The Banshee music player is being replaced with Rhythmbox for the upcoming Ubuntu 12.04 LTS release.
News of its retirement from Ubuntu’s default software set was announced during the wrap-up session at the latest Ubuntu Developer Summit.
And Banshee won’t be the only app dropped as the note-taking tool Tomboy is also no longer going to ship as a default application on the installation CD.
Of course, both applications will remain installable from the Ubuntu Software Centre so that those who prefer them, can keep using ’em.
So what’s the rub?
Both Tomboy and Banshee use the mono framework, and are the only apps in Ubuntu that use it. By dropping them from the default install all the mono dependencies they, and only they, require can be removed from the default CD image, reducing download size.
This news isn’t unexpected. There was a lot of discussion about removing Banshee during the Default Apps Session earlier this week, where a strong case was made for the return of Rhythmbox (and the removal of mono-related apps).
Now, that decision has been confirmed.
Are you happy with this decision? Will you miss Banshee, or do you find it, as some claim, bloated? And what of Tomboy – should Ubuntu not replace it with an alternative note-taking app?
Sound off in the poll, below!