Echofon for Firefox Broken on Linux; Not a Minor Issue

August 28, 2010

If you use Echofon for Firefox in Linux, you’re probably now familiar with this error message from their most recent update:

Echofon does not support this platform or custom build Firefox. (Can’t get OAuth signer.) / Cc[‘@naan.net/twitterfox-sign;1’] is undefined (Fx version 3.6.8 / ABI x86-gcc3)

This is the reason why. I’m not sure I like being considered part of a minor platform.

Echofon is nice, though. You can find the downgrade link here (it’s 1.9.6.4, not 1.9.6.5 as previously linked). I’m hoping they’ll fix this for 1.9.6.7, but given how they see Linux machines, I’m not super optimistic.

Linux.com Gives Xfce Some Respect

August 27, 2010

Linux.com had a nice piece on the glories of Xfce.

I’m always happy to see Xfce get some attention, since I think a lot of people assume GNOME is the only option for desktop management. And the more cutting-edge Linux people seem to be interested in KDE.

Like I said earlier, though, it might be time to stop calling Xfce lightweight. While it can be lightweight, given what most people expect of their desktop experience, I think it’s no longer a given Xfce will be lightweight.

I know people running Xfce on Debian and Arch say it’s super fast, but I always wonder if things get bogged down as they add more GNOME-derived applications to perform more complex tasks.

It’s great to see Xfce getting some love, though. But I think we’ve reached the point where Xfce can be seen as an almost-equal to GNOME and KDE, rather than the sickly sibling that requires less contemporary hardware.

First of all, the Xfce experience gets more complete each development cycle. But also because it’s no longer a given Xfce will work well on less robust systems.

Xfce is just a nice desktop environment. Qualifying that statement only creates expectations that might not be met.

Xubuntu Standing On Its Own Two Feet?

August 23, 2010

Christopher Tozzi has an interesting post about Xubuntu 10.10 trying to establish more of its own identity, including using less GNOME-centric applications, like the GNOME task manager.

The article is interesting, but Tozzi has a great comment in the comments section, though:

Sometimes I think Xubuntu might be better presented not as a lightweight version of Ubuntu, but merely as one with an alternative desktop environment which happens to be a little lighter on resource usage than Gnome but whose chief value is an alternative desktop experience, not its resource consumption.

I’ve never thought Xubuntu was fast enough to satisfy people who want a truly lightweight system, but I do find certain aspects of Xfce’s interface and way of doing things preferable to Gnome’s. If I switched to Xubuntu, it would be for the interface, not because it uses a bit less memory than Ubuntu.

It’s a great take on Xubuntu and one I agree with. Xubuntu isn’t especially light, but it is different. It’s a different desktop environment that I suspect a lot of people would prefer, were they to be exposed to it.

The beauty of Linux is that it gives the users so many choices. But it seems a lot of users aren’t aware of the level of choice that they have.

Xubuntu lets you run Ubuntu, and all of the convenience that includes, but with a different desktop environment. Not necessarily a better one, but a different one.

So I agree with Tozzi. Xubuntu is interesting not because it’s quicker but because Xfce is an interesting desktop environment.

Having said that, I’ve always liked that Xubuntu is kind of an afterthought within the Ubuntu world. I’m not sure I want Canonical paying a lot of attention, trying to craft an experience. I’d be happy if they just implemented more Xfce-native applications.

Finding the Perfect Xubuntu Text Editor

August 21, 2010

gedit text editor

I’m not a programmer but like a lot of people, I prefer to work in text editors, rather than word processors.

Finding a good text editor is kind of a big deal.

Basically, I want something responsive, semi-decent looking, and with a persistent spell check.

When in Windows, I use Notepad++, which isn’t ideal (you have to actively run the spell check), but is good enough most of the time.

Within Linux, I bounce between Scribes and gedit.

In earlier Ubuntu iterations, gedit seemed to get hung up on long URLs, which is annoying if you’re a blogger. That’s how I discovered Scribes, which is flexible and responsive.

As I upgraded Ubuntu distros, though, gedit seemed to get better.

When I switched to Xubuntu, I was hoping Mouspad, the native Xubuntu text editor, would prove to be eye-opening for me. Unfortunately, it’s just a plain text editor lacking customization and spell-checking.

So right now I’m back with gedit, even though it’s not Xfce native.

It runs just fine, though, so I guess I can’t complain, even though, obviously, it involves downloading some GNOME dependencies.

It would be great if Xfce had its own native version of something like gedit or Scribes, though. This way, people could work with a strong, versatile text editor right out of the box.

Most people just want a text editor to do very basic things, but there’s a growing segment of people who need something more robust out of their text editor. It would be nice for Xfce to have its own take on that text editor.

NOTE: I’m aware of Emacs and vi. Both are too complex for me. I spent about a year working with vim and GVim and at no time was I comfortable using either. I also failed at Emacs.

Xubuntu and the Mystery of the Application Launcher

August 18, 2010

I loved GNOME-Do back when I ran Ubuntu (and Arch and Fedora). When I moved to Xubuntu, I wanted something that ran a little smoother, though. I found GNOME-Do a bit sluggish. Plus, it would often launch itself immediately after I opened a browser.

I tried a bunch of launchers (a good place to start is here) before I realized I could use the native Xfce application launcher.

To be more precise, it’s the Xfce application finder.

I created a keyboard shortcut for xfce4-appfinder, binding it to my old GNOME-Do command.

Now, an application menu comes up that allows me to type the name of the application I wish to launch.

To be fair, it’s nowhere near as robust or customizable as GNOME-Do. But it suits my purposes just fine and feel pretty stable within Xubuntu (so far).

I’m finding Xubuntu can do a lot of nice things both well and natively. It’s simply a matter of translating the function from GNOME to Xfce.