What I find interesting is that I don’t see other distros or projects picking up Ubuntu’s and Canonical’s novelties.
Upstart was adopted by a few distros, but then those distros left it for systemd.
Bazaar — Who uses Bazaar?
Ubuntu One — Last time I checked it supported Windows but, if you believe it, not Debian.
Ubuntu Software Centre — Debian Squeeze installs it as part of the default desktop setup. I opened it a couple of times when I first installed Squeeze and did not see anything that would make me use it, but I don’t know if it is properly integrated into Debian.
Unity — Has any distro shown interest in shipping Unity as a Gnome shell?
So, what I am wondering is: If all these extras add value to Ubuntu, why aren’t the other distros picking them up? They could add value to other distros too. And if they don’t add value to Ubuntu, why do Ubuntu and Canonical spend resources on them?
This week I tried Ubuntu 11.10 on VMWare and absolutely hated it. Nothing makes sense in Unity! If you're going to make something different at least make it more efficient or more intuitive - it's neither. I ended up going with XFCE not from performance issues but because I was sick of having to use Google to figure out basic things.
I couldn't believe how I angry and frustrated I became. I'm usually not that invested in things like this, and tbh I really wanted to like it. If I'm representative of at least a fraction of the userbase then they should have a look at why people like me are reacting this way.
EDIT - I'm getting hammered with the downvotes so I'd genuinely like to hear why. I'm not trying to troll and I bring these things up because I want Ubuntu to succeed but I think they're missing something incredibly important right now in their approach.
That's because the distro developers think they stink. Have a search around mailing lists on marc.info and you will see.
Ubuntu represents a very politicised and marketed view of what Linux should look like. You should expect nothing more from Shuttleworth. Everyone else is much more conservative and wants to find a consensus rather than forcing a viewpoint on the world.
Forcing a viewpoint worked for Apple with OSX and iOS and will work for Microsoft with Metro but it won't cut it in a highly divided market with no foot in the door.
Would they add value?
For technical users, when we have an advanced web browser and a terminal at hand, there is no need for the rest of the stuff. It gets in the way.
For business users, they care about consistency. Canonical never delivered that and shows no sign of it.
For end users, the market is owned by Apple, Microsoft and Google.
One reason this happens is that Ubuntu developers don't really care about other distros. It took a really long time until somebody was able to build Unity in Arch Linux, for instance.
I really like Shuttleworth's / Ubuntu's courage - it's much like Apple's courage, except it is done in the open.
(Personally, I can't switch to 12.04; it borks on my touchscreen device, see https://bugs.launchpad.net/bugs/801988 - but I will as soon as the bug is resolved. The lenses/hud is excellent)
Have been with Debian for quite a while, but installed this new Ubuntu LTS the other day on a development box and have to say, I'm pretty impressed. Seemingly quite stable w/ plenty of nice UI eye-candy. Only criticism is that it hides a bit of the default customisation settings stuff from the last time I used Ubuntu (last LTS), however, it's definitely a nice push forward for the linux community (in so far as perhaps drumming up new open source users). Would have been nice to see a shout to Debian in the article, but hey, just glad open source is gaining broader appeal and hopefully, at the very least, it's a foot in door for greater linux adoption.
The HUD is one the most significant UI changes to hit the Linux Desktop in recent years, and I see how a lot of people will find it useful. But it's probably also going to be one of the most controversial changes, perhaps even more than the introduction of Unity (which has many more precedents).
In particular, it will be difficult to get even the most adventurous users to use complicated apps like GIMP (which the screenshot shows) exclusively with the HUD. When there are hundreds of functionalities you could choose from and you don't remember the exact name, the traditional menu is much more discoverable. At the moment, HUD only complements the menu without replacing it altogether. But if the HUD is some day going to replace the menu, it will probably need to incorporate some of the features of the traditional menu on the way. I hope Canonical remains responsive to feedback during the transition period. Shuttleworth has an unfortunate tendency to go all Steve Jobs and insist that it's either his way or highway when it comes to UI decisions.
It's also going to be interesting to see how HUD works in touchscreen devices where using the keyboard can be a significant amount of hassle. You could rely on gestures to some extent, but not all actions you perform on a computer can be easily represented with intuitive gestures. So Ubuntu's UI may need to split up again into desktop and tablet editions, after all.
As for myself, I feel rather frustrated with these changes because I love my little plastic rodent. I really don't like taking my hand off the mouse to type something.
In his initial announcement of the HUD (http://www.markshuttleworth.com/archives/939) Shuttleworth clearly had the discoverability issue in mind; the vision he put forward was that, with the HUD in place, the menu's main function is now to discover functionality; therefore, design effort should now go into a good replacement for that particular aspect.
"The patents system is being used to slow down a lot of healthy competition and that's a real problem. I think that the countries that have essentially figured that out and put hard limits on what you can patent will in fact do better."
The only reason I'm giving Ubuntu a last chance is the version number. Pangolin may become usable... eventually.
I've tried running Eclipse in Unity, Gnome 2 & Gnome 3 on my heavier laptop. Things crash hard and often. I've given up for the next month and installed KDE.
Since 11.10, I've been switching my computers to Debian Squeeze. I do not regret it.
I like Unity's design just fine but it's VERY VERY power hungry. On my laptop it maxes out heat, takes a really excessively time to boot and takes a couple seconds for the UI to come up when I hit super. Tweaks like changing the graphics driver aren't helping. LXDE and XFCE desktops don't have the same problem at all.
[+] [-] demetris|14 years ago|reply
Upstart was adopted by a few distros, but then those distros left it for systemd.
Bazaar — Who uses Bazaar?
Ubuntu One — Last time I checked it supported Windows but, if you believe it, not Debian.
Ubuntu Software Centre — Debian Squeeze installs it as part of the default desktop setup. I opened it a couple of times when I first installed Squeeze and did not see anything that would make me use it, but I don’t know if it is properly integrated into Debian.
Unity — Has any distro shown interest in shipping Unity as a Gnome shell?
So, what I am wondering is: If all these extras add value to Ubuntu, why aren’t the other distros picking them up? They could add value to other distros too. And if they don’t add value to Ubuntu, why do Ubuntu and Canonical spend resources on them?
[+] [-] hnhg|14 years ago|reply
I couldn't believe how I angry and frustrated I became. I'm usually not that invested in things like this, and tbh I really wanted to like it. If I'm representative of at least a fraction of the userbase then they should have a look at why people like me are reacting this way.
EDIT - I'm getting hammered with the downvotes so I'd genuinely like to hear why. I'm not trying to troll and I bring these things up because I want Ubuntu to succeed but I think they're missing something incredibly important right now in their approach.
[+] [-] gouranga|14 years ago|reply
Ubuntu represents a very politicised and marketed view of what Linux should look like. You should expect nothing more from Shuttleworth. Everyone else is much more conservative and wants to find a consensus rather than forcing a viewpoint on the world.
Forcing a viewpoint worked for Apple with OSX and iOS and will work for Microsoft with Metro but it won't cut it in a highly divided market with no foot in the door.
Would they add value?
For technical users, when we have an advanced web browser and a terminal at hand, there is no need for the rest of the stuff. It gets in the way.
For business users, they care about consistency. Canonical never delivered that and shows no sign of it.
For end users, the market is owned by Apple, Microsoft and Google.
There is pretty much no place for Unity.
[+] [-] ars_nihili|14 years ago|reply
[+] [-] beagle3|14 years ago|reply
(Personally, I can't switch to 12.04; it borks on my touchscreen device, see https://bugs.launchpad.net/bugs/801988 - but I will as soon as the bug is resolved. The lenses/hud is excellent)
[+] [-] TheSmoke|14 years ago|reply
[+] [-] plessthanpt05|14 years ago|reply
[+] [-] jstalin|14 years ago|reply
[+] [-] shrikant|14 years ago|reply
Just install ClassicMenu Indicator[2] to have a regular app menu around, and Ubuntu Tweak for a little more customisability, and you're good to go.
[1] (link to my blog) http://shrik.theswamp.in/2012/05/switching-over-to-ubuntu-12...
[2] http://www.florian-diesch.de/software/classicmenu-indicator/
[+] [-] kijin|14 years ago|reply
In particular, it will be difficult to get even the most adventurous users to use complicated apps like GIMP (which the screenshot shows) exclusively with the HUD. When there are hundreds of functionalities you could choose from and you don't remember the exact name, the traditional menu is much more discoverable. At the moment, HUD only complements the menu without replacing it altogether. But if the HUD is some day going to replace the menu, it will probably need to incorporate some of the features of the traditional menu on the way. I hope Canonical remains responsive to feedback during the transition period. Shuttleworth has an unfortunate tendency to go all Steve Jobs and insist that it's either his way or highway when it comes to UI decisions.
It's also going to be interesting to see how HUD works in touchscreen devices where using the keyboard can be a significant amount of hassle. You could rely on gestures to some extent, but not all actions you perform on a computer can be easily represented with intuitive gestures. So Ubuntu's UI may need to split up again into desktop and tablet editions, after all.
As for myself, I feel rather frustrated with these changes because I love my little plastic rodent. I really don't like taking my hand off the mouse to type something.
[+] [-] azernik|14 years ago|reply
[+] [-] jstalin|14 years ago|reply
"The patents system is being used to slow down a lot of healthy competition and that's a real problem. I think that the countries that have essentially figured that out and put hard limits on what you can patent will in fact do better."
[+] [-] shapeshed|14 years ago|reply
[+] [-] diminish|14 years ago|reply
[+] [-] orbitingpluto|14 years ago|reply
I've tried running Eclipse in Unity, Gnome 2 & Gnome 3 on my heavier laptop. Things crash hard and often. I've given up for the next month and installed KDE.
Since 11.10, I've been switching my computers to Debian Squeeze. I do not regret it.
[+] [-] slurgfest|14 years ago|reply