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I think it's funny when people complain about unity and how users hate it. The only users that even know what it is are the hardcore linux geeks. I used ubuntu

by NateDad 13y ago

I think it's funny when people complain about unity and how users hate it. The only users that even know what it is are the hardcore linux geeks. I used ubuntu back in the day (2006-ish) and moved off Linux because it was too much of a pain in the butt to use for everyday use... even my standalone email server I just gave up on eventually because it was too much of a hassle running linux. I just started using Ubuntu again last year and... I couldn't figure out what this Unity thing was that people kept complaining about. I guess it's the menubar that appears at the top? And the transparent start menu thingy that pops up when you click the button at the top of the launchbar on the left? Is that what people are complaining about? Seriously? I didn't even notice that it was something that was supposed to be different after the first 2-3 times I saw what it did. Maybe because I'm not a hardcore linux guy? Maybe because it doesn't really look that different from Windows 7 / 8 stuff? So... from a Windows user's point of view, I think Ubuntu is doing well. It's easy for me to use (it does take a lot of getting used to for the windows buttons to be on the left).. and honestly, for most people, we're in a post-desktop-OS world. Nothing matters outside the browser. I install Chrome and log into Chrome sync, and my world is the same across all desktops.... because the browser is everything. That, more than anything else has made my transition back to Ubuntu easy... because the OS doesn't matter anymore for day to day things. For dev, sure, you need your dev tools, and the environment matters a lot.

hcarvalhoalves 13y ago
> The only users that even know what it is are the hardcore linux geeks. Which is what... 90% of the user base?
- NateDad 13y ago
  The point of Ubuntu is to bring Linux to the masses. People bring up Unity like it's hurting Ubuntu... and I don't think it is. It doesn't hurt the average non-techie's perception, and techies can install KDE or whatever. Maybe one day I'll install a different window manager and marvel at what a big difference it makes... but right now, it really doesn't matter to me. I can get to Chrome, the terminal, and my text editor of choice. Nothing else really matters to me.
  - g8oz 13y ago
    Without techies to recommend it to friends, family and coworkers, Ubuntu will never reach the masses. Non-techies are not independently evaluating Ubuntu.
    - a3n 13y ago
      I used to recommend either Ubuntu, or Mint for someone that wanted/needed Linux but just didn't know or need to know anything technical. Now I only recommend Mint, and I use Lubuntu.
    - takluyver 13y ago
      On the other hand, I don't think Linux can ever reach the masses just through techie recommendations. Even though hardware support has got much better, putting it on any old hardware usually leaves you with some problem, often involving graphics drivers. I think it needs either OEMs shipping Linux preinstalled with a known-good set of hardware, or better collaboration with hardware manufacturers so it really will work flawlessly on almost any machine. And I see Canonical pushing in both of those directions.
      - hcarvalhoalves 13y ago
        Everybody mentions the hardware support (which I think is fine for the most part), but no one is addressing the elephant in the room: no big vendors develop or port applications to the Linux platform. Valve is the odd one, and even then, it took some years to release something.
clark-kent 13y ago
Unity got a lot better with Ubuntu 12.04, it sucked when it first came out. I used to hate Unity but after some updates it's now my favorite desktop.
- mataug 13y ago
  I agree with you, I was a gnome shell user before 12.04, but after I switched to unity I never looked back.
- Pengwin 13y ago
  Using 13.04 now, and I tried reasonably hard to keep away from unity. Eventually I gave up when I couldn't deal with the small annoyances like screen tearing in XFCE and the buggy feeling of plastering Gnome3 over ubuntu. Im running Unity on 13.04 now and it feels stable and polished. However, I dare say I could actually do away with the unity menu and replace it entirely with synapse and although I am used to it, a global menu is a stupid paradigm.
rdtsc 13y ago
Those like me that went "Oh cool" or "interesting" and figured it out and kept using, don't really feel the need to open up a comment box and say "OMG! This is pretty OK!" so well you never hear from us. It first had its kinks but it never bothered me. Yeah I don't know who is really that bothered by Unity.
wisty 13y ago
There were basic things (like opening, closing, and resizing windows) which seemed to take multiple steps. As a guy who was used to OSX, Windows XP, and some other linux (an older Ubuntu with Gnome, I think, I don't pay that much attention since they are all so similar) it was fucking horrible. Maybe they fixed it in later editions (and we're just hearing from the early adopters who got burnt, and switched their UI), but there were just basic things which were hard to do in the early Unity. The only time I've been more annoyed with a UI was Windows 8.

by NateDad 13y ago

hcarvalhoalves 13y ago

> The only users that even know what it is are the hardcore linux geeks. Which is what... 90% of the user base?

NateDad 13y ago
The point of Ubuntu is to bring Linux to the masses. People bring up Unity like it's hurting Ubuntu... and I don't think it is. It doesn't hurt the average non-techie's perception, and techies can install KDE or whatever. Maybe one day I'll install a different window manager and marvel at what a big difference it makes... but right now, it really doesn't matter to me. I can get to Chrome, the terminal, and my text editor of choice. Nothing else really matters to me.
- g8oz 13y ago
  Without techies to recommend it to friends, family and coworkers, Ubuntu will never reach the masses. Non-techies are not independently evaluating Ubuntu.
  - a3n 13y ago
    I used to recommend either Ubuntu, or Mint for someone that wanted/needed Linux but just didn't know or need to know anything technical. Now I only recommend Mint, and I use Lubuntu.
  - takluyver 13y ago
    On the other hand, I don't think Linux can ever reach the masses just through techie recommendations. Even though hardware support has got much better, putting it on any old hardware usually leaves you with some problem, often involving graphics drivers. I think it needs either OEMs shipping Linux preinstalled with a known-good set of hardware, or better collaboration with hardware manufacturers so it really will work flawlessly on almost any machine. And I see Canonical pushing in both of those directions.
    - hcarvalhoalves 13y ago
      Everybody mentions the hardware support (which I think is fine for the most part), but no one is addressing the elephant in the room: no big vendors develop or port applications to the Linux platform. Valve is the odd one, and even then, it took some years to release something.

clark-kent 13y ago

Unity got a lot better with Ubuntu 12.04, it sucked when it first came out. I used to hate Unity but after some updates it's now my favorite desktop.

mataug 13y ago
I agree with you, I was a gnome shell user before 12.04, but after I switched to unity I never looked back.
Pengwin 13y ago
Using 13.04 now, and I tried reasonably hard to keep away from unity. Eventually I gave up when I couldn't deal with the small annoyances like screen tearing in XFCE and the buggy feeling of plastering Gnome3 over ubuntu. Im running Unity on 13.04 now and it feels stable and polished. However, I dare say I could actually do away with the unity menu and replace it entirely with synapse and although I am used to it, a global menu is a stupid paradigm.

rdtsc 13y ago

Those like me that went "Oh cool" or "interesting" and figured it out and kept using, don't really feel the need to open up a comment box and say "OMG! This is pretty OK!" so well you never hear from us. It first had its kinks but it never bothered me. Yeah I don't know who is really that bothered by Unity.

wisty 13y ago

There were basic things (like opening, closing, and resizing windows) which seemed to take multiple steps. As a guy who was used to OSX, Windows XP, and some other linux (an older Ubuntu with Gnome, I think, I don't pay that much attention since they are all so similar) it was fucking horrible. Maybe they fixed it in later editions (and we're just hearing from the early adopters who got burnt, and switched their UI), but there were just basic things which were hard to do in the early Unity. The only time I've been more annoyed with a UI was Windows 8.