Linux Users to Get Notifications

Ars Technica:

Mark Shuttleworth (Ubuntu guy) says that notifications should be simplified to completely eliminate the need for user interaction. To accommodate that goal, the new notification system will not support response buttons or any other interactive elements. This change is intended to reduce the disruption caused by notifications. He says that applications which require persistent notifications should use panel notification area icons and that conventional popups and other mechanisms can be used for messages that require an interactive response.

Shuttleworth understands the concept of notifications very well. They should be simple, clean, and non-disruptive. Growl on the Mac platform does this well; it’s nice to see Ubuntu users get a similar tool.