Linus Torvalds, the creator of Linux, has hit back at recent claims by that 'desktop Linux is dead', describing parts of the argument as 'laughable'. The issue stems from an article written last week by GNOME founder Miguel Icaza, in which he says that the Linux Desktop is 'dead'.
The new GNOME-flavoured spin of Ubuntu 12.10 has released an early alpha build for testers to try. Aiming to provide as 'pure' a GNOME experience as possible on Ubuntu, the spin uses the latest beta of GNOME 3.6 as its default desktop environment.
Want to display album cover-art and control options on your desktop in Ubuntu? Coverbox, a fork of the once-popular Covergloobus, lets you do just that.
A new game - 'Sacred Gold', described as a 'classic RPG' - has been added to the Ubuntu Software Center. Its arrival marks the beginning of a 'new relationship' between Linux Game Publishing and Canonical, which the company says will 'bring the greatest Linux ports of your favourite games to Ubuntu'.
12 new wallpapers have landed in ubuntu 12.10 - just days after the Ubuntu wallpaper contest itself closed.
Ubuntu 12.10 has updated the Unity Greeter – aka login screen – with some minor visual tweaks. None of the changes are drastic, and for many will be barely noticeable. The changes, or ‘finesse’, are subtle and incremental improvements to the padding, styling and alignment of items on greeter.
The Ubuntu 12.10 icon theme has been updated with new status items for use in the Messaging Menu. A total of 24 new messaging indicator icons were added - 12 for use with the default 'mono-dark' icon set, and 12 for use with the 'mono-light' version.
It's official: a pure GNOME edition of Ubuntu is to be released later this year. 'Gnomebuntu', to be based on Ubuntu 12.10, will be released on October 18th - the same day that Ubuntu, Kubuntu and Xubuntu all release their latest versions.
Miguel de Icaza, one of the founders of the GNOME project, has said that OS X has 'killed the Linux desktop'. He cites rapid development 'breaking both open source and proprietary software alike', as well as the 'incompatibility across Linux distributions' as being key reasons for its failure to take hold.
Sharing your Ubuntu One files and folders has been made easier in Ubuntu 12.10. The Ubuntu One desktop application has bene fitted out with a new section titled "Share Links".
The first issue of 'GIMP Magazine' is set to drop on September 5th. The free magazine, which aims to publish four issues a year, features works from various creatives in the GIMP and free-software communities.
WebMenu is a new Rhythmbox plugin that takes the pain out of finding artist, album, or song info online. For example, when listening to music on shuffle I often come across that I haven't heard from in a while. With WebMenu enabled I can press CTRL+W; right click on a track; or use the HUD to instantly open up their page on Wikipedia to see what they're up to.