Ultamatix, the new Automatix
Automatix was one of the tools that made our life easier during the first Ubuntu versions (more or less until the Feisty release). But each new Ubuntu release, all those tasks that Automatix did, were completed by default. So Automatix became useless.
Later, Automatix team wanted Canonical to include it inside Ubuntu. That should have been the solution for all… but Canonical said no to Automatix explaining that Automatix is, in itself, a poor quality package which fails to conform to Debian or Ubuntu policy.
But it seems that the Automatix team went on developing tools and some days ago the released a new tool, similar to Automatix, but its name is Ultamatix. Ultamatix can be installed on Ubuntu Ultimate Edition, Ubuntu Hardy and Debian systems (including unstable branch). This is the software list that Automatix can install:
| Ripping | Chat clients | EyeCandy | Tools | Audio/Video | Programming | Games | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| DVD Ripper (DVD ripper tool) | Pidgin + All its plugins | Checkgmail (system tray GMail checker) | Avant Window Navigator (Mac OS X dock-like) | Acrobat Reader (PDF viewer) | Amarok 2 (versatile audio player) | Glade 3 | Enemy Territory |
| DVD Styler (DVD authoring system)) | AMSN (MSN Messenger client) | Swiftdove (Thunderbird clone) | Gdesklets (desktop widgets) | Gourmet (recipe manager) | Banshee (audio player) | Quanta Plus | The Battle for Wesnoth |
| K9copy (DVD backup software)) | Kvirc (IRC client) | Screenlets (desktop widgets) | Google Earth | Dragon Player (video player) | Screem Editor | Vegastrike | |
| Man DVD (DVD-Video generator)) | Skype (Voice Over IP software) | Ultimate Edition themes | Google Picasa | Totem-Xine | Bluefish Editor | Globulation 2 | |
| xDVDshrink (DVDshrink clone)) | XChat (IRC client) | Microsoft Office OpenXML Translator | Songbird (iTunes like music manager) | Anjuta IDE | Neverball | ||
| OpenOffice Clipart | VLC (video player) | Tremulous | |||||
| Lives (video editor) | iLinux (iLife alternative) | Warzone 2100 |
The only thing that is more or less interesting of Ultamatix are the games that can be installed. Some of them can be installed by Add/Remove, but not others like Vegastrice or Warzone 2100. So in that case Ultamatix is useful. Even though all this, there are no really new things. Actually, the look is not different in comparison with the old Automatix. So you decide.
Just as the interface didn’t change, neither did the code. It’s like they did a search and replace on the name Automatix.
Yes, it is… I feel as they were laughing at me… heheheh