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Ubuntu 11.10 ('Oneiric Ocelot') Released
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.
about 3 releases ago, and I've never looked back.
g++ 4.5
C++0x is getting there slowly.
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.
I think Onanistic Orangutan better captures the spirit of the naming process.
I don't understand... can't you just remove the unity package and install KDE or Gnome?
Why can't they go back to normal, respectable names, like Hairy Hardon or whatever?
Information theory is life. The rest is just the KL divergence.
The release after this is going to be called Precise Pangolin, which is an ant eater thing:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pangolin
Summation 2
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.
"I opened my eyes, and everything went dark again"
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.
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?
XML is like violence. If it doesn't solve your problem, you're not using enough of it. --AC
It is still Windows, Icon, Mouse, Pointing device. The primary difference is the buttons are bigger.
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).
"First they came for the slanderers and i said nothing."
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
(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).
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!
Maurice W. Hilarius Voice: (778) 347-9907
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
https://bugs.launchpad.net/ayatana-design/+bug/742544
SURELY NOT!!!!!
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...
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)
I don't know why they didn't just say "move away from a conventional desktop interface."
WIMP = Window Icon Menu Pointer, a type of interface (I read it as "standard recognizable gui"). Juju is some kind of cloud interface, or something like that. The way I read it (somewhere else) is it's Ubuntu's attempt to stay relevant in the ever Cloud-centric world. No idea what this Unity thing is. The Ars Technica review (linked in summary) has photos, and I'd guess it's that left hand bar menu-esque thing.
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 spend actually using that app. I can understand if they want to look ahead to the advent of multi-touch displays on the desktop, but those aren't here yet. In the meantime, Unity is little more than a curiosity, and should NOT be the default interface for a "major" OS.
XML is like violence. If it doesn't solve your problem, you're not using enough of it. --AC
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.
WIMP stands for "window, icon, menu, pointing device", which you have with 11.04 I think what the author is complaining about is that Unity (or Gnome3) are not what I call "windows 95" clones. We have had this disease in computing ever since Windows 95 that every interface has to look like Windows 95. Think about it, Windows 2000, XP, Vista, Windows 7, KDE, Gnome 2.x were ALL essentially copies of the Windows 95 user interface. (Gnome 1.x was more of a CDE clone). All of these had some basic things like start bar and a "desktop" with files and program links. So, instead of using the term WIMP, the author should have used something like "Windows 95 based" user interface. No, I am not particularly fond of Unity, not because its different, in fact a choice between Gnome 2.x or Unity, I would choose Unity. I do however MUCH prefer Gnome 3, its much more polished, consistent, customizable (css/javascript), the workflow is well thought out, and Gnome3 does not use a unified Mac menu thats hacked onto applications that were simply not intended for a unified menu bar. I for one am ecstatic that we are finally moving away from Windows 95 being the gold standard for user interfaces.
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 the devs are already focused on the next release.
Non-LTS releases are alpha software to me, and LTS releases are beta software that turns relatively stable two weeks into the release.
That said, I have never been burned by waiting two weeks for the Ubuntu LTS releases and then installing. That one tends to be a quality product. I'm looking forward to seeing it!
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.
The Cloud - because you don't care if your apps and data are up in the air.
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 GNOME 3 very much and I like a lot of the innovations it has like grouped Alt+Tab window switching, a less cluttered top-bar, much better chat integration, very simple and easy to use search for files and applications (just open the overview and type), etc. It's not a traditional interface and it requires some re-thinking of how you use the desktop, but that doesn't mean it's bad. Just because you don't like it doesn't mean I can't.
Besides, you realize that GNOME 3 is extensible, right? If there's anything you don't like about it, simply make or install an extension that changes it to be how you like. In 3.4 they'll have much better extension support by having one-click web installation of the extensions you want. You should try it when it's released in 2012! :)
"Our country is not nearly so overrun with the bigoted as it is overrun with the broadminded." -Archbishop Fulton Sheen
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). Back to Ubuntu Classic for me. If Unity is my only choice, then fine.
My friend, who lacks the years of experience using various GUIS that I have that lets me adapt to anything easily, I'm worried about. I can already guess a lot of the things that will annoy him. Like the task bar hiding behavior, the way taskbar buttons behave differently the first and second time you push them, the little 'see additional' tab in the applications menu he'll have to hit to see the app he's looking for. Oh and good lord the scroll bars that pop in and out of existence based on your mouse not actually being over where they are supposed to be.
In the end it'll be a good experience for him to have to adapt, but in the short term it'll just be intensely frustrating. And in the long term I'm still not convinced it's the best interface for him (or anyone) to be using.
Maybe I'm wrong and he'll take to it immediately. I really hope so. I still won't like it, and that's not because I'm against change.
The enemies of Democracy are
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,
"I don't know, therefore Aliens" Wafflebox1
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 pixels become precious. i splurged and went 1920x1200, so i'm not in terrible shape - though the viewing angle is so bad, i have to keep the lcd turned 5 degrees
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I always get rid of it by installing the Google SSL search add-on, and then I use that as my default search engine in Firefox.
And the circle of life continues to spin, occasionally wobbling on its axis thanks to the weighty presence of dumb.
Refugees from KDE -> LXDE
Refugess from Gnome -> XFCE
Just so long as I still have a rival to unreasonably hate. Cool.
Sound seems to be headphones-only but that's still an improvement over requiring an external dongle for any sound at all.
Try setting keyword.URL's value in about:config to "http://www.google.com/search?q=".
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 new UI.