc integration with Ubuntu definitely needs work.
Can't wait to see what Ubuntu looks like in 5 years.

[SunnyRabbiera]

Awesome.. this is like 50% of the complaints we see..the UI and KDE/Gnome etc etc integration with Ubuntu definitely needs work.
Can't wait to see what Ubuntu looks like in 5 years.

actually I think gnome is quite integrated with ubuntu, its just as good in Ubuntu as it is in Fedora though maybe not as well as it is in Debian (debian gnome installs are wonderful)

[frup]

This is good news :)

I hope all the work is well received and planned well. I wish this well and look forward to hearing some of the goals and results.

It comes at a good time too, I like 8.04 which from 5.10 has just followed that nice natural evolution in features which OSS is so good at, but currently Intrepid Ibex just doesn't seem to have anything in particular worth upgrading for.

That's a good thing, until now I have always felt the need to upgrade for one thing or another, major application features that were needed or basic hardware improvements. Everything is perfect for me at the moment and I look forward to more experimentation etc.

[SZF2001]

I hope they make it so when you have your webcam or microphone plugged in it's always recording and sending the feed back to their head quarters so they can blackmail all their users.

I can only dream though, please let me dream.

[Air_Scythe]

Awesommeee!!!

[dustigroove]

This is a phenomenal move on Shuttleworth's part. Hopefully it will help to create an impetus within the upstream projects and allow for improvements in areas that haven't seen much focus. Additionally if the hired-hands convene as a team, it will allow them to bring an integration between the projects that hasn't been had due to the nature of FLOSS development.

Kudos for all the efforts he has made.

[graabein]

Yahoo!! Way to go. Full time developers are needed on core projects like these. I hope the collaboration between "Ubuntu men" and the different teams work out well.

[pt123]

But maybe Cannonical would be better as a sponsor though to them, as opposed to taking in its own team that will only work on Ubuntu implementation.
We would be where we are now, with Mark he is a visionary and having your own developers will give him better control in implementing his visions.
Before Ubuntu came along, Desktop Linux was in poor state, Mark has a better grasp on what the average user wants.
Hopefully him taking the charge will allow Ubuntu to raise money from companies like Google, Intel and Dell.

[stinger30au]

this is a great day for Linux in general. the *ENITRE* linux community is going to benefit from this in the long run, not only Ubuntu

The linux world needs more innovators like Mark Shuttleworth

Top work Mark!

I will have a celebratory drink and raise my glass in your general direction!

[airjaw]

I was elated when I read that article, to say the least. I'm not sure what advantage there is to having developers work on 10+ different desktop kits (gnome, kde, xfce, etc.)

I guess users could choose which ones they like best but...
at some point you have to figure that there are advantages to "conforming" and focusing all your effort on one or two.

Also, focusing on the user experience is a great direction for Ubuntu to take, considering that many seem to agree that the default themes and usability needs work. I saw some really amazing artwork that showed what Ubuntu could look like.. i'm holding my breath that these will be adopted by Ubuntu in the new year or two

[mrsteveman1]

I was elated when I read that article, to say the least. I'm not sure what advantage there is to having developers work on 10+ different desktop kits (gnome, kde, xfce, etc.)

Because if they picked one and stuck with it, not only would it make too much sense, the crazies would come out of the woodwork OUTRAGED that their favorite was excluded from all the hot development lovin'.

[LaRoza]

Humph.

Why deal with such unusable DE's? Just use xmonad and it will be more usable and not need money.

[d0b33]

Mark Shuttleworth is the messiah! Something must have send this prophet down to this planet. Maybe, one foretold the coming of an evil operating system that would leave people in debt and created the anti-evil, Mr.Shuttleworth. Just wanted to tell a story, basically, keep it going Mark. :guitar:

He's our Jobs?

OSX user too btw :)

[andamaru]

Humph.

Why deal with such unusable DE's? Just use xmonad and it will be more usable and not need money.

rofl :lolflag: (I hope that was a joke)

[Polygon]

Humph.

Why deal with such unusable DE's? Just use xmonad and it will be more usable and not need money.

there is no proof that tiling window managers would make it more usable. it would make actually things less usable because almost no one compartively uses tiling window managers

i also like using things that don't look like they are from 1990. I have a 2 ghz processor and a gig of ram, lets actually put that to use

[zmjjmz]

Having pretty themes doesn't put a 2GHz proc and 1GB RAM to use.
Folding@Home on the other hand...

[conehead77]

there is no proof that tiling window managers would make it more usable. it would make actually things less usable because almost no one compartively uses tiling window managers

there is no proof that Linux would make it more usable. it would make actually things less usable because almost no one compartively uses Linux ;)

[cardinals_fan]

i also like using things that don't look like they are from 1990. I have a 2 ghz processor and a gig of ram, lets actually put that to use
There's no accounting for taste. Some of us think that minimal is good :)

[mrsteveman1]

He's our Jobs?

OSX user too btw :)

Hey at least Shuttleworth actually comes out and speaks in public and communicates with users. Jobs only does so when the user base is outraged over something, or to announce a new product.

Yea I'm posting this from a mini :D

[brunovecchi]

Humph.

Why deal with such unusable DE's? Just use xmonad and it will be more usable and not need money.

Yeah let's call that plan B okay?

[xArv3nx]

Humph.

Why deal with such unusable DE's? Just use xmonad and it will be more usable and not need money.
Your ignorance is showing.

[zmjjmz]

It's surprisingly right.
Although I can't vouch for tiling WM's, light window managers are really awesome (pun not intended.)

[xArv3nx]

It's surprisingly right.
Although I can't vouch for tiling WM's, light window managers are really awesome (pun not intended.)
Not really.

This reminds me of another thread she/he made, in which she/he stated that Ubuntu (or something similar) should go CLI-only. Get REAL!

Otherwise, this is great news. I wonder how many developers he will hire and what they'll actually contribute. I hope to see something come out of this.