Xubuntu Development Update November 2018
Xubuntu 18.10 “Cosmic Cuttlefish”
We wrapped up development on Xubuntu 18.10 throughout September and October, landing the following changes in the last month and a half of work.
This release includes 6 new GTK+ 3 Xfce components, giving users a snapshot of the Xfce 4.14 development. More information about the release can be found in the release notes.
Upcoming Fixes
Since the 18.10 release, we’ve identified fixes for two of our documented bugs. We’ll be pushing these fixes to our users via the stable release updates.
Panel: Window buttons are not clickable at the top pixel of the screen (LP: #1795135)
Resolution: Export GDK_CORE_DEVICE_EVENTS = 1 (Xfce Git)
Settings Manager: Mouse fails to scroll embedded panels (LP: #1653448)
Resolution: Export GDK_CORE_DEVICE_EVENTS = 1 (Xfce Git)
Xfce
September New Releases
Xfce Weather Plugin 0.9.0 (New GTK+ 3 release!)
Thunar 1.8.2 (Major bugfix release)
October New Releases
Gigolo 0.4.90 (New GTK+ 3 release!)
Xfce Screensaver 0.1.0 / 0.1.1 (New Xfce Application!)
4.14 Roadmap Updates
The Xfce development team has worked on tidying up the Xfce 4.14 roadmap over the last few days. Statuses have been updated, pending work has been moved to the top of each section, and completion percents have been adjusted to better reflect each project’s progress. With these updates, we can now see that…
Xfce 4.14 is now approximately 83% complete.
Of course, we need all the help we can get to get this milestone out the door. Check out the Xfce Contribute page to find out how you can help.
What’s Next?
With the 18.10 release now behind us, and the 19.04 cycle starting today, it’s time to get back to work! No release goals have been determined yet, so stay tuned to the Xubuntu Development mailing list for updates about Xubuntu 19.04 “Disco Dingo” development.
Xubuntu Development Update September 2018
Xubuntu
Bionic Beaver (18.04)
Bionic was pretty stable in August, with only one of our packages making it through the SRU process and into the hands of our users.
xfce4-terminal 0.8.7.4-0ubuntu0.18.04.1 (new upstream release with a number of improvements, LP: #1782327)
We’re currently looking to get these new releases and fixes into Bionic.
Catfish 1.4.6 (new release with numerous bug fixes and a much-improved thumbnailer)
Xfce Settings: Mouse acceleration not configurable in Xubuntu 18.04 (LP: #1758023)
Cosmic Cuttlefish (18.10)
The following source package updates landed in Cosmic in August.
elementary-xfce 0.12-1ubuntu1
ristretto 0.8.3-1 (Debian sync)
thunar-archive-plugin 0.4.0-1 (Debian sync)
thunar-media-tags-plugin 0.3.0-1 (Debian sync)
xfce4-taskmanager 1.2.1-1 (Debian sync)
xubuntu-artwork 18.10
xubuntu-default-settings 18.10
xubuntu-meta 2.227
Xfce
New Releases
Xfce had 3 new releases in August, featuring a variety of bug fixes and usability improvements.
Xfce Display Profiles (Preview)
Simon has been hard at work implementing a nifty new feature for the Xfce Display Settings, display profiles! This feature allows you to save and switch between various display setups, useful for users on the go or presenters. This hasn’t been merged into master yet, so designs are not final.
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Spacing Improvements
I’ve spent the last week submitting patches to the Xfce core applications, panel plugins, and Thunar plugins. My goal is to improve the overall look and feel of Xfce by improving the consistency of it’s preference dialogs. A few before and after screenshots are below.
Descriptions are displayed for improved accessibility.
Some extra spacing makes the Settings Editor feel a bit lighter.
Using the sensors plugin becomes a lot easier with a bit of breathing room.
Spacing and alignment freshen up the Timer plugin.
Thunar’s Preferences dialog needed minimal changes.
The Thunar Shares plugin looks a lot more professional with a tweaked layout.
I’ve based my work on the excellent GNOME 2 HIG Window Layout documentation. Xfce has long borrowed the design philosophies from this document (to varying degrees) and is once again benefiting from the well-written work.
Shimmer Project
Elementary Xfce Icon Theme
Xubuntu’s beloved icon theme has had a few significant updates in recent weeks. From build optimizations to new upstream icons, there’s a lot to unpack.
The theme has added a Makefile and build tool to convert the theme’s SVG sources to PNG. Xubuntu has included the PNG-building functionality for some time, and now it’s available for everyone. PNG-based themes are faster to load and generally crisper at various sizes. Included in the new build options are PNG optimization. Optipng is now used to optimize each of the generated files, reducing the overall file size.
Updated icons coming from upstream this month include dialog-password, selection icons, graphics icons, and manila-colored folders. The manila folders are a sharp contrast from the longtime blue, but after using them for a few days, they’re actually pretty nice.
Other Updates
Mugshot 0.4.1
I released Mugshot 0.4.1 early last month with a number of bug fixes and code quality improvements. You can check out the release notes and find downloads here.
Contributing
Ready to start giving back to your favorite open source projects? Remember that there’s something for everyone, and you can get started quickly with the Xubuntu and Xfce contributor docs. If you don’t know where to start, join us at #xubuntu-devel on Freenode… we’ll point you in the right direction.
Xubuntu Development Update August 2018
LTS Updates
Xenial Xerus – 16.04.5
This is the final point release for Xubuntu 16.04 “Xenial Xerus”. As Xubuntu has a 3-year support cycle, this release will be supported until April 2019. There have not been any major changes from the Xubuntu team for this point release, but there have been a number of other improvements and security updates for other components.
16.04.5 is expected to be released tomorrow, August 2, 2018. If you have a few moments, feel free to do some testing and make sure everything is working as well as we think it is!
Bionic Beaver – 18.04.1
This is the first point release for Xubuntu 18.04 “Bionic Beaver”. At this time, users of Xubuntu 16.04 should begin receiving notifications to upgrade to this release. There have been a few updates from the Xubuntu team, and others are still on their way. Download 18.04.1 here.
Exo 0.12.2 includes performance improvements and a few minor bug fixes.
Xfce Settings 4.12.4 improves display manufacturer identification and overall stability.
LP: #1762595 (gvfs), Thunar incorrectly thinks USB storage device hasn’t finished ejecting, has been fixed!
Updates for Catfish 1.4.6 and Xfce Terminal 0.8.7.4 are making their way through the Stable Release Update process and should be available in the coming days.
Application Updates
Catfish 1.4.6
The latest release of Catfish features a greatly improved thumbnail manager and numerous bug fixes. With 23 translation updates, this is the most localized release to date! Finally, Catfish 1.4.6 is the first release as an official Xfce project. Check out my earlier blog post for more details.
Xfce4 Panel Profiles 1.0.8
Formerly known as Xfpanel Switch, Xfce4 Panel Profiles has joined the Xfce family. This application makes it incredibly easy to backup, restore, and share panel layouts with other Xfce users. The latest release improves profile management and includes a number of translations. Find out more about the latest updates on the release announcement.
Xfce Releases
There were 7 new Xfce releases in July, including the two applications listed just above. These releases feature a number of improvements and translation updates, with Xfwm4 4.13.1 featuring an astounding 81 non-translation updates!
Cosmic Cuttlefish Updates
The following components have been updated in Xubuntu 18.10 since July 1st.
Applications
Libraries
Panel Plugins
Thunar Plugins
Other Updates
Bug Fixed! LP: #1762595 (gvfs), Thunar incorrectly thinks USB storage device hasn’t finished ejecting
What to Expect in August?
With the summer months coming to a close, kids are back in school and everybody is back in front of their computers. This means more updates! Here are some things expected soon:
Updated packaging for the elementary-xfce icon theme. Work on separating this theme from xubuntu-artwork has already been completed. We are now just waiting for some sponsored uploads. The benefit of this change is that the elementary-xfce icon theme is now available in Debian!
Xfce Settings 4.13.5. There have been some improvements to the settings managers that we’ll be releasing soon. One improvement is the removal of the broken icon theme color generation. This worked great with GTK+ 2 themes, but has been pretty broken for GTK+ 3. With this removal, Appearance Settings now loads instantly!
I’ll be taking a look at the Pidgin codebase this month, hoping to improve the theme manager to support system-wide status icon and smiley theme installation. This will make it possible for us to ship the pidgin-elementary themes and further improve our desktop consistency.
There have been a few bugs reported with Thunar in Xubuntu 16.04 in regard to copying and moving files. I’ll be working to update the Thunar version in Xenial to fix these bugs and help folks transition to the latest and great Xubuntu 18.04. (LP: #1514912)
Keep up with the latest Xubuntu developments on our development tracker. Have a great month!