[15:49] has anyone else been following dell's offering, or lack there of, on Ubuntu Laptop/desktops? [15:49] for the longest time all you could buy was a desktop...now its only two laptops....one with 10" screen and the other with a 13" screen [15:49] what gives [15:54] dorgan: Yeah, it's been pretty week for a while now. [15:54] Probably low sales. [15:54] and the 13" only allows a max of 1GB of ram [15:54] still....its not like they have to use specialized hardware...well for the most part [15:55] They do spend some resources ensuring the hardware options they make it available on works. [15:55] I'd recommend getting a System76 over a Dell if one wants Linux supported hardware. [15:55] yeah but it cant be that much resources as they only offer 9.10 installed [15:56] Well, that shows how much work they are willing to put into it. [15:56] Which is probably proportional to the sales that the option is generating. [15:57] Dell is in a good position to be THE preferrable computer maker for Linux enthusiasts, but doesn't seem too interested in making it happen. [15:58] I have a Dell that came with preinstall Linux, and the experience hasn't been as good as I was hoping. [15:58] Sound support broke two years ago. [15:58] Compositing didn't work for a release either. [16:04] maxolasersquad: I tried to restore Vista on a Dell, using the restore disk that came with it, and none of video, sound, wired or wireless worked [16:05] so....at least they consistently suck at it [19:20] true linux users build their own computers... [19:20] ...from melted sand [19:52] anyone used gnome 3 yet? [19:53] mhall119, [19:53] you around? [20:17] munz-eee: yup [20:18] hey have you tried gnome3? [20:18] do you like? [20:18] i tried it last night... don't think i like it lol [20:19] liking unity alot more as time passes [20:19] do you know how to configure the gnome3 look? [20:34] munz-eee: haven't tried gnome 3 yet, no [20:35] I hear the refactoring work they did is a huge improvement though [20:35] but as a user, it's hard to separate the under-the-hood improvements from the switch to Gnome Shell [20:36] i heard about the improvements also [20:36] the stile is cool [20:36] *style [20:37] have yet to figure out how to customize it though [20:37] gnome 3 also requires composting. [20:40] here is where i sound stupid: [20:40] what is composting? [20:40] so non-compositing X11 would tell each window what parts they need to draw on the screen [20:41] basically it is how things like compiz draw fancy graphical stuff on the screen [20:41] ok, that was easy :) [20:41] soo it needs 3d? [20:41] or decent graphics? [20:41] with compositing, X11 tells each window to draw itself into a buffer, then the compositing manager takes all the windows and "composites" them into a single image to draw to the screen [20:41] basically [20:42] if your graphics card was made in the last five years, it should run unity just fine. probably similar limits for gnome 3. [20:42] compositing is a standard part of 3d graphics processing, whenever you have a 3d game or something, it has objects that get "composited" into a single image for you to see [20:42] ohhhh, ok mhall119, that makes sense [20:42] so 3d graphics cards specifically well suited for this task [20:42] ok [20:43] but 3d graphics cards aren't strictly necessary [20:43] ok [20:43] Xfce and KDE will do compositing entirely in the CPU [20:43] I think Gnome 3 will too [20:43] but it's slower, because the CPU isn't designed for that kind of math, while the GPU is [20:43] IIRC gnome 3 has some sort of "fallback" mode [20:44] gnome 3 uses mutter, which I think can do compositing in the CPU [20:44] ok, i now understand more [20:45] thanks [20:45] crashsystems, have you tried gnome3 yet? [20:46] i read it breaks unity, so i put it on my 10.10 to try it [20:47] wanna customize the UI look but have not found any config applet yet [20:47] it does run fast [20:47] Unity is built on Gnome 2, so replacing that with Gnome 3 is likely to break it, yeah [20:48] mhall119, i did sudo apt-get install gnome-shell [20:48] then just ran "gnome-shell --replace" from gnome 2 [20:48] and it killed the gnome 3 [20:49] and started the gnome3 [20:49] if i log out and back in gnome 2 works again [20:49] but no option at the login screen for gnome3 or gnome-shell [20:49] weird [20:49] that's because you just installed the shell [20:49] not a session [20:50] ohhhh [20:50] lol [20:50] that's like just installing xfce-panel [20:51] lol, i thought it would install them side-by-side [20:51] and allow me to choose between [20:52] you'd probably have to install gnome3-session or something to that effect to have the option at login [20:53] ok [20:54] mhall119, you program right? [20:54] yup [20:54] where is a good place to start learning? [20:54] java, python, etc? [20:55] python now, java, PHP and perl in the past [20:55] ok [20:55] I got a few O'Reilly books when I started off [20:56] plus online documentation and tutorials [20:56] once you learn how to program, picking up a new language just requires syntax references [20:56] ok [20:56] i have been wanting to learn [20:56] python is an easy one to start with [20:57] just not sure where to start, was thinking python b/c ubuntu likes it [20:57] and cross platform [20:57] and there's plenty of online docs and tutorials, you probably won't even need a book unless you just want one [20:57] I've not tried gnome3 yet. [20:58] ok, how long have you been programming? [20:58] 12 years [20:58] wow, you like? [20:58] since I was in High School [20:58] yeah, I love it [20:58] it's not for everyone, you really have to have a mind for it [20:59] and it turns out my mind is just right for it [20:59] cool