karmic gdmsetup removes useful options which existed in jaunty

[Matthew Caron]

Binary package hint: gdm

Either click "Login Screen" from the menus or "sudo gdmsetup" from the command line.

There used to be a nice GUI which allowed you to pick themes, etc.

Now all that's there is a 2 option radio button which doesn't let you do anything. Definitely a big step backwards to have to go edit the config file again.

[Sebastien Bacher (seb128)]

Thanks for the bug report. This particular bug has already been reported, but feel free to report any other bugs you find.

[Matthew Caron (matt-mattcaron)]

If it has already been reported, of which bug is it a duplicate?

[Sebastien Bacher (seb128)]

depends of the feature you are asking for there, opening a bug saying that something is useless is not really constructive behaviour nor useful, there is specifc request to add ie theming to the new dialog

[Matthew Caron (matt-mattcaron)]

Renamed.

I don't really know how to express it any better. There was literally a whole host of features in the one in Jaunty which actually allowed you to actually configure the greeter. There were 6 tabs of options, including theme selection, default session setting, remote login stuff, X server setup, face browser options, etc. So, it's not just theming, it's EVERYTHING.

The new one removes all that and basically only has one radio button: ask for the user or log one in already.

This means that in order to do something as simple as choose what you want the login screen to look like requires editing the config file.

Personally, I want the old configuration screen back. Failing that, an "advanced" tab/button/etc which brings up the old dialog will be fine as well.

[Sebastien Bacher (seb128)]

The comment is still not really constructive. The gdm code has been rewritten and the new codebase doesn't have all the options which the old one had so it's not only a matter of having a configuration gui but also to bring those options there. Upstream doesn't have any configuration tool in the new version so one has been added in ubuntu for the most used option. The possibility to configure themes could be added back too next cycle but the ubuntu team doesn't have the manpower to work on adding back all the options which were in the previous codebase especially the ones not judged useful for most users, that's why specific issues need to be described so the team can decide on what to work next there

[Matthew Caron (matt-mattcaron)]

Ah lovely. So, once again, upstream rewrites something, breaks/reduces functiontionality, Ubuntu adopts it, and stuff that literally worked for YEARS suddenly no longer does. Not a unique situation, so I suppose I should get used to it.

Anyway, I was not aware that GDM had been rewritten in this fashion. I thought that this simplified dialog had been created to "make it easier" for people by taking away options, and wanted to make it clear that this was not appreciated by those of us who used the options which were removed. Since this was not the case, I suppose there's not much which can be done about it.

[Sebastien Bacher (seb128)]

> upstream rewrites something...

it's worth noting that ubuntu stayed on the previous version for over a year to get the new version catching up while GNOME and other distributions were shipping the new one but it has been decided that it would be better to switch to a version being worked and using recent desktop technlogies before the lts coming next cycle

[Matthew Caron (matt-mattcaron)]

True, and having reviewed various discussions related to that it makes sense from a certain point of view.

I'm just not looking forward to the uproar this is going to elicit from my users.

[Jeremy Boden (jeremyboden)]

This is seriously bad!
Even Windows 3.1 looked more attractive at first sight.
First impressions stick.

[Basilisk (jasonbrinks)]

And you broke apart a lot of what is needed by a fair share of people who use Linux... To some of us, its not so much as "Oh, I'm using Linux to SSH this and SSH", or "I'm emo/raging at Windows, so I'm going to bed Linux tonight instead"... Its more about "I use Linux because its moddable, its customizable, and because its worlds apart from the rigid theming options provided by Windows..."

I may not be in the right place to state, but I believe that Ubuntu is probably the easiest Linux Distro to adapt to, particularly if you are a new user... And matter-of-factly, the majority of the potential Luxor's that I am aware of are interesting in the visual appeal... The loss of a customizable login screen obviously has a major impact on such an audience.

Therefore, in lieu, I'd like to know if the login screen will return as a feature in either an update or the next stable build (10.4).

[Sebastien Bacher (seb128)]

> I'd like to know if the login screen will return as a feature in either an update or the next stable build (10.4).

not sure what you call a feature there, there is a login screen configurator in karmic, specific options will be added back according to the user requests and the ressources available to work on those changes

[Bremm (bremm)]

If someone wants to "tweak" gdm look and feel, it could be done running the line below as root:

# sudo -u gdm dbus-launch gnome-appearance-properties

Xubuntu 9.10 GDM theme is fine for me (if Ubuntu users are annoyed by the Human Theme, they could give a try on Kubuntu or even Xubuntu). IMHO, Human Theme hurts my eyes, I stick with blueish tones in [K|X]ubuntu.

There is another way, but it might mess up GDM: downgrade it to the older version (I didn't try and I wouldn't try, even knowing how to 'pin' packages to avoid updates). It's a kind of surgical procedure and I don't recommend it to someone who relies on front-ends to configure such trivial stuff (sorry if I has been a show-off, but it's true).

Like anything on Linux, you always can seek another path. I would try it in /etc/gdm/custom.conf where it's possible to change themes (at [greeter] section) easily. All custom settings done in this file won't be superseded by any upgrade, so your beloved theme won't be touched if it's compatible with your GDM version.

HTH

[Bremm (bremm)]

Update: I just tried the command below as root

# gksudo -u gdm dbus-launch gconf-editor

Settings are under desktop/gnome branch.

[Matthew Caron (matt-mattcaron)]

Bremm: I think you miss the point. It seems incongruous to me that a distribution which purports to be so user focused (even going to far as wanting to remove boot messages and hide them behind a splash screen, and even not displaying the grub boot info) would take such a large step backwards.

Ultimately, it doesn't matter to me, as I'm perfectly capable of hacking on config files. However, folks seem to want more broad Linux adoption, rather than just leaving it to folks like me.

[Matthew Caron (matt-mattcaron)]

I also note that I grabbed Debian 5.0 and they're still using the old one. I'm considering a move to that platform.