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issue158:tutoriel1 [2020/07/03 07:58] d52frissue158:tutoriel1 [2020/07/08 14:58] (Version actuelle) andre_domenech
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 **With the recent appearance of Ubuntu 20.04 and its extended family of distributions, I thought it would be a nice time to see which advances in hardware support have been taking place in the background. A new version of the Linux kernel (5.4), and various desktop managers, made me wonder if support for my HP Spectre x360 laptop was available. This 2-in-1, convertible or flip-screen laptop – depending on what you choose to call it – has been giving entire satisfaction with the 18.x and 19.x Ubuntu family as well as Linux Mint 19.x. Specifically, this unit has a high-density screen resolution at 1920x1080, which is a tad too much for a 13-inch diagonal screen. But screen resolution can easily be reduced to 1600x900 in all recent versions of Ubuntu, so this is not an issue. The tactile aspect of the screen has also been working well, though I have used it little since the laptop has quite a nice touchpad – precise, and with good feeling. So there was just one single niggle at the back of my mind: for the life of me, I was unable to use the laptop with its screen completely folded back, ie, in tablet mode. It could get there – sort of – but I needed to flip the screen orientation by hand, and the keyboard stayed active, which was a bit of a bother when holding the computer up by its back. ** **With the recent appearance of Ubuntu 20.04 and its extended family of distributions, I thought it would be a nice time to see which advances in hardware support have been taking place in the background. A new version of the Linux kernel (5.4), and various desktop managers, made me wonder if support for my HP Spectre x360 laptop was available. This 2-in-1, convertible or flip-screen laptop – depending on what you choose to call it – has been giving entire satisfaction with the 18.x and 19.x Ubuntu family as well as Linux Mint 19.x. Specifically, this unit has a high-density screen resolution at 1920x1080, which is a tad too much for a 13-inch diagonal screen. But screen resolution can easily be reduced to 1600x900 in all recent versions of Ubuntu, so this is not an issue. The tactile aspect of the screen has also been working well, though I have used it little since the laptop has quite a nice touchpad – precise, and with good feeling. So there was just one single niggle at the back of my mind: for the life of me, I was unable to use the laptop with its screen completely folded back, ie, in tablet mode. It could get there – sort of – but I needed to flip the screen orientation by hand, and the keyboard stayed active, which was a bit of a bother when holding the computer up by its back. **
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 +Avec la sortie récente d'Ubuntu 20.04 et de sa famille étendue de distributions, je pensais que ce serait un bon moment pour voir quelles sont les avancées sous-jacentes mises en place pour le support des matériels. Une nouvelle version de Linux (la 5.4), et des gestionnaires de bureau divers, m'ont fait me demander si mon portable HP Spectre x360 était disponible. Ce portable 2-en-1, convertible ou à écran retournable - selon ce que vous voulez l'appeler - a donné entière satisfaction avec les Ubuntu des familles 18.x et 19.x, tout comme avec Linux Mint 19.x. En particulier, cette unité a une résolution d'écran à haute densité de 1920x1080, qui est un poil trop pour un écran de 13 pouces de diagonale. Mais la résolution d'écran peut facilement être réduite à 1600x900 dans toutes les versions récentes d'Ubuntu, ; ce n'est donc pas un problème. L'aspect tactile de l'écran a aussi bien fonctionné, bien que je l'aie peu utilisé car le portable a un pavé tactile plutôt bien, précis et avec un bon toucher. Aussi, il n'y a qu'un petit embarras au fond de mon esprit : quoi que je fasse, j'étais incapable d'utiliser le portable avec l'écran complètement replié, c'est-à-dire en mode tablette. Il peut l'être - en quelque sorte - mais j'avais besoin d'incliner mon écran à la main et le clavier restait actif, ce qui était un peu pénible physiquement en soutenant le portable par son fond.
  
 **When Focal Fossa rolled around, the first version I tried out was Kubuntu – with excellent results. Startup times were severely reduced (with a very minor tweaking of systemd): **When Focal Fossa rolled around, the first version I tried out was Kubuntu – with excellent results. Startup times were severely reduced (with a very minor tweaking of systemd):
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 Some days later, I tried Ubuntu 20.04 itself. This proved to be something of a letdown. It may be a matter of opinion, but I find this version of the Gnome desktop much better than in the past, but still not quite on the same level as KDE/Plasma. Graphical target times in the 20+ seconds do not compare well for Gnome. Perhaps I should mention this was using the very same laptop and booting off the same internal SSD drive in both cases.** Some days later, I tried Ubuntu 20.04 itself. This proved to be something of a letdown. It may be a matter of opinion, but I find this version of the Gnome desktop much better than in the past, but still not quite on the same level as KDE/Plasma. Graphical target times in the 20+ seconds do not compare well for Gnome. Perhaps I should mention this was using the very same laptop and booting off the same internal SSD drive in both cases.**
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 +Quand Focal Fossa est apparue, la première version que j'ai essayée fut Kubuntu, avec d'excellents résultats. Les temps de démarrage étaient fortement réduits (avec un léger réglage de systemd) :
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 +La cible d'affichage graphique était atteinte après 3,115 s dans l'espace utilisateur.
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 +Le bureau Plasma était beau comme toujours, et même ma tablette Wacom était reconnue directement avec les nouveaux pilotes livrés dans le noyau. Aussi, la vie était belle..., mais pas en mode tablette. Peine perdue avec ça.
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 +Quelques jours plus tard, j'ai essayé Ubuntu 20.04 lui-même. Il s'est avéré un peu décevant. C'est peut-être une question d'opinion, mais j'ai trouvé que cette version du bureau Gnome était bien meilleure que dans le passé, mais pas encore au même niveau que KDE/Plasma. La cible d'affichage graphique en plus de 20 secondes n'est pas en faveur de Gnome. Peut-être que je devrais signaler que, dans les deux cas, c'était en utilisant exactement le même portable et en démarrant sur le même disque SSD interne.
  
 **However, something strange happened when, for some reason, the computer got tilted on its side. This was purely by accident, but the end result was interesting: the screen rotated by 90 degrees. The desktop was now vertical, with Ubuntu’s traditional dock now occupying one of the longer sides. **However, something strange happened when, for some reason, the computer got tilted on its side. This was purely by accident, but the end result was interesting: the screen rotated by 90 degrees. The desktop was now vertical, with Ubuntu’s traditional dock now occupying one of the longer sides.
  
 Further examination showed that the screen did, indeed, respond to changes in the physical orientation of the computer, rotating to one side, to the other, or even going completely upside-down if the laptop screen was folded in “tent mode”. Furthermore, once the screen had been folded back, the laptop’s physical keyboard and track-pad were automatically deactivated. Now, some readers may be tempted to laugh at their screens, since this is well-known behavior for such convertible laptops. However, it should be stressed that this particular machine has never suffered the indignity of running Windows, and that previous versions of Ubuntu do not seem to have offered easy out-of-the-box handling of tablet mode screen orientation.** Further examination showed that the screen did, indeed, respond to changes in the physical orientation of the computer, rotating to one side, to the other, or even going completely upside-down if the laptop screen was folded in “tent mode”. Furthermore, once the screen had been folded back, the laptop’s physical keyboard and track-pad were automatically deactivated. Now, some readers may be tempted to laugh at their screens, since this is well-known behavior for such convertible laptops. However, it should be stressed that this particular machine has never suffered the indignity of running Windows, and that previous versions of Ubuntu do not seem to have offered easy out-of-the-box handling of tablet mode screen orientation.**
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 +Cependant, quelque chose d'étrange est arrivé quand, pour une raison quelconque, l'ordinateur a été bousculé sur le côté. C'était purement par accident, mais le résultat final était intéressant : l'écran avait tourné de 90 degrés. Le bureau était maintenant vertical, avec le dock traditionnel d'Ubuntu qui occupait un des côtés les plus longs.
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 +Un examen plus approfondi montra que l'écran répondait bel et bien aux modifications d'orientation physique de l'ordinateur, tournant dans un sens, dans l'autre, ou même se renversait complètement sens dessus-dessous si le portable était plié comme une tente. De plus, une fois que l'écran avait été retourné, le clavier physique et le pavé tactile étaient automatiquement désactivés. Ici, certains lecteurs pourraient être tentés de rire devant leurs écrans, car c'est le comportement bien connu de tels portables convertibles. Cependant, il est important d'insister que cette machine n'a jamais subi l'indignité de faire tourner Windows et que les précédentes versions d'Ubuntu ne semblaient pas offrir une gestion aisée et prête-à-l'emploi de l'orientation de l'écran en mode tablette.
  
 **So there I was, faced with a quandary. Kubuntu had been really good to me, but could not handle the tablet mode I really wanted to try out more completely. Ubuntu, on the other hand, was dog-slow, and did not suit my appreciation of things working well, fast and efficiently. It was then that a chance comment by our esteemed editor Ronnie came to mind: Ubuntu Budgie might be worth a try. The desktop environment in this distribution is known to be more responsive than Gnome, though using the very same GTK libraries. Perhaps – just perhaps – could tablet mode be made to work in Budgie? **So there I was, faced with a quandary. Kubuntu had been really good to me, but could not handle the tablet mode I really wanted to try out more completely. Ubuntu, on the other hand, was dog-slow, and did not suit my appreciation of things working well, fast and efficiently. It was then that a chance comment by our esteemed editor Ronnie came to mind: Ubuntu Budgie might be worth a try. The desktop environment in this distribution is known to be more responsive than Gnome, though using the very same GTK libraries. Perhaps – just perhaps – could tablet mode be made to work in Budgie?
  
 And indeed it could. Exactly as with Ubuntu, the Budgie desktop manager responded instantly to rotation, and the keyboard and trackpad were deactivated when the screen was flipped over backwards. Tada! Now, I had a very nice 13-inch tablet, with a decent processor, memory and storage space – but which I could, at will, flip back into a normal laptop mode and resume a more productive workflow with the standard keyboard.** And indeed it could. Exactly as with Ubuntu, the Budgie desktop manager responded instantly to rotation, and the keyboard and trackpad were deactivated when the screen was flipped over backwards. Tada! Now, I had a very nice 13-inch tablet, with a decent processor, memory and storage space – but which I could, at will, flip back into a normal laptop mode and resume a more productive workflow with the standard keyboard.**
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 +Me voilà face à un dilemme. Kubuntu a vraiment bien marché pour moi, mais il ne pouvait pas gérer le mode tablette que je voulais vraiment essayer plus complètement. Ubuntu, en revanche, était mou et ne convenait pas à mon appréciation d'une chose qui marchait bien, vite et efficacement. C'est alors que par chance, un commentaire de notre éditeur estimé Ronnie m'est revenu à l'esprit : Ubuntu Budgie mérite sans doute un essai. L'environnement de bureau de cette distribution est connu pour avoir plus de répondant que Gnome, bien qu'ils utilisent les mêmes bibliothèques GTK. Peut-être - seulement peut-être - que le mode tablette fonctionnerait mieux dans Budgie ?
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 +Et, bien sûr, c'était le cas. Exactement comme avec Ubuntu, le gestionnaire de bureau Budgie répond instantanément à la rotation, et le clavier et le pavé tactile sont désactivés quand l'écran est retourné contre le fond. Tada ! À ce moment-là, j'avais une bien jolie tablette de 13 pouces, avec un processeur décent, de la place en mémoire et de la capacité de stockage, mais je pouvais, quand je le voulais, revenir au mode du portable normal et retrouver une activité plus productive avec un clavier standard.
  
 **There are some advantages to the vertical screen. A complete A4 page may be viewed with some comfort, for example, when reading a PDF file. The vertical screen can also be of use when doing text editing: in this case, too, being able to see the complete page does come in handy. However, an external USB keyboard would be needed, since the laptop’s own set is tilted up by 90 degrees. **There are some advantages to the vertical screen. A complete A4 page may be viewed with some comfort, for example, when reading a PDF file. The vertical screen can also be of use when doing text editing: in this case, too, being able to see the complete page does come in handy. However, an external USB keyboard would be needed, since the laptop’s own set is tilted up by 90 degrees.
  
 Finally, there is naturally the option of using Budgie’s (and Gnome’s) virtual keyboard application, called onboard. This can be configured to take up a strip at the bottom of our now rather narrow screen, which is advantageous since it leaves quite a large space available for our main applications – unlike most tablets. However, responses are not quite as sharp as with a physical keyboard, so my impression is that most users would actually prefer flipping the screen back to laptop mode and using the unit’s physical keyboard when needed. That being said, onboard does have a very nice theme that mimics the appearance of IBM’s Model M mechanical keyboard.** Finally, there is naturally the option of using Budgie’s (and Gnome’s) virtual keyboard application, called onboard. This can be configured to take up a strip at the bottom of our now rather narrow screen, which is advantageous since it leaves quite a large space available for our main applications – unlike most tablets. However, responses are not quite as sharp as with a physical keyboard, so my impression is that most users would actually prefer flipping the screen back to laptop mode and using the unit’s physical keyboard when needed. That being said, onboard does have a very nice theme that mimics the appearance of IBM’s Model M mechanical keyboard.**
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 +Il y a quelques avantages pour l'écran vertical. Une page A4 complète peut être vue avec un certain confort, comme, par exemple, pour la lecture d'un fichier PDF. L'écran vertical peut aussi être utilisé lors de la modification d'un texte : dans ce cas, aussi, il est pratique de pouvoir visualiser toute la page. Cependant, un clavier externe USB serait nécessaire, car celui intégré dans le portable est tourné de 90 degrés.
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 +Enfin, il y a naturellement l'option d'utiliser l'application de clavier virtuel de Budgie (ou de Gnome), appelée onboard. Elle peut être configurée pour occuper une bande en bas de notre écran plutôt étroit, ce qui est avantageux car cela laisse un espace assez grand disponible pour nos principales applications, contrairement à la plupart des tablettes. Cependant, il ne répond pas aussi vite qu'un clavier physique, ce qui me donne l'impression que la plupart des utilisateurs préféreront, en fait, revenir au mode portable et utiliser le clavier physique de l'appareil, quand nécessaire. Cela dit, onboard a un très joli thème qui imite l'apparence du clavier mécanique du Model M d'IBM.
  
 **All in all, I am very happy with progress achieved in the 20.04 crop of Ubuntu and sister distributions. Using a laptop in tablet mode and various other small tweaks may seem rather unimportant in the grand scheme of things. However, they do unlock features already present in the hardware, thus that I have paid for. So this is definitely a step or two in the good direction for GNU/Linux as a desktop operating system.** **All in all, I am very happy with progress achieved in the 20.04 crop of Ubuntu and sister distributions. Using a laptop in tablet mode and various other small tweaks may seem rather unimportant in the grand scheme of things. However, they do unlock features already present in the hardware, thus that I have paid for. So this is definitely a step or two in the good direction for GNU/Linux as a desktop operating system.**
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 +En définitive, je suis très content des progrès réalisés dans la moisson 20.04 d'Ubuntu et ses distributions sœurs. Tout compte fait, l'utilisation du portable en mode tablette et les autres petits ajustements divers semblent de peu d'importance. Cependant, ils déverrouillent des fonctionnalités déjà présentes dans le matériel et pour lesquelles j'ai payé. Tout ceci est au final un ou deux pas dans la bonne direction pour GNU/Linux comme système d'exploitation pour portable.
  
issue158/tutoriel1.txt · Dernière modification : 2020/07/08 14:58 de andre_domenech