"5 Out of 11 Crashed Unity In Canonical's Study" - Slashdot

[Visceral Monkey]

An interesting read about a recent usability study for Unity. Supposedly these issues have been fixed, etc, but it's still interesting.

http://news.slashdot.org/story/11/04/16/0239213/5-Out-of-11-Crashed-Unity-In-Canonicals-Study

Thoughts? Do you still think Unity should ship as the default? I'd love to see the same usability information for Gnome 3..

[r-senior]

They all used the same machine, so the statistic isn't really meaningful.

[Visceral Monkey]

They all used the same machine, so the statistic isn't really meaningful.

This would be interesting if true, but I haven't seen anything that points to it. In a typical Usability lab setup, participants use different machines.

And for those concerned about sample size, remember that this isn't a survey. Nielsen recommends a sample size of 5 - 15, so 11 is actually pretty good.

http://www.useit.com/alertbox/20000319.html

[KegHead]

Hi!

It's not a pandemic.

KegHead

[r-senior]

I believe it is true. From:

https://lists.ubuntu.com/archives/ubuntu-devel/2011-April/032988.html

"The test machine was a Lenovo ThinkPad T410i running Ubuntu Natty with
unity 3.8.2-0ubuntu1 and compiz 1:0.9.4git20110322-0ubuntu5."

My version of Unity currently stands at 3.8.8-0ubuntu2 and we are still 12 days from release of course.

I'm not saying the real picture is better or worse, I just don't think it is meaningful because different hardware, particularly graphics cards, is going to be a major factor.

[Visceral Monkey]

I believe it is true. From:

https://lists.ubuntu.com/archives/ubuntu-devel/2011-April/032988.html

"The test machine was a Lenovo ThinkPad T410i running Ubuntu Natty with
unity 3.8.2-0ubuntu1 and compiz 1:0.9.4git20110322-0ubuntu5."

My version of Unity currently stands at 3.8.8-0ubuntu2 and we are still 12 days from release of course.

I'm not saying the real picture is better or worse, I just don't think it is meaningful because different hardware, particularly graphics cards, is going to be a major factor.

Haha, that *is* interesting.

[teachop]

Based on reading the actual test results last night, I put Unity back on my test laptop. I had taken a break of a couple weeks in testing Unity due to weariness of the constant crashing. It is still crashy, and I can see why it is confusing to people when I reflect on the specific test results.

I have seen posters say something to the effect that if you want a stable system, use the LTS, as if the other releases are beta tests. That isn't how it is presented. Ubuntu is the best place to be, and using Xubuntu the last couple weeks assures me that 11.04 is solid good stuff in the underpinnings.

I sure hope Unity turns out well somehow, as it will be uniquely visible to people checking Linux out.

[VMC]

Mine only crashes around the Trash can. For some reason, if it crashes at all its when I try to empty the can. I've tried several ways of doing that. one file in there then empty, then several, then out of no wheres it crashes.

I haven't reported anything because I think the problem lies somewheres else. All in all, Unity has become very stable.

[teachop]

All in all, Unity has become very stable.
That is good to hear, hope that is true for almost everybody.

[sgage]

Mine only crashes around the Trash can. For some reason, if it crashes at all its when I try to empty the can. I've tried several ways of doing that. one file in there then empty, then several, then out of no wheres it crashes.

I haven't reported anything because I think the problem lies somewheres else. All in all, Unity has become very stable.

I had the same trash can problem for a while, but it seems to have been fixed in the last few days. Are you fully updated?

[donniezazen]

People fail to understand that these problems are transients. Unity is graphically best Ubuntu version so far and after learning some cool shortcuts from Jorge Castro's webcast, i can say it is super easy to work on Unity.


http://castrojo.tumblr.com/post/4472015615/how-i-multitask-in-unity

[23dornot23d]

The video you mentioned should maybe be added to the startup of the Ubuntu install ...

Looks good ......

Thanks >>>> have now subscribed to these videos (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ryDE2klMGU8) ...

[kansasnoob]

Wow, one more opinion thread :rolleyes:

Look, in it's current state, Unity just doesn't work for me, but many others love it!

What's the problem?

This Beta 2 is the last step before final and if you're still holding out some hope that Unity will be dropped as default you're living in dream-land!

There are quite adequate DE choices for Natty, are there not?

[Visceral Monkey]

Wow, one more opinion thread :rolleyes:

Look, in it's current state, Unity just doesn't work for me, but many others love it!

What's the problem?

This Beta 2 is the last step before final and if you're still holding out some hope that Unity will be dropped as default you're living in dream-land!

There are quite adequate DE choices for Natty, are there not?

Err, it's not an opinion thread. I have no issue with Unity, it's just linking a slashdot story on Usability...

[Merk42]

Where is the usability study on GNOME Shell, or even the GNOME Panels?

[donniezazen]

Wow, one more opinion thread :rolleyes:

Look, in it's current state, Unity just doesn't work for me, but many others love it!

What's the problem?

This Beta 2 is the last step before final and if you're still holding out some hope that Unity will be dropped as default you're living in dream-land!

There are quite adequate DE choices for Natty, are there not?

Roam wasn't built in a day neither will Unity. Eat some :popcorn:

[Brian Vaughan]

It's worth noting that Slashdot is a major center for the IT equivalent of, "This band was great, but they got popular and they suck now."

[fjgaude]

People fail to understand that these problems are transients. Unity is graphically best Ubuntu version so far and after learning some cool shortcuts from Jorge Castro's webcast, i can say it is super easy to work on Unity.


http://castrojo.tumblr.com/post/4472015615/how-i-multitask-in-unity

Yes, it is super stable and fast right now, today. I use an Intel-i5 with its HD graphics. Simply works! Workflow is the best I've ever had, but it took a day to figure out all the things Unity does and how it does it to make it that way. Bravo!

[Rody]

Unity is unusable for me. It always ends up crashing. I dare not do any important work on it.

[Visceral Monkey]

It's worth noting that Slashdot is a major center for the IT equivalent of, "This band was great, but they got popular and they suck now."

Haha, are you calling Slashdot Hipsters? I'd have to agree.

[kansasnoob]

Am I wrong to call this an opinion thread that should be at the Community Cafe?

And did I deserve being being told to eat some popcorn? Show me how much you've participated in the dev process!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Visceral Monkey]

Am I wrong to call this an opinion thread that should be at the Community Cafe?

And did I deserve being being told to eat some popcorn? Show me how much you've participated in the dev process!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

You seem to get offended easily. It was never intended to be an opinion thread, rather, it was made so people could comment on a story that a popular technology site was reporting on regarding the usability of Unity, nothing more and nothing less. As someone else pointed out, there even appears to be a flaw in their testing methodology, so that's *good* to know when discussing the pros and cons of the Unity should the subject come up again. I don't have an opinion on Unity either way, in fact, I'm using it right now.

[MacUntu]

OH NOES - a beta that crashes!

Ralph says: "That's unpossible!"

[MadCow108]

I like this part of the result:


"Every participant who was asked understood most of the launcher items. P7 and P11 thought that 'LibreOffice Calc' was a calculator, and P7 and P9 thought Ubuntu Software Center was the Recycle Bin."

I fully agree with that :popcorn:
and the workspace switcher looks like a terminal

[pony-tail]

Am I wrong to call this an opinion thread that should be at the Community Cafe?
Yes
It appears that every time there is some dissent you want to have the thread moved

[cariboo]

I agree with kansasnoob, this is a thread that should have been started in the Cafe. Quite a few of us subscribe to the ubuntu-devel mailing list, and have seen the results directly from the source.

Even though I have been a long time member of Slashdot (I have a 5 digit user id), it isn't one of the most reliable sources for news.

[Primefalcon]

Has anyone been trying 11.04 with gome shell from the repo's? if so how does it fare

[danbuter]

Where is the usability study on GNOME Shell, or even the GNOME Panels?

The Gnome UI guys don't need them, they're experts.

[mcduck]

The Gnome UI guys don't need them, they're experts.

Actually, they are exactly where one would expect them to be. At the Gnome's usability project site:
http://live.gnome.org/UsabilityProject
http://live.gnome.org/UsabilityProject/UsabilityTests
http://live.gnome.org/UsabilityProject/Articles

[Paqman]

This would be interesting if true, but I haven't seen anything that points to it. In a typical Usability lab setup, participants use different machines.


I've done usability testing for Canonical, and it was one-on-one.

[NCLI]

Actually, they are exactly where one would expect them to be. At the Gnome's usability project site:
http://live.gnome.org/UsabilityProject
http://live.gnome.org/UsabilityProject/UsabilityTests
http://live.gnome.org/UsabilityProject/Articles
Either I'm very bad at navigating that site, or there are no studies listed there.

Lots of procedures for how studies should be done, sure, but I can't seem to find any actual studies.

Could you link me to one?

[gnomeuser]

Either I'm very bad at navigating that site, or there are no studies listed there.

Lots of procedures for how studies should be done, sure, but I can't seem to find any actual studies.

Could you link me to one?

I know Novell did some testing under the BetterDesktop label a couple of years ago but I am unaware of GNOME doing it's own usability testing, at least in any recent organised form.

Perhaps some suitable Friend of GNOME should suggest that on the back of his/her monthly membership check.

[Lisimelis]

For the guys dishing Unity I'd like to remind them that they are talking about a GUI that is in the beta of the 1.0 version and still works pretty great!!! Hasn't crashed a single time in my acer aspire one yet!

[3rdalbum]

I actually haven't crashed Unity in a long time.

If 5 out of 11 testers crashed Unity though... have 100% of Gnome users crashed Nautilus or the Gnome Panel? Probably close to that!

[Paqman]

have 100% of Gnome users crashed Nautilus or the Gnome Panel? Probably close to that!

It can be very educational to switch on apport on a stable release just to see how often stuff like this does crash quietly.

[StephanG]

Just curious, but didn't Canonical get to choose the hardware for this study?

And since this was a "usability" study, and not a "stability" study, doesn't that mean that Canonical chose the hardware that was LEAST likely to crash?

If that's so, then half of the users crashing Unity within one hour of testing it, it seems to be pretty serious. Especially considering that the next release is the final stable release.

I hope the Ubuntu devs know what they're doing...

[Paqman]

Just curious, but didn't Canonical get to choose the hardware for this study?

And since this was a "usability" study, and not a "stability" study, doesn't that mean that Canonical chose the hardware that was LEAST likely to crash?


I doubt they went and bought hardware specifically for the test. They would have just used what they already had.