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Are Power Users Too Cool For Ubuntu Unity?
darthcamaro writes "There are a lot of us that really don't like Unity. Ubuntu Founder Mark Shuttleworth defended Unity today, arguing that even 'cool' power users should like usability and ease of use. Then again he admitted that some of us are just too cool even for Unity. 'There is going to be a crowd that is just too cool to use something that looks really slick and there is nothing we can do for them,' Shuttleworth said. 'Fortunately in Ubuntu there are tons of options and lots of choice and ways to skin the cat.'"
>> 'cool' power users should like usability and ease of use
I do. Thats why I avoid Unity.
Unity gets in the way. It takes way to many actions to find and launch something compared to gnome 2.
The unity interface turns every computer into a netbook interface that just isn't appropriate for regular computer use or users ....
I've never met anyone who has used Ubuntu and who likes Unity, power user, novice, script kiddie... It is bloated, slow and difficult to use (I suppose unless you're on a tablet/netbook). Gnome 3 still sucks as a UI, but it's at least responsive. The worst feature of unity is changing the "start menu" to that stupid search box. We use UIs because we're not able to remember names and obscure commands and parameters, but now they give us a UI that may as well have been a command prompt with find / -name "$1" built in to it.
Netbooks or tablets MAY take over one day, I personally don't think so, but for now if it's not iPad it's irrelevant, and if you're using Ubuntu you're not using an iPad. Stop dicking around, learn from Microsoft and the benighted ribbon interface.
Did I blink and end up back in primary school? Does anyone who refuses to use Ubuntu have cooties too?
And how ridiculous is it to say geeks are "too cool" to use a product. What are you smoking!?!? Geeks love new things that function well and allow them to do cool things. They do not shun these things based on idiotic social protocol.
So take your poorly written crippled little interface and put it back in a dark cupboard, or if you're out of room shove it somewhere the sun don't shine!
I am sick and tired of free software developers thinking that because their product is free (in both senses) they can dictate what I do or do not like, or what features I do or do not want. If you take a feature away, either give me a way to re-enable it or suffer my ire. Firefox devs, Google, Ubuntu...that means you. Apple, Microsoft, you're not exempt because I pay for your product.
These posts express my own personal views, not those of my employer
I like usability, but usability doesn't just mean that a dumb user can figure it out, it also means that it gets the job done with the least amount of effort and Unity just doesn't cut it right now. One thing for example really nice in Gnome2 was that i could have multiple panels, spread across different monitors and filled with the apps needed for that monitor. With Unity I can't even move the dock thing, let alone place it on a monitor of my choice. Also starting an app: Yeah, for big applications, having the icon click be turned into a 'switch to already running app' is great, however for terminals is awkward as hell and makes no conceptual sense. That's simply not how you use a terminal and the dock doesn't provide any proper way to change that behavior. Menu on-top, same issue, great when you have a small screen, awful and confusing on a big screen one, especially when an app spawns multiple windows.
There are also very basic issues with Unity, such as: Does it even work? Well, right now with my ATI drivers, no it doesn't. It produces counterless ugly graphic glitches and problems that make it unusable.
I mean in essence I don't even get why Unity exists. Desktop environments are not that complicated, you have buttons to click on stuff and they make windows open, hardly anything has changed with that in 20 years. The thing that makes the environment more usable lies in making it consistent and bug free. Throwing what we have and starting a new doesn't make it better, it just makes it different for being different sake.
Wanna make application installation easier? Don't twiggle with the start menu, fix dpkg and allow me to easily install software from third party sources across distributions and allow me to install multiple versions of the same app.
Some of the negative comments on this post, has made me realize that I probably need to clarify my intended meaning somewhat.
As a power user, the last thing I need is for my desktop to try to be 'cool'.
It should help me perform the basic tasks of starting and managing running applications. It should be light weight and customizable.
So by trying to be 'cool' Unity alienates the power user community. And then by taking away the possibilities to customize it makes them install something else.
If my comment didn't sound as good in your head as it did in mine, then I guess we all know who's to blame
It's pretty simple. Marketing does a survey, finds out that 99% of button-presses on a TV remote are channel up/do, volume up/down, and guide.
Correct response: Enlarge those three buttons, move them into the easiest to reach area of the remote.
Braindead response: Make those three buttons the entire front of the remote. Hide all other buttons behind a panel you have to remove with a screwdriver to access.
Shuttleworth is deluded, or trolling., OSX's dock is "slick" and shiny etc, and I like to install clones of it on Gnome. Even Window 7's dock is pretty good too, with its window grouping, previews, and built in progress bars gradually filling up the icon..
I don't use Unity because it's an arrogant piece of crap that tries to change how I do things, rather than letting me decide. I don't want my menu on the left hand side of my screen. I don't want default, non-configurable shortcut keys that override some of the same key combinations I've used for years. I don't want icons that I can't add or remove from the panel.
I do like the way Unity streamlines the menus when you go fullscreen. But that's not enough for me to want to keep it. After (if..) they fix the other issues, I may try it again.
Shuttleworth, I loved Ubuntu until you forced this fucking mess as the default interface. I am now using Mint Debian Edition. Honestly, if I wanted an OS that tries to force me to do things, I'd just go back to OSX. I don't use Linux because I can't afford better, I use it because it can adapt to how I want to use my computer.
which is totally what she said