Ubiuntu 12.04 needs a lot of work

**calbaker** · August 24th, 2012

I had been using Ubuntu since 9.04, and I liked it less with each new release. Over that time, I feel like Ubuntu has sacrificed stability and speed for appearance and features.

I don't like the window management in 12.04 at all. I frequently find stray Windows on workspaces I have not even used. Ubuntu frequently fails to return from suspend. It sometimes fails to suspend on closing the lid, and this has resulted in cooking my laptop in a neoprene skin a couple of times. Sometimes, it returns from suspend, and then it randomly crashes a few minutes later. This has caused me to lose a good deal of data.

This has caused me to be quite frustrated because I know how great Ubuntu was before abandoning gnome. This led me to try other OS's that still use gnome, and first up was Debian. It is a lot of work to get anything worthwhile to happen on Debian because they are so conservative with the stable releases. I gave up on that.

Next, I wanted to try a completely different distro so I went with Fedora 17. Fedora 17 is fantastic. It combines all of the features I like about Unity with the lightweight feel of gnome2. Fedora is fast, stable, and everything just works. It was more effort to get all the codecs and such set up for playing media, but it's worth the effort for the enhanced productivity I can achieve with Fedora.

I hope that Ubuntu 12.10 can scale back on some of the fancier features and make something that works well. I feel alienated because I was expecting this current LTS version to just work.

Lastly, I will say that Ubuntu 12.04 is better than anything made by MS.

**Tamlynmac** · August 24th, 2012

calbaker

I've been Ubuntu only since 7.04 and agree with some of your assessment. However, instead of leaving the Ubuntu family I installed Xubuntu (XFCE) and have been very pleased with the result.

My only suggestion is to use what works for you. What the future has in store for Ubuntu, may or may not meet with your needs/expectations. Thus, it's only logical to remain in the environment that best meets said needs. Perhaps, you might occasionally, check in on the status of Ubuntu for reassessment.

However, posting here has no impact on the Ubuntu devs, as they don't often participate in the forums. If your seeking confrontation or recruiting for Fedora - good luck with that.

Thanks for sharing your feedback.

Just my $0.02

**tc101** · August 24th, 2012

However, instead of leaving the Ubuntu family I installed Xubuntu (XFCE) and have been very pleased with the result.

Does Xubuntu use Unity or a more standard menu system? I didn't like unity and am now testing Mint, which seems pretty good.

**The Cog** · August 24th, 2012

Xubuntu uses XFCE which is a more traditional style GUI, with a start menu and a desktop. I think it would be worth your while making a live CD of it just for a quick try out.

**synaptix** · August 25th, 2012

Originally Posted by tc101

Does Xubuntu use Unity or a more standard menu system? I didn't like unity and am now testing Mint, which seems pretty good.

Unity is Ubuntu only.

Xubuntu, by default install, uses a top taskbar (like Gnome 2) and a docking system panel on the bottom that autohides (in which case you can remove it as XFCE is very, very customizable).

The main menu is also that like of Gnome 2 with directory tree listings.

Lots of screenshots of Xubuntu 12.04 on Google images, just search for them.

**mastablasta** · August 25th, 2012

Originally Posted by calbaker

Ubuntu frequently fails to return from suspend. It sometimes fails to suspend on closing the lid, and this has resulted in cooking my laptop in a neoprene skin a couple of times..

That is a kernel issue i believe, not Ubuntu. perhpas using newer kernel could solve it, i don't know. i disabled the funciton for now (but i have a desktop so i know this could be very annoying on laptop)

**critin** · August 25th, 2012

I too, have only enjoyed ubuntu since 8.04. It just worked better for me than any other versions. I can't use unity on my computer though, so was forced to use something else. That 'something else' is going to be Xubuntu because 12.04 is beautiful and comes with most everything I need already installed. It has really improved. I'm using an old desktop, so don't know how it would affect a laptop. Try it and decide.

**tc101** · August 26th, 2012

From what I am reading here, I think I'll give Xubuntu a try. Are there any serious problems with it?

I installed Mint Cinnamon and like it OK, but you can't do themes or screen savers as easy as in ubuntu 10.04.

**vasa1** · August 26th, 2012

Originally Posted by tc101

From what I am reading here, I think I'll give Xubuntu a try. Are there any serious problems with it?

I installed Mint Cinnamon and like it OK, but you can't do themes or screen savers as easy as in ubuntu 10.04.

Many Mint users seem to now prefer Solus.

**calbaker** · August 27th, 2012

Originally Posted by mastablasta

That is a kernel issue i believe, not Ubuntu. perhpas using newer kernel could solve it, i don't know. i disabled the funciton for now (but i have a desktop so i know this could be very annoying on laptop)

Yea, interestingly, on Fedora, I have the problem with linux-3.5x but not with linux-3.3x so it must be a kernel issue. Anyway, it's quite a problem when I go in to give a presentation and find key slides either not there or at a previous state of editing after reboot.