Ubuntu 10.04 (Lucid)

[Ted Hilts]

On Mon, 2010-04-05 at 23:34 +1000, Basil Chupin wrote:
> The Gnome desktop environment is damn good! I am *i-m-p-r-e-s-s-e-d*! 
> :-). Most impressed, in fact, and cannot wait to see Beta2 in a few 
> days time.
> 

Basil Chupin and the Ubuntu list

The use of PANELS in Lucid is a throw back to an old IBM Mainframe
solution used as a substitute so that users on the mainframe did not
have to understand what we in the Linux community call a command line
approach. The use of GUIs as a front end to avoid command line
approaches is also something like a PANEL in that one is guided by
specific groups of choices. Obviously they are not the same thing. And
of course over the last 10 years many of the distributions have
attempted to create their own versions of a front end installation help
facility. Again not the same thing but all are efforts to get away from
the command line. All these efforts (although unique in their own way)
have one objective and that is to reduce the user dependence on using
commands at the heart of Linux operation. I am not saying this is good
or bad, just pointing out that there is a danger in leaving the world of
the command line in favour of approaches that introduce a lot of
overhead and isolate the user from the very fundamentals of the system
they are using as is the case with MS OS.

Unlike yourself I am not blown away by Lucid but I do think it is for
the most part a nice product. But I don't think it is a whole lot better
than version 8.04. Obviously you disagree and probably because you have
your set of interests for a computer which differ radically from my set
of interests.  And therein lies the problem.  Linux as a whole
regardless of the distribution should always temper any collective
approach to always leave room for the command line approach. 

For example, on Lucid it seems by what I can understand that there is a
LIMIT of two conventional desk tops (actually two overlapping windows)
whereas version 8.04 came with 7 distinct none overlapping windows which
for my purposes should have been 10.  Some call these windows, some call
them work spaces and some call them desk tops.  I call them desk tops as
does some of the literature I've read. I was unable to increase the 7 to
10. Now on Lucid it appears that the double windows is all that can be
made available. I could be wrong because there is a PANEL called
"desktop" which contains items probably which normally would be on the
conventional desktop. And it is possible to create and place an icon on
the screen as one would do on the conventional non Lucid desktop.  But
the location for conventional desktops or work areas or whatever you
want to call them does not appear to be there except for the double
window.  If my observation is true then prove me wrong. And if my
observation is true I think Ubuntu development has made a Boo Boo.  The
conventional desk top as I have explained it is a requirement for me
because I manage all my computers using virtual connections. I do so by
using my Ubuntu version 8.04 machine as the client and the other
machines as servers so they make available to Ubuntu version 8.04 their
desktops. By that means I can examine and control each machines desk
top. I can for example run the Lucid desk top using a virtual connection
established between the Ubuntu Lucid machine and the Ubuntu version 8.04
machine. This is not new technology but it appears that Ubuntu Lucid may
be lacking in it's ability to operate simultaneously more than 2 machine
desk tops.  So if one needs to run half a dozen full size desktops that
gets (it seems to me) to be a very clumsy effort because the development
effort may have leaned too far this time from considering other portions
of the Ubuntu community.

Also, I think the Ubuntu Lucid development effort should have put more
thought into bare metal restoration issues as it looks to me that they
are not even aware of GhostLinux abbreviated as "G 4 L" that is "G4L"
and is not a spelling error or date as someone said in response to
previous email.

Thanks, Ted Hilts. Have a nice day.