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Where does the Ubuntu Linux desktop go from here?

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Re: Where does the Ubuntu Linux desktop go from here?

#91
post #71

Earlier quoted context omitted.

MATE is a dead end if you want a modern, Wayland-based desktop.

Not true. Wayland's on MATE's Roadmap. http://wiki.mate-desktop.org/roadmap

Well, from what it says there, it sounds like "yeah, we will have to do that sometime".

Re: Where does the Ubuntu Linux desktop go from here?

#92
post #39

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Sorry to hear about your wife's bad experience. Never heard of the company, but based on the specs of laptops being offered from the website, I'd hazard a guess that the discrete GPU is probably the source of many of your woes. Linux has always been a second-class citizen for video cards, particularly since NVIDIA's binary blobs fly in the face of the FOSS spirit. If she doesn't do intense graphical editing or gaming…

It baffles me that your recommendation is to get off Nvidia hardware + restricted drivers and use an Intel integrated GPU. Have you had such bad time with Nvidia hardware and their drivers?

I don't see what's so baffling about the advice:

Nvidia: run a special process to fetch one of a limited set of binary blobs from a single vendor, shim them into the kernel and cross one's fingers that this combination of binaries will work. Then go through it all again at the next kernel update. Yes, Ubuntu and co. have scripts to do this, but it's all a big hack.

Intel: the drivers' already there, included in the kernel; there's very little to go wrong.

My current system has Intel graphics; if I did end up stuck with nvidia hardware, I'd try the noveau driver, and failing that I'd use vesa. Installing third-party driver binaries isn't worth the hassle.

Re: Where does the Ubuntu Linux desktop go from here?

#93
post #22
post #6

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Oh god please no. I would really prefer that we stop the experimentation and just go back to implementing the standard desktop. Linux got its success by being a Unix clone, down to copying the syscall numbers. We should mimic that on desktop by just copying Windows, rather than chasing unproven weird ideas. OSX succeeds not because it's quirky, but because it is backed by a company with massive resources. And even OS…

You may want it copying Windows, but I for one would switch away from whatever distro tries copying Windows, because I detest it. And that's why Linux will never stop the experimentation: Lots of the people actually writing the code wants to experiment and don't want to copy Windows. You will never get unity (pardon the pun) out of a group whose only unifying characteristic is that we don't want to use Windows or OS…

>You may want it copying Windows, but I for one would switch away from whatever distro tries copying Windows, because I detest it.

That's fine, but Linux is never going to achieve any significant marketshare (and thus get support from hardware and software makers) as long as it tries to standardize on weird UIs. Having some weird options for those who want to mess with them is great, just don't make them the standard. That's the problem with Linux: for some stupid reason, the distros have mostly standardized on Gnome3, which is a resource hog and horrible to use, and not an easy transition for a non-technical Windows user. If they adopted KDE instead, Linux would probably get a lot more popularity.

Re: Where does the Ubuntu Linux desktop go from here?

#94
post #39

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It baffles me that your recommendation is to get off Nvidia hardware + restricted drivers and use an Intel integrated GPU. Have you had such bad time with Nvidia hardware and their drivers?

I don't see what's so baffling about the advice: Nvidia: run a special process to fetch one of a limited set of binary blobs from a single vendor, shim them into the kernel and cross one's fingers that this combination of binaries will work. Then go through it all again at the next kernel update. Yes, Ubuntu and co. have scripts to do this, but it's all a big hack. Intel: the drivers' already there, included in the k…

  Yes, Ubuntu and co. have scripts to do this, but it's all a big hack.
You are beyond reason

Re: Where does the Ubuntu Linux desktop go from here?

#95
post #54

Earlier quoted context omitted.

2 things. 1: As a consumer IDGAF. 2: sure as long as we're not saying "your problem is because of a discreet GPU, switch to integrated, so much better!". Also, You want to lay down all the graphics options when Linus did that and _not_ pick Nvidia? Cool, go play zork. I understand what the situation was, but don't deny who was actually delivering on graphics performance either. Today however, it's genuinely refreshin…

Nvidia may have had the more powerful video cards, but at least AMD's video cards had functioning drivers for Linux. If you bought an Nvidia card to use on Linux back then, you were paying more for a worse card.

Not sure what rock you lived under: http://www.pcworld.com/article/2934504/why-you-should-avoid-... http://www.phoronix.com/scan.php?page=article&item=bioshock-...

Again: Today however, it's genuinely refreshing to see AMD's driver efforts and overall offering as a company.

Re: Where does the Ubuntu Linux desktop go from here?

#96
post #39

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It baffles me that your recommendation is to get off Nvidia hardware + restricted drivers and use an Intel integrated GPU. Have you had such bad time with Nvidia hardware and their drivers?

Personally? No. But as stated, my primary laptop has an integrated GPU. Intel drivers tend to have support in the kernel so everything just works out-of-the-box. It's one of the reasons I tore the Broadcomm wifi card that came with the XPS13 and replaced it with an Intel 7265. I am not sure whether the parent was using the nouveau drivers or the NVIDIA blobs. It's besides the point either way: GPU's on Linux are noto…

I don't understand how that's your go-to suggestion. It just makes a lot of assumptions, it's anecdotal, and I'm just surprised there's this kind of armchair tech support on HN. And then others go on the forum and read it.

Everybody on the below thread is having a tertiary argument thinking I have something to say about GPUs and their drivers. I could not care less.

Re: Where does the Ubuntu Linux desktop go from here?

#97
Do not talk about - make my desktop experience last forever by upstreaming unity in a fork. This will be my reality for years :)

I will be agnostic - won't change a lil thing even if the distro changes the wm. watch the progress. i will keep unity .. forgive me. i even would backport - if it doens't happen.

Re: Where does the Ubuntu Linux desktop go from here?

#98
post #8
post #5

While I like Ubuntu going back to Gnome for desktop, it is unfortunate this lessens the chance of running Linux on mobile phones anytime soon.

Linux already is running on the majority of mobile phones. :) That said, the UI has never been what's holding back Ubuntu on the phone.

Yes, true :)

But I think you know what I mean. A Linux device not controlled by Google. A Linux device that actually can run many ordinary Linux apps.

Re: Where does the Ubuntu Linux desktop go from here?

#99
post #93
post #22

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You may want it copying Windows, but I for one would switch away from whatever distro tries copying Windows, because I detest it. And that's why Linux will never stop the experimentation: Lots of the people actually writing the code wants to experiment and don't want to copy Windows. You will never get unity (pardon the pun) out of a group whose only unifying characteristic is that we don't want to use Windows or OS…

>You may want it copying Windows, but I for one would switch away from whatever distro tries copying Windows, because I detest it. That's fine, but Linux is never going to achieve any significant marketshare (and thus get support from hardware and software makers) as long as it tries to standardize on weird UIs. Having some weird options for those who want to mess with them is great, just don't make them the standard…

Linux is not a singular entity. There is no standard Linux UI. There won't ever be a standard Linux UI so that's a meaningless thing to worry about.

Individual distro's will pick whatever they want. Several have tried to copy Windows to various extent (with Lindows, later Linspire, being the most extreme example as they tried for binary compatibility via Wine).

> If they adopted KDE instead, Linux would probably get a lot more popularity.

I they adopted KDE instead to the exclusion of Gnome it'd alienate a huge amount of Linux users. They're not doing this randomly. But as it stands, Gnome and KDE are both viable alternatives on most of the major distros, with varying levels of support.

Re: Where does the Ubuntu Linux desktop go from here?

#100
post #38
post #22

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You may want it copying Windows, but I for one would switch away from whatever distro tries copying Windows, because I detest it. And that's why Linux will never stop the experimentation: Lots of the people actually writing the code wants to experiment and don't want to copy Windows. You will never get unity (pardon the pun) out of a group whose only unifying characteristic is that we don't want to use Windows or OS…

> You may want it copying Windows, but I for one would switch away from whatever distro tries copying Windows, because I detest it. On the other hand I switch away from every distro or at least desktop that does "change" for the sake of "change". I prefer a stable system with optional changes to a mess that breaks functionality with every other update. Sadly some of the programs I use were written for GNOME or at lea…

That's fine, but it doesn't imply copying Windows - if anything, copying Windows would mean more "change for the sake of change" than sticking with something conservative like Mate (continuation of Gnome 2), Cinnamon (more conservative fork of Gnome 3) or e.g. LXDE. Linux have plenty of options whatever your preferred rate of change.

If you want to avoid change, see if the GNOME/GTK apps you use are available in forks for Mate or Cinnamon - if they are, chances are they'll change far less.

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