Have you switched away from Ubuntu (on desktop) due to Unity?

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I'm thinking of nuking my work desktop because I actually need to get work done on a multi-monitor (4) system. I don't want to use Unity/Ubuntu but need to stick with Ubuntu packaging system due to our corp requirements.

CPU/memory generally aren't an issue for my desktop (dual Xeon 5520, 12G ram), but I always like stuff faster.

Have any of you guys used xubuntu or lubuntu? What are your thoughts? I'm not a fan of KDE.

At home I've switched to Mint/Debian and am quite happy with it but I can't do this at work.

Graphics card is FireMV2460 (4 monitor displayport)
 
Why don't you just disable unity, sounds like a much more practical solution for a work machine to be honest..

1) Click on the power button in the upper right corner (mine looks like a light switch) and choose the last option, System Settings.
2) Search for Login Screen
3) Double-click to display
4) Choose Unlock and enter your password
5) Select Ubuntu Classic as default session.
 
Xfce is a nice desktop if you give it a chance. I prefer it over gnome by far. Try the Xubuntu live CD out.
 
xxan0xx said:
Why don't you just disable unity, sounds like a much more practical solution for a work machine to be honest..

1) Click on the power button in the upper right corner (mine looks like a light switch) and choose the last option, System Settings.
2) Search for Login Screen
3) Double-click to display
4) Choose Unlock and enter your password
5) Select Ubuntu Classic as default session.
Click to expand...

I've tried that on my home desktop and it still looks like total ARSE.
 
Unity was kind of the last straw in a long list of piss-offs for me. I've moved on from Ubuntu. While you can still change to Gnome classic, as I said, there are numerous other things I'm unhappy with.
 
I turned off unity. I use that divergence iv theme.

I want to possibly try crunchbang or a ubuntu install with flux and a few other things at some point.
 
I tried to like Unity for 6 months and was getting tolerable with 11.04 as they incrementally made suck less. The new Unity on 11.10 was the last straw for me as well.

I still use Ubuntu but completely switched to gnome-shell and I highly recommend that you try it. The workflow plus less need to use the keyboard is great. Also, the Google integration is nice.

I was literally two seconds from moving to Fedora or Arch before I tried it.
 
Yeah. That's why I don't run anything after 10.04. You'd be insane to in the first place for a daily-usage desktop machine. Newer shit just doesn't work.
 
Good to know. I have a machine that just died that was running 10.04 and running as my media server. I'll probably just go mint or straight debian now that I'm setting up a new box tomorrow night.
 
Tried putting 11.04 on an eMachines 2.4 Celery P4 with 512 RAM. Ran like it was fulla superglue ;) Xubuntu isn't any faster, and TBH I don't much like the look of Lubuntu even though it performs a little better.

Puppy is great but there are a lot of different versions so you have to play with it to figure out what's best for you. Mint was instant speed for that eMachines, but I've only spent maybe 15min with it out of my entire life. (Not a high priority, that box...)

I still have some really old Ubuntu CDs somewhere if anyone wants 'em... think all I have is 7.04 and 8.04... might have 8.10, lol.
 
Were you using regular Mint, or the Debian version? I used the Debian Mint Xfce version for a while. It was only using 120 Mb's completely booted up.
 
TBH I don't even remember... I can tell you that for the 5min or so that I actually used it (mostly spent with booting up) it was hella fast compared to Ubuntu... ubuntu runs on that machine like a stock model t on the autobahn if you get my drift.
 
Two days after Ubuntu rolled out unity for the desktop, seven months ago, I switched back to using XFCE for my window manager. There is no reason to give up on the OS, just because it has one horrible WM option. Just uninstall Unity and pick a new WM and get back to work.

However, what is pushing me away from Ubuntu is not the completely stupid changes they keep making to the default system, but the pace at which they update is just too slow for me. Maybe I'm spoiled having started with Gentoo, but at work I don't have the time to dedicate to keeping a lean mean up to date machine. So I'm going to switch to Arch the next time I have a few days free. I do miss Gentoo a lot though : (
 
I starting mainly using xfce mint before unity. Also fooled around with crunchbang.

I was disappointed too because I was happy with ubuntu netbook remix on my netbook, but I guess its success led them to do some crazy things. It was nice for a netbook, but I never would've used it on a desktop.
 
^ agree.


I'm done with Ubuntu and have moved to Arch Linux. Arch is amazing and I could not be happier!
 
the new Linux Mint is almost out, I will be switching to that. I am sick of using Unity
 
I've found one caveat with Mint:

Mint (stock) based on ubuntu has no reccomended upgrade path except reinstalling. I really don't have time to do that every 6 months on multiple boxes.

On the Mint/debian side, you get "rolling updates" via "update packs" which are few & far between. On my x120e portable I use the update packs with mint/debian. On my Desktop I use the debian testing repos (I am pretty good at fixing shit if it broke in most cases...).

Those are the big downsides to mint. On my work laptop I've switched to Xubuntu which out of the box is very close to what I want....
 
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I spent months searching for a new Linux distribution since leaving Ubuntu. I think I've finally decided on Crunchbang.
 
JosiahBradley said:
Two days after Ubuntu rolled out unity for the desktop, seven months ago, I switched back to using XFCE for my window manager. There is no reason to give up on the OS, just because it has one horrible WM option. Just uninstall Unity and pick a new WM and get back to work.

However, what is pushing me away from Ubuntu is not the completely stupid changes they keep making to the default system, but the pace at which they update is just too slow for me. Maybe I'm spoiled having started with Gentoo, but at work I don't have the time to dedicate to keeping a lean mean up to date machine. So I'm going to switch to Arch the next time I have a few days free. I do miss Gentoo a lot though : (
Click to expand...

I like to stuff to be "80% to my liking out of the box". Unity breaks that. I tried removing unity & the desktop was terribly broken. My menus had squares with no icons, I couldn't add stuff to the panels, etc.....
 
I moved away from the Unity crap. Running Bodhi for a week now.
Undecided if I want to swap to Mint or Arch.

Bodhi works well enough, just seems to be lacking something I can't put my finger on yet. It's nice, just not for me I guess.

I need to update the hardware in my Linux box though.
 
I loaded up an Ubuntu live CD the other day, I needed to test something on a machine I had no access to modify the OS. I hear nothing but bad things about Unity, but figured I'd give it a try so I got the latest ISO and burned it. Figured unity can't be that bad. OMFG. It really is THAT bad. You know how MS is bad for changing their UI and making things harder to find? Well this is that but 10x. Wow.

I never figured out how to do basic things like get a terminal window or change the screen resolution in 20 minutes of clicking everything I saw. I'm sure it's buried in there somewhere, but I gave up and just went to the service console and did what I had to do from there. A UI is suppose to make things easier, not harder. They totally failed there.

Yeah totally staying away from Ubuntu if I decide to use Linux for a desktop OS, which I eventually want to do. Sure I can do all sorts of stuff to disable it and all, but why go through that trouble, I'll just use a different distro.

My fear is though, that this UI starts getting pushed to other distros too, since isn't it just the new gnome? So as newer distros update gnome, they'll get it too right?
 
I've come to like Unity. Once I tweaked some settings I find it very usable, but I guess I'm one of the few.
 
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DogsofJune said:
I moved away from the Unity crap. Running Bodhi for a week now.
Undecided if I want to swap to Mint or Arch.

Bodhi works well enough, just seems to be lacking something I can't put my finger on yet. It's nice, just not for me I guess.

I need to update the hardware in my Linux box though.
Click to expand...



I moved to Arch and its the best thing I could've done. I wish that I'd gone that way sooner.
 
I think Unity is ok, but I prefer gnome 3. I have been using Fedora a lot.
 
Foxcow said:
Go with ArchLinux. You won't be sorry.
Click to expand...


Thank you! checked it out and looks like a distro I will try.


So I am guessing most people are moving away from ubuntu based on Unity? or are there other reasons ubuntu is loosing some members?
 
I run Ubuntu at work, Prefer Slackware at home.

With Unity (Ubuntu) versions, getting rid of it isn't quite as easy as just selecting 'classic'.

After logging with 'classic', uninstalling Unity completely was the only way to get it working normally, Especially Compiz with a Dell 790 (Virtual desktop wall is mandatory)

Last I read, Ubuntu was going to get rid of the 'classic' Gnome version as any kind of default ( no source for that onhand, though)

A second box at work I have running Lubuntu. It's a 10ish year old box too, has ISA slots, etc. It just autologs in a local account, then brings up sessions to our monitoring applications for a status board.



Are you saying that at work, someone takes the Ubuntu updates and hosts them locally, or makes changes, or something?
 
I've refused to use 11.04/11.10 after the Unity and Gnome3 update.
I've tried them both and honestly they do not hold a candle to 10.xx.

The new OSes feel bloated and are not very responsive, even on new hardware.
Really dissappointing imo.
 
I install OpenSuse 12.1 with Xfce on my clients computers. Used to be Mint or Ubuntu, but OpenSuse 12.1 is pretty solid. I love how the install lets you choose which desktop to install right there.

The only downside is, it doesn't have quite the amount of software as Ubuntu/Mint, but it's more than enough for most.
 
techtips said:
Thank you! checked it out and looks like a distro I will try.


So I am guessing most people are moving away from ubuntu based on Unity? or are there other reasons ubuntu is loosing some members?
Click to expand...



Unity seems to be the biggest detraction for most.

I personally tried to like Unity for 6 months (11.04) and had high hopes for 11.10 as far as configure-ability/choice and was sorely disappointed. I've since moved to ArchLinux and haven't looked back. I will try 12.04 out on my desktop for old time sakes but if it isn't a substantial improvement all together, I'm done with Ubuntu.
 
Ubuntu has had tons of issues beyond Unity like USB performance and much more. Unity was the final nail in the coffin for me. It's beyond awful. I can't believe nobody raised their hand and asked WTF are we doing?!?!?
 
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