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Ubuntu 14.04 LTS

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Re: Ubuntu 14.04 LTS

#51

Post by danford »

andrey-p wrote: post #36
sandGorgon wrote: post #15

I really recommend trying out the Ubuntu Gnome flavor [1] - I really like it as being more usable than Unity. Plus https://extensions.gnome.org/ is incredible. P.S. - [2] this is my personal optimization script for a lean and developer friendly Gnome Ubuntu 14.04 install. YMMV. [1] https://wiki.ubuntu.com/UbuntuGNOME/GetUbuntuGNOME [2] https://gist.github.com/sandys/6030823#file-lean_install_ubu...

I've been a staunch Xubuntu user for the past couple of years and I'm completely pleased with my setup, but I'm interested in giving Gnome a try. The main thing that's holding me back is that my machines aren't massively powerful - do you know if Gnome is as resource-hungry as Unity?

GNOME seems to be a little snappier than Unity to me, But I have not yet installed the latest Unity.

Re: Ubuntu 14.04 LTS

#52

Post by samolang »

The first comment I saw said it was impressive. The second said I should use Gnome instead of Unity. The third said I should try something called localepurge for a leaner install. The fourth said KDE was better than Gnome and Unity. The fifth recommended Xubuntu over Gnome.

This is the sort of fragmentation that makes popular adoption difficult, but is also what makes Linux awesome.

Re: Ubuntu 14.04 LTS

#53

Post by johnchristopher »

girvo wrote: post #31
sandGorgon wrote: post #22

Earlier quoted context omitted.

it's mostly the UX - I really like the way Gnome gets out of your way and still is very, very slick. Plus, if you dont like certain things - you can customize it within seconds using extensions.gnome.org (for example - https://extensions.gnome.org/extension/15/alternatetab/ ) I think all the design decision by Unity are a bit jarring for me - including all the left-window-close-maximize things. BTW, if you follow my…

I'm totally with you on most of your post... But how is Gedit "heavy"?

On my atom n280 geany is really snappy while gedit is slow when moving around and bringing out menus.

Re: Ubuntu 14.04 LTS

#54

Post by chmike »

Failed to install here on my 13.10 (French) version because of an error related to an invalid ASCII code. I'll wait before trying again.

Re: Ubuntu 14.04 LTS

#55

Post by johnchristopher »

danford wrote: post #51
andrey-p wrote: post #36

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I've been a staunch Xubuntu user for the past couple of years and I'm completely pleased with my setup, but I'm interested in giving Gnome a try. The main thing that's holding me back is that my machines aren't massively powerful - do you know if Gnome is as resource-hungry as Unity?

GNOME seems to be a little snappier than Unity to me, But I have not yet installed the latest Unity.

FWIW: Gnome on wheezy is way snappier than unity (12.04 with or without unity-2d and 13.10 14.04 with unity) on my old and trusty eee-pc (n280+gma950).

Re: Ubuntu 14.04 LTS

#56

Post by danford »

old-gregg wrote: post #49
sandGorgon wrote: post #15

I really recommend trying out the Ubuntu Gnome flavor [1] - I really like it as being more usable than Unity. Plus https://extensions.gnome.org/ is incredible. P.S. - [2] this is my personal optimization script for a lean and developer friendly Gnome Ubuntu 14.04 install. YMMV. [1] https://wiki.ubuntu.com/UbuntuGNOME/GetUbuntuGNOME [2] https://gist.github.com/sandys/6030823#file-lean_install_ubu...

As a data point for a bystander: I much prefer Unity over Gnome 3. Here's the quick list of things that prevent me from taking Gnome 3 seriously: Alt+Tab is completely broken: it gathers windows from all virtual desktops, ruining the very purpose of virtual desktops. There are plug-ins that help, but they keep breaking after version updates and they don't function as sleek as Unity's built-in default window switcher.…

>Alt+Tab is completely broken

This is kind of an opinion. There is no rule book that says it needs to behave a certain way. I prefer this.

>ruining the very purpose of virtual desktops

I use virtual desktops to separate windows in overview mode so when they're presented for picking they aren't really small. And also for organization.

>Gnome's "workspaces" are not as powerful as traditional virtual desktops. The biggest problem is that they're dynamic: for example Gnome won't let you have an empty workspace - it will kill it and re-arrange apps from adjacent workspaces to fill the space.

Why would you need an empty workspace (except at the end, which gnome provides)? Seems to make since to me. It doesn't really "re-arrange apps" it just moves the work spaces to fill in the empty gap.

>Last, but not least, Gnome's way of launching apps gives me nausea: it insists on animating every pixel on my 30" desktop every time I want to launch an application.

Eh.. Animations aren't for everyone. They have not bothered me though, and I think for most users it provides a better experience than just having things "happen".

>Finally, Unity is much more responsive and less buggy

I'm running gnome 3.11 on an i5 with intel graphics also, and it seems pretty snappy, after all, it's just javascript. I have not experienced any bugs outside of experimental software I installed. To be honest, I have never experienced a snappier desktop than gnome 3.

Re: Ubuntu 14.04 LTS

#57

Post by leaveyou »

sandGorgon wrote: post #22
leaveyou wrote: post #20

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm a Unity & Xface (short time) user and honestly I find the latest Unity version to be well suited for my needs&habits but your recommendation made me curios but not curios enough to wipe out my current (fresh) Unity install in order to try out Gnome. I think I checked Gnome some time in the past and it didn't convince me to stay with it. If you would like to enumerate some of the (newer?) differences and strong po…

it's mostly the UX - I really like the way Gnome gets out of your way and still is very, very slick. Plus, if you dont like certain things - you can customize it within seconds using extensions.gnome.org (for example - https://extensions.gnome.org/extension/15/alternatetab/ ) I think all the design decision by Unity are a bit jarring for me - including all the left-window-close-maximize things. BTW, if you follow my…

I noticed Nautilus moved a menu I rarely used from toolbar into the main menu but that does not bother me much (actually "Show hidden files" is more accessible now) and they added back "backspace = up directory" feature which for me is great. I think we are lucky to have so many GUI alternatives while still being able to reuse the best tools GNU/Linux can offer. And what's great is they are evolving even if slowly and backtracking (like backspace in Nautilus :)).

Re: Ubuntu 14.04 LTS

#58

Post by SEMW »

broodbucket wrote: post #43
SEMW wrote: post #24

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Alternatives: kupfer (in the repositories) or synapse (ppa:synapse-core/testing ppa has a trusty build). I moved from gnome-do to synapse a while ago just because it feels faster.

Sadly, synapse is orphaned, Kupfer hasn't had a commit in over a year and GNOME-Do is going nowhere since GNOME Shell does the same thing by itself. One thing that's kept me from more minimal environments than those with their own launcher is that's there's just no really good standalone launcher.

Synapse may not have an active upstream any more, but, well, the Ubuntu package is still well-maintained (in the synapse-core/testing ppa), and it does everything I need it to.

An aversion to orphaned software is clearly good for things at a security boundary (web browsers, sshd, etc), but is it really an issue for a launcher? In 3-5 years it may not be good enough, but shrug, if that's the case I'll have another look around then. It's not like launchers have lock-in.

Re: Ubuntu 14.04 LTS

#59

Post by bluedino »

wolf550e wrote: post #47
sandGorgon wrote: post #15

I really recommend trying out the Ubuntu Gnome flavor [1] - I really like it as being more usable than Unity. Plus https://extensions.gnome.org/ is incredible. P.S. - [2] this is my personal optimization script for a lean and developer friendly Gnome Ubuntu 14.04 install. YMMV. [1] https://wiki.ubuntu.com/UbuntuGNOME/GetUbuntuGNOME [2] https://gist.github.com/sandys/6030823#file-lean_install_ubu...

You should install http://packages.ubuntu.com/trusty/localepurge for a leaner install.

How much does that really save? A base install of Ubuntu is only around 6-7GB anyway. Very surprised to see it didn't even take up half of the 16GB on an Acer C720 Chromebook.

Re: Ubuntu 14.04 LTS

#60

Post by bluedino »

NathanOsullivan wrote: post #2

I really don't get the intention with the default visual style Ubuntu has settled on. I'm sure a lot of work has gone into it but it's just not attractive. I previously thought it was growing pains and they would eventually land on a great style that was still "theirs", but at this point it feels like a lost cause. Personally I've stopped recommending Ubuntu on the desktop because I already know what the initial reac…

I have found the best way to deal with this, is to just deal with it. Don't tweak it, don't customize it. Treat it like Mac OS where you can't. Just get to work with what you're going to do.

I could sit and tweak a Linux install for hours, kind of like an old car. But of course I never get any work done that way.

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