[TriLUG] Onerous Ocelot

Sat Oct 15 09:06:05 EDT 2011

I upgraded to 11.10 ...  Not sure I like the look and feel but I will
see if it grows on me.  The issue I have is I can't get evolution to
see my old evolution email ... Has anyone had this issue?  I was
thinking maybe I should uninstall the new version and load the old
version back -

Mark

On Sat, Oct 15, 2011 at 1:22 AM, Maxwell Spangler
<maxlists at maxwellspangler.com> wrote:
> On Fri, 2011-10-14 at 08:41 -0400, Chris Knowles wrote:
>> OK, I installed 11.10 Oneiric Ocelot yesterday.
>>
>> And I get why unity is the way it is.  Tablets and touch screen devices are
>> cool.  Looks like if I were navigating with a touch interface this would be
>> OK.
>
>> Or is there a tutorial out there on using the onerous ocelot on a desktop
>> without scratching my eyes out?
>
> A month ago at the Boulder Colorado LUG meeting I asked for a show of
> hands: Who's using Unity?  Who's using GNOME Shell?  Very few hands went
> up, probably less than 5%.
>
> This was shocking to me because I'm normally someone who doesn't chase
> after the latest programs or features.  I like firefox, for example, and
> don't bother with Opera/Chrome/Safari etc.  Firefox doesn't have a
> problem that causes me to try another browser for a solution.
>
> I've found this is the argument against Unity and Gnome Shell.  The old
> ways are fine, why change them.
>
> What's got me worried about this is that we might just become complacent
> with old ways of doing things and not be open to *better* ways of doing
> things.  A lot of good systems in the past suffered from this and they
> got replaced by younger, fresher, *better* things.  Like Linux over
> Unix, GNOME and GTK over Motif, etc.
>
> So to test the theory, about three months ago when I upgraded to a new
> laptop at work, I installed 11.04 on it instead of a "safer" choice like
> 10.04 or 10.10 and *I kept Unity*.  I've been forcing myself to try it
> and find out where I like it and where I don't.
>
> What I like:
>
> Tapping the Windows/Start key with my left thumb to get to a prompt
> where I can type "fire" or "term" and have it launch a new firefox or
> gnome-terminal is nice.  It's simple, easy, quick and the same method
> finds and runs other programs very easily.
>
> And that's about it :)  Unity is actually a small but important part of
> the overall Linux environment.  Gnome's GTK is still doing a lot of work
> and the most significant change to visual and interactive Linux
> experiences is the compiz foundation that handles 3D presentations.
> Unity is just in your face enough that it feels like everything's
> changed.
>
> Here's what I didn't like:
>
> The dashboard, the big set of icons on the left, is not as good as
> adding a bunch of icons to a traditional Gnome panel.  I configured my
> dash to always be visible -- having it come and go exposed video driver
> issues and just didn't feel right (for now.) When you click on something
> like firefox in the dash, it launches the dash.  When you click a second
> time, it takes you to your already running firefox instead of launching
> a new fox. That's wrong and I haven't found a way around it.  Power
> users want lots of terminals and browsers and we shouldn't be held back.
>
> When I launch that firefox, chances it will be maximized which requires
> me to take another step to un-maximize it.  (waste of time)  I've read
> that if you close an app, like firefox that's using 70% or more of a
> screen, when you open it again Unity will open it full screen. Haven't
> been able to change this behaviour but I can live with it.
>
> I don't like the Omnibar or whatever it is that causes your traditional
> File|Edit|Print|etc menu bar to be at the very top of the screen, Mac
> style, regardless of where your app's windows actually are.  When you
> have two large monitors (or even one!) that's a waste of time as I have
> to move my mouse from the bottom left to the top left just to choose
> something.  I was able to disable this in Unity --without it, I would
> have had to stop using Unity.
>
> The two other things I lost are the traditional gnome applets that can
> be added to the top panel.  I normally add a workspace switcher that not
> only shows me how many workspaces i have and lets me easily move amongst
> them, but it uses thumbnails to show me what spaces are filled with what
> and what are empty.  I haven't found that in Unity.  I've also tried
> using a desktop with workspaces 2 rows x 2 columns instead of 1 row by 5
> columns.  I find without the workspace applet hints I go searching all
> my desktops a lot.  Configuring a hot key for the compiz's "Scale" and
> "Expo" plugins helps a lot to overcome this.
>
> The other applet is a system monitor with small graphs.  I was able to
> find a replacement of this that does the same thing, but slightly
> differently.
>
> I don't miss the hierarchical menu of applications.  The launcher works
> well to take you to what you know you have, to suggest things that can
> be installed, and show you options for different apps.  That's a nice
> change in the right direction, IMHO.
>
> So if you've read this far, here is the important take-away:
>
> By forcing myself to use Unity, I've forced myself to consider the
> status-quo of my ways:
>
> * I now defend some old ways with principled arguments as to why things
> should be a certain way.  (Each window having its own menu bar is one.)
>
> * I got to know compiz a lot more in order to find solutions to problems
> Unity introduced.  Since compiz works in Unity, GNOME3 or "Classic
> Gnome" I've gained skills to help with any of them.
>
> * I've learned that some new ways of doing things -- the windows key
> launcher -- are something I'm happy I found.  I ignored Gnome Do which
> probably does similar, but now I'm hooked.
>
> If you have the opportunity to try Unity or Gnome Shell, I would
> encourage you to do so for the benefits it provides to you and because
> we need to try innovative things and provide the developers with
> feedback.  They're making these changes because they want something
> better.  It's not there yet, but it's headed in the right direction.
> Novice users will like Unity and Pros will like it in the future when
> the developers embrace their wants as well.
>
> I switch from Fedora 14 to Fedora 16 next month and will fully embrace
> Gnome Shell and see if I can keep it without tearing my hair out.
>
>
> --
> Maxwell Spangler
> ========================================================================
>        Linux System Administration / Computing Services
>        Photography / Graphics Design / Writing
>        Fort Collins, Colorado
>        http://www.maxwellspangler.com
>
>
>
> --
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