Elementary OS Luna released today


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Actually, it's as close to a vanilla GNOME 3+ as I've seen out of any distribution to date.  (If you look at the screenshots at GNOME.ORG of mockups of a vanilla GNOME, you'll see a lot of similarities to Luna.)  Most distributions that use GNOME3+ fork it somehow off the default - Canonical's Unity is simply the most obvious.

 

I am currently running it in a VM (Oracle VirtualBox), and I'm normally a fan of KDE - however, it's okay because it's largely NOT a fork of GNOME.

 

If you prefer a more vanilla GNOME, or even a plainer GNOME, Elementary/Luna may well suit you.

Elementary luna does *not* use gnome. Pantheon is a totally separate desktop environment. It uses gnome technologies but it is not based on or forked from gnome 3 or gnome-shell.

 

As an analogy: XFCE uses a lot of gnome 2 tech, but it is a totally separate DE and is not "based on gnome". The same is true comparing pantheon to gnome 3.

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Tried to install this on Virtualbox and it says i need a PAE kernel

 

EDIT: forget that got it

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Elementary luna does *not* use gnome. Pantheon is a totally separate desktop environment. It uses gnome technologies but it is not based on or forked from gnome 3 or gnome-shell.

 

As an analogy: XFCE uses a lot of gnome 2 tech, but it is a totally separate DE and is not "based on gnome". The same is true comparing pantheon to gnome 3.

In other words, despite it looking a lot like GNOME (and admittedly based on GTK+, as even the distributions's developers admit), it's a distribution-specific DE.  In that sense, in what way is that any different from Unity (which Canonical was castigated for doing)?

 

And I didn't say it WAS based on GNOME - I said that it's the closest thing to a vanilla (unforked) GNOME out there, and it is, even though it's not based on it.  Practically every distribution that uses GNOME uses a fork (or multifork) of GNOME; the end result is that Pantheon has out-GNOMEd GNOME by remaining true to the original tenets of GNOME.  One of my complaints about GNOME was that it got really REALLY porky over the development of 3.0; however, 2.x was just as bad.  (It's why I fled GNOME as a preferred desktop environment for KDE.)  Basically, Pantheon is what GNOME 3 should have been, but STILL largely isn't.

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In other words, despite it looking a lot like GNOME (and admittedly based on GTK+, as even the distributions's developers admit), it's a distribution-specific DE.  In that sense, in what way is that any different from Unity (which Canonical was castigated for doing)?

 

And I didn't say it WAS based on GNOME - I said that it's the closest thing to a vanilla (unforked) GNOME out there, and it is, even though it's not based on it.  Practically every distribution that uses GNOME uses a fork (or multifork) of GNOME; the end result is that Pantheon has out-GNOMEd GNOME by remaining true to the original tenets of GNOME.  One of my complaints about GNOME was that it got really REALLY porky over the development of 3.0; however, 2.x was just as bad.  (It's why I fled GNOME as a preferred desktop environment for KDE.)  Basically, Pantheon is what GNOME 3 should have been, but STILL largely isn't.

 

This is the most incoherent post I've seen on Neowin in a while.

 

Pantheon is not a fork of GNOME, it's just written with GTK, just as Viper mentioned, even Xfce uses GTK for underlying apps, but it doesn't have anything to do with GNOME. The second part of your post really makes no sense whatsoever so it's hard for me to comment on it.

 

TL;DR - This distro has nothing to do with GNOME.

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In other words, despite it looking a lot like GNOME (and admittedly based on GTK+, as even the distributions's developers admit), it's a distribution-specific DE.  In that sense, in what way is that any different from Unity (which Canonical was castigated for doing)?

Unity isn't really a full DE like pantheon, at the moment it is mostly just a shell. Ubuntu still technically uses the gnome desktop under the hood (although ubuntu does tend to apply a massive amount of downstream patches to their gnome desktop instead of forking or writing things from scratch).

 

Unity = A shell that is implemented as a compiz plugin, which ubuntu uses as an alternative to gnome-shell. Ubuntu's desktop = Gnome 3.6 desktop (but without gnome-shell) + tons of ubuntu specific patches + unity shell + some ubuntu specific software (like USC, Ubuntu one, UOA etc...).

 

Pantheon = A full desktop environment written from scratch using Vala/GTK3, and uses some existing gnome technology like gtk3, gsettings/dconf, libmutter, gvfs etc... (and also some new tech that elementary has developed like Granite, which is an extension of GTK3, and contractor which is a way for apps to communicate with each other).

 

As you see, ubuntu's desktop implementation is much more...hacky.

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Elementary is really really nice. I used beta 2 for a month at work on my Linux machine since I didn't really like Gnome/Unity/XFCE/KDE. Elementary is brilliantly made, it looks great, is fast, and multitasking is a breeze. Once you know the keyboard shortcuts for workspaces and set yourself a few mouse hot corners you just fly through it.

 

If I was to switch to Linux it'd be to Elementary. Whenever I'll have to use Linux again for work or school it'll be Elementary too. You basically get the best of two worlds: the extreme versatility of Linux with the best looks and multitasking mechanics from all other operating systems combined.

 

If I didn't need Lightroom I'd probably switch from Windows 7 to Elementary permanently, everything else simply works in Linux nowadays (even Office 2010 works great through Wine!).

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Installed it last night, totally replaced my previous GNU/Linux install.

 

This is the future of GNU/Linux.

 

The development commitment showed by these guys it's amazing. They built their own DE, compositing engine, file manager and core apps, the result is something that we rarely, if ever, see on GNU/Linux: An approximation to GUI coherence.

 

I would like to make a review later this week.

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The development commitment showed by these guys it's amazing. They built their own DE, compositing engine, file manager and core apps, the result is something that we rarely, if ever, see on GNU/Linux: An approximation to GUI coherence.

One of the things I really like about the Elementary OS team is that they took the time to do things right. I have a lot of respect for that, and much more confidence in their future than distributions that have high technical debt or are stretching themselves too thin (such as Linux Mint, on both counts). Their level of dedication is very impressive. Although it is very unlikely that I will switch away from Debian as my main OS, I will definitely give this release of Elementary OS a try.

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sort of makes you feel like there's a 500lb mafia hitman with his .45 pulled on you to guilt you into paying.

 

it's one thing for the site to say it isn't .  :s

 

 

 

We're driven by a desire to be better, not by a paycheck. Contributors aren't profit-maximizers, they're purpose-maximizers.
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sort of makes you feel like there's a 500lb mafia hitman with his .45 pulled on you to guilt you into paying.

 

it's one thing for the site to say it isn't .  :s

 

Come on, thats an exaggeration, the link for the free download is clearly visible.

 

And anyway, 10 bucks it's nothing, we always complain that the GNU/Linux does nothing notable outside their own paradigm. eOS is trying to do that, lets support them.

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First thoughts... "Dayem, Apple are going to have a field day". 

Thought's after a couple of days... "Dayem this is actual really nice, far nicer than OSX"

 

To any one like me, i'll admit it, who watched the promo video and though it looked like a bad OSX rip, it's far far nicer. I'd say it's more polished and better to use too.

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What might benefit some distributions, such as Elementary OS, is the Debian Blends project. The idea behind Debian Pure Blends is to have teams within Debian that focus on features for a specific target group. The primary advantage to this approach, as opposed to creating a derivative distribution, is that Debian takes care the infrastructure and security of the OS a whole while allowing a blend team to focus on features specifically for their target audience unabated. Not only does this make Debian better while implicitly benefiting derivatives, but it also removes the majority of the workload and cost associated with the production of an OS through the use of Debian's established infrastructure. SPI (the foundation associated with Debian) has far greater resources and support than most of these distributions can hope to muster. Theoretically if Elementary OS chose this route they would not feel they have to ask for donations because their direct costs would be slim-to-none. It seems like a win-win situation, unless I'm missing something critical in my analysis.

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How cute, they even copied the space-based desktop picture. This distro could become great, but they really need to take the UI in another direction. If not, they'll always be that OS X clone.

 

It's a real shame though commercial app makers still aren't investing much in Linux. I would love to install something like this or Ubuntu on my mom's laptop (she absolutely despises Windows), but LibreOffice just isn't cutting it. That's the show stopper.

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Toyed with the live CD a bit earlier.. aside from the obvious OSX feel which was mentioned a few times, personally I found it actually quite good and a nice level of polish, but a few of the basics that I would prefer to have aren't available. Only messed with it for a few minutes so maybe I'm missing something, always possible. Little things like creating links in the file manager without having to bring up a console, pinning a specific folder to the dock, a "global" view for the file manager instead of each directory having it's own, jumplist-like functionality, etc... not a fan of "just the basics" file managers, haven't yet tried pulling in something like Nemo either. Curious if the dock can be made into a more traditional taskbar layout as well, was never a fan of docks to begin with. A few niggles aside I think it's actually pretty good, just need to expand on the functionality a bit more.

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How cute, they even copied the space-based desktop picture. This distro could become great, but they really need to take the UI in another direction. If not, they'll always be that OS X clone.

 

It's a real shame though commercial app makers still aren't investing much in Linux. I would love to install something like this or Ubuntu on my mom's laptop (she absolutely despises Windows), but LibreOffice just isn't cutting it. That's the show stopper.

Have you tried it? That wallpaper is just used in that one video, the included wallpapers are actually quite a bit different.

 

What does it have in common with OSX? A dock (with one similar animation), and the window elements look slightly like those on OSX. Aside that it's completely different.

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What does it have in common with OSX? A dock (with one similar animation), and the window elements look slightly like those on OSX. Aside that it's completely different.

Sure, of course... Things like the launcher and System Settings are basically a 1:1 rip-off of the Dock and System Preferences. Same goes for the folder design, full-screen buttons, toolbar buttons, sidebar design, pop-up windows, round load indicator, progress indicator nob, Smart Playlist symbol, etc. They even cloned Expos?. It goes a lot further than simply coincidence or "slightly like it".

 

I don't really care though the developers are going for an OS X meets iOS clone, but it's kinda ridiculous that you're trying to downplay things the way you do. ;)

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Yeah, I think it's only fair to say they're heavily "inspired" by Apple. But if you're gonna steal, you might as well steal from the best. I'm sure that if the project gets at least some level of success, we'll see them figuring stuff on their own and developing their own style.

 

Personally, I'd give my left nut to run this thing or Ubuntu full time, but I'm stuck with Adobe's CS for work :'(

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This is the most incoherent post I've seen on Neowin in a while.

 

Pantheon is not a fork of GNOME, it's just written with GTK, just as Viper mentioned, even Xfce uses GTK for underlying apps, but it doesn't have anything to do with GNOME. The second part of your post really makes no sense whatsoever so it's hard for me to comment on it.

 

TL;DR - This distro has nothing to do with GNOME.

And you are mis-interpreting the point I am trying to make.

 

I did NOT say that the distribution itself had anything to do with it - I simply said that Pantheon in Elementary is the closest any distribution to date has to an unforked/vanilla GNOME 3 as a DE, as practically any other DE (and especially those running any version of GNOME) has put a unique or semi-unique spin or fork into it as a branding scheme.  That could indeed be what Elementary OS tried to do with Luna, as the very definition (in dictionary terms) of "elementary" is that of a primary (as in education or "beginner") level.  Why is that necessarily a bad thing - especially since that is something that basic Ubuntu got wrong?

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And you are mis-interpreting the point I am trying to make.

 

I did NOT say that the distribution itself had anything to do with it - I simply said that Pantheon in Elementary is the closest any distribution to date has to an unforked/vanilla GNOME 3 as a DE, as practically any other DE (and especially those running any version of GNOME) has put a unique or semi-unique spin or fork into it as a branding scheme.  That could indeed be what Elementary OS tried to do with Luna, as the very definition (in dictionary terms) of "elementary" is that of a primary (as in education or "beginner") level.  Why is that necessarily a bad thing - especially since that is something that basic Ubuntu got wrong?

 

I was mis-interpretating you too, however now I get you and I agree.

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How cute, they even copied the space-based desktop picture. This distro could become great, but they really need to take the UI in another direction. If not, they'll always be that OS X clone.

 

It's a real shame though commercial app makers still aren't investing much in Linux. I would love to install something like this or Ubuntu on my mom's laptop (she absolutely despises Windows), but LibreOffice just isn't cutting it. That's the show stopper.

 

http://wps-community.org/

 

Kingsoft Office for Ubuntu is free (as in beer) and the compatibility with Office features is notable. And the UI is fantastic.

 

I dont have any problems with the UI. OS X was not exactly new too, the paradigm of panel-based UIGs is as old as the first GUIs made by Xerox, Apple, Amiga, etc. The dock is, practically, a task populated panel with some nice effects added. In that sense eOS is not copying, it's just adopting a logical set of guidelines.

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I would like to make a review later this week.

 

That would be awesome! (Y)

 

BTW: Is this a Live CD too.... would love to run it that way first..

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That would be awesome! (Y)

 

BTW: Is this a Live CD too.... would love to run it that way first..

 

It is, but it felt more sluggish that most live cds. I suggest virtualbox.

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