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>> The take-away: Even as Ubuntu forges paths across hardware where traditional Linux (pace Android fans) has never before ventured, and Canonical commercialize

by jebblue 13y ago

>> The take-away: Even as Ubuntu forges paths across hardware where traditional Linux (pace Android fans) has never before ventured, and Canonical commercializes the operating system to an extent not yet seen, it is keen to keep peace with Ubuntu users. I'm not sure what that means but if it means Ubuntu will soon not be recognizable then I don't know if that's a good thing. Unity removed functionality we had in Gnome 2 that the Gnome developers had ironed out over years. Now we have a cool looking Launcher that is barely usable compared to Gnome 2 Panels. We have global menus like a freaking Mac, unless you remove the two offending packages to restore normal application owned menus. We have a solid bar at the top which without global menus is useless and even with them is questionable. Bring back Gnome 2 Panels please Canonical.

w1ntermute 13y ago
Have you tried Xfce? A lot of Gnome 2 users have migrated to it and are quite happy.
- keithpeter 13y ago
  Posting this from my laptop running Ubuntustudio; has XFCE4 by default and nicely done CentOS/Scientific Linux/Springdale Linux 6.x provide an approximation to Ubuntu 10.04 including Gnome 2.x. Support until 2020. Those nice people at Mint Linux are developing an alternative desktop UI. Idea: Perhaps someone needs to register 'idontlikeunity.org' or something. Then we can just link to the site with simple alternatives and keep the noise down. PS: I use Unity/12.04 on the desktop. Quite happy with it as I tend to use the ALT-letter keys for menus anyway.
Munksgaard 13y ago
Unless It's changed in 13.04, you can simply install gnome-panel to get the old-fashioned panels back. It's one of the first things I do on a new Ubuntu install.
- jebblue 13y ago
  I'm on 12.04, I think I tried that and ran into a use case where it failed but I can't recall the details. Thanks though, it might be worth another look.
CJefferson 13y ago
I realise you might hate unity, but I just wanted to make clear, some people (me) like it! I've tried plain gnome 3, latest kde, xmonad and xfce, and out of all of them have decided I like unity the best. The combination of: * Press win key + type 'th' gets thunderbird selected, win key + 'ch' gets chrome gives me quick access to all my apps. * I like a dock with fixed icons in fixed positions, so I can open an app, or get open windows, with 'mouse memory'. I found the other window managers I tried very poor in their default configuration. Maybe I could configure them to act better, or more like I want? But I don't want to spend the time (I did spend a couple of days trying xmonad, before giving up, I really wanted to like it but it seems purposefully designed to be painful to configure)
- mayneack 13y ago
  Linux Mint + cinnamon. Give it a shot.
  - Shorel 13y ago
    I tried, it felt like the old Linux I did not like from the past.
- keithpeter 13y ago
  dmenu from the suckless tools package can provide some of the 'invoke an application by pressing a meta key and typing its name' functionality you are missing. Not pretty but it works.
cs02rm0 13y ago
I'd suggest trying Cinnamon. http://cinnamon.linuxmint.com/ http://cinnamon.linuxmint.com/
jcastro 13y ago
Out of curiosity what can't you do with the launcher/indicators in Unity that you could do in GNOME2?
- jebblue 13y ago
  The big thing is I can't right click and edit the properties and change the path from a binary to a wrapper script I've written.
vidarh 13y ago
If you want Gnome 2 Panels, run one of the Gnome 2 forks. Personally I love Unity, and I finally have my beloved global menus back, like a freaking Amiga - something I have missed since about '97. I don't want to waste space on menus in every single application window.
jckt 13y ago
Do you dislike global menus just because it reminds you of a Mac? Is it actually a bad thing, and why? Have you ever tried actually using Unity for more than a few days? I understand that old habits stay strong, but sometimes breaking out of them and learning a new interface can be beneficial.
- mixmastamyk 13y ago
  I used the Mac in the old days and have a fondness for the single menu. However, Unity's is broken. Why? It hides itself if you are not hovering over it. So the fitts-law advantages are effectively nulled. Talk about clutching defeat from the jaws of victory. Unfortunately there are a number of these amateurish decisions throughout Unity, even though it has some nice parts.
- jebblue 13y ago
  Every OS I've run has had application menus except maybe for GEOS (I think it was called) on the Commodore 64 so that's what I'm used to. Well, that and the fact that all previous versions of Ubuntu had application menus then all of a sudden they are global and the close, menu icons are on the left. I guess it was like Ubuntu's user interface was hijacked by an alternative personality of Ubuntu.

by jebblue 13y ago

w1ntermute 13y ago

Have you tried Xfce? A lot of Gnome 2 users have migrated to it and are quite happy.

keithpeter 13y ago
Posting this from my laptop running Ubuntustudio; has XFCE4 by default and nicely done CentOS/Scientific Linux/Springdale Linux 6.x provide an approximation to Ubuntu 10.04 including Gnome 2.x. Support until 2020. Those nice people at Mint Linux are developing an alternative desktop UI. Idea: Perhaps someone needs to register 'idontlikeunity.org' or something. Then we can just link to the site with simple alternatives and keep the noise down. PS: I use Unity/12.04 on the desktop. Quite happy with it as I tend to use the ALT-letter keys for menus anyway.

Munksgaard 13y ago

Unless It's changed in 13.04, you can simply install gnome-panel to get the old-fashioned panels back. It's one of the first things I do on a new Ubuntu install.

jebblue 13y ago
I'm on 12.04, I think I tried that and ran into a use case where it failed but I can't recall the details. Thanks though, it might be worth another look.

CJefferson 13y ago

I realise you might hate unity, but I just wanted to make clear, some people (me) like it! I've tried plain gnome 3, latest kde, xmonad and xfce, and out of all of them have decided I like unity the best. The combination of: * Press win key + type 'th' gets thunderbird selected, win key + 'ch' gets chrome gives me quick access to all my apps. * I like a dock with fixed icons in fixed positions, so I can open an app, or get open windows, with 'mouse memory'. I found the other window managers I tried very poor in their default configuration. Maybe I could configure them to act better, or more like I want? But I don't want to spend the time (I did spend a couple of days trying xmonad, before giving up, I really wanted to like it but it seems purposefully designed to be painful to configure)

mayneack 13y ago
Linux Mint + cinnamon. Give it a shot.
- Shorel 13y ago
  I tried, it felt like the old Linux I did not like from the past.
keithpeter 13y ago
dmenu from the suckless tools package can provide some of the 'invoke an application by pressing a meta key and typing its name' functionality you are missing. Not pretty but it works.

cs02rm0 13y ago

I'd suggest trying Cinnamon. http://cinnamon.linuxmint.com/ http://cinnamon.linuxmint.com/

jcastro 13y ago

Out of curiosity what can't you do with the launcher/indicators in Unity that you could do in GNOME2?

jebblue 13y ago
The big thing is I can't right click and edit the properties and change the path from a binary to a wrapper script I've written.

vidarh 13y ago

If you want Gnome 2 Panels, run one of the Gnome 2 forks. Personally I love Unity, and I finally have my beloved global menus back, like a freaking Amiga - something I have missed since about '97. I don't want to waste space on menus in every single application window.

jckt 13y ago

Do you dislike global menus just because it reminds you of a Mac? Is it actually a bad thing, and why? Have you ever tried actually using Unity for more than a few days? I understand that old habits stay strong, but sometimes breaking out of them and learning a new interface can be beneficial.

mixmastamyk 13y ago
I used the Mac in the old days and have a fondness for the single menu. However, Unity's is broken. Why? It hides itself if you are not hovering over it. So the fitts-law advantages are effectively nulled. Talk about clutching defeat from the jaws of victory. Unfortunately there are a number of these amateurish decisions throughout Unity, even though it has some nice parts.
jebblue 13y ago
Every OS I've run has had application menus except maybe for GEOS (I think it was called) on the Commodore 64 so that's what I'm used to. Well, that and the fact that all previous versions of Ubuntu had application menus then all of a sudden they are global and the close, menu icons are on the left. I guess it was like Ubuntu's user interface was hijacked by an alternative personality of Ubuntu.