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Graf
wrote on the 29 Feb 08 at 08:25
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Unnecessary visual eye candy isn't what ubuntu should be working on right now.
There is a lot of core functionality that should be implemented first.
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Agreed. Eye candy is one of the things that makes Vista suck so badly. I think most people use their computers to get work done- which means they don't look at icons on their desktop all day. I suppose my cats would enjoy watching animated icons when I'm not there, but that's what I have screen savers for.
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I partly agree, but most people judge by what they see.
Not that the Human theme is ugly, not at all, but visual effects are indeed ways of drawing more people into using ubuntu, therefore expanding the community. The bigger the community the faster the advance in functionality. Maybe these posibilities will inspire more interface designers to participate.
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I think we should take animated desktops one step further and have interactive desktops.
Have a few preloaded in some special format that when you click and hold and move the mouse over the screen, we see a water wave effect. When you have an open window, bubbles subtly radiate from the borders and gentle waves come from the sides. When you move the window, the water is disturbed and creates small waves where the window was just as if you moved a plastic sheet over water.
Now THAT would be really cool
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Auzy
wrote on the 8 May 08 at 01:45
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Well, we shouldn't be voting on what should be done, we should be voting on whether we want it or not.
Because, one thing about programmers, is that we work on programs we are passionate about. If there is enough demand for visual enhancements, someone may want to work on it.
Like I'm not getting paid, but I'd like to see some things done.
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retj
wrote on the 8 May 08 at 03:46
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This would be alright if it were Gnome Brainstorm... Ubuntu can modify gnome until certain point, what you ask is like you wanted a KDE 3.5 desktop work like KDE 4 desktop environment, these kind of features do not depend (at least, directly) of your distro, it depends of the desktop environment that you're using...
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I LOVE EYECANDY. I thought of moving to enlightenment just for the eyecandy but i thought i may miss some KDE or gnome functionality. I COMPIZ doesnt work with it cnt remember. my point is, as mentioned before, the look can draw people and if someone out there is willin to develop eyecandy for ubuntu i think it should be considered.
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Let the wallpaper be a video or an animated file (apng, svg, whatever..)
This could be done using the webkit engine as it now handles the video element as well as animated svgs
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I just want to show people what's possible RIGHT NOW:
1. Get xwinwrap from http://www.getdeb.net/app/xwinwrap
2. Change wallpaper to all white.
3. Run: nice -n 15 xwinwrap -ni -argb -fs -s -st -sp -b -nf -o .50 -- /usr/lib/xscreensaver/plasma --speed 1 --maxfps 15 -window-id WID in a terminal.
Isn't that great? Added bonus: since it's using nice the cpu is allowed to do other more important tasks first. I'm actually using this as a constant desktop background, I added it to the startup apps.
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To clarify: I am not trying to condemn this brainstorm as being "done already" ... I agree that that command is horribly complex-looking to any new user. I actually was planning on writing a gui to xwinwrap that would be like the gnome-screensaver-settings app but I am so new to pygtk I got stuck on treeviews :-/ ... I think I will get the hang of it someday. :D
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Endolith
wrote on the 21 Oct 08 at 14:05
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-1 Waste of valuable developer time.
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I agree with Auzy
A programmer thats working for free isn't thinking about what's most important. He thinks about that he like to do. If there isn't a wish from ubuntu users too have an eye-candy desktop then it would be a waste of his time and he would perhaps not do it. This does not mean that he use his time on other important things like drivers etc.
I understand the importance that ubuntu runs bug-free with programs and hardware. But to gain new users it has to have an good impression. This is the first thing they meet when they run Ubuntu for the first time. It has to be that "Wow.. thats nice"-feeling they get.
I really think that Compiz-fusion did a really good job with the cube, but lets not stop here. Lets revolutionize while the other evolutinize.
I want to keep it easy to use. Not all this install this program get this file and set this up.. It has to be and option you can choose in the appearance.
I would like to see Ubuntu be the first to take the step of going in to the 3D desktop. Not walking about with it as we see now in all OS. Right now it's a 2D desktop with some 3D effects.
It has to be able to shift between 2D and 3D.
Let me give an example of my dream desktop:
I have the cube with 4 sides. Each side with the same landscape but with different seasons. So on one desktop window it's winter with snow on the ground and with one tree and on the 2nd I have green grass and apples in the tree.
I can use the cube function and switch between the desktop. No new things here, except maybe the seasons wallpaper theme.
Then by a click/shortcut the cube lays down slowly lays down and the tree stands up as one of the children's books where things will pop out each time you turn a page.
The wallpaper is now no longer a flat picture but a real landscape with concave and convex forms. The mouse can now move around on the 3D landscape like any strategy game.
Your icons are in 3D and you can use a cube like function to view the desktop from different angles. This is a function I call "outside the box" OTB (the old compized-fusion I call "inside the box" ITB).
By a shortcut the cube (with the desktop and don't the different angles) rotates (ITB function) and you see that the snow melts and apples begin to grow out.
When you open a program it's like a sheet of paper posted on one of the 4 view angles. Meaning that a a program runs in one view angle - Just like the normal cube.
The idea of adding cubes to the desktops is that you can have a work desktop, chill desktop, entertainment desktop, personal desktop etc.
Some cool things would be:
1. Holding Shift you can navigate around our 3D desktop with A,W,S,D like a game.
2. You can have a personal animal living and moving around the desktop. It's not just cute but tells you things. Like if it changes color your battery level is low.
3. You can build a mini racing tract on your desktop so you can race between your icons.
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Thaidog
wrote on the 5 Jan 09 at 14:23
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GNOME is a desktop manager. It should be full featured and do everything it can to promote a good desktop experience. I do not see this idea as a waste of developer time for GNOME developers. Desktop animation is a good feature for a desktop manger to have!
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I understand the importance that ubuntu runs bug-free with programs and hardware. But to gain new users it has to have an good impression. This is the first thing they meet when they run Ubuntu for the first time. It has to be that "Wow.. thats nice"-feeling they get.
Yes, if our developers spend their time working on useless things like animated desktop backgrounds, users will think "Wow, that's nice" when they first see it.
Then 99% of them will turn it off and use a regular desktop image, because it's distracting to their work and doesn't serve any useful purpose.
Then they'll run into a bunch of bugs that the developers didn't have time to fix, get frustrated at the inability to get any support on them, and give up on Ubuntu.
Getting a stable system that actually works is more important for increasing Ubuntu adoption than eye candy that 1% of people will actually use. The primary problem preventing people from adopting Ubuntu is the difficulty of using it, not the way it looks.
The mouse can now move around on the 3D landscape like any strategy game. ... Your icons are in 3D and you can use a cube like function to view the desktop from different angles. ... By a shortcut the cube rotates and you see that the snow melts and apples begin to grow out. ... You can have a personal animal living and moving around the desktop.
How does any of this help users get things done?
The desktop isn't a first person shooter video game; it's a way to organize information and launch activities. People use Ubuntu because they want to get things done - they want to chat with their friends, browse the web, draw pictures, listen to music, and write up their homework.
If they wanted to navigate around landscapes and watch grass grow and play with animals, they would go outside.
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While I don't think a Compiz video/3D background of some sort is a great idea as it is really just a waste of system resources, I do however like wobbly windows when maximising, desktop wall and transparency as they add functionality with a smidgen of fun.
What I really want to see from Ubuntu desktop though if users don't like my Ubuntu Customised Typographic Clock idea (solution #2), is to use a slowly animated SVG background that Shows The headlines from our favourite RSS feeds in a gridded bold poster font so even though the design could be be potentially busy its so abstract none would notice unless wanting to.
The Idea could also work like conkey in that it shows useful system usage details like new emails waiting, song playing, Print Jobs waiting, CPU usage, Free HD space ect.
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geoff07
wrote on the 21 Oct 10 at 09:13
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There is a lot here about eye-candy being a waste of time. But if Ubuntu is to grow it has to attract the new market which in reality is teenagers and students, and stop parents from buying Windows laptops for them. Once that is done they are mostly lost. Right now Ubuntu (all of Linux actually) isn't 'cool' and that is partly because it doesn't have all the windows playthings. They are just as useless on Windows but they are there for a purpose which is to attract the iPod generation. So we can be sensible and serious and niche or we can do what the market demands. If Linux became 'cool' it would blow Microsoft away - let's not be our own worst enemy.
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One thing that is standing out to me is one. This is something that people really would like to have. I think it would be something cool to have to play with and or to show other people what ubuntu "can do" that other systems "cant" do as eye candy is a BIG seller now a days *look at windows. alot of eye candy ontop of a system thats unstable.* But what people are failing to learn/know about Ubuntu is that this is a user OS so if this is something you want bring it up with your teams and make it a team deal to push. one person could be turned away...hard to turn away a whole team. An at the same time the team that is pushing for it can get alot of work done and look into HOW it can be done an may even come up with some of the coding for it.
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Hey, we gotta keep up with Window$ if we want to beat it. Many people like Dream$cene, so one step in beating it is using it. TO defeat your enemy, you sometimes have to imitate it. There are some who would not leave window$ simply because of the aero and wallpaper videos.
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