[04:32] <wswartzendruber> Rest in Peace
[09:22] <awh> Gutted by the news :( I've been using Unity for my primary desktop at home and work for the past two years, it has been solid
[09:24] <awh> You did good work folks, thankyou!
[11:22] <mzanetti> awh: thank you
[18:21] <mixedCase> So, would this be the channel to discuss about the Unity fork or is there another place for that?
[18:30] <wswartz> I believe the guy responsible for the community ports of Ubuntu Touch is resolute about a fork.
[18:31] <wswartz> At least that's what Phoronix says.
[18:32] <mixedCase> I'm not sure who's behind it but I'm interested. I asked one hour ago if this was the channel to talk about it but nobody answered.
[18:35] <Saviq> mixedCase, it's a channel as good as any, but note the #ubuntu- prefix - I don't think there's any channel agreed for the fork yet
[18:37] <mixedCase> Saviq: Yep that's what I guessed :/
[18:37] <mixedCase> In any case, how many people in here are interested in continuing Unity in a separate direction?
[19:21] <wswartz> http://www.unity8.org/
[19:21] <wswartz> I have no idea who created it, but it's gotta be one of the fastest fork announcements ever.
[19:22] <wswartz> Since this is a community effort now, we need to come to consensus on project goals.
[19:22] <mixedCase> It's been up for a few hours, and I *just* got a reply from the contact address, the person behind the effort is John Salatas.
[19:23] <wswartz> I would start by asking him if he has solidified his main goals.
[19:23] <mixedCase> And definitely, not a fan of mailing lists myself but that looks like the best option for communication.
[19:24] <mixedCase> Yep
[19:25] <wswartz> Has he commented to you about the Wayland issue?
[19:26] <mixedCase> Pretty sure this is him, but no direct confirmation: https://www.reddit.com/r/linux/comments/63nb8p/despite_the_sad_news_for_me_personally_i_will/dfvjtif/?context=3
[19:26] <mixedCase> Whole thread makes for an interesting read.
[19:33] <wswartz> I've been going over it.
[19:35] <wswartz> I've never understood the hardware partner argument.  It's not like they have that many desktop partners.  And it's not like CyanogenMod had partners for the first several years.
[19:36] <wswartz> Anyway, forking Unity 8 is part of the battle.  The rest lies with creating a distro that will bundle all of this into a flashable image.
[19:36] <mixedCase> Hardware partners are vital for non-niche deployments. The overwhelming majority of people do not care about the software or the hardware independently, they care about a solution.
[19:36] <mixedCase> So there's a point there.
[19:37] <wswartz> Did the Ubuntu Touch store ever get from Clicks to Snaps?
[19:37] <mixedCase> As for the distro, I'd think it's best to leave that as an implementation detail and care about a modular environment that adapts to different conditions.
[19:38] <mixedCase> wswartz: Not sure.
[19:38] <wswartz> Of course.  I think Unity 8 and the distro should be two separate things.
[19:39] <qumak> i think blaming the hardware partners is premature, given that ubuntu touch still feels pretty beta to this day on hardware actually released for it (mx4 is my daily driver)
[19:42] <mixedCase> Everyone gets a share of the blame, most hw partners have always been too thick-headed to get the OSS development model, and the software side has never put enough emphasis on getting a healthy developer ecosystem going; but with Mir out, that's one less roadblock.
[19:45] <qumak> hardware partners suck, for sure, they are the reason we are in this mess and that getting a floss phone is so hard
[19:45] <wswartz> We shouldn't worry about getting a FOSS phone out.  We should worry about publishing flashable images.
[19:45] <mixedCase> It's my personal belief that Unity 8 could grow into a wonderful DE if it starts playing nice with the current ecosystem and taking Steve Ballmer's catchphrase to heart.
[19:46] <mixedCase> GNOME has achieved a lot in that space by sheer accident, due to their GObject model sucking less than everything else out here.
[19:46] <qumak> but when i switch to an app on my ubuntu mx4 i get a stale screenshot of what it looked like when last open and it takes like 5 seconds for the screen to refresh live and for buttons to work, so i understand if hardware partners are skeptical
[19:46] <lpotter> heh
[19:52] <qumak> wswartz: yes btw ubuntu touch store has both snaps and clics - https://uappexplorer.com/