Re: is anyone here using the new ubuntu, 11.10?

On Sat 12 Nov 2011 09:04:52 NZDT +1300, Mark Foster wrote:

> As much as this is true, it's also sad.  Making changes such that you
> drive your audience away doesn't seem productive!

Yes, I'm shaking my head too. I call it dumbing down.

> Giant step backwards, if this is true.  People were turned off Linux in
> the early days due to the amount of CLI work you had to do to get things
> done.  Ubuntu had done a great job at making Linux accessible to those
> more comfortable with point-and-click.

Sorry to disagree. It wasn't Ubuntu that did that, it was a natural
progression and evolution of the desktops. Ubuntu just took what was
already there, and has never had anything that the others didn't have
already - or certainly not back then. (Now it has unity that the others
don't have, and popular opinion seems to be that this is a good thing.)

Stop implying that Ubuntu was the only one advancing Linux on the
desktop. It's not true.

> (An alternative approach would simply be an 'advanced settings' button
> within GUI dialogues, meaning the up-front options are simplified, but
> the detail is there if you want it.)

Totally true. I always wonder what the reasons are for implementing a
do-nothing top-level and dropping all other customisations into a black
hole. Is it asking too much to put remaining options behind an
"advanced" button? What kind of user is such a UI exactly targetting?

> I'm still running 10.10 primarily because I wanted to keep using Gnome
> 2.  I'm put-off Unity and actually considering OpenSUSE as my next
> distro move, with the leap to KDE in the process.

KDE 4 is not the same as 3, but it's reasonably similar to not feel
totally lost. There is space for frustrations though. The first thing to
keep in mind is that desktop (and panel) icons are controlled tighter,
and can be "locked", meaning they can't be changred. The unlock is a
click away, but you have to be aware of this. Default is unlocked.
Application icons on the desktop are inside an invisible container that
can be resized. Unlock everything first. If you want different icons per
desktop it's easy to turn on, but the containers for all-for-one and
each individual are all different (you can copy the files from under
~/.kde around).

As everything else, it's not bug free, and to be honest I'm a bit
disappointed that there isn't anything significantly new in KDE 4 that
really makes a difference, as opposed to just doing things differently.
It's supposed to be smal-portable-device ready though.

Volker

-- 
Volker Kuhlmann			is list0570 with the domain in header.
http://volker.dnsalias.net/	Please do not CC list postings to me.

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