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Ubuntu's OpenGL face browser will bring bling to GDM
arstechnica.com — Developer Mirco M üller is designing a new login manager for Ubuntu that will use the OpenGL-based clutter library to provide a richer user interface with animations.
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- ptFoe, on 04/30/2008, -21/+82Most users at most have 2 logins on a computer, and will only spend a maximum of 10 seconds at the login screen. How does this bring bling to ubuntu? utter rubbish and waste of time if this code can't be used in another application like IM.
I wish Macslow had spent his time finishing the Picture Sorter, which would have been quiet useful.- mikedoth, on 04/30/2008, -13/+4How about a built in hard disk utility like it's been needing for years.
- jsully, on 04/30/2008, -0/+15Hard disk utility like what? ext3 doesn't need to be defragmented. Ubuntu also comes with the Disk Usage Analayzer, which is one of the most useful drive utilities out there.
- webcrumb, on 04/30/2008, -0/+2That's not strictly accurate. Any file system will fragment over time, it's just extN does a fairly good job of placing files carefully. I've still found some benefit from running a defrag script* over my /home partition as it's been fairly well used (e.g. large files downloaded and deleted) for a couple of years.
*actually just a fancy rsync wrapper - bretkuhns, on 05/01/2008, -0/+1Strictly, no file system NEEDS to be defragmented.
- hyperair, on 05/01/2008, -0/+8Why don't you run fsck and just see exactly how many percent non-contiguous files there are? After years of using my /home partition (which also involves much deleting and downloading like you have), the percent of non-contiguous files is still less than 5%. What you're probably feeling is a placebo effect. You've run the script, you expect it to work better, and so you feel it does.
- webcrumb, on 04/30/2008, -0/+2That's not strictly accurate. Any file system will fragment over time, it's just extN does a fairly good job of placing files carefully. I've still found some benefit from running a defrag script* over my /home partition as it's been fairly well used (e.g. large files downloaded and deleted) for a couple of years.
- radix2, on 04/30/2008, -0/+6of course, while this face browser is being developed, nothing else can be done. Is that right?
Personally, I won't get any value from it but FTA the developer is trying to streamline the login process (that is one of the jobs he is employed by Canonical for). This may well be a dead end, but in the meantime he is gaining experience in the new toolset. - AirRaven, on 04/30/2008, -2/+1Funny you should say that- Ubuntu shipped with "Disk-Utility" or something similar in all releases up until Dapper.
Said utility was then inexplicably removed. God alone knows why- wonderful utility there. - rpgmaker, on 04/30/2008, -1/+3Or like Disk Manager to mount HDDs with a GUI: http://flomertens.free.fr/disk-manager/download.ht ...
- jsully, on 04/30/2008, -0/+15Hard disk utility like what? ext3 doesn't need to be defragmented. Ubuntu also comes with the Disk Usage Analayzer, which is one of the most useful drive utilities out there.
- Jabertsohn, on 04/30/2008, -5/+5Quite.
- sparrowkc, on 04/30/2008, -3/+16"...and waste of time if this code can't be used in another application like IM".
Open Sauce is open. - sparrowkc, on 04/30/2008, -1/+9Also, FTA:
Tools like GNOME's new Cheese webcam utility could also potentially be integrated with GDM configuration utilities...- rpgmaker, on 04/30/2008, -0/+7Cheese is a really good utility.
- bejayel, on 04/30/2008, -3/+2I dont like the idea of Cheesing at all. Well i guess the perfect ***** would be worth it/
- ghinch, on 05/01/2008, -1/+1You never really get to see her boobs
- rpgmaker, on 04/30/2008, -0/+7Cheese is a really good utility.
- rpgmaker, on 04/30/2008, -1/+3Not only that, the folks @ Gnome are planning to built in compositing in Metacity, that would be awesome.
- TheWindBlows, on 05/01/2008, -0/+1They have compositing in Metacity already, I'm using it right now since it doesn't need hardware acceleration making it work with my ATI x1200 IGP.
- Ademan, on 05/01/2008, -0/+1xcompmgr!
- benplaut, on 05/02/2008, -0/+1RTFA: you start typing in a name and it filters down the number of icons. More for a multi user network situation.
- mikedoth, on 04/30/2008, -13/+4How about a built in hard disk utility like it's been needing for years.
- estaticd, on 04/30/2008, -6/+66This would be great for a PC shared by many people, like a classroom setting or public terminal.
- bumcheekcity, on 04/30/2008, -6/+14You mean "atrocious" surely? If there are 30 users on a PC or something, then picking out your picture or avatar is going to be a pain in the arse. You want usernames and passwords in a classroom setting.
- Chakat, on 04/30/2008, -0/+13It has both the username and pic visible.
- nmnnotmyname, on 04/30/2008, -0/+2I wouldn't say that is a given.
- mizatt, on 04/30/2008, -2/+14In case they forget their names? This seems like a big waste of time to me.
- antdude, on 05/01/2008, -1/+1Ack, I forgot my real name! ;)
- TrevorPace, on 04/30/2008, -1/+3In places like a classroom students/staff should simply log on over the internet using a user-server. Like Novel does.
For a public terminal like a library there should just be a guest account or something. - matrixbandit, on 04/30/2008, -0/+2I don't think this would be horribly useful for logging in, but I do like the idea of having a network of public terminals where users can create an account and have their picture taken via an attached webcam for their account profile, where other people could browse the photos for the purposes of sending a user an email. In a class setting for example, this would be useful for people whose names you don't know.
I know a million people will scream about privacy issues, but your face and name aren't private in the classroom anyways, and there could be all kinds of account specific security settings to let you be as veiled as you want.
Also might be fun to do this at coffee shops, but limit the user listing to people who are currently logged in so you can only see people who are already there anyways, and send them creepy stalker messages :D
- bumcheekcity, on 04/30/2008, -6/+14You mean "atrocious" surely? If there are 30 users on a PC or something, then picking out your picture or avatar is going to be a pain in the arse. You want usernames and passwords in a classroom setting.
- schestowitz, on 04/30/2008, -9/+20Some more pictures and explanation here, for those interested: https://wiki.ubuntu.com/DesktopTeam/Specs/GdmFaceB ...
- harlowsmonkeys, on 04/30/2008, -4/+21One step forward, one step back. Having a user type their name on one screen, and their password on another, can be a security risk. Users sometimes get out of phase, and think they have progressed to the password screen when they are still on the login screen, and then type their password, where it is echoed in plain site.
This should help greatly with that problem, because users will not be trying to type on the first screen. The password screen is different enough from the user selection screen to make it hard to get out of phase.
So, that's one step forward. This will improve the security of the password entry procedure.
But it also gives people who do not have accounts on the machine a quick way to find all the valid usernames. That's a security no-no, so one step backwards.- Mejogid, on 04/30/2008, -3/+18"But it also gives people who do not have accounts on the machine a quick way to find all the valid usernames. That's a security no-no, so one step backwards."
Since, if you've reached GDM, you presumably have local access, there's not going to be much security any way (in so much as you could boot form a live cd and inspect the filesystem). Besides, you can be sure "root" is a valid username, so does it really matter if you know more? Cracking more, less privileged accounts by brute force isn't going to do you any good.- domlachowicz, on 04/30/2008, -0/+10"Besides, you can be sure "root" is a valid username"
Most Linux systems run rootless these days, with a few privileged accounts in the "sudoers" file.- init100, on 05/01/2008, -0/+2"Most Linux systems run rootless these days"
Don't mistake Ubuntu for "most". It may be the most prolific desktop distribution, but certainly not the most common server distro.
- init100, on 05/01/2008, -0/+2"Most Linux systems run rootless these days"
- 0xception, on 04/30/2008, -0/+2i guess the whole point will come down to the purpose of the install, if your install is used as a semi public access terminal then chances are the live boot will be disabled, however security is an issue then chances are the admin of the system would just change the GDM or secure it in the first place. So i dont think this is much of an issue so long as this login is an Optional login (even if it is the default, if you can change it back then i see no harm)
- HonestAbe, on 04/30/2008, -0/+3"Since, if you've reached GDM, you presumably have local access"
Why would you presume that? - tnoy, on 05/01/2008, -0/+1All the linux machines I set up dont have a "root" username. I'm always surprised that I'm in the minority.
- domlachowicz, on 04/30/2008, -0/+10"Besides, you can be sure "root" is a valid username"
- sirhomer, on 04/30/2008, -0/+15This will only be really used in personal homes and maybe small businesses and classrooms. It these cases the security risks are nonexistent to minimal. You can expect any large organization to be authenticating against some kind of LDAP directory.
- scrtyfrk, on 04/30/2008, -0/+2Well, usernames are usually known... How? Well, they are usually the same as your e-mail address!!! Unless someone finds a way to obfuscate that part while allowing people to reply back to you, you are giving away your username to your e-mail already.
Got to agree with SirHomer: This is NOT for security sensitive installations. - bigolblob, on 05/01/2008, -0/+2You can already have GDM list the users by selecting a GDM theme with a facebrowser. This is really just for eyecandy.
- rulus, on 05/01/2008, -0/+2Except that your name might not be the same as your username.
- Mejogid, on 04/30/2008, -3/+18"But it also gives people who do not have accounts on the machine a quick way to find all the valid usernames. That's a security no-no, so one step backwards."
- dsn0wman, on 04/30/2008, -3/+52Call me old fashioned, but I'd rather just type in my user name and password.
- djbon2112, on 04/30/2008, -0/+3You're not alone.
- dinostabOMG, on 04/30/2008, -0/+20I'm sure you'll be able to turn it off if you want.
- djbon2112, on 04/30/2008, -0/+11I think that's one of the beautiful things about Linux in general: you don't need to make "unauthorized" modifications to the OS to disable stupid eye candy or crap they add to the OS. There's options (somewhere) to change everything!
- TomKarpik, on 04/30/2008, -4/+0Unauthorized modifications like "[X] Use the Welcome screen" in XP or "Display the login window as:" in OS X?
Right.- djbon2112, on 05/01/2008, -0/+1I was referring to other things in general, not specifically the logon screen. But still, if I don't like the style of the Windows logon screen, can I change it by changing an option as simply as my desktop wallpaper? Not in Windows. I need a third party program or, as I said, some "unauthorized" hacks.
- PhailQuail, on 05/05/2008, -0/+1What about "[X] Use a custom login screen"?
- TomKarpik, on 04/30/2008, -4/+0Unauthorized modifications like "[X] Use the Welcome screen" in XP or "Display the login window as:" in OS X?
- djbon2112, on 04/30/2008, -0/+11I think that's one of the beautiful things about Linux in general: you don't need to make "unauthorized" modifications to the OS to disable stupid eye candy or crap they add to the OS. There's options (somewhere) to change everything!
- corde5, on 04/30/2008, -0/+4Old fashioned.
- nmnnotmyname, on 04/30/2008, -0/+1This is more like the XP Home Edition welcome screen for Linux, not a complete replacement for the whole login system.
- Myztry, on 05/01/2008, -0/+1I'd like to see passwords replaced with crypting/challenge devices. Passwords are so vulnerable to social engineering and the need to trust any application that you give the password too (from OS to the web site).
If you own any password authenticated site, then you've probably got the users banking password as well. People don't remember passwords well so tend to have only one, or maybe a few passwords that get re-used time and time again... They are really poor way of implementing security.
Any time a authentication server is down, people just go through every password they can possibly remember, handing even their 'secure' passwords over in desperation to enter some trivial site.- dinostabOMG, on 05/01/2008, -0/+1What's the alternative you're proposing? Not sure what crypting/challenge means...
- Myztry, on 05/01/2008, -0/+3Public/private key based. Where no identity is exchanged. Just the fact that you have the private key with which you signed up with, and are thus the originally verified entity.
I'm not going to get long into it because it's not really the topic on hand but.
Site generates a random token and encrypts with private key. Your security device decrypts it internally with their public key, re-encrypts with your private key and sends back. They can check if you have the required private key, forming a 'loop' of trust. Likewise you can do the same.
No software on the computer is aware of the key, so there is no chance of rogue programs or buggy OS's exposing it. For further communications, the security keys returns unencrypted data locally, keeping snoopers out.
Theres more to it, but that's the gist... Needless to say, you could have 100's of USB security keys for different purposes. No passwords. Just a device that identifies the trust association, not the person.
- Myztry, on 05/01/2008, -0/+3Public/private key based. Where no identity is exchanged. Just the fact that you have the private key with which you signed up with, and are thus the originally verified entity.
- init100, on 05/01/2008, -0/+1"If you own any password authenticated site, then you've probably got the users banking password as well."
Your bank only uses a user name and a password for authentication? I wouldn't use such a bank, except under special conditions, such as only accepting pre-registered destinations for money transfers.- Myztry, on 05/01/2008, -0/+1I have one bank that uses uses acc#&pin&password. Another that uses acc#&password&SMSchallenge. For the business account you can get a challenge key. They are improving. They used to be ACC#&pin only.
There is still plenty of money sites that rely on pen'n'paper passwords. Ebay as an obvious example. The point is passwords tends to duplicate and are easily guessed/copied.
It would be much better if people didn't even have to know what the password/secretvalue was. Then it could be x thousands bits long rather than a typical 4-8 characters, which are hard to remember. We control access to expensive cars, key and vault boxes with physical keys. Why are we still using (dictionary) words for online?
- Myztry, on 05/01/2008, -0/+1I have one bank that uses uses acc#&pin&password. Another that uses acc#&password&SMSchallenge. For the business account you can get a challenge key. They are improving. They used to be ACC#&pin only.
- dinostabOMG, on 05/01/2008, -0/+1What's the alternative you're proposing? Not sure what crypting/challenge means...
- leerayIG88, on 04/30/2008, -19/+6Bling bling? I consider that offensive. This article is racist.
- Atomic1fire, on 04/30/2008, -4/+5Racist?
Ill have you know that Bling Bling refers to money, gold or generally shiny or valuable things
Bling bling does not refer to any specific race because white people use it and I am sure that there are other races that refer to the word
because it has gone from a street term to a well understood term to a younger generation- Amiga500, on 04/30/2008, -2/+2Black Urban Slang fits perfectly with Ubuntu. White people use the term, but certainly didn't create it.
- nmnnotmyname, on 05/01/2008, -0/+1Okay, just for reference, this is racist. Saying Ubuntu has anything to do with race is, anyways.
So Windows should have a bunch of white-person-pretending-to-be-black types of slang words in it I suppose.
- nmnnotmyname, on 05/01/2008, -0/+1Okay, just for reference, this is racist. Saying Ubuntu has anything to do with race is, anyways.
- Amiga500, on 04/30/2008, -2/+2Black Urban Slang fits perfectly with Ubuntu. White people use the term, but certainly didn't create it.
- nmnnotmyname, on 05/01/2008, -0/+1Just '/sarcasm' yourself next time. It wasn't funny anyways.
- Atomic1fire, on 04/30/2008, -4/+5Racist?
- lenninct, on 04/30/2008, -8/+27.10 OR 8.4?
- foo25, on 04/30/2008, -1/+78.04...?
- madk, on 04/30/2008, -10/+5Useless
- akkibaba, on 04/30/2008, -4/+8A comment that exactly describes itself. Damn, I think you just divided by zero.
- mathwizkid, on 04/30/2008, -4/+6There are so many improvements that could have been made with the hours used for developing this.
"The general advantage of a face-browser for login is the avoidance of superfluous typing". Is it that hard to type your login name? Maybe we should have a picture of your password too?- akkibaba, on 04/30/2008, -2/+4Don't like it? Turn it off. The developer is coding this feature to scratch his own programming itch, and giving it to you ingrates for free. Why are you trying to tell him what he should be doing?
- HonestAbe, on 05/01/2008, -1/+1Because there are better things he could be doing.
- Peterix, on 05/01/2008, -3/+2Tell that to the guy who created it, face to face. Still want to do that? No? I thought so.
It's his idea and his time - and it's IMHO great. If you have a better idea, go and DO IT.
- akkibaba, on 04/30/2008, -2/+4Don't like it? Turn it off. The developer is coding this feature to scratch his own programming itch, and giving it to you ingrates for free. Why are you trying to tell him what he should be doing?
- mistergoomba, on 04/30/2008, -3/+7perfect for me since i live in a house full of 20 people and everyone is learning linux on my computer.... but seriously, this seems like more clutter rather than less clutter to me
- Amiga500, on 04/30/2008, -4/+3A house full of 20 people? Immigrant farmer or Internet Liar? Token 'coin toss' moment.
- irgeorge, on 04/30/2008, -0/+5Or sarcasm. This hypothesis of mine is supported by the use of the phrase 'but seriously.'
- Amiga500, on 04/30/2008, -4/+3A house full of 20 people? Immigrant farmer or Internet Liar? Token 'coin toss' moment.
- scrtyfrk, on 04/30/2008, -1/+1This could be cool if it was coupled with other type of security measures... Example... Touchscreen to select your avatar and a password made up of a set of bold glyphs or avatars that you use the touchscreen for as an alternate to a password you have to type with a keyboard. Great for smaller children and individuals with disabilities. Another example... Alternative to soft keyboards password entry on tablet PC's.
- HonestAbe, on 04/30/2008, -1/+1Showing the identities of other user names is a "security measure"?
- scrtyfrk, on 04/30/2008, -1/+1Oh yeah... and school children keep top secret documents under their home directory!!!! C'mon... Think audience. Certainly they won't use this at JPL or the Pentagon. But at elementary schools or large households, it's certainly a good tool. Besides, it doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure out someone's user name. It's usually first initial and last name or some such combination.
One dumps more information creating an account on digg than this thing... More than likely, this is not the only place where HonestAbe is your handle. When you send an e-mail you are also sending people your user name into the system so half of your login information to gmail, hotmail, aol mail, digg, slashdot or the ubuntu forums is already public a picture in your home computer is not going to stop that.- HonestAbe, on 05/01/2008, -0/+1You said "coupled with other type of security measures". Are you saying that showing the faces of other users is a security measure?
- scrtyfrk, on 04/30/2008, -1/+1Oh yeah... and school children keep top secret documents under their home directory!!!! C'mon... Think audience. Certainly they won't use this at JPL or the Pentagon. But at elementary schools or large households, it's certainly a good tool. Besides, it doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure out someone's user name. It's usually first initial and last name or some such combination.
- init100, on 05/01/2008, -0/+1Touch screens may sound great in theory, but in reality they are quickly almost unusable due to greasy fingers touching all over the place.
- HonestAbe, on 04/30/2008, -1/+1Showing the identities of other user names is a "security measure"?
- willwill100, on 04/30/2008, -5/+5what a load of tat
- boxoman, on 04/30/2008, -2/+3thats cool if you want to take pictures of everyone who logs on to the computer (or pull them from the internet), but who is going to waste all that time on a login screen. Sure you can do it just for yourself, but it only looks good if everyone does it, otherwise you end up with a bunch of empty boxes, with just names.
- voyvf, on 04/30/2008, -0/+1Ever hear of avatars?
- HonestAbe, on 04/30/2008, -3/+3Who benefits from seeing the faces of other users of a machine? It's not like you can log into their accounts. Aren't there a lot cooler things we could be working on?
- RoadWarriorX11, on 04/30/2008, -2/+2seems very Windows XPish
- voyvf, on 04/30/2008, -1/+4Bitching about a feature that someone has contributed, just because you think there are "better things" to add is a bit daft. Nobody said that you couldn't work on those "cooler things".
- WayOfTheIronPaw, on 05/01/2008, -0/+1There are more hot chicks on that fake login screen than there are in the entire Linux user base. It helps us Linux users to be reminded what girls look like, every now and then.
(Proud Linux user since 1995.)- HonestAbe, on 05/01/2008, -0/+1I've been running Ubuntu for a year now, and the only two people I know in real life who also use Linux regularly are female.
- WayOfTheIronPaw, on 05/03/2008, -0/+0Really? Where is this magical land?
- HonestAbe, on 05/01/2008, -0/+1I've been running Ubuntu for a year now, and the only two people I know in real life who also use Linux regularly are female.
- stikkitjim, on 04/30/2008, -2/+1I had a chance to meet Mirco a couple of years back, his "low-fat" engine is finally being put to use I see!... crazy backflipping bastard :D
- TheWindBlows, on 05/01/2008, -0/+1sorry about the digg down my finger slipped.
- over900000, on 04/30/2008, -1/+4They should really get rid of the brown.
- Sammi84, on 05/01/2008, -0/+1And use blue like everyone else?
You can easily change it after installing, if you don't like it.
Orange/Brown is only so Ubuntu stands out. - porl, on 05/01/2008, -0/+0i used to change the default theme to something blue, but these days i prefer it. it's easy to change, but i like the fact that it seems (to me) to actually be easier on my eyes over an extended period of time. i wonder if it has something to do with the fact that it is closer in colour to what our eyes are used to seeing (in an evolutionary sense) in nature. just a thought
- Sammi84, on 05/01/2008, -0/+1And use blue like everyone else?
- fremeer, on 04/30/2008, -1/+1This has no productivity effects but as a thats kind of cool thing it does wonders. Its great to bring in first time users because it looks pretty. Much like MACOSX's Dock which doesnt offer much over the start bar with quick launch, but looks prettier.
A high amount of users of linux desktops maybe have 1 or 2 users so this feature is useless, but at a public place with multiple logins it draws people in.- tnoy, on 05/01/2008, -0/+1Even though I have a deep hatred for Apple, and I mostly use a Windows PC as a desktop, I have to disagree with you about the dock. It offers some very useful functionality over the quick-launch toolbar. If you use a Mac for more than an hour, you'd see this.
- mmlenz, on 04/30/2008, -0/+3you'll never mistype your user name while logging in now will you?
- AirRaven, on 04/30/2008, -4/+1I'm loving how people are protesting against the introduction of something incredibly similar to what's been in Windows for years- XP's "Welcome" Logon screen's a lovely interface for your average user to log on to a system- as much as certain people may prefer to have a simple login window with a password box, the extra bling makes the system feel quite a bit more welcoming.
- dualscreenman, on 04/30/2008, -0/+2A *simple* face browser has been an option for GDM and KDM since, like, forever. (Though not in GDM by default; and no, not literally since forever)
- Peterix, on 05/01/2008, -0/+1This one uses OpenGL. Adding some eye-candy can't hurt.
- porl, on 05/01/2008, -0/+0exactly, so whilst some people may consider the extra bling not necessary, all the protests about security etc are ridiculous. this is basically just an enhanced face browser with some nice features like dynamically filtering out images according to what you have started to type.
- dualscreenman, on 04/30/2008, -0/+2A *simple* face browser has been an option for GDM and KDM since, like, forever. (Though not in GDM by default; and no, not literally since forever)
- ethana2, on 04/30/2008, -0/+2I can't wait 'till they have a facial recognition PAM module. Open the laptop, smile, and you're in as you.
- Hangly, on 05/01/2008, -0/+4You, or the guy who stole your face.
Oh yeah, don't think someone won't try that.- TheWindBlows, on 05/01/2008, -0/+3I got your nose.
- Hangly, on 05/01/2008, -0/+2Give that back you son of a bitch.
- TheWindBlows, on 05/01/2008, -0/+3I got your nose.
- Culyt, on 05/01/2008, -0/+3Just be aware that facial recognition as a login is a security hole. Theres is no way to tell if its a face or a picture of a face so anyone with a picture of you can get in.
It would be useful for home users though.
- Hangly, on 05/01/2008, -0/+4You, or the guy who stole your face.
- Hangly, on 05/01/2008, -0/+1Someone ask Carlos if he has a better photo of himself.
- momsshizzle, on 05/01/2008, -7/+2Bling yes, substance no. Linsux.
- neodorian, on 05/01/2008, -3/+3Why does the title say Ubuntu when it's an article about Gnome?
- porl, on 05/01/2008, -0/+3it is an ubuntu project. nothing would stop other distros using it though. this is one of the best things about open source in my opinion, different groups are mature enough to acknowledge when another group does something great and incorporate it into their own, without so much of the whole 'ours is different! look, it's got a button in a different spot!!!! they copied us first!!' that seems to be prevalent in a lot of proprietary software (not that it doesn't occur at all, but i'm talking in general)
- Fixion, on 05/01/2008, -1/+2GDM is really lacking in themes, but I can't complain since I usually just lock my terminal instead of logging out. Because of this, I only see GDM 2-3 times a week.
- Ademan, on 05/01/2008, -0/+2I would much rather see a working guest account system in GDM than this... I remember there was some work being done as a part of fedora, i dunno if it made it into mainline gdm though. (and if it is there, it would be awesome if there was an easy way to enable it)
- blackjack75, on 05/01/2008, -1/+4Last time I tested Ubuntu8:
- I clicked to enable compiz effects, told me that I needed ATI proprietary drivers
- I clicked in the preferences to do so (yes now they have a GUI for that!), rebooted and got a black screen
- I rebooted in recovery mode and picked the option to restore my X11 gui.
Since then my keyboard layout is set to Azerty (which is french and makes loging in A BIT complicated). And of course changing the keyboard once logged in has no effect on the login.
But sure, let's add some bling effects right now, since there are no other issues to fix.- PhailQuail, on 05/05/2008, -0/+1Its not like there are only 10 people working on Ubuntu, your logic suggests that the artists should drop what they are doing to fix a bug with the recovery mode. Its best to balance the developers across tasks, and assign them stuff that matches with their abilities.
- KageSenshi, on 05/01/2008, -0/+1And the infrastructure which made this possible, comes from the hard work of some Fedora developers..
http://fedoraproject.org/wiki/Features/NewGdm
Fedora9 will ship with the new GDM .. though no bling bling for now, just the base infrastructure .. - Culyt, on 05/01/2008, -0/+2It might not be much use to your average computer geek but the bling factor will draw in the breeders. In addition to that typing in a username for logging into the computer is an alien experience for many normals, often they just have 1 admin account which automatically logs in. Vista just makes you click a box to autenticate you want to do something as a admin user, and that already anoys a great many people.
Having a simple "Click your face" browser will probably be quite useful for Joe user, his wife and stereotypical nuclear family of 3 and a 1/2 children, I would even think that providing and option to disable the password for GDM logins would be a good idea for home users. Granted its a security hole, but for an average person it doesn't matter unless someone breaks into their house with the intent to steal documents off their computer, they can of course steal the whole computer a whole lot quicker.- HonestAbe, on 05/01/2008, -0/+1It already had a face browser.
- newwatch51, on 05/01/2008, -0/+3It always surprises me how the little things influence what software people use. I know someone who wanted to use pidgin, just because I had a buddy pounce that played music when some one started typing. Conversely, I know someone who didn't want to use Firefox because the bookmarks imported from Internet Explorer didn't have favicons on them.
Thus, there may be people who try Linux because of this - hadiriazi, on 05/02/2008, -0/+0Here is an alternate link to the story, also included is a small video clip
http://macslow.thepimp.net/?p=163
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