Unity Mega Discussion Thread

[Jacobonbuntu]

It's the age of entitlement. People want it their way and they don't think anyone has a right to defy their wishes. I personally don't understand that (although I am certainly guilty of it sometimes), but that's how it is. Canonical can do whatever they choose, even if what they choose is stupid (which Unity is not).

An interesting point of view. I also believe it is always a few brilliant people who make (or sense?) new visions and directions in which things are going. Giving people what they already want is the worst thing you can do, it makes them porer than they are.

[haqking]

Great idea to make a fresh start with a relevant and instructive first post, s.fox

I am not happy reading the current 'popularity window' of http://distrowatch.com See the statistics of the last 30 days I hope that Ubuntu will get back at the top again, and I fear to wait until the next LTS release 12.04.

Many things must be tried, because there is so much potential in Ubuntu. There should also be other means of communication, for example directly on the Ubuntu download page, to give people alternatives, or even prompt them to consider which version and flavour to download (for a particular setting of hardware and tasks).

What can we do, here at the Ubuntu Forums?

Anyway, I'll be happy to refer to your post when relevant.
Olle

What can we do ?

Easy head over there and keep clicking links and visiting pages as that is all it is.

I have visited lots of links on there, doesnt mean i use and am interested in any of them

The stats are page hits it does not reflect usage at all.

Alot of the recent hits are probably because people keep linking to the site and so people head over there and browse mint and others to see what all the fuss is about which is of course fuss.

Who cares, use what you like and works for you.

use the forums for support with your given issue and thats it. And this isnt directed at you Ollie just in general about distrowatch and other stats of no importance or consequence when all this is is here is a support forum.

for those with issues with Unity or any other feature or distro why not ask for your money back

Cheers

[Garthhh]

Even if the decline is 100% genuine, does it mean that a person must abandon his vision? A sort of it will never get off the ground type of argument so stop it right now?

Did I choose Ubuntu because it was No. 1 on the chart? Or for other reasons?

decisions have consequences
big changes are always a gamble
for an organization, it isn't always how good you are, but can you adapt to unanticipated conditions
there is value in being number 1
success breeds success

[WasMeHere]

Even if the decline is 100% genuine, does it mean that a person must abandon his vision? A sort of it will never get off the ground type of argument so stop it right now?

Did I choose Ubuntu because it was No. 1 on the chart? Or for other reasons?

I see your point, but it is not my point. What I think is important is what to do to help Ubuntu through these problems. How to help people with problems, or rather one step ahead of that, how to help people stay away from problems.

For example
- suggest slow adopters to consider another flavour or version (carefully without insulting them),
- suggest tweaks or even better minor improvements in the default settings so that the first experience will taste success. This already started by rg4w and Jacobonbuntu in this thread

[rg4w]

I am not happy reading the current 'popularity window' of http://distrowatch.com See the statistics of the last 30 days

Could someone please sticky this? <g>:

DistroWatch stats represent page hit counts at DistroWatch only. DistroWatch is a site frequented by distro-hoppers, but rarely if ever by the rest of the computing world. Almost none of my friends, many of whom are long-time computing professionals, have ever even heard of the site.

For comparison, we can look at Alexa site rankings as a useful measure of relative interest:

microsoft.com: 28
apple.com: 30
ubuntu.com: 1,194
linuxmint.com: 9,685
distrowatch.com: 12,773
ubuntusatanic.org: 952,318

In short, DistroWatch numbers bear no relationship at all to any actual measure of installed base or even general interest for the market as a whole.

Moreover, as Ubuntu continues to grow among the general population we can expect its relative ranking at a site that caters specifically to distro switchers to drop, since a large majority those switching to any other distro are likely coming from Ubuntu.

These realities of the inherent nature of DistroWatch stats have been discussed time and again, yet they keep coming up.

Aren't any other statistics, any at all, that show Ubuntu popularity in the sort of alarming decline so frequently suggested here?

Meanwhile:

Dell offers machines with Ubuntu Linux in 220 Chinese stores
http://www.theinquirer.net/inquirer/...chinese-stores

Ubuntu launches at retail in Portugal with ASUS
http://blog.canonical.com/2011/11/18...gal-with-asus/

Asus will preload Ubuntu Linux on three Eee PCs
http://www.theinquirer.net/inquirer/...-linux-eee-pcs


Very few people ever choose an OS; they just use whatever came with their computer.

Where are the Mint machines?

[WasMeHere]

Could someone please sticky this? <g>:

DistroWatch stats represent page hit counts at DistroWatch only. DistroWatch is a site frequented by distro-hoppers, but rarely if ever by the rest of the computing world. Almost none of my friends, many of whom are long-time computing professionals, have ever even heard of the site.
...
Meanwhile:

Dell offers machines with Ubuntu Linux in 220 Chinese stores
http://www.theinquirer.net/inquirer/...chinese-stores

Ubuntu launches at retail in Portugal with ASUS
http://blog.canonical.com/2011/11/18...gal-with-asus/

Asus will preload Ubuntu Linux on three Eee PCs
http://www.theinquirer.net/inquirer/...-linux-eee-pcs

Very few people ever choose an OS; they just use whatever came with their computer.

Where are the Mint machines?

I see your point, that we should not put too much emphasis on the Distrowatch count. OK!

I'm glad when new machines are sold with Ubuntu. Actually I bought one with gutsy installed way back in 2008.

I think that Mint cannot be be sold with the computer because of licensing issues. The multimedia support is delivered with the system and it includes software that must be downloaded by the end-user to be (more or less) legal. Correct me if I'm wrong!

What version and flavour of linux would you suggest to a newbie? Why?

[Handssolow]

Given the shortcomings with distrowatch's ranking being based simply on numbers of visitors clicking on a link, is there a source available which might indicate better the actual numbers of users of each distro?

Perhaps the traffic from a single server supplying Ubuntu OS updates over time would be better than distrowatch's rankings. For example, have the numbers of systems requiring Ubuntu updates dropped of the proverbial cliff since Unity came along? Yes or No?
Does Canonical have figures available for the relative popularity of Ubuntu versus the rest of Canonical's family of OSs? Are there any shifts?

How popular amongst users is each distro currently? How popular will each distro be in 6 months time. Place your bets folks.

[Jacobonbuntu]

Does Canonical have figures available for the relative popularity of Ubuntu versus the rest of Canonical's family of OSs?

Yes, they do (If you mean Unity versus Xubuntu and the rest)
http://www.omgubuntu.co.uk/2011/11/p...pular-desktop/

[Handssolow]

It's a popularity poll, like a talent contest? Numbers of update uploads speak louder than words.

[Jacobonbuntu]

It's a popularity poll, like a talent contest? Numbers of update uploads speak louder than words.

How popular amongst users is each distro currently?

correct me if I am wrong, but I believe you asked for it????

never mind, I am not really interested in distro-watch nor popularity-figures, I just use what suits me