Ubuntu to build its own display server

[whatthefunk]

http://www.omgubuntu.co.uk/2013/03/c...-wayland-not-x

Canonical has today publicly confirmed that they are working on a new cross-platform displayer server for Ubuntu.

Called ‘Mir‘, the X Window Server replacement is tasked with ’enabling development of the next generation Unity’. Which, in yet another about-turn, is to be rebuilt in Qt/QML.

Rebuilding Unity in Qt sounds like a good idea, but I dont know if they can do a display server. Canonical has a tendency to bite off more than they can chew....

[claydoh]

I dunno, they have been working on Mir since June, so it is not brand spanking, dripping wet new. Also Unity has come along strong in a relatively short time.

If you think about it, including the chatter about using Android's SurfaceFlinger, a display server that works on TVs, phones/tablets, and computers is a sane idea. Wayland is interesting, but the pace has been glacial.

[kubicle]

Rebuilding Unity in Qt sounds like a good idea

The downside of this is that Canonical will likely butcher Ubuntu's Qt beyond recognition with their trademarked "shoddy patchwork"

[Notsonoble]

The question is, will Kubuntu use mir as soon as ubuntu releases it? Or will the devs take the cautious approach.

I'll be honest... If Kubuntu moves to mir, I may move to something else... I don't really like where mainline ubuntu seems to be going.

[dmeyer]

Damn it. Didn't see this thread so I started my own over at http://www.kubuntuforums.net/showthr...ir-is-going-on!!!

Damn it!

[whatthefunk]

The question is, will Kubuntu use mir as soon as ubuntu releases it? Or will the devs take the cautious approach.

I'll be honest... If Kubuntu moves to mir, I may move to something else... I don't really like where mainline ubuntu seems to be going.

Me too. I think Im going to start testing out some new distros. I really hope Kubuntu and this community survive in some form, but if it doesnt, It will be a cold day in hell before I jump on the Unity bandwagon.

[blackpaw]

What does Unity have to do with it? There's no way Kubuntu will be replacing plasma with Unity.

[whatthefunk]

What does Unity have to do with it? There's no way Kubuntu will be replacing plasma with Unity.

I these changes happen, Kubuntu might cease to exist. I was saying that I would leave Ubuntu all together rather than convert to Unityism.

[kubicle]

The question is, will Kubuntu use mir as soon as ubuntu releases it?

I'd think this basically depends on two things:
1. Whether Mir is any good? (with Canonical's track record I'm not really hopeful...it'll likely end up as another mediocre Canonical pet project with all the big names in the linux world going with better altenatives, just like bazaar, upstart, unity etc.)
2. What kind of patching is necessary to make KDE work on Mir and whether those patches are upstreamable (I'd assume the kubuntu devs don't have the manpower or the inclination to maintain a large patchset that couldn't be upstreamed.)

I don't see any black holes in the immediate vicinity (of course black holes can be hard to spot), X isn't going anywhere in the short term, Mir of no Mir. Then again it's always wise to keep your eyes and mind open for all options.

[blackpaw]

I these changes happen, Kubuntu might cease to exist. I was saying that I would leave Ubuntu all together rather than convert to Unityism.

Why now? Unity has been round for years, it has *nothing* to do with KDE, it would make no sense to employ it with in kubuntu - might as well use gnome shell. Your fear makes no sense.

[dmeyer]

KDE without Kwin is like PB&J without the J. It might work but its not nearly as good. Seeing how Ubuntu is heading, I think Ubuntu will soon become Unity exclusive i.e. no Gnome 3, no KDE4, possibly no XFCE or LXDE. See the issue! Ubuntu might becoming.

[blackpaw]

It doesn't work that way, Kubuntu is independent of Ubuntu and Canonical, its maintained by Blue Systems and volunteers, using Ubuntu as a base. Same goes for the other variants, there is no way for Canonical to exclude them, nor have they shown any interest in doing so.

KDE without Kwin is like PB&J without the J.

I don't think mir replaces kwin. Its a display server, not a window manager.

[dmeyer]

It doesn't work that way, Kubuntu is independent of Ubuntu and Canonical, its maintained by Blue Systems and volunteers, using Ubuntu as a base. Same goes for the other variants, there is no way for Canonical to exclude them, nor have they shown any interest in doing so.



I don't think mir replaces kwin. Its a display server, not a window manager.

Window managers need to be built to work with a display manager. Mir will break Kwin. Martin is the main and almost sole developer for Kwin and I think he has committed to Wayland for the foreseeable future. On top of that Mir can and probably will break Cinnamon's Muffin and Gnome's Mutter. Unless they patch it - which I doubt because its not a small job - it will ruin the modern DE. Knowing Canonical they'll butcher QT so much it will break KDE and only provide enough patches for the apps they wish to support to run. The Window manager has become a very important component of the modern DE. Unless Canonical step up to the plate to provide patches I think its the beginning of the end.

[whatthefunk]

I also doubt that they can build a working display manager within a year as they have claimed. Wayland has been in development for five years and still doesnt work properly. Canonicle makes it seem like they can just whip something up, like they did with Unity, and we know how that turned out.

[claydoh]

It doesn't work that way, Kubuntu is independent of Ubuntu and Canonical, its maintained by Blue Systems and volunteers, using Ubuntu as a base. Same goes for the other variants, there is no way for Canonical to exclude them, nor have they shown any interest in doing so.



I don't think mir replaces kwin. Its a display server, not a window manager.

Somewhat right, somewhat wrong. Blue systems is a sponsor, a funder of developers. They do not provide any infrastructure at all -repos, iso, testing infrastructure, launchpad, wiki etc.

And you are spot on about Mir - and Kwin. The statements about Mir say that it will run Gtk and Qt without recompile, so it is not that far away from having KDE run on it, as compared to wayland.

If Ubuntu abandons Xorg, and Mir does not support Kwin then Kubuntu might have to support and package Xorg - which is a bit of work I think. I don't see Ubuntu completely abandoning it just yet. We have more than a year to see, I think.