Ok

I was going to write a tirade about the non-functionality of the new 12.04 and why we can't have an OS that WE want.

But I stopped - went back to uninstall the apps that I didn't think could be uninstalled - Firefox and Thunderbird - and I also got my old GNOME 2 look back complete with panel applets.

Life in steveneddy land is good again and I am content.

On a different note - we are moving to McKinney, TX - and I can't wait.

If you were talking about the non-functionality of 12.10, I might agree with you but 12.04 works fine for me....unless you have a different definition of non-functionality than I do. I'm assuming that you're dissatisfied with Unity since you mention Gnome 2. I have no problem with Unity and you *can* have the OS you want - it's Linux. That's kind of the point. I don't know what gave you the idea that certain apps cannot be uninstalled, pretty much anything can be uninstalled in Linux. In fact, I've killed a few installs doing exactly that.

You are correct - but in previous versions of Ubuntu - possibly before your time - many applications were not able to simply be uninstalled due to a "package deal" with them and other unique apps - if you removed one you had to remove all of them and compromise the stability of the install.

I was happy to see that I COULD uninstall Firefox and it's components with no additional fanfare.

And with Gnome2 - although it's not exactly the same as before - at least you can find stuff easier. Unity is too confusing and too many button pushes before getting to an administrator menu.