Ubuntu Netbook Remix's Desktop-Switcher Isn't Broken, It's Gone

Desktop-switcher is an application that allows you to switch between Ubuntu Netbook Remix's user interface and the standard Ubuntu Gnome interface. It has been plagued with bugs and problems since Ubuntu 8.04. Desktop-switcher has killed many desktops and has lead to some very frustrating moments for users, and wasn't getting any more stable. While desktop-switcher was available during Karmic's pre-release, Ubuntu 9.10 shipped without desktop-switcher.

The official reason from the UNR developers:

The architecture/design of desktop-switcher of trying to update the live configuration (GConf settings and others) makes it really fragile and error prone; desktop-switcher also takes some backups of gconf settings in ~/ and attempts to restore them, which creates more code pathes and potential problems. It's easy to end up in a completely broken setup with some minutes of playing.

desktop-switcher was intended to help hardy UNR users to disable clutter/opengl when their setup didn't support that nicely. Nowadays, we except these to just work, so it's kind of not required.

Finally, desktop-switcher duplicates the settings from ubuntu-netbook-remix-default-settings, so we need to update two places when we change them,

In karmic+1, we'd like to implement this feature by having an UNR session on the GDM screen along GNOME, that would be a much more solid and clean design. This would also solve the duplication.

So to sum up, we'd like to unseed desktpo-switcher in karmic's UNR and revisit this differently in lucid. We will still attempt to fix top issues if time and complexity of the fixes permit.

UNR is an excellent desktop environment but sometimes the "standard" Ubuntu desktop is better suited for some tasks. Not having the desktop-switcher really hurts UNR usability and because of this I am dropping UNR support on the blog. Until desktop-switcher returns I cannot use/support a broken user interface.
I am excited to try the new dekstop-switcher implementation in the pre-release of Ubuntu 10.04 , but until then I'm focusing on other things.

This saddens me, as many of you know I'm a huge fan of Ubuntu Netbook Remix and loved using it even though it was slow, bloated and clunky.

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Chromium Head Now Gone

Chromium is the open source project behind the Google Chrome web browser. While still in development, it is shaping up to be a feature rich browser. Like all software, Chromium's development has been marked with bugs and regressions. [chromium-bug] 18385 has to be the oddest software bug I've seen, the close button (X) has been replaced with a small head.


- Supposedly, this was done as a passive-aggressive motivation to get someone to create the Linux close/min/max/restore buttons. While others are calling it a feature.

The good news is that in the newest Linux Chromium build 3.0.198.0 (22605), the passive-aggressive feature has been fixed. The X has returned and Linux users finally have proper close/min/max/restore buttons. I personally think the head should be stay and be used as the incognito mode icon.



As a side note, [chromium-bug] 18385 has one of the funniest reports I've come across.

What steps will reproduce the problem?
Look at what the X button is supposed to be

What is the expected result?
an X button

What happens instead?
Some guys head

If you'd like to try Chromium use this install guide.
Use This guide to enable flash.

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Ubuntu 8.10 Kernel Update Has Broken Wired Connection

The 2.6.27-11-generic kernel update to Ubuntu 8.10 Intrepid Ibex has broken the wired Ethernet connection on the Dell Mini 9. It is a known bug (330355) on launchpad and is scheduled to be fixed with the 2.6.27-13 kernel update.

The real issue is with the Realtek RTL8101/RTL8102E card used inside the Mini 9 and this bug is actually a duplicate of bug 326891. One of the Ubuntu kernel developers have already uploaded the patches to intrepid-proposed repository for testing. Early Mini 9 testers report that the 2.6.27-13 update has a working Ethernet connection.

The Fix (Two Methods)
1. You can add the Pre-released updates (intrepid-proposed) repository to your software sources and install the test/proposed 2.6.27-13-generic kernel.

- You can find your Software Sources under System>Admin.
- Select Pre-release updates (intrepid-proposed) repository under the Updates tab.
This is not my prefered method as the proposed kernel could have other problems associated with it.

2. You can load into the older 2.6.27-9-generic kernel when you have to use the Mini's wired connection. The 2.6.27-9 kernel had a working wired connection and until a week ago we here all using it without any major problems.
Selecting 2.6.27-9-generic kernel is an easy process:
- Load into your Grub menu. (After the Dell splash logo at start-up hit Esc during Grub loading)
- At the Grub menu select the 2.6.27-9-generic kernel and hit enter.
I prefer this method because I know what to expect, the 2.6.27-9 kernel will have a working wired connection and won't break anything else on my Mini.

The only feature the 2.6.27-11-generic kernel offered Dell Mini 9 users was a broken wired connection, it won't be missed. The 2.6.27-13-generic kernel update should hit soon and I will update the blog when it does.

Have a question or problem that this article doesn't cover? Ask our Ubuntu Mini 9 Google Group for help.