Window Managers for Kubuntu and Ubuntu

[Dave]

Hi,

If you are an old school KDE user http://www.trinitydesktop.org/ Trinity is
worth a look.

Dave


On Tue, Jan 10, 2012 at 6:11 AM, Chris Robinson <fabricator4 at yahoo.com>wrote:

>
>
>   ------------------------------
> *From:* David Bowskill <david at bowskill.net>
> *To:* ubuntu-au at lists.ubuntu.com
> *Sent:* Monday, 9 January 2012 8:34 PM
> *Subject:* Window Managers for Kubuntu and Ubuntu
>
>  Dear All
>
> I hope that this does not sound like a big whing but I do not like how the
> presentation of the later versions of Ubuntu and Kubuntu are going
>
> I have been using Ubuntu 10.04 with Gnome interface and I find it very
> good. Then upgraded to 11.10 and I really don't like Unity at all.
> I then switched to Kubuntu 11.10 and the interface while better than
> Unity, is still not as good as Ubuntu 10.04
> _____________________________________________-
>
> Some do like KDE and are as passionate about it as others are about Gnome
> 2 (classic).  I don't think KDE and Kubuntu have changed that much - it is
> what it is.
>
> _____________________________________________
>
> What are my complaints ??
>
> The philosophy that the computer *should be a functional working tool* -
> easy to use,  fast in operation and requiring minimal resources.   These
> ideals seem to be being abandoned and the *'graphic arty types'  *are
> taking over.  Flashy interfaces ( which of course must be *'original'* )
> seem to be the go, causing bloat, slows down operations and demands more
> RAM and CPU power.
> _____________________________________________
>
> Strangely enough, that is the philosophy of the design team too, but it's
> also obvious that people want a graphically stimulating interface as well.
> The main problem with Unity is that it's different, not that the
> functionality is missing.  I agree with the issue of bloat but if you look
> at the development of all code, especially in the Linux world, you see the
> same pattern - code starts out bloated and with seemingly built-in
> inefficiency.  If the idea is good however, it gets continued development
> and constantly gets more efficient.
>
> An example of this is Software Center: In 11.10 it runs so slowly on my
> Celeron that it can take 1.5 minutes just to open the first time - that is
> longer than the boot time.  I've noticed however that the Software Center
> in the Alpha of 12.04 is much quicker even though all the debug symbols are
> still part of the code.  I'm very much looking forward the release date to
> see how well they've really done with the new LTS.
> _____________________________________________
>
>
> For my part, I am not at all impressed by fancy interfaces - I want a
> machine which is minimal in presentation, quick in operation, easy to use,
> in other words *totally utilitarian* *in design and presentation.
> *
> _____________________________________________
>
> Actually, Unity is even more "utilitarian" in as much as the interface has
> been reduced to only two main elements - a top bar that is used for
> informational purposes and is being evolved as the Universal Application
> Menu Bar (an Apple idea I believe), and a launcher that takes the place of
> menus, task bar, switcher, access for removable media (among other things),
> and of course a launch bar that was never part of the classic Gnome
> philosophy.
> _____________________________________________
>
>
> The ideal interface in my opinion is that used by Apple; lots of drop down
> menus; icons which can be placed on the Desktop if required AND *the tool
> bar with the sliding magnifier *- truly brilliant !!
> _____________________________________________
>
> That's funny, because one of the main complaints from some that complain
> loudest is that Unity borrows too much from the Apple interface, and that's
> why they hate it.  But lets take a look at your objections:
>
> Drop down menus: This has been replaced by the Dash, but you can still
> browse the contents and look at installed programs etc as much as you want.
> The browsing is done by classification, very much as you would do with a
> menu system.  People tend to miss this because it appears to be "hidden" by
> the main feature of the dash which is Search.  The philosophy behind this
> is simple: why would the hierarchical structure of menus or classifications
> be the prime method when you can just type "terminal" into the dash and it
> will show not just the terminal program you would normally find on the
> menu, but any other terminal type programs that are installed as well.
>
> You can actually still place icons (I think you mean application launcher
> icons) on the desktop, it just that the design team has questioned why you
> would want to do so, (since that's what the launcher is for) and so they've
> made no right-click option for it.  Feel free to make a launcher however -
> they are just a basic bash script on the desktop and you can have as many
> as you like.  There's probably a utility you can install that will help you
> write them, or you can copy them from your 10.04 desktop.
>
> As for your other specific objections...  Oh, you didn't list any...
>
> Sorry, I shouldn't be smug: I'm sure you have legitimate issues with Unity
> but the fact is that Unity is still evolving and many features that were
> missing in 11.04 have been quietly fixed for 11.10.  For example the issue
> of task switching with multiple instances of one application and using only
> the mouse has been addressed.  With 11.04 many things could be best done
> through the keyboard, I suspect because this was the easiest and quickest
> to implement.  As Unity evolves however the GUI features that we expect
> should be there are being incorporated.
>
> I wouldn't say that Unity taken as a whole on first look is a vast
> improvement over what has gone before, it's often the little things taken
> altogether that can make a big difference.  For example on Classic Gnome,
> if I wanted to unmount a USB drive but already had an application(s)
> maximised I had three obvious choices: 1) to minimise all applications and
> right click on the icon for the drive, 2) Open a terminal window and do it
> manually, or 3) to switch desktops and right click on the icon there.  A
> less obvious choice was to open another application like file manager and
> do it from there, but really...  With Unity I can unmount a device from the
> launcher by right-clicking on it's icon in the launcher - slide and click.
> A little thing, but one you miss when you go back to the Classic interface.
> ________________________________________
>
>
> Does any know of a simple window manager like that of Apple's which can be
> used to replace Unity - especially the sliding magnifier tool bar
> _______________________________________
>
> Unity is without a doubt the most Apple-like interface we have.  As it is
> made more configurable I'm sure it will be possible to get it to look more
> like Apple, if that's what you really want.
> ______________________________________
>
>
> I would be quite happy to stay with 10.04 window manger but that will be
> phased out in the future.
> Does anyone else out there feel this ?
> Hope that this does not put too many noses out of joint.
> ______________________________________
>
> I think that the online community in general and the Linux community in
> particular is much more mature that it was in years past.  No one is going
> to get upset if you don't like Unity, or prefer to use something else.  I
> will say though, that Unity is different enough that it does take a while
> to get used to it and to understand it.  Personally I'm still using 10.04
> LTS on my main machine as well, but both Unity and myself have progressed
> to the point where 12.04 LTS is not looking like the problem it might have
> seemed to be a year ago when I was looking at the alpha versions of 11.04.
>
> Chris
>
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>
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