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Ubuntu 14.04 LTS

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Re: Ubuntu 14.04 LTS

#111

Post by sandGorgon »

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.…

1. Alt+Tab is completely broken - in fact you have a choice on how you want the alt-tab to work: https://extensions.gnome.org/extension/15/alternatetab/ or https://extensions.gnome.org/extension/38/windows-alt-tab/ or https://extensions.gnome.org/extension/97/coverflow-alt-tab/ or https://extensions.gnome.org/extension/310/alt-tab-workspace...

2. static workspace - this is actually fixed in 3.10 (part of 14.04) now. Enabled by the Gnome Tweak tool

3. slow animation - https://extensions.gnome.org/extension/277/impatience/

Gnome 3.10 is really good and incredibly good slick alternative to Mac - without being a clone. 3.12 is likely to be better.

Re: Ubuntu 14.04 LTS

#112

Post by Touche »

jasonkester wrote: post #108
ProblemFactory wrote: post #65

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Most HN readers are developers (who all have unique and specific tastes in their machine setup), and have enough experience with Linux to find it easy to install alternative window managers. For "popular adoption", I'm sure the completely standard Ubuntu install is just fine.

I sometimes feel like I'm the only developer who doesn't want to spend all his free time fiddling around with his operating system. To me, that's not developing. It's just extra work that's completely orthagonal to building cool software.

Customizing your OS to your needs might not be "developing", but it comes from the same place of dissatisfaction with the status quo that is the reason we all develop the things we do. It's just a matter of where that dissatisfaction is, and to what degree it bothers you.

Re: Ubuntu 14.04 LTS

#113

Post by glesica »

rufugee wrote: post #70
old-gregg wrote: post #49

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.…

Every point you make except, to my knowledge, the last, is easily fixable via the gnome tweak tool or extensions. I found the same things to be frustrating when I switched to gnome, but I've been able to tweak it to the point that I now find it to be a productive work environment. That said, I've used gnome, unity, cinammon, xfce, mate and KDE, and have found each to be good in its own way and frustrating in others.…

"...tweak tool or extensions."

To me, this is the problem. I don't want to rely on extensions that will potentially break when Gnome updates or be abandoned when their developers move on to other things. I also don't want to be forced to spend hours fiddling with settings in order to get something that isn't completely broken. I just want my stuff to work.

I also find the graphical nonsense in Gnome 3 and KDE 4 nauseating. They make for some sexy Youtube videos (like Compiz when it first came out) but for day-to-day use I find them awful (and shockingly buggy, but that's another debate).

Re: Ubuntu 14.04 LTS

#114

Post by glesica »

wolf550e wrote: post #92
etfb wrote: post #69

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I was on Kubuntu when it shifted from 3.5 to 4.0. Gods, what a mess that was! I presume it's had time to settle down now; is it back to being as reliable as 3.5 was? Or do people with long memories still have to grit their teeth at all the missing features?

KDE 4.0 was released on January 2008. KDE has improved since then.

Has it? I've tried two recent versions of Kubuntu (14.04 being the most recent) and found both of them so buggy and unpolished as to be practically unusable. I want to love KDE so badly because I love so much about it (the apps are powerful, you can actually configure things, it uses Qt) but the target audience appears, to me, to be people who make Youtube videos demonstrating KDE, not people who actually want to use it to do work. YMMV, as always :)

Re: Ubuntu 14.04 LTS

#115

Post by microwise »

danford wrote: post #79
Zardoz84 wrote: post #46

I really recommend trying out the Ubuntu KDE flavour (KUbuntu). I really like it as being more usable and configurable than Unity and Gnome.

Eh.. I think it's only more usable if you're coming from and are used to a traditional desktop like Windows. If you were introducing someone to a computer for the first time, GNOME 3 is by far the most simple and easiest to use desktop on the market right now. Yes even more usable than windows 8 for someone who has never used an OS before. As for configurability KDE has quite a few more years under it's belt, so it's…

But how many people have never used an OS before? Very few in my opinion, and majority have already seen other OS in action already

Re: Ubuntu 14.04 LTS

#116

Post by krisgenre »

danford wrote: post #106
pgrote wrote: post #78

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What issues did you experience going from XP to 7? Did it happen to involve network drivers?

I can't speak for them, but I think a lot of people upgrading from XP to 7 are going to have to upgrade hardware for it to even be worth it unless you were already on a fairly high end XP box. I think 7 can be optimized to run on lower end hardware, but it takes a lot of work. The main beef I have with upgrading Windows though is the time it takes to do so. A while ago I updated someones PC from XP to 7 and when it r…

Ohhh!!! I din't even know you could upgrade XP to 7!

Regarding the time it takes to upgrade windows, Ubuntu too takes the same time for me. I have a fairly good 12mbps connection but still I have never been able to do an upgrade in less than 6hrs.

Re: Ubuntu 14.04 LTS

#117

Post by amalag »

manish_gill wrote: post #99

Meh, after struggling with linux for years , I finally swallowed my pride and paid a hefty price for a Macbook Air. Best decision I ever made. OS X hasn't disappointed me yet. I don't have to worry about driver/sound problems or incompatible libraries every other week.

Driver support is no doubt better on a Mac. The problem is that Macs do not have a native package management system. Now it is mostly resolved with people basically doing that work for them for free with Homebrew and Ports.

Re: Ubuntu 14.04 LTS

#118

Post by nine_k »

jasonkester wrote: post #108
ProblemFactory wrote: post #65

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Most HN readers are developers (who all have unique and specific tastes in their machine setup), and have enough experience with Linux to find it easy to install alternative window managers. For "popular adoption", I'm sure the completely standard Ubuntu install is just fine.

I sometimes feel like I'm the only developer who doesn't want to spend all his free time fiddling around with his operating system. To me, that's not developing. It's just extra work that's completely orthagonal to building cool software.

Fiddling?

Usually I just copy my configs over to a next box / laptop that happens to become my workstation, and continue nearly where I left. It worked more or less smoothly for last 7 years.

Yes, sometimes I do fiddle with my settings to make my experience more comfortable and thus my work more productive. I don't think that spending 5-10 minutes a month on it is such a waste.

Re: Ubuntu 14.04 LTS

#119

Post by arjie »

etfb wrote: post #68

Well, that was fun. The upgrade crashed halfway through. I rebooted in recovery mode, finished the upgrade using the dpkg repair option, and then restarted a few times and found that it still wasn't working. Looked like a video problem, so I checked /etc/X11 and found the xorg.conf files had been backed up and not replaced. A comment in the last one inspired me to run nvidia-xconfig and it worked fine. Pretty typical…

I haven't used upgrades in a while. Preserve your package list, reinstall / leaving /home untouched and it usually ends up better once you clean up package changes.

Re: Ubuntu 14.04 LTS

#120

Post by krisgenre »

samolang wrote: post #52

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.

I was once a big fan of KDE. Of late, it has started becoming fancier and fancier and I got fed up of the fanciness. On the other hand I used to hate unity when it came out but go so much used to the unified menu bar that I have never been able to use anything else.

So far the only other serious contender seems to be elementary OS, it is the BEST looking linux distro.

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