Ubuntu fans take note

I need to start looking for a new distro :(

I hate this new "search" approach, its very unfriendly. Now adding this to everything will just make it worse. After abandoning Ubuntu after 10.10 because of the Unity desktop, I installed Ubuntu again a couple of days ago (11.10). Big mistake that was. I couldnt find anything! This whole "search" thing is driving me crazy - how must I know whats installed with a fresh install? Searching for "Synaptic Package Manager" returns zero results... So I spend 15 min looking for it only to find it wasnt part of my clean install.

Why spend time typing out "compose new email" when I can click one button? Makes no sense to me at all...
 
I switched to Mint when Ubuntu started using the Unity desktop. Much, much, much better :D
 
It would a great addition to Ubuntu if it was added as a new feature, but it would be terrible replacement to the existing menu system.

Some of the changes are too radical for the old school.
 
Valis said:
I switched to Mint when Ubuntu started using the Unity desktop. Much, much, much better :D
Click to expand...

How is Mint's repos? Extensive and Compatible with Ubuntu's?

Ran into major conflicts a few year ago, could not get the 3g to work which left a bad taste, I had to switch back to Ubuntu.
 
I also switched out when Unity arrived (hate the interface), but to Fedora. While I won't be going back, I can appreciate the direction that Mark is taking. He is at least trying new ideas and trying to push advancements in the way we interact with our machines. And this is where the freedom of choice at least kicks in - if you don't like the changes, or future direction, you can always switch out... or switch in at any time if you want to try it out.

Having said that though, I do feel that if the whole voice activated menu is the direction that Mark is pushing for, then Ubuntu will become nothing more than a mess-around-with distro. Why? With the presumption that corporate marketing of Linux increases and that corporate uptake for workstation linux increases, can you imagine having an office full of staff all talking at once? Imagine calling the support centre, and having to listen to the support consultant rattle off commands to their machine? Productivity of multi-tasking secretaries will decrease (can't answer a phone and continue working). Which means that Ubuntu won't be a viable option, relegating it home use only. Again, that with presumptions.

But even then, with home use, I often sit listening to music or with the TV on in the background when checking mails, etc. While background noise can be dealt with easily enough, what about if I'm wearing headphones listening to music, what if there are other people in the room who are actually watching TV or whatever else. How will basic gaming be handled, given that there is some drive to bring gaming to Linux, etc etc etc.

Point is, even without the idea of having to know the various commands, do extra work to find installed applications, etc, I think that if the direction is a voice controlled system, then Ubuntu is going to fall significantly as a viable distro. (Given certain presumptions of course :) )
 
It makes little sense to me. Shuttleworth seems to be experimenting with desktops in a live environment, and most linux users wouldn't mind either staying out dated or jumping distros when things aren't working well.

A better approach would have been to branch unbuntu - keeping the original fan base well supported and loyal, and released something like "ubuntu two" that has all this experimental stuff Shuttleworth is putting together. Maybe only reveal "ubuntu two" when it's in a much better and completed state?
 
I'm running 12.04 alpha 2 at the moment.

It's as stable as a rock, and I'm loving unity. I've tried Cinnamon, KDE, LXDE, XFCE, Gnome Shell, and I keep just wanting to return to unity.

As for the HUD, it's installed on my computer now. In theory, I think its a great idea, and will just take some getting used to. In the mean time, the menus aren't going to go away, so this takes nothing away from the user experience, only adds to it.
 
This has got to be the worst idea ive ever heard in my entire life.
 
Very interesting. And seeing how Ubuntu can be loaded on the galaxy tab this would work quite well. Possibly the direction shuttleworth is going? Combined tablet and desktop interface?
 
It's similar to spotlight or quicksilver on OSX, you either love it or hate it.
 
How am I supposed to search for something if I don't know what it's called. Is he copying Windows 7?
 
Things are really getting interesting over at Ubuntu these days, I'm getting the idea that they want to be known as the "bleeding edge" distro :D

At this rate all Fedora needs to do is have a LTS model and they'll become the stable distro of choice :)

Personally I think Mark is trying to carve a niche for Ubuntu in the tablet market, I was involved in a Naturally Speaking project some years back and can see where he might be going with this. ATM I'm not aware of any viable speech recognition projects in Linux Open Source so I assume the Ubuntu team have something special up their sleeve - possibly not Open Source.

Anyway, to paraphrase the Chinese, it seems we are living in interesting times - and I'm loving it :)
 
I cannot for the life of me understand why people fail to see the coming intensification of the touch revolution in the runup to the release of Windows 8... Speech recognition is cool in some aspects of computing, especially mobile and in car, but the desktop will move to touch this year. Focus on that Mark! In fact you could have led the pack with an early release of a suped up touch version of Linux!!!! Come on! Seriously!!?!
 
Kudos to Mark, Ubuntu is constantly innovating in an effort to appeal to a wider audience. It is not enough to maintain the Linux marketshare, someone has to tackle new frontiers. Changes to the OS should not be viewed in isolation, but as a journey to a new interface. I like Fedora, Ubuntu and Mint and since 2007 I've been using them from time to time, especially on netbooks, but I stopped in 2010 because it was always the same boring interface. I had a look at Unity in its first itteration which was still unpolished, I liked it not as a Linux fan but it was something I could put on the desk of my mother's PC and she would be able to use it - and that really is what it boils down to - what interface will I give to someone who is not a PC freak, who hasn't used Linux before but who needs basic web access? This is the only way to increase the Linux footprint, don't aim to maintain, but to innovate for the rest. Two years from now, when Unity & Wayland are mature products and integrated into Ubuntu one will look back and see that Mark had the metal to break away and do the right thing.
Well done!
 
antowan said:
I cannot for the life of me understand why people fail to see the coming intensification of the touch revolution in the runup to the release of Windows 8... Speech recognition is cool in some aspects of computing, especially mobile and in car, but the desktop will move to touch this year. Focus on that Mark! In fact you could have led the pack with an early release of a suped up touch version of Linux!!!! Come on! Seriously!!?!
Click to expand...

Sorry I don't see "touch" becoming a viable input method for the traditional desktop computer user (secretaries, call centres, programmers, authors etc) - I sit more than arms length away from my 24" monitor for comfortable viewing as it is. Plus my gnarly old fingers don't seem to work very well with touchscreen devices :D

I agree that touch on a tablet for the home user is "the next big thing" but this is a different market to what I regard as desktop computing. If Ubuntu can integrate voice recognition as an alternative to the tablets touch keyboard for traditional typing tasks I think Mark will have a winner on his hands. Obviously the accuracy of the VR software is the stumbling block but as the tablet is essentially a personal device it should only need training for one voice which simplifies things greatly.
 
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