I have no desire to start a Holy War. This is not a rant or a whine from someone too set in Windows/Mac's ways complaining about having to get used to something new. I'm a software developer, and have been using Linux since 2006 and specifically Ubuntu since 2008. I'm not a Linux/Ubuntu expert by any stretch, but I'm not afraid to get my hands dirty, troubleshoot, research, google, and resolve issues, I've had many lovely experiences with Ubuntu, and it's still the only thing I run on 4 PCs (soon 5) at home. Any Windows OS running on any of my irons, runs as a VM and only when I really need it (such as running proprietary MS stuff like SQL Server).
What concerns me is this: The developers (Canonical, or whoever they may be), seem to be motivated by the desire to compete with Windows, and that's a noble goal, in a way, to attract Windows users. That's great. In their zeal to do so, and apparently (I could be wrong) to follow an accelerated release timeline, compromises are made that end up frustrating and alienating the core of the installed base. Examples:
1. Unity and the Win-7-like vertical launchpad - I get it, we're trying to attract Windows users. To even marginally more proficient users like me, it's a wart. It adds layers of concealment that serve to hide things we need to know when trying to resolve problems. If this is going to be part of the OS, thats' fine and dandy, but at least allow users who are familiar with the old kde or gnome interfaces to keep what they know, what they have invested time in learning. No, the "gnome-fallback" is not an adequate alternative, it feels buggy, unstable. Result? Impacted productivity.
2. Many tools are deprecated and replaced by less-than-equivalent options, or abandoned altogether. What was wrong with, say, Klamav, that it had to be ditched? clamtk feels like a toy written by some high-school sophomore. What was wrong with gcalctool, that it had to be abandoned? The replacement, gnome-calculator, does not have the registers gcalctools had, that allowed you to store and recall values. Why? Why? Why? Result? Impacted productivity.
3. Just found out that vmplayer won't run on 13.04 without some addiional under-the-hood fixes, which I've researched, implemented, and it's still not running (posted question separately on appropriate forum). Again, why? Is the rush to release for competition's sake compelling enough to release incomplete and inadequate systems? If the goal is to attract converts, that's not how you attract converts.
I really don't mind adjusting and adapting to changes in "the way I do things" on my systems, I've been doing it since at least Hardy Heron. With every new release, I expect to grit my teeth and struggle a bit, and every time I end up with a perfectly satisfactory solution. But for the last 5 days I've been struggling with Raring Ringtail, and it's sill completely unacceptable. My worst Windows-related nightmares didn't last that long.
So, I know this won't be a loss to anybody, but I might just reinstall Lucid from scratch, someone call me when there's a new LTS release that actually works, and is actually LTS.
Bookmarks