Ubuntu 11.10 ('Oneiric Ocelot') Released 455
Cue the Ubuntu release parties — Ubuntu 11.10 has arrived. Ars Technica has a very positive summary of the changes in 11.10; Joe Brockmeier's piece of a few weeks back explains the return to Xen to Ubuntu and the introduction of Juju (formerly Ensemble). Asks an anonymous reader: "Any outstanding reasons why I shouldn't upgrade?" YMMV, but as a long-time Ubuntu user, and like many other users, I have mixed feelings about the concerted (and now complete) move away from a conventional WIMP interface to the new Unity. With previous versions, it was possible to choose a "classic" look rather than the default of Unity; now, for good or ill, the left-hand vertical menu is a permanent desktop element. It looks great to me, in the way the Canonical developers intend: as a consistent, replicable, supportable interface to recommend to (for instance) my parents — but I'm used to (and prefer!) more traditional WIMP environments, so at least for now have switched to Linux Mint's Debian Edition.
I moved to kubuntu (Score:4, Insightful)
about 3 releases ago, and I've never looked back.
Best feature (Score:2)
g++ 4.5
C++0x is getting there slowly.
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GCC 4.5 (and even 4.6 with a special repo) has been there since 10.10...
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Ubuntu 11.10: GCC 4.6.1
Ubuntu 11.04: GCC 4.5.2
Ubuntu 10.10: GCC 4.4.4
Ubuntu 10.04: GCC 4.4.3
Ubuntu 9.10: GCC 4.4.1
Ubuntu 9.04: GCC 4.3.3
Ubuntu 8.10: GCC 4.3.1
Ubuntu 8.04: GCC 4.2.3
Ubuntu 7.10: GCC 4.1.2
Ubuntu 7.04: GCC4.1.2
Ubuntu 6.10: GCC 4.1.1
Ubuntu 6.06: GCC 4.0.3
Ubuntu 5.10: GCC 4.0.1
Ubuntu 5.04: GCC 3.3.5
Ubuntu 4.10: GCC 3.3.4
http://distrowatch.com/table.php?distribution=ubuntu [distrowatch.com]
I should probably upgrade my netbook (Score:2)
been running the 10.x version on my netbook but I'm kinda used to that left handed vertical menu by now :D
I will update this thread if I have any gotchas
RB
Re:I should probably upgrade my netbook (Score:5, Interesting)
I have a dual-screen setup with my main monitor on the right, so the left-handed, fixed menu really is a pain: either I make it collapse, and then have to target a very slim pixel-wide bar to un-collapse it, or I have to leave it there and waste screen space. They could at least allow us to switch left and right, and if make it as flexible as (gasp !) Windows, that lets us put the start bar on any border.
Also, grub2 has issues: couldn't handle handle a... blank HD for whole-disk installation ? I got a blinking cursor and hard reset on that one. And on my netbook, grub2 listed more than 1 entry per partition (!?), many of which non-bootable or system restore, with no way to clean, re-order... that monstrosity.
And finally, the way that start works is a pain, especially trying to put several folders on there.
To me, this sounds that developer arrogance: unfriendly stuff nobody wants (except the devs for bragging rights), that doesn't even work right. Ar users consulted at all, or is the Ubuntu dev process a giant nerd wank-fest ? In the end, this is making me lose confidence in Ubuntu in the long term. Long-term being, to them, 3yrs (LTS desktop), which also worries me.
What distribution left for developers? (Score:4, Insightful)
What distribution are we supposed to use now?
Ubuntu has given up on its users, and is turning into an interface for the elderly, the disabled and netbook people.
I'd rather have my advanced UI that lets me do whatever I want with my workstation, thank you very much.
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I think Mint is going to change to Gnome 3. Not Unity, but not much better.
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I've been considering a move to the Linux Mint Debian Edition, which should circumvent all that amazingly stupid work that Canonical is doing with Ubuntu.
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Been using LMDE for quite a while now and Mint for about 4 years. These days I can't be bothered to figure out how things work and spend hours tracking down possible solutions on forums/groups BUT LMDE has worked qutie well for me as an average user these days. There were a few issues with AWN icons after upgrading but nothing spectacular that wasn't fixed by getting rid of it :)
Every computer in my house has some kind of Mint flavour installed the only thing the kids complained about was missing Windows on
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Mod parent up, and as for games on a Mint computer:
Dolphin Emulator
Urban Terror
Wine
With those 3, you can have TONS of the very best games. And at more stable framerates than Windows generally.
Mint is the future. Ubuntu is the past. Come join us. The water's fine!!
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Debian, Slackware, Fedora, Suse, Crunchbang, any of a dozen others?
Fedora swtiched to Gnome 3, didn't it?
Re:What distribution left for developers? (Score:5, Informative)
I'd rather have my advanced UI
# apt-get install kubuntu-desktop
-alternatively-
# apt-get install openbox fbpanel
I'm sure there are others that can chime in with many more suggestions.
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They're on a Ubuntu system, so don't they normally see a $ instead of a #, and have to sudo everywhere?
Kubuntu is moving ahead of its big brother in therms of users having control over both function and customization. Unless someone is so attached to the ability to set a wallpaper like image behind the panes in Nautilus and that's a deal-breaker until Dolphin implements it, I don't see why anyone dissatisfied with either the Unity interface or the current direction of Gnome woul
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$ sudo su
If you're going to su, you might as well
sudo su -
The extra dash makes all the difference:
Example 1: Becoming User bin While Retaining Your Previously
Exported Environment
To become user bin while retaining your previously exported
environment, execute:
example% su bin
Example 2: Becoming User bin and Changing to bin's Login
Environment
To become user bin but change the environment to what would
be expected if bin had originally logged in, execute:
example% su - bin
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What distribution are we supposed to use now? Ubuntu has given up on its users, and is turning into an interface for the elderly, the disabled and netbook people.
I'd rather have my advanced UI that lets me do whatever I want with my workstation, thank you very much.
Arch [archlinux.org]
Xubuntu? Lubuntu? (Score:2)
I've been trying Lubuntu out recently, and it's very nice. Simple and light, with a desktop interface by default and a netbook interface if you want it (I think it's the same one used in the original eee, actually). Xubuntu also works well, though it's not as light.
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Lubuntu.net is dead... slashdotted???
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Refugees from KDE -> LXDE
Refugess from Gnome -> XFCE
Just so long as I still have a rival to unreasonably hate. Cool.
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Or, you know, since you are a developer and therefore technically savvy and willing, you could simply install the UI of your choice from the repositories. It's not like it's that hard to do.
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*shrug*
Dunno about "faff around". Installing a new WM takes roughly 30 minutes, and you do it once. Then the "faffing" ends and the developer in question can get down to working.
Or are you telling me that you never alter any of the UI defaults when you set up a new PC or load up a new Distro?
If it's a big enough issue to whine about on /., it's a big enough issue to take a very small amount of time to make it the way you want.
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Actually, I need to correct myself. Installing Gnome takes about 30 SECONDS not 30 minutes.
http://www.liberiangeek.net/2011/08/return-to-ubuntu-classic-desktop-in-ubuntu-11-10/ [liberiangeek.net]
From a post further down. It's stupidly simple to get GNOME back in 11.10.
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It's one fucking command and takes as much time as downloading and installing the packages. Compare that to "faffing about" with downloading a new distro, burning it to CD or a USB stick, then installing it and configuring it.
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As a power user and a developer, I switched from Ubuntu to Fedora after I discovered how awful Unity was in 11.04. I'm very happy with it. YMMV (I'm a Gnome 3 fan -- but if you don't like it, there's XFCE, LXDE, xmonad, etc etc).
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What distribution are we supposed to use now?
Ubuntu has given up on its users, and is turning into an interface for the elderly, the disabled and netbook people.
I'd rather have my advanced UI that lets me do whatever I want with my workstation, thank you very much.
One could always install XFCE, KDE, LXDE, Enlightenment, Openbox, Fluxbox etc., etc.
While I was not/am not a big Unity fan, I do notice that a lot of things are being developed around the Unity interface (and to a lesser extent gnome-shell). Seems like the target audience isn't the elderly, disabled or netbook people, but the group that just wants to get things done. Besides, Unity and gnome-shell are about how to access programs. It's in the launched programs that the real work occurs, whether on linux, wi
Re:What distribution left for developers? (Score:5, Interesting)
The way Unity auto-hides the top menu (File, Edit, etc) really interferes how I interact with my programs. Instead of looking at the menu target (say Tools), then moving the mouse pointer there, I have to move my pointer to the top, then find my menu target, then move my mouse again to get to Tools. On my 24" monitor, I have many windows open, and having to move all the way to the top just to *see* where my Tools menu just drives me nuts. No thank you.
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Arch Linux [archlinux.org]. Great support, ease of maintenance and gets updates as soon as a package releases a new version.
I'm a long time Gentoo user and i'm considering migrating my workstation to Arch.
When was Ubuntu for developers? (Score:3)
I'd rather have my advanced UI that lets me do whatever I want with my workstation, thank you very much.
Ubuntu never had an advanced UI. Ubuntu have always been easy and simple to use, without too many settings... When was Ubuntu geared towards developers?
Ubuntu have always been aiming broad, if super easy doesn't suit you (perhaps you wan't super efficient) then there's probably an Ubuntu derivative for you...
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Bullshit. Gnome2 was a very advanced UI, comprehensively customizable with many settings. As long as Ubuntu used Gnome2 it was eminently suitable for development. I preferred Fedora, but I would have been perfectly happy with Ubuntu. Now both these distros have been fucked up literally beyond recognition.
Re:What distribution left for developers? (Score:4, Insightful)
"What distribution are we supposed to use now?"
DEBIAN.
Don't forget that Debian-based distros are merely lesser versions of their parent which trade quality for convenience.
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Ubuntu has given up on its users, and is turning into an interface for the elderly, the disabled and netbook people.
In plain English:
The default Ubuntu install targets the user and not the developer.
Linux needs users:
Linux, on the desktop, has all but flatlined.
Windows 7 overtakes XP - finally [theregister.co.uk]
While Linux in mobile is being defined by Google.
Whatever Android and Chrome may become, they are not going to look like a traditional community-oriented Linux distribution.
When it is the Linux developer casually disparages "the elderly, the disabled and netbook people," it becomes pretty clear how we got into this fix.
Contempt for the user runs far deeper, I think, th
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I always get rid of it by installing the Google SSL search add-on [mozilla.org], and then I use that as my default search engine in Firefox.
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But... but.. .it's different!!
Fantastic name (Score:2, Funny)
I think Onanistic Orangutan better captures the spirit of the naming process.
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I was going to offer Onanistic Oroborous.
apt-get install gnome? (Score:5, Insightful)
Re:apt-get install gnome? (Score:4, Insightful)
can't you just remove the unity package
Of course you can but see the only problem with intellectual honesty is it leaves a whole lot less for people to whine about.
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If I had mod points, I'd mod you up to a 5.
Re:apt-get install gnome? (Score:5, Interesting)
You can, but it's symptomatic of the way that Ubuntu is being run. I remember awhile back upgrading to the next release, only to find that they had decided to include Unity. At that point, unity was at best a polished turd, it didn't behave consistantly, sometimes the menu would stay open and other times it would close. They insisted upon it being put on the left side, which meant that those using it in a VM had to have a monitor edge there, otherwise it was really annoying.
I'm curious what you're planning to do when Wayland is prematurely included, by the time you remove that an install something else, you might as well install a sane distro.
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But why? Why not just get Debian and install whatever you want?
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the same guys that left Debian because
Wait a minute. Who are you to say why anybody (especially the users) left Debian? Most people using Ubuntu didn't leave any other distro at all as Ubuntu is how they got started on Linux. I started on Ubuntu because unlike Debian, it actually supported my hardware out of the box. On Feisty Fawn, wi-fi worked and that was enough for me at the time. Some people like Firefox being in their repos and not Iceweasel (I know they are the same but people are people). Also, there was actual thought put into Un
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The word "ubuntu" is found is several African dialects, its litteral translation is "person who can't install Debian or Slackware".
Re:apt-get install gnome? (Score:5, Informative)
Debian's strict philosophy is offputting to many people, who don't quite understand how they benefit from getting "Iceweasel" instead of Firefox
There's nothing guided by philosophy here, but by trademark laws. That rename was IMPOSED by the Mozilla foundation, imposed thanks to their registered trademark they old for both the Firefox logo and the browser name. Because they didn't like Debian to back-port bugs in stable releases of Debian, and thus running a different code than Mozilla is producing. The source-code being free (libre) and without trademark, Debian has still the rights to ship Firefox if it's avoiding the trademarked logo and name. This renaming isn't something that Debian wants, it's a pain to maintain and an annoyance for the users. So why are you giving this as an example of Debian's miss-behavior, when here the issue is Mozilla refusing to do long-term support, and refusing that we do it under their name as well? Shouldn't you blame Mozilla instead?
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Yes you can, but you can't easily install Gnome 2 and Gnome 3 is "messy" at the moment. While I have hopes for both Unity and Gnome 3 for the future they are not great at the moment if you actually try to work on your computer. My work computer will be running an old Ubuntu for some time, and on my netbook I'm using Ubuntu 11.10 and Xfce. I think they will sort out the problems of both Unity and Gnome 3, they are kind of cool interfaces but at the moment it's not for me. I mostly need a browser and a bunch
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I guess it depends on how long habits from other operating systems were ingrained before you switched. There are a lot of people who accept whatever defaults they're given, and who also do a clean install for every upgrade. For them, it's just as easy to clean install a new distro.
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Unless the old version you are sticking with is a LTS release (10.04 in my case). Of course, when that is no longer supported I'll switch back to Debian on my desktops (never left it on my servers).
WTF is up with these Ubuntu code names? (Score:4, Funny)
Why can't they go back to normal, respectable names, like Hairy Hardon or whatever?
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Yeasty Beaver?
12.04 LTS (Score:5, Informative)
The release after this is going to be called Precise Pangolin, which is an ant eater thing:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pangolin [wikipedia.org]
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I thought they'd call it Pregnant Pussy!
Re:12.04 LTS (Score:5, Insightful)
And this really bugs me. They are the only Linux distro that uses animal names for their version names, they get to 'P' and they DON'T USE 'PENGUIN'? WTF???
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Hmmm...
Pensive Penguin
or
Parsimonious Penguin
I can't quite choose.
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I was about to say that, as Ubuntu is (or at least used to be) very African-themed, they'd only name their versions after African animals. And that obviously doesn't include penguins, right?
But then I checked and found: yes, there are penguins in Africa. [wikipedia.org]
The end of Ubuntu for me? (Score:4, Interesting)
Wow.... its been a good run but, Unity just doesn't cut it for me.
I like where they are going with it, its cool, It was a fun toy, but, it was also klunky for me. Now, I know I am going to get roasted, but, sorry I used Unity for all of 3 days, so my memory may be fuzzy but....
I use multiple firefox profiles...at the same time. Often I have one that is a proxy into an internal net, and another that is public. Often i am doing things on the public one that I wouldn't want going over the private net. Think of this scenario... I have to proxy into work at night to fix a server, but, just before I was paged I was browsing porn. I don't want to be browsing porn through the proxy, and setting up foxy proxy with rules is just asking for an embarassing mistake. Actually, this is a rare scenario, but theres multiple networks I need to work in, and several of them I wouldn't want associated with my blog postings or slashdot rants.
Unity just failed to manage this at all. Part of this is, indeed, that firefox profile handling is brain damaged (if I specify a profile on the command line, why do I need "-no-remote"? shouldn't it be able to tell that the open window is a different profile and no I don't want to just connect to that?) but it would totally ignore the second profile. No way to get a second firefox dock icon, no way to deal with this, now rogue, application.
That was the real nail in the coffin for Unity, but beyond that....
I am an advanced user. I have things setup in GNOME the way _I_ want. Sure, I can rip out the unity stuff, it wouldn't be the first time that I went to down on an X Session config...but I chose ubuntu because it allowed me to minimize that shit. I like the defaults and found them easy to customize to be what I wanted. I like my setup and that Ubuntu has been fairly good about not stomping on my setup since I started using it around 6 or 7.
I will likely choose a new distribution if there isn't an easy way to not use unity.
Re:The end of Ubuntu for me? (Score:5, Informative)
Ok... whew I did a quick search because.... I couldn't believe there was really no way to easily abandon Unity.... took me about 3 seconds of web searching:
http://www.liberiangeek.net/2011/08/return-to-ubuntu-classic-desktop-in-ubuntu-11-10/ [liberiangeek.net]
I get to keep it a little while longer!
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Right now you still have that option, but I don't understand why you would want to wait until the last release to switch. I haven't seen anything that suggests that they're going to back down on it or that it's going to suck any less on large screens than it does now. With the possible exception of bug fixes, what they have now is likely to be there until they realize how stupid it is and back down.
Has anyone tried Eclipse? (Score:2)
I actually kindof like Unity, but had to turn it off at work because it somehow causes Eclipse (Zend Studio) to become slow as molasses when editing files. (I ... e n t e r ... c h a r a c t e r s .... a n d ... t h e y ... t a k e ... s e c o n d s ... t o ... a p p e a r.) Don't know if the nvidia proprietary driver has something to do with it.
So, prey tell, if you've ran into the same problem, is it fixed?
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This is still WIMP (Score:3)
In the last decade, I felt like Open Source was constantly copying Windows 95 UI. Now it looks like they are copying NeXT UI. Which is an improvement, but can we please figure out something that works, and from there only add improvements to appearance (or new features)? Each Ubuntu release is like I have a completely new OS (until I open the command line and my life gets happier, but I pity people who can't do that).
Re:This is still WIMP (Score:5, Interesting)
until I open the command line and my life gets happier
Of course, this is the case for every GUI, excepting platforms that don't come with a decent CLI (windows). You're never going to find a GUI that makes your life happier than the CLI because CLIs are fundamentally superior.
So my advice is to give up. Embrace the CLI for everything, and use the absolute minimum GUI you need. There's a shit ton of tiling window managers out there for people who know what they want from a UI.
Satisfied with this release (Score:4, Informative)
I installed it a week ago while still in beta, and for the first time I didn't have to solve any unexpected situation, it was smooth. I actually rushed just to get an updated GIMP version (ppa never updated that version for 11.04, and the update fixes ORA support and single-window mode) , but didn't regret it.
Also, am I the only one that doesn't hate Unity? I don't use it, but I like what I see. I even adapted my KDE desktop to be kind of compliant (except for the shared menubar, I use panoramic and I have a setup of 1 big window and 3 side windows, and it's a mess to use a fixed menubar for all).
I jokingly name it Kunity: http://i.imgur.com/WvwDn.png [imgur.com]
(The taskbar is Icon Tasks, a plasmoid that implements the Unity API. For launching I don't need dash, I use Kupfer. That that thing at the corner is a Conway's life plasmoid, I am addicted to that thing).
I see myself eventually using Unity2D if I ever dump KDE (2D to avoid lag when developing GL games. Some effects are hard to see with compositing enabled, I keep it disabled in KDE). And the Unity Launcher API is very fun to play with. Made myself a nice launcher for Zim and a way to switch firefox profiles very quickly in just 5 seconds (not literally, but less than 30 min. including checking the specs and examples).
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"[I don't] hate Unity...I don't use it"
'nuff said
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I don't hate it either. In fact, the only thing that I don't like about it is the application launcher but it's performance has improved a lot from where it was in 11.04. I really do hope that all the people complaining about Unity have tried the version that got released today and are not just basing their opinion on an old version.
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I really do hope that all the people complaining about Unity have tried the version that got released today and are not just basing their opinion on an old version.
Unity's not so bad on my netbook where I mostly just run Firefox on a tiny screen, but on my 11.04 laptop the app-launcher sucks, the 'global menu' sucks and the stupid scrollbars suck.
Did they fix any of those in 11.10? Oh, they can't, because they're broken by design.
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Unity's not so bad on my netbook where I mostly just run Firefox on a tiny screen, but on my 11.04 laptop the app-launcher sucks, the 'global menu' sucks and the stupid scrollbars suck.
Did they fix any of those in 11.10? Oh, they can't, because they're broken by design.
The overlay scrollbars have seen improvements in the last release. They don't bother me but I really never touch them anyway since I just scroll with my mouse. To remove them, copy and paste this into your terminal: sudo apt-get remove overlay-scrollbar liboverlay-scrollbar3-0.2-0 liboverlay-scrollbar-0.2-0
I can understand why you would dislike the global menu on a desktop. To remove them, copy this into your terminal: sudo apt-get remove appmenu-gtk3 appmenu-gtk appmenu-qt
There have been some very nice cha
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Passive Aggressive announcement (Score:3, Insightful)
Thanks for posting about the release of the new Ubuntu version.
Too bad you chose to hijack the announcement to use it as a soapbox for stating your preference of Debian.
Essentially this is just your spam.
Come on mods, lets get this rubbish off the page!
Longstanding multiple monitor issues not fixed (Score:4, Interesting)
They still haven't made any progress on the issue with multiple monitors whereby the left panel goes in a shitty place depending upon which screen is your main monitor. Mark Shuttleworth weighed in and basically said fuck you we're not fixing it. Even though ~50% of multiple monitor configurations are affected by this.
https://bugs.launchpad.net/unity/+bug/668415 [launchpad.net]
https://bugs.launchpad.net/ayatana-design/+bug/742544 [launchpad.net]
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You know, I'm fairly sure thats not what those bugs say.
Mark says they won't fix the issue that you can't move the panel to the other side or bottom of the screen. Honestly it's down to you whether you feel this is a good or a bad thing.
The multiple monitor bug is something entirely different whereby X is putting the panel on a specific (possibly wrong) monitor due to underlying code issues. Mark has NOT said they won't fix this, in fact he's not weighed in on it. Again, YMMV on whether you believe they're
1991 called ... (Score:3)
wow ... won't fix. portrait mode is getting harder and harder to use. between 16:9 aspect ratios (1080 wide) and this "design decision" to *fix* the panel to the left side, you've probably only got 1024 useable pixels - cutting edge when XGA came out back in 1991
guess i'll try it on my laptop and see what i think. but on the desktop, it sounds brutal for anyone that prefers portrait mode - you get almost twice as many lines of code on the screen in portrait as you do in landscape, but those horizontal pixel
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The one he's weighed in on is that the position will not be configurable, it'll be on your left and you'll like it. The only possible exception are RTL countries, but there everything will switch from left to right. What I don't like is the clear WONTFIX and the reasoning:
A willingness to limit the set of supported options is a large part of the quality of the out-of-box desktop experience. For example, the old Gnome Panel was designed with the goal of making many, many things possible. you could put them on any edge of the screen, you could write any sort of app, that supported any sort of interface pattern. And the result was very, very hard to use well. All of that customization made it impossible to provide an "overall feeling" to the old Gnome Panel.
Out of the box means out of the box. If you start making all sorts of changes, that's no longer the out of the box experience but the customized experience. That you take away configurability and customization options doesn't mean the out
Forced into compiz? no thanks (Score:2)
now, for good or ill, the left-hand vertical menu is a permanent desktop element. It looks great to me
Dealbreaker. The left-hand menu is not the only problem with Unity. Its dependence on the sluggish compiz wm is another.
Real Time? (Score:2)
- I haven't tried Unity, but from what I've seen of it, there seems to be a lack of options in customizing the desktop, and my desktop is currently customized to be exactly the way I want it to be. I realize I can spend time removing the things I don't want and then installing the things I do want, and then customizing all that stuff, but really I'm disinclined to expend a lot of effort
wrong understanding of "WIMP interface" (Score:5, Informative)
ARM support (Score:3)
Sound seems to be headphones-only but that's still an improvement over requiring an external dongle for any sound at all.
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Just go with Gnome 3 and shell and forget about Unity.
Except Gnome 3 sucks at least as bad as Unity because they're fundamentally both crappy touchscreen interfaces pushed onto desktop users.
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Just go with Gnome 3 and shell and forget about Unity.
Except Gnome 3 sucks at least as bad as Unity because they're fundamentally both crappy touchscreen interfaces pushed onto desktop users.
I'm really sorry for enjoying the GNOME 3 interface, then. That's a very insightful and logical argument you have there...
How something like that could be modded up is beyond my understanding. It gives no logical reason why it's bad and apparently its been said enough by people who are resistant to change that it's considered an infallible truth. Simply because it has some similarities to touchscreen interfaces and is influenced by them it doesn't mean that it's inherently harder to use. I happen to enjoy
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install gnome-shell
There are a few things to like about Unity actually. I've been wanting to get around to writing a few custom tray apps for a while and just never got around to it but with Unity, writing indicator apps that sit in the "tray" is an absolute cinch. I also appreciate the consistency of the tray and the way you can just click on one and "scrub" the rest without having to click again. Linux has been needing this for a while as the Gnome notification area has been a mess.
Also, while I'm not completely thrilled
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Yes, it's mostly still WIMP, but just different enough to be annoying, and for no apparent reason. Which is why so many people have been switching to Xubuntu lately (myself included). I see no reason to switch back to Ubuntu, unless someone can explain to me why this new Unity really IS easier to use than the standard WIMP interface.
If it ain't broke, don't fix it.
The standard WIMP has been around, mostly unchanged, for decades. Why change it?
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Or away from Ubuntu completely as this isn't going to be the last thing they plunk into the distro prematurely. I'm just waiting to find out how they ruin KUbuntu and XUbuntu, because they don't seem to be trying as hard to run those versions into the ground.
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If it ain't broke, don't fix it.
I have to disagree with this one. My motto is, "if it ain't broke, fix it until it breaks." I think the Ubuntu devs and the GNOME devs have taken my motto to heart. Unfortunately, I don't like their alternatives. No big deal, there are plenty of other options, both within the -buntu family and without..
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Yes, it's mostly still WIMP, but just different enough to be annoying, and for no apparent reason.
Reasons:
1. GNOME devs already wish they worked for Apple, and it shows.
2. Ubuntu/Unity devs wish they were Apple.
3. Shuttleworth got an iPad.
4. Shuttleworth apparently not only had his mouse and keyboard stolen, he also had his arms cut off and can now only operate computers with his nose. He thus expects every computer he uses to be an iPad.
5. Combine the above four points and Ubuntu becomes an iPad, whether you ungrateful bastards with ARMS on your torsos like it or not.
6. Stupid people with arms. All a bunch of uncaring assholes. Every one of you.
Re: (Score:3, Insightful)
Personally, I don't care if they're on the top or the bottom, as long as I can launch programs and manipulate windows without having to work too hard.
I think UI designers get a bit of tunnel vision, and try to "over-design" their features to make things easier... which actually makes them harder. Frankly, I don't spend a lot of time launching applications, but I use them for hours (or days) at a time. So if Unity can save me a click or two on launch, it's an insignificant savings compared to the hours I'll
Re: (Score:3)
I completely disagree. It's great as it means I never have to take my hands off the keyboard.
Win key -> type firef -> hit enter - boom firefox opens
Alt Key -> press one of the numbers for a docked program like the terminal -> boom opens
Alt Key -> hold shift and one of the numbers -> opened a new terminal
All without slowing me down with a mouse.
It's is much more usable. It's just not accessible which is what you're complaining about, but it's to be expected to have a learning curve with any
Re: (Score:3)
Its such an easy-to-adapt to difference from earlier WIMP-style interfaces that I can't understand why so many people on Slashdot are enraged by it. Every non-technical user I've found who has used a similar interface (either the actual Ubuntu one or the Win7 one looks and behaves similarly) prefers it to its predecessors.
I sure hope that experience carries over to me and my non-technical friend.
I personally was able to "adapt" to Unity quite quickly, but after giving it two months of daily use to really give it a chance, I decided I just didn't like it. There are unnecessary steps between me and launching an application that isn't one of my most-frequently used, launcher buttons don't work how I want, and the menu placement is a disaster when used with mouse focus (which is essential to the way I use multiple windows). Bac
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I was wondering what that meant too. I figured it was a specific desktop environment (I was wrong.)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/WIMP_(computing) [wikipedia.org]
I don't know why they didn't just say "move away from a conventional desktop interface."
Re: (Score:2)
HTH: http://www.bing.com/search?q=google+linux+juju&go=&qs=n&sk=&form=QBLH&filt=all [bing.com]
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can you get gnome2 on oneiric?
Re: (Score:3)
OK. I will begin bitching. I have been burned so many times by non-LTS (non long term support) Ubuntu releases that I am not even willing to consider installing them any more. Random regressions that you discover one week into your install that cost you time and that will be fixed "in the next release." I don't care if Ocelot is perfect for you and your uncle and your third cousin; chances are, when I install it, something relevant to me will have been broken and bug reports will be marked WON'T FIX because
Re:Here we go... (Score:4, Interesting)
The problem is that you can go too stable.
PPAs are your friend. After trying 11.04 Natty and discovering that after 6 months Canonical still hasn't solved a jerky window problem between Compiz and the nvidia driver, I "upgraded" to 10.10 Maverick.
Add in a bunch of PPAs and I've got up-to-date versions of all the software that I really care about,