With 12.10 are we still stuck with the silly unity interface?

[rg4w]

Yes there are other distros. However most are not suitable nor non-techies. And others, Like Fedora, which I've just been trying out, are not up to the quality standards of Ubuntu/Kubuntu. Ubuntu software center is very slick for example. The Fedora equivalent is way behind. Ubuntu is to thank for introducing many new people to Linux.

I agree on all fronts; well said.

Anyone could at any time do what Ubuntu did: fork a great distro and focus on the UI for a smoother entry-level experience.

But doing so is expensive, so right now Ubuntu is by far the most popular choice for individual users, and IMO rightly so. It's not without its shortcomings, and far from perfect, but every release gets better and better and the whole time no one else has stepped up to provide any other Linux experience which has become more popular.

One of the reasons for its popularity is the very subject of this thread: the discipline to sometimes say "no".

If Ubuntu were to include every option every user would want, it would become bloated beyond all functionality and usability.

So instead, Canonical does what they do, they provide it for free both as in beer and as in freedom, and we can either accept this gift graciously or modify it or use something else.

But I disagree with the view that open source is an obligation for developers to provide everything everyone wants. First, it isn't practical to even try as there are just too many opinions out there to try to make everyone happy. But moreover, it simply isn't their obligation.

Free software is a gift, and when it does what we want we can enjoy it, and when it doesn't it takes nothing away from us; we still have all the freedoms we've always had, including gathering support for forking it into exactly what one wants.

All that said, both Gnome Classic and Gnome Shell are easily available for those who want them, so I just don't understand the position that Canonical is somehow obliged to make every individual's personal preferences the default. Can't be done, and having something close to what you want has already been provided just a few clicks away.

[ianp5a]

Yes, Canonical can almost do what they want. Community permitting. But they need lots of users for their business model. And it's a shame when they put up barriers to a huge subsection of non-nerdy users because they made a beginners mistake.

[kurt18947]

I just had my first exposure to Windows 8 today. If my experience is representative, NO linux desktop has anything to apologize for, that (Windows 8) seems one confusing ill thought-out mess.

[Elfy]

oh good

what does windows after win2k look like?

the point is - each and everyone one of us likes differing things, there really is no better, never has been, never really will be

just walk on and mutter to yourselves please

thanks