Ubuntu Tweak project is now dead. What now?
http://www.webupd8.org/2012/10/ubuntu-tweak-development-stopped.html
Even though it suggested non-free software in some parts, this was considered a great application to tweak Ubuntu based systems. The developer was vague in why he stopped, but he blamed free software not being "free" anymore. Those are his words and not mine, so don't read into it.
It would be nice if this project continued and integrated into Ubuntu or any other project. Heck, the Trisquel team could modify the app section and have it only suggest free software. Definitely a sad day and proof that free software projects run by one person can be risky.
If it indeed dies, that would simply mean that people did not find Ubuntu Tweaks that useful. If *you* find it useful, *you* can continue it (do not wait for "Trisquel developers" that you already blame for being too slow at delivering a new version) or pay someone (like the original author) to continue it.
This is sad... even if I only used this application 1 or 2 times I have to admit that this is sad... but I'm pretty sure that he stopped developing because of the lack of money for running the servers and the development itself and/or because of the last "Business Tactics" by Canonical... they (Canonical) are also talking about advertisements on Ubuntu Software Center, or anywhere that you can be possibly have one (that would, obviously, collect data in order to give you the best advertisements).... Just hope that the day when I open up my Ubuntu and an advertisement for Viagra or an Arabic Prince with money would never come...
Thank you for sharing the information.
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Dead ? I really don't think so , I get updates regularly.
Take a look here
http://ubuntu-tweak.com/
and the ppa - http:ppa.launchpad.net/tualtrix/next/ubuntu oneirc main
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We should stop replying to t3g's posts other than a short message to warn others of t3g's misinformation campaign and trolling.
He did indeed decide to end the project and it is used by millions of people. If you load up the latest Ubuntu Tweak for the 12.04 series, it will tell you in the program itself that development has stopped. Sometimes I think most of you reply to these threads to start arguements because you have nothing better to do.
You said that the project is dead and that it proves that free software is risky, an absurd claim. Just because the developer has stopped developing a program doesn't mean it's "dead" unless it's nonfree. A free program can be picked up by anyone at any time.
You know, kind of like OpenOffice.org.
Hey, here's a story: there's a free game called Project: Starfighter. Its developer hadn't developed it since it was "completed" years ago despite a number of known bugs and use of art assets with ambiguous copyrights. Then the developer stopped even distributing the game, and some guys picked up the game and developed it to a new version that fixed the bugs and replaced the graphics and sound with free assets from OpenGameArt. Ironic that it's much more alive now that it's fully "dead", eh?
Uhh, Netcraft confirms, but I want the dirt. Here is what the (ex)developer said:
"You may ask why I made this decision to stop the development of Ubuntu Tweak, I may write 10,000 words to describe how I start this project, how I feel happy from this project, how I feel bad from this project…But I just want to say: If making free software is not free any more, why still doing this?"
He also said that the app feature and its requests were averaging 10 GB a day in bandwidth and he couldn't afford it. As for Banana's ignorant comment about it not being developed anymore due to importance and use, that is far from the truth.
I hope it does live on with the app feature removed entirely or modified to use free software. That is he allows it to be taken over by someone else or is forked.
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As I said it has already been forked it seems. There are other versions floating about. The software is under a license which does not require permission to fork it. It's NOT dead. This is just more of your misinformation.
Look at the timing of my last post. I was in the process of writing it on a cell phone during your processing of the post about a fork in progress. Chill out bro.
I have *never* written that the project is not important/used. Obviously you have some kind of problem parsing English sentences (or lack any understanding of logical implications). Let me help you: the word "if" introduces a condition and what comes after this condition is only true if the condition is satisfied. It looks like the condition is not satisfied since "it has already been forked it seems" (Chris' words).
You are now trolling the thread because I replied and said that my post proceeded his response about the fork, which I didn't know about. I'm fine with the English language but I am getting the assumption here that neither of us are listening to each other.
I'm also basing Banana's viewpoint on the comment he made in his first reply:
"If it indeed dies, that would simply mean that people did not find Ubuntu Tweaks that useful."
So, you really do not understand logical consequences!? According to other Trisquel users, the project is not dead (which, by the way, makes the thread's title a lie), i.e., the condition in my sentence is wrong. As a consequence, the rest of the sentence can be true or false. That is not much of a viewpoint.
I let the rest of the forum deciding who is "trolling" with "ignorant comments".
At the time of the original post, the news of him leaving was just announced. Since then, there have been announcements of forks and I was made aware of the next steps. Even with that in mind, you are still basing your argument on my original post and it is a lazy effort on your part to create tension in this thread. I merely was reporting news and quoting from a reliable source. Are you trying to win an argument that you know has no winners and a resolution?
Now they have a chance to flourish.
I still think that Ubuntu and/or Trisquel should integrate it into their system. Trisquel would benefit the most by adapting the apps feature and showing free software only. Could help promote software and users could easily install free software in the program.
Think about it guys.
If Rubén was thinking of an integration of Ubuntu Tweak (or Trisquel Tweak) directly into the system, I think that a TSC (Trisquel Software Center) could be a better idea to start, something to promote the Free Software on a Free Software platform (and yes I know Synaptics is good at what it does but still).
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There are a lot of areas that Trisquel could improve on. The problem is there aren't enough financial contributions from those using it. I was just thinking about this again.
If there were 100 members then each would have to donate at least $50 a month. That isn't going to happen. Some don't have that kind of money. Others are just too cheap to make any contribution. They would rather troll and make excuses for why they aren't contributing. You know who you are.
If we could get a dozen people to donate a few hundred dollars a month we would only need about 25 people. I'm sure there are at least that many people here who could afford that. It's maybe 4-6% of a first world persons income. That is less than the 10% the IRS (tax people in the USA) consider standard (this is the amount most people donate to religious cause). Being able to afford $200 a month would include the majority of persons in a technical field in the United States, Canada, Australia, and much of Europe.
$10 USD a month should really be the smallest amount any user of Trisquel should be contributing. This is about what a user would be paying on non-free operating systems for office (retail cost that most people pay), anti-virus (what the average user spends), and OS (cost is OEM- not retail). This does not include the cost of cleaning up from a virus, etc. There are other costs too you could take into account.
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Le 12-10-21 05:11 PM, name at domain a écrit :
> There are a lot of areas that Trisquel could in improve in. The problem is there aren't enough
financial contributions from those using it. I was just thinking about
this again.
>
> If there were 100 members then each would have to donate at least $50
a month. That isn't going to happen. Some don't have that kind of money.
Others are just too cheap to make any contribution. They would rather
troll and make excuses for why they aren't contributing. You know who
you are.
>
[..]
By that logic everyone should put money in Trisquel. Let's just be
reminded that if Trisquel wasn't gratis, many of us wouldn't even
consider it.
There is also no public, transparent reporting of what happens to
donations that I know of.
If there's is, I'd love to see it and be proven wrong. Until then, I am
happy it even exists.
Cheers,
Fabian Rodriguez
http://trisquel.magicfab.ca
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Unfortunately your right. There are a lot of people using Trisquel who do not put much value in their freedom. It's why I wouldn't suggest forcing payment on users. I wouldn't object to making us all have to work a bit harder for it though. A 30-60 second delay on the download page maybe before the download starts automatically? You could probably even put the links to start the download just below a credit card payment form. As long as it is clear you are only asking for a contribution I see no harm in this.
Here are my two main reasons:
1. Ruben is already VERY hard to get in contact with and we rarely get news and updates from him or interaction on the forums or IRC chat. If we give him more money, don't we expect more interaction from him with us and would that change? Will he continue to be like the wizard in the Wizard of Oz who is some all powerful leader that we are supposed to never see, yet we are supposed to hand him over power and money? How can we be sure if our hard earned money is used wisely?
2. My biggest issue at this point is privacy. When you contribute, your forum name is now tied to a real person, address, and potential bank account. Some of us can't really risk that because I am not sure what someone out in Europe with my information is going to do with it. On top of that, some of you have made posts to take our email addresses from the mailing list and submit them to spam sites to "get back" at some of us more advantageous forum users. I really really can't take the risk of someone anonymously supplying my personal information in public view as a way to win in an argument against me on this forum just because they don't like me.
I have marked these as reasons for not becoming an associate member on our proposed policies, procedures, & solutions page because I think these are valid reasons.
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1.
Yes, it would be nice if Ruben would be more active around this community but that shouldn't affect users decision to donate.
Many users here emphasise on the future benefits of contributing to this project but I prefer to believe that my modest contribution goes as a "thank you" for the work that is already done.
Maybe users should also consider this when deciding to become members.
2.
As far as I know PayPal prevents both parties to find the bank accounts involved; wasn't that the secure part of using PayPal ?
So, you'll reveal your real name and perhaps real address (I'm not sure if putting a fake address would be legal).
Also, if you believe that your current user account has accumulated some negative karma, you can always create another one for the membership.
I don't know if the users who were in favour of punishing users who misbehave by publishing their email addresses, actually acted upon that; but I can tell you that I find that behaviour would be dishonourable and would have a negative impact on the image of this community.
EDIT: Fixed mistype.
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There are some minor risks to going online. Those risks are generally that other people can say things that will be upsetting, a time waster, etc. It's very much like the the red pill and blue pill in the Matrix. It is the difference between blissful ignorance of illusion (blue) and embracing the sometimes painful truth of reality (red). You could even compare this to going outside though. There are risks to walking out your front door and heading to the store.
Unlike some here Rubén has much better things to do than reveal your information to 'spam engines'. He already has your email address and I'm betting that at least a handful of us could come up with anything and everything about you already anyway. It's not as hard as you probably think it is to link anonymous and non-anonymous communications. There are identifying pieces of information all over the place. There are certain combinations of words only you utilize. Even running through Tor would not necessarily protect you. Given enough communications on public forums it is likly that I could identify you.
While I will admit I am not t3g's biggest fan I believe he does have a decent point here.
Ruben is not around as much as users would like. I would like to get bazaar access and I have submitted several bug fixes with no responses from him. I won't lie it does get frustrating because I feel like I'm working on these problems and the fixes are not getting applied so why am I working on them.
Secondly, I believe t3g is specifically referring to this issue which was reported in 2010. A user even started a forum thread about it and I did talk to Ruben about it on IRC but nothing ever came of it and it is still a problem. For example because magic fab is using the mailing list your email was "outed" in this thread. I could get his email or anyone elses and sign him up for whatever because I don't like him (I wouldn't). So it isn't just a matter of Ruben keeping it private. It is a fact of the policy says it will be private but really anyone can get it.
Like I said, I honestly don't like t3g but his complaints are valid this time and I can acknowledge it. So in short I think he is right, Ruben isn't around enough and the project policy does say that the email addresses won't be shown but they are very much public (just view the mailing list).
On Wednesday 24 October 2012 19:53:31 name at domain wrote:
> While I will admit I am not t3g's biggest fan I believe he does have a
> decent point here.
>
> Ruben is not around as much as users would like. I would like to get bazaar
*This is all strictly in my unauthorised opinion, FWIW*
IMO it only *seems* a valid criticsm. Rubén's time is finite, as such
we can't expect him to do all the things that come from other
distributions himself.
The Debian Maintainers guide has it that they know from their history
that volunteers get very little time from others and must be self
starters. Further that getting commit etc rights takes time, you must
prove the technical quality of your work and that your commitment to
the project is adequate. From my own experience I know that in
traditional software development testing takes the same amount
of time as developing and unit testing the patch. So if Rubén is
short of time then some things will get left aside for a good while
and quality checking volunteer contributions may be among them. If I
were short of time with a distro to make then until there is a regular
enough flow of work to indicate that quality checking the volunteers
is likely to pay off in time benefits I would not give it priority.
Sorry but when we have only half a developer I feel the solutions to
this are:
a) If you're not an associate member then become one - we need Rubén
to have more time, and the way to do that is pay him to make Trisquel
development his full time job.
b) If you want to volunteer then be a self starter and do what you can
within the system permissions you've got. We've seen the start of
this with people making wiki pages, SirGrant fielding issues etc.
c) If you lack the skills or knowledges to help, but have the time.
Then again be a self starter pick something you'd like to do and start
reading the fine manuals and books. Do bits of b) to practice if
there is someone to check your work if you want. Use the time you
would volunteer to do this until you are ready.
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Your certainly right about this. I don't think Rubén is without criticism though. One does need to learn to let go of certain things to be a good manager. I don't know what SirGrant has submitted, how long, etc. Maybe it is something that should have gone upstream and Rubén ignored it. The work alone though to maintain the project is significant. That Rubén does not have the time to review things like this though wouldn't surprise me. I think with persistence though Rubén will respond positively in time. Just don't give up!
On Thursday 25 October 2012 03:39:37 name at domain wrote:
> Your certainly right about this. I don't think Rubén is without criticism
> though. One does need to learn to let go of certain things to be a good
> manager. I don't know what SirGrant has submitted, how long, etc. Maybe it
Agreed. I'm perhaps more tolerant (of things like not letting go, or
his sometimes curious priority setting etc.) than others because these
criticisms are for things I have done myself in the past in different
contexts. Some of which I still do even when I have full knowledge
that they are weaknesses of mine.
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I'd generally agree with the sentiment. Not everything t3g says is without merit although I take it with a grain of salt still. I'd probably be more open to his thoughts if he contributed something other than criticisms. He seems more intent on derailing the project.
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While there is a bit of truth to this there are many forks. My comment above about t3g stands. This particular developer may have gone. The project is not dead. Users will simply have to get another version.
And this shows the beauty of Free Software
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Ubuntu Tweak is really useful - if I remember correctly (I haven't used it in years) it makes removing old kernels and PPAs possible without using the terminal so new users do not need to see multiple kernels whenever the update includes a new kernel and they can easily purge PPAs that they no longer want. It's a shame it never became an official part of Ubuntu.
The father of Ubuntu Tweaks has just written a new blog post: "Thank you, Ubuntu Tweak will continue".
Makes you wonder if he made the original announcement for free marketing or is just starving for attention. It is good that he has returned, because it is a great project. I've even submitted bug reports and feature requests to him that were later integrated.
Welcome back old friend.