COSMIC Desktop Implements Fractional Scaling, Wallpaper Settings

[phoronix]

Phoronix: COSMIC Desktop Implements Fractional Scaling, Wallpaper Settings

System76 developers working on their Rust-written COSMIC desktop have recently been improving a number of areas of this open-source desktop...

https://www.phoronix.com/news/COSMIC-For-July

[Knghtbrd]

For awhile I used Mint for work and really got to appreciate how simple Cinnamon was for users coming from Windows/Mac systems. Still, when I no longer needed it for work purposes and my resources started feeling strained (by my browser, not Cinnamon), a combination of XFCE and MATE bits replaced it for me. Even so, I've been very eager to see what System76 does with COSMIC because it looks like it's gonna be even lighter than what I've got now, but have the cohesiveness and attention that XFCE/MATE just don't have access to right now.

This is a big step for me especially because fractional scaling is important for accessibility. Hat's off to the System76 guys! You've accomplished quite a bit in a very short timespan!

[V1tol]

It would be interesting to compare GNOME vs COSMIC on my tablet with Atom CPU. GNOME there works horribly slow at 10 fps and there is no touch-friendly usable alternative (I tried them all). The only thing that works acceptably there is Android but it is stuck on version 5 forever and not usable much anymore.

[bug77]

Wth, you can implement fractional scaling at the drop of a hat? No drama, no "but it's not my business", no "we need to get a million parties to agree", no nothing? I feel cheated.

Edit: Ha, there's an AUR for Cosmic. Guess what I'll be doing one of these days?

[rmfx]

That looks more and more like a great DE. I hope it's fast and light as much as possible.

For the setting app, I have a suggestion:
Just like Deepin settings, why not make a 3 columns window, with on the left the main categories, in the center the sub categories, and on the right side the settings.
This layout allows to very quickly find and jump on the settings that are needed rather than going back and forth inside/outside pages until the correct setting is found.
That also allows the users to map in their mind the settings better since they have a better/faster overall view of what is where + makes pages shorter.

[Vistaus]

It would be interesting to compare GNOME vs COSMIC on my tablet with Atom CPU. GNOME there works horribly slow at 10 fps and there is no touch-friendly usable alternative (I tried them all). The only thing that works acceptably there is Android but it is stuck on version 5 forever and not usable much anymore.

It would be interesting to compare Maui Shell and Cosmic, since they both are aiming for the same goal.

[sophisticles]

I wonder if they will allow uses to disable the wall paper from within the GUI and just use a color background.

I ask because Gnome removed this ability a few releases ago and Budgie copied them, being based on Gnome and all.

The really funny thing is the official explanation for this change, the Gnome developers claimed that it was too much work to support the code needed to enable this functionality, which is hysterical considering it can be done from the terminal with just 3 commands.

I also think it's absurd for these people to release COSMIC for general availability, they should make it an exclusive for the customers, as a value added.

[mmstick]

I wonder if they will allow uses to disable the wall paper from within the GUI and just use a color background.

Color and color gradient backgrounds are supported https://fosstodon.org/@mmstick/110599478796240327
Could do a lot more if we decided to. https://github.com/mazznoer/colorgrad-rs
With a few lines of code I can enable using HDR images for backgrounds, too.

[anarsoul]

Is there an ETA on when it will be ready for regular users?

[bearoso]

Wth, you can implement fractional scaling at the drop of a hat? No drama, no "but it's not my business", no "we need to get a million parties to agree", no nothing? I feel cheated.

This is what bugs me about Wayland compositor development. Too much duplicated effort and NIH syndrome. "Gnome adds fractional scaling" "KDE adds fractional scaling" "wlroots adds fractional scaling." Each one is going to have different, separate bugs, and it's going to be constant "not my problem" when, for example, reporting a KDE app problem while running a Gnome desktop.

I hope one of them just "wins", and the UI-specific stuff gets factored out and everyone starts using the same core.