I never imagined this would happen, but I think Ubuntu has jumped the shark.
When I first looked at Ubuntu 11.10, I wondered what the big deal was. It looked like there was a menu bar on the left side of the screen instead of the bottom. Then I tried doing stuff. Of course, the pretty purple/pink background is about the only thing in common between the new Ubunu UI and the old one.
The left menu bar has a now-you-see-it-now-you-don't quality that would make multitasking tricky. Then there are the applications (like Firefox) with the now-you-see-it-now-you-don't menu bar at the top of the window. The icon with the Ubuntu logo leads to the big menu for various functions. (I guess this is the mobile interface everyone talks about.)
Gone is the full menu common to Linux Mint, antiX Linux, Puppy Linux, Damn Small Linux, Windows XP, Windows 98, Windows 95, and even the old Ubuntu. You can't even right-click on the desktop to see the full menu showing most or all of the installed programs.
To add insult to injury, Ubuntu 11.04 and 11.10 feel slow with 2 GB of RAM. This is the Hummer of Linux distros. The old Ubuntu flew with 2 GB of RAM and was roughly as heavy as Windows XP. In contrast, Linux Mint Debian Edition flies with only 512 MB of RAM.
Ubuntu has finally done what would have been inconceivable just a few years ago - it caught up to Windows in the bloatware department. I don't have significant experience with Windows Vista or 7, but I'm sure the new Ubuntu has to be as heavy as Windows 7 and possibly as heavy as Windows Vista. This would have been completely inconceivable just a few years ago.
Now that I've tried out Unity, I'm qualified to say that Ubuntu has jumped the shark. User unfriendly + extremely bloated = EPIC FAIL. While I'm sure the new Ubuntu can be tweaked, people who have the time and know-how to do this would be better off tweaking a bare-bones Debian installation or something like Arch Linux, Gentoo Linux, or Slackware. At least these alternatives would provide a fast and lightweight setup.
Canonical needs to be wildly successful in the mobile market to compensate for the loss of desktop users. I think many more Ubuntu users will defect to Linux Mint and other distros when support for the current LTS version ends in 2013. I don't understand why the same OS needs to work for desktops and mobile devices. Canonical could have continued designing Ubuntu for the desktop and rolled out a separate mobile OS. It could have even borrowed elements of the desktop in the interest of expediency.
I think the Ubuntu controversy is a sneak preview of what's ahead for Windows 8. The average Windows user is even more resistant to change than the average Linux user. I think Windows 8 will be a flop and possibly damage Microsoft even more than Vista did.
Ubuntu has jumped the shark
7 posts
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- Posts: 51 swiftlinuxcreator
- Joined: 15 Nov 2010
- Posts: 54 SaminBare
- Joined: 30 May 2010
#2
========= SCRAPER REMOVED AN EMBEDDED LINK HERE ===========
url was:"https://secure.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/wiki/Jumping_the_shark"
linktext was:"https://secure.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/ ... _the_shark"
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"Jumping the shark is an idiom used to describe the moment in the evolution of a television show when it begins a decline in quality that is beyond recovery."
No wonder I did not understand what this idiom meant -- I do not watch television!
BTW -- to last comment in your rant -- Let's hope so!
to using LMDE instead of antiX -- maybe Swift Linux has jumped the shark!
========= SCRAPER REMOVED AN EMBEDDED LINK HERE ===========
url was:"https://secure.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/wiki/Jumping_the_shark"
linktext was:"https://secure.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/ ... _the_shark"
====================================
"Jumping the shark is an idiom used to describe the moment in the evolution of a television show when it begins a decline in quality that is beyond recovery."
No wonder I did not understand what this idiom meant -- I do not watch television!
BTW -- to last comment in your rant -- Let's hope so!
to using LMDE instead of antiX -- maybe Swift Linux has jumped the shark!
- Posts: 146 Eperbab
- Joined: 10 Dec 2012
#3
I am a former Ubuntu user. Actually, I'm still busy with moving emails and apps collected during the years.
Why I am here? Repositories of 10.10 were closed, and I tried to use 12.04 + Unity. After a few days I decided to delete Unity disaster and Gnome3.
Main points:
- no application launch menu
- no customizable desktop icons
- no taskbar
- optimized for tablets/smartphones, but I am a desktop user, 32" screen
- menu bar moved away from window ( I have to click on the top left corner of screen, even if I have a small window at bottom right)
- resource heavy
- strange package dependencies
- applications in use should not be removed at dist-upgrade
- manually removed apps should not be reinstalled automatically during next update
Just a few examples about resource usage: Ubuntu One client is always started by default (40 MB), One-configurator (keeps multiple pc's synchronized) 35 MB. Software center loads flash based ads from internet first, content later. Also a backup to network drive (wich I don't have at home) was running. Hopefully there are no apache servers activated.
Actually, I have never registered to the One cloud, and only had one PC with Ubuntu installed, and - most likely- will never buy from software center. And don't want to watch ads inside my own OS. Even Macrohard SingleDoor doesn't do that after the installation. Managed to remove most of the Unity/gnome3 package, one-conf, one-client and soft-center, went down to 205 MB RAM usage at idle with MATE, but everything may come back with the next update.
Strange package dependencies:
- removing One-configurator also removes software-center ( if I don't want to synchronize, I also don't want to install applications?)
- completely removing Unity also removes Ubuntu-desktop. Some libg* packages are depending on it. The next update pulls in ubuntu-desktop and reinstalls Unity in it's full glory.
- a few years ago gnome-desktop was depending on evolution email client. I have used thunderbird, so removed evolution .. and gnome2.
Also annoying, that twice a year (dist-upgrade) I have to worry about my apps. I never know If my email client or anything else will be removed or not. Back in 2006 I have installed Ubuntu 6.05, because it was fast and lightweight (min. requirement: AMD K8, 128 MB RAM), and I was fed up with windows viruses. Ubuntu become fat. At the same time, Windows 8 is faster, and lighter than Windows7, wich is faster and lighter, than Vista.
I agree, that"Canonical could have continued designing Ubuntu for the desktop and rolled out a separate mobile OS.", so they are going in the wrong direction. Not in my direction, at least.
Why I am here? Repositories of 10.10 were closed, and I tried to use 12.04 + Unity. After a few days I decided to delete Unity disaster and Gnome3.
Main points:
- no application launch menu
- no customizable desktop icons
- no taskbar
- optimized for tablets/smartphones, but I am a desktop user, 32" screen
- menu bar moved away from window ( I have to click on the top left corner of screen, even if I have a small window at bottom right)
- resource heavy
- strange package dependencies
- applications in use should not be removed at dist-upgrade
- manually removed apps should not be reinstalled automatically during next update
Just a few examples about resource usage: Ubuntu One client is always started by default (40 MB), One-configurator (keeps multiple pc's synchronized) 35 MB. Software center loads flash based ads from internet first, content later. Also a backup to network drive (wich I don't have at home) was running. Hopefully there are no apache servers activated.
Actually, I have never registered to the One cloud, and only had one PC with Ubuntu installed, and - most likely- will never buy from software center. And don't want to watch ads inside my own OS. Even Macrohard SingleDoor doesn't do that after the installation. Managed to remove most of the Unity/gnome3 package, one-conf, one-client and soft-center, went down to 205 MB RAM usage at idle with MATE, but everything may come back with the next update.
Strange package dependencies:
- removing One-configurator also removes software-center ( if I don't want to synchronize, I also don't want to install applications?)
- completely removing Unity also removes Ubuntu-desktop. Some libg* packages are depending on it. The next update pulls in ubuntu-desktop and reinstalls Unity in it's full glory.
- a few years ago gnome-desktop was depending on evolution email client. I have used thunderbird, so removed evolution .. and gnome2.
Also annoying, that twice a year (dist-upgrade) I have to worry about my apps. I never know If my email client or anything else will be removed or not. Back in 2006 I have installed Ubuntu 6.05, because it was fast and lightweight (min. requirement: AMD K8, 128 MB RAM), and I was fed up with windows viruses. Ubuntu become fat. At the same time, Windows 8 is faster, and lighter than Windows7, wich is faster and lighter, than Vista.
I agree, that"Canonical could have continued designing Ubuntu for the desktop and rolled out a separate mobile OS.", so they are going in the wrong direction. Not in my direction, at least.
- Posts: 3 Red44Katun
- Joined: 09 Mar 2013
#4
I tried Ubuntu, and from the get-go I could not understand why it was so popular. I liked Mint, it was more plain and straight-forward. With MATE and Cinnamon I think it tips the scales in its favor. More stable with more options.
To be honest it was Ubuntu that scared me away from Debians for a long time. Partly due to their popularity, and second because"user-friendly" in my experience translated into restriction of options. Thats something Windows is big on. They are even removing the Command Prompt from Windows 8 entirely. So your stuck with a GUI, and forget about any kind of coding outside Visual Studio.
I've even been told Ubuntu has started placing ads directly into their OS. I suppose it doesn't violate any rules of Linux, it is Free Software and all. But it does defeat the purpuse for why the majority of us choose Linux in the first place. I guess thats what happens whenever a Corporation runs these things. They over-develop the programs due to their organizational structure. Bugs pile up, and the system is cluttered as they play political games with other vendors.
To be honest it was Ubuntu that scared me away from Debians for a long time. Partly due to their popularity, and second because"user-friendly" in my experience translated into restriction of options. Thats something Windows is big on. They are even removing the Command Prompt from Windows 8 entirely. So your stuck with a GUI, and forget about any kind of coding outside Visual Studio.
I've even been told Ubuntu has started placing ads directly into their OS. I suppose it doesn't violate any rules of Linux, it is Free Software and all. But it does defeat the purpuse for why the majority of us choose Linux in the first place. I guess thats what happens whenever a Corporation runs these things. They over-develop the programs due to their organizational structure. Bugs pile up, and the system is cluttered as they play political games with other vendors.
- Posts: 146 Eperbab
- Joined: 10 Dec 2012
#5
Ubuntu was popular, because it was fast, resource friendly and offered fresh software. Minimum system requirement for 6.05 was 128 MB RAM, video card and monitor capable to run at 640x480 resolution. I had to manually fix a lot of things, but it was relatively tiny and efficient.
I really liked it until version 9.10, which was probably the best Ubuntu ever released.
As the system grew up in size and complexity, the release cycle (2 edition per year) became overstressed. They have no time to develop and carefully test software, because it's always release time. Example (based on my memories): Canonical stated, that the possibility of running windows applications on WINE is a key feature. Now it didn't work at all in 10.04 LTS edition. LTS editions are supposed to be tested more carefully, and supposed to get more bug fixes. A key feature was not tested at all. Status of not working WINE was set to 'won't fix'. In other words: please upgrade to the next version, we don't have time to fix bugs..
And now, they are less popular.
I really liked it until version 9.10, which was probably the best Ubuntu ever released.
As the system grew up in size and complexity, the release cycle (2 edition per year) became overstressed. They have no time to develop and carefully test software, because it's always release time. Example (based on my memories): Canonical stated, that the possibility of running windows applications on WINE is a key feature. Now it didn't work at all in 10.04 LTS edition. LTS editions are supposed to be tested more carefully, and supposed to get more bug fixes. A key feature was not tested at all. Status of not working WINE was set to 'won't fix'. In other words: please upgrade to the next version, we don't have time to fix bugs..
And now, they are less popular.
- Posts: 28 mrt-prodz
- Joined: 10 Jan 2013
#6
And it's not over, I wonder what's going to happen when MIR will comes out (if it ever comes out). Will graphic cards manufacturer will support Wayland as well? Or will they go only the Ubuntu way with MIR?
- Posts: 45 TonyVanDam
- Joined: 03 Apr 2013
#7
Ubuntu (and the other *buntus to an extent) jumped the sharks long before the Unity desktop environment came along. I say the"JTS" moment was when Linux Mint surpassed Ubuntu for the title of"most user-friendly Linux distro".
We can all get into a (un)healthy debate about using VS. not using non-free codecs all day long and it means nothing to first time Linux users that just recently stopped using Microsoft Windows. These days, first time Linux users would like for their sound cards AND their video graphic cards to work straight away after installing a Linux distro without hassle and that is why Linux Mint is what Ubuntu should have been.
We can all get into a (un)healthy debate about using VS. not using non-free codecs all day long and it means nothing to first time Linux users that just recently stopped using Microsoft Windows. These days, first time Linux users would like for their sound cards AND their video graphic cards to work straight away after installing a Linux distro without hassle and that is why Linux Mint is what Ubuntu should have been.