Distributions

A look at elementary OS "Freya"

The open-source desktop environment world has seen a flurry of activity in the last few years. Unity launched in 2010, GNOME 3 launched in 2011, KDE Plasma 5 was released earlier this year, LXDE is moving to Qt, and so on. For those dissatisfied with these choices, another is available: Pantheon, which is the default desktop environment for elementary OS, an Ubuntu-based distribution. A beta of the distribution — code named Freya — was recently released with the latest updates to Pantheon, which makes it a good time for a review.

Freya is based on Ubuntu 14.04 LTS, versus 12.04 LTS for the previous version, Luna. Users can expect all the benefits from the updated stack, including newer pieces:

The release is based on GTK+ 3.12, rather than 3.10 that comes with Ubuntu 14.04, so it is up to date with the latest stable release of the toolkit. The project changed the name of the latest version from Isis to Freya when the activities of the jihadist organization ISIS came to worldwide attention.

Initial comparisons with Mac OS X's Aqua interface are inevitable. A thin horizontal panel, similar to the top panel in Aqua and GNOME Shell, at the top of the desktop contains controls for accessing applications, configuring Internet connections, shutting down the computer, and so on. Also like Aqua, a dock at the bottom allows quick launching of commonly used applications; users can also pin their favorite applications to the dock for easy access. The key user interface (UI) design tenets for Pantheon appear to be minimalism and simplicity, with an emphasis on good default behavior over configuration depth.

But Pantheon is no Mac OS X ripoff. Elementary OS has a strong focus on developing original applications that integrate with its desktop. That maintains a common look-and-feel throughout the desktop, while also, seemingly, providing some performance benefits. Indeed, these applications open quickly and run smoothly.

Luna, the current stable release, features the text editor Scratch, a music player (now called Noise), a terminal emulator (Pantheon Terminal), and a calendar application (now named Maya). Freya adds to that the video player Audience, an image viewer Photos (based on Shotwell), and an Online Accounts integration feature. The latter allows users to integrate "cloud" services from providers like Yahoo, Google, and Facebook. For example, one can sync remotely stored files on Google Drive with elementary OS.

There are some quirks with some of elementary OS's design decisions that one may be less than thrilled with. The LibreOffice suite of productivity software is not included by default, which is surprising, given that word processing, spreadsheet drafting, and digital slide presentation production are common use cases for desktop computing. In a comment on a blog post, developer Fabian Thoma explained that LibreOffice is not preinstalled because it would make the installation image larger than the project would like, and because "we don't think an Application of that Quality currently deserves [being] on our default installation".

Another quirk is the choice of the lightweight Midori as the default web browser, rather than the more popular Firefox. A recent interview with founder Daniel Foré showed that at least some elementary OS users find this choice strange, as they might expect the more well-known Chrome/Chromium or Firefox. Foré noted that the project is focused on programs that fit the distribution's look and feel:

Elementary OS is backed by a company, elementary LLC, that consists of "a team of dedicated UX [user experience] designers, developers, artists, and everyday computer users who want to craft an incredible computing experience". The project currently earns money from selling t-shirts along with a nudge to pay for downloading the distribution on the project's home page. By default, elementary OS asks for $10 to download Luna, though there is an option to change how much is paid. It could be confusing to those with no knowledge of free operating systems, although the introductory text does include the phrase: "Name your price or download for free." Some of that money goes toward bounties on Bountysource, which is a service that allows development teams and companies to pay for completed tasks on open source projects.

The project appears to be largely a labor of love. In the interview noted above, Foré revealed that the project is not making a lot of money. Foré has a full-time job "for a small restaurant group doing their marketing and design", and works on elementary OS in his spare time. He also commented about how much elementary OS is currently making:

AppCenter, elementary OS's GUI-based software manager, looks nice on the introduction page, but Foré mentioned that it unfortunately won't be ready for Freya. "I really want to put the utmost focus on it, but there is quite a bit of foundational work we need to do in order to be able to do AppCenter right." Instead, Ubuntu's Software Center provides software management functionality for Freya.

The funding the project does have has let elementary OS outsource some development tasks. As of August 2014, the project has over $5,500 available to pay out for completed bounties on Bountysource. The top two projects for elementary OS on Bountysource are for Midori and the Geary email client. For example, anyone looking for $905 can claim it if they're the first to complete the bounty on integrating Ubuntu Online Accounts with Geary.

Development is quite active. Over 250 bugs are listed on Freya's Launchpad page, with many confirmed, triaged, or in progress. Coders aren't the only ones who can help; for example, translators are needed. While a lot of progress has been made on this front since Luna's release, key core applications like Maya could still use some attention.

Overall, Freya appears to be a positive iteration on the good design work seen in Luna. Elementary OS's focus on a quality UI has been getting positive attention from elsewhere in the open-source community. Other distributions, like Arch and Gentoo, offer Pantheon for download, albeit in an unofficial repository for Arch and with warnings about potential instability on Gentoo. Wesley Hearn, a Red Hat employee, seeks to include Pantheon as an alternative desktop option for download for Fedora 22. As Pantheon develops, it will be interesting to see what influence elementary OS's unique design will have on Linux desktop environments of the future.

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bits from the DPL -- mid-April to mid-August 2014

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