Unity documentation and usability issues

[billz68]

Hi, I think I've seen bits and pieces of this issue here but can't really find an answer. First of all, I can't for the life of me figure out how to change anything in Unity. there is no "right click" on the launcher or the panel. How do I add items to the panel? How do I rearrange applications on the launcher? Can I move the Launcher to the bottom of my screen where I want it? I also can't set any preferred applications (like Thunderbird instead of Evolution for email for example) as the dropdown to select is disabled. I like having my most-used apps in the panel so I can just click and go. I don't like how I have to slide up the left side of the screen to open the Launcher. I'm sure all of these things can be configured as this is Linux after all, but I can't find ANY documentation anywhere on how to do it.

Will there be documentation when 11.04 is released? I just installed the beta a couple of days ago and it went fairly smoothly (I upgraded from 10.10) with only a couple of issues I was able to resolve quickly. But until I can find some information on how to use Unity - which is totally unintuitive - I'm going to stay with the "classic" desktop. I finally found out how to switch back.

I'm new to this forum so any help will be greatly appreciated.

Thanks!

[davidmohammed]

welcome to the forums.

Unity is for the most part work in progress. I'm hoping the usability issues would be sorted out by 11.10 - but for the moment we'll have to stick with what unity 11.04 currently programmed - use classic gnome - or use the new gnome3 ppa.

To rearrange the icons - click and hold the icon - move the icon out of the launcher and drag it back into its new position.

To pin a new application - start the application first - then right click the icon that appears in the launcher. Choose the option "Keep in launcher"

No you can't move the launcher - Mark Shuttleworth has dictated it must keep on the left... arguable decision at best...

I agree - the top left launch idea is naff - however - for me you can display the launcher quickly by pressing the "windows" symbol key.

[billz68]

Thanks David,

I didn't know about the "windows" key - see, another issue with having no documentation. And I want to pin apps to the panel at the top like in Gnome. I saw the "keep in launcher" option, which is like the same option in Windows 7 (which I have to use at work - ugh!) since they took away the quick launch toolbar. And I didn't know Shuttleworth had decided he knew best where the launcher should be. Seems counterintuitive to me. You can get more stuff on it if it's longer, which it could be at the bottom.

Anyway, I'm sticking with Gnome for now. I've finally figured out how to use it and it works for me. I may try one of the other desktops - KDE for example. But until I can customize Unity to fit how I want to use it then it's totally useless to me.

[davidmohammed]

I'm not going to persuade you otherwise... its going to be an interesting next 6 months - unity vs gnome3 vs kde 4.x vs everything else.

[ankspo71]

Hi,
It looks like they are already working on documentation for Unity.
Have a look at this link:
https://wiki.kubuntu.org/Unity

[billz68]

Thanks for that link. It looks like it's geared toward developers, but there is hope that there will be more. I do want to like Unity, and I hope that by the time 11.04 is released it will actually be customizable and usable.

[coffeecat]

Have a look at this link:
https://wiki.kubuntu.org/Unity

Interesting that it should appear on the Kubuntu wiki.

The same page appears on the Ubuntu wiki for those who prefer the "proper" colour scheme. :wink:

https://wiki.ubuntu.com/Unity

[billz68]

I searched over in Launchpad (I get confused where to look for things - here or there as they seem to be basically similar types of boards for similar purposes) and found quite a bit about Unity and frustrations using it. I also saw that the lack of customization ability was done on purpose to help new users. That's all well and good, but what about people who want to advance beyond that stage? I am a new user but have Unix experience and am learning how to do more each day. If Unity is going to be as it is with limited customization, I see many experienced users going to a different desktop once Gnome Classic is deprecated.

[movieman]

And I didn't know Shuttleworth had decided he knew best where the launcher should be. Seems counterintuitive to me. You can get more stuff on it if it's longer, which it could be at the bottom.

Try using a netbook; you really, really don't want anything non-essential at the top or bottom of a 1024x600 screen. My netbook used to dual-boot into XP and when I ran Windows update, between the Windows taskbar, the IE status bar, the IE menu bars, the various microsoft.com frames on the Windows update web site, etc, I could get about three lines of actual useful text on the screen. If all those things were at the left and right, then it would have been vastly more usable.

I'm not a fan of Unity, particularly because as of a couple of weeks ago it now crashes any time I close a Firefox window on my netbook, but I can certainly understand those kind of design choices.

[irv]

With all the talk about Unity I thought I would try something to see what would happen.
First: I have a Dell Inspiron 1521 running Ubuntu 10.10. I installed the Unity for netbooks in the package manager. I know I am not using a netbook.
After Installing it I rebooted my laptop and selected the Unity desktop. After the computer booted up I had my desktop wallpaper with no Icons or panels. Just the wallpaper. When I moved my mouse to the left side of the screen and as I moved my mouse up the screen blank rectangles would appear. I clicked on them and thing open like the trash can, and a window with a bunch of program icons. Didn't really work well so I reboot and went back to Gnome and uninstall Unity.
End of story.
I thought I would post this so someone else won't have to try it.

[K_V_B]

No you can't move the launcher - Mark Shuttleworth has dictated it must keep on the left... arguable decision at best...


I have a dual monitor setup, and the launcher is on the left of the right monitor. Is there any way to change that?

Also I noticed that when I set the "Launcher and Menus" setting to "Pushing the left edge of the screen" this has no effect. The launcher only appears when I go in the top left corner (of the right hand screen in this case...)

I would also like to be able to change the appearance of the top status/menu bar. How do I do that?

[billz68]

The last two posts, concerning the blank screen with the black boxes launching things and the dual monitor with the launcher on the left side of the right screen, as well as the inability to customize the panel at the top (are we allowed to call it a panel since this isn't Gnome?) are all just pushing my argument that Unity has to be about the worst GUI I have ever encountered on a desktop. I keep reading all the praise and accolades about how it's going to convince Windows users to switch to Linux, etc. How? Are they saying that they need to dumb down the desktop so that Windows users who have no clue what an operating system is can use it? I thought Linux was for intelligent people. Making a GUI for an Operating system that is supposed to be completely customizable, totally non-customizable, is just outright stupid.

Now that 11.04 is released, it still sucks. I've heard good things about Gnome 3. I'm going to dig around and see how I can install it. I'd go back to the "classic" desktop but it's no longer going to be supported. Personally, I think someone has spiked Shuttleworth's Kool-Aid.

If anyone here knows anything I don't about Unity and how to make it useful, feel free to respond.

[smittie]

No you can't move the launcher - Mark Shuttleworth has dictated it must keep on the left... arguable decision at best...


Mark Shuttleworth, is that Ubuntu for Steve Jobs? Unity sucks!

Smittie

[irv]

. . . inability to customize the panel at the top (are we allowed to call it a panel since this isn't Gnome?)

The right terminology for Unity: http://askubuntu.com/questions/10228/whats-the-right-terminology-for-unitys-ui-elements