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Linux Mint: The new Ubuntu?

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Re: Linux Mint: The new Ubuntu?

#171

Post by Peaker »

gerggerg wrote: post #26

Canonical is genuinely trying to make linux the most user friendly it's ever been and make it ready for real mass adoption. It's not going to be easy and not everyone is going to like every change but you can't get so down on them for trying so hard. Saying the solution is to go backwards is the same as telling canonical to just stop trying all together. There's no point in stagnating and sticking with gnome. New use…

I think that Canonical don't have the competence/resources to innovate a new GUI that is better than the existing ones.

The result is something that people hate, not because it is different, but because it is truly sub-par.

Re: Linux Mint: The new Ubuntu?

#172

Post by Peaker »

jiggy2011 wrote: post #149
keithpeter wrote: post #96

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'd suggest 'panel people' have a look at Xubuntu. I don't expect Canonical to do anything, but I'd like them to include the Xubuntu desktop packages in the long term release support cycle as an option for users.

Xubuntu and Xfce is fine, but it's still a regression from gnome2 in allot of ways. It doesn't group windows on the panel as well as gnome 2 does. You lose allot of the nice easy features from gnome2 for doing things like using shared files or printers from windows computers. The panel is allot less flexible and harder to configure. There are also less panel applets available. Mouse-button back doesn't work in severa…

Ever since I switched to xfce, I've got some really annoying bugs too:

* Key bindings for switching keyboard layouts don't persist, I have to reconfigure them every time I reboot or X restarts

* Auto-suspend when lid is closed no longer works reliably. I sometimes find a really hot laptop in my bag after a while.

That said, XFce is much nicer than Unity.

Re: Linux Mint: The new Ubuntu?

#173

Post by jiggy2011 »

fredsanford wrote: post #160
jiggy2011 wrote: post #152

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The advantage of using Ubuntu even for "power users" is the level of support available. Since it has such a large share of the Linux desktop market it's easy to find solutions for most of your common Ubuntu problems. I don't really want to go back to the days when everyone used a different distribution where if you had an obscure problem and used google for a solution you would come to a page describing how to fix it…

How long will Ubuntu have this user base if they keep pissing people off? Is it that hard to give the users who want the old shell in its usable form what they want? Benevolent Dictator is what Bill Gates somewhat pretended to be for years.

I'm not sure of Shuttleworth's credentials as the benevolent dictator/UI designer.

He made his money selling SSL certificates in large quantities, I don't really think he is a Bill Gates or Steve Jobs.

He reminds me more of the type of entrepreneur who makes his money then decides to buy an English Football club and run it into the ground.

That's possibly unkind though, there was enough good work going into Ubuntu providing good support and sorting out allot of the common Linux Desktop issues to award him some credit, but I don't really see Ubuntu as any kind of creative juggernaut.

Re: Linux Mint: The new Ubuntu?

#174

Post by jiggy2011 »

Peaker wrote: post #172
jiggy2011 wrote: post #149

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Xubuntu and Xfce is fine, but it's still a regression from gnome2 in allot of ways. It doesn't group windows on the panel as well as gnome 2 does. You lose allot of the nice easy features from gnome2 for doing things like using shared files or printers from windows computers. The panel is allot less flexible and harder to configure. There are also less panel applets available. Mouse-button back doesn't work in severa…

Ever since I switched to xfce, I've got some really annoying bugs too: * Key bindings for switching keyboard layouts don't persist, I have to reconfigure them every time I reboot or X restarts * Auto-suspend when lid is closed no longer works reliably. I sometimes find a really hot laptop in my bag after a while. That said, XFce is much nicer than Unity.

It is, no doubt but it's not really something you can switch to to get your gnome2 back.

If I had more free time I would love to contribute to something like Xfce (or E17) and turn them into a first class Desktop Environment.

Re: Linux Mint: The new Ubuntu?

#175

Post by keithpeter »

Peaker wrote: post #172
jiggy2011 wrote: post #149

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Xubuntu and Xfce is fine, but it's still a regression from gnome2 in allot of ways. It doesn't group windows on the panel as well as gnome 2 does. You lose allot of the nice easy features from gnome2 for doing things like using shared files or printers from windows computers. The panel is allot less flexible and harder to configure. There are also less panel applets available. Mouse-button back doesn't work in severa…

Ever since I switched to xfce, I've got some really annoying bugs too: * Key bindings for switching keyboard layouts don't persist, I have to reconfigure them every time I reboot or X restarts * Auto-suspend when lid is closed no longer works reliably. I sometimes find a really hot laptop in my bag after a while. That said, XFce is much nicer than Unity.

That's the spirit. I suspect that the XFCE project will get far more support now if only from individuals scratching their itches.

Re: Linux Mint: The new Ubuntu?

#176

Post by keithpeter »

lvillani wrote: post #116
keithpeter wrote: post #89

Earlier quoted context omitted.

cletus and drivebyacct2 I've discovered recently that its the video hardware and how that interacts with the precise (sic) choice of graphics driver that governs Unity speed. cletus: you can test my hypothesis by logging in with the Unity 2d session and seeing if the UI becomes more responsive. Scaling (super-s) will be 'ragged' without 3d effects but should be faster. drivebyacct2: what is your graphics card and wha…

You might be affected by: https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/compiz/+bug/763005 There is a series of known bugs where the window manager picks the wrong refresh rate resulting in choppy animations. I noticed that this happens consistently with all compositing window managers (compiz, xfwm4, mutter) except kwin. Disabling VBlank syncing may help. The bug report above has instructions to disable VBlank syncing w…

lvillani, yes, the nvidia form of this bug and its associated work around has improved the performance of Unity with my old desktop significantly. Lots of searching Ubuntuforums and the interweb had not turned this up, so thanks.

https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/linux-restricted-m...

Re: Linux Mint: The new Ubuntu?

#177

Post by FuzzyDunlop »

While I can agree with the sentiment that Unity's not ready for prime-time (by a long shot), the last paragraph of the article identifies the silver lining:

If one distro makes a change you really dislike, there are plenty of others out there to try.

Changing OS is a pretty big deal but it's nowhere near as big a ballache as it used to be, and virtualisation and live CDs are brilliant ways to try before you buy, as it were.

Re: Linux Mint: The new Ubuntu?

#178

Post by keithpeter »

clark-kent wrote: post #122
SlipperySlope wrote: post #52

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Have you tried Ubuntu 11.10? Where are those 2 clicks?

The 2 clicks is the tools icon right next to Username on the login screen.

My fresh install of Ubuntu 11.10 has exactly two entries in that menu...

Unity Unity 2d

You can install other desktop packages from the repositories of course.

Re: Linux Mint: The new Ubuntu?

#179

Post by jinushaun »

protomyth wrote: post #43

"The desktop seems crowded, and yet on a large monitor there’s so much real estate to get to that left menu that it’s a chore; multi-monitor just never felt right either. To make matters worse, Canonical seemed to ignore all protest, which made users feel alienated and not cared about." When I use OS X, I do miss the NeXTSTEP menu bar. I do wonder how much research is going into large screen UIs these days. It seems…

What I find ironic is that the developers (and designers) that work on these OSes are most likely using a giant monitor or dual-monitoring, or both. However, they're still designing for a single 1024x768 monitor. WTF?

With Aero Snap in Win7 and multi-mon taskbar in Win8, MS seems to finally start supporting some of these features.

OSX is busted on the 27" iMac. I know because I own one. OSX needs Win7-style window docking so bad... I spend way too much time managing windows on the 27" iMac.

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