What's up with Ubuntu???

[RYX]

Hi folks!

Has anyone recently visted ubuntu.com? They have entirely redesigned their site - and I am yet unsure if I like it ... (maybe because I still can't find the latest dev-releases for Feisty?) ... :evil:

Also their site looks too commercial and noob-friendly to me (I am in no way against user-friendliness but that is a little too much for the normal Linux-user) ... if Mister Shuttleworth wants to go that way, I really think about switching to some free-as-in-freedom and community-driven distro like Arch or gentoo. I don't like my Linux-PC to treat me as stupid (that's one reason why I dumped windows back then).

It is quite obvious that Ubuntu aims at competing with Vista and OSX - which is a good intention - but once more violationg the Ubuntu-"spirit" (at least the spirit I felt when stepping across Ubuntu and its philosphy).

Maybe I am just still a bit disappointed about M.S.'s "invitation"-mail to the Suse-devs after the announcement of the Novell-Microsoft-pact (a.k.a "the deal with the devil") ... he lost a lot of my respect that day ...

Sorry for being bitching and pessimistic but I've always been a very happy Ubuntu-user and these thing really bug me ... Maybe someone has any thoughts on this? Thanks in advance ...

:)

[MacSlow]

Has anyone recently visted ubuntu.com? They have entirely redesigned their site - and I am yet unsure if I like it ... (maybe because I still can't find the latest dev-releases for Feisty?) ... :evil:

Have you ISO from here (http://www.ubuntu.com/testing).

Also their site looks too commercial and noob-friendly to me (I am in no way against user-friendliness but that is a little too much for the normal Linux-user) ... if Mister Shuttleworth wants to go that way, I really think about switching to some free-as-in-freedom and community-driven distro like Arch or gentoo. I don't like my Linux-PC to treat me as stupid (that's one reason why I dumped windows back then).

I don't see much of what you complain about. Looking at purely community driven sites like, e.g.:

blender (www.blender.org) (recently redesigned)
gimp (http://gimp-web.jimmac.net) (upcoming design for gimp.org)

... they are as simple/accessible as the new ubuntu.com. To be honest I welcome this attention to look and style in OpenSource-projects.

Aside from this I feel that you think that a Linux-user equals to a very technical person. Why so? The idea about Linux (or general OpenSource systems for that matter) is to be a viable alternative to proprietary solutions for everybody. Not just for geeks.

It is quite obvious that Ubuntu aims at competing with Vista and OSX - which is a good intention - but once more violationg the Ubuntu-"spirit" (at least the spirit I felt when stepping across Ubuntu and its philosphy)....

Having easy and accessible means for communications (that's what project websites are all about) is in no way against Ubuntu's philosophy or the code of conduct. Also don't forget that Ubuntu is all about bug #1 (https://launchpad.net/ubuntu/+bug/1) from the very beginning of the projects birth.

You seem to be just overly cautious on the wrong spots :)

Best regards...

MacSlow

[RYX]

The idea about Linux (or general OpenSource systems for that matter) is to be a viable alternative to proprietary solutions for everybody. Not just for geeks.
Well that's absolutely the way I think. Linux should be user-friendly and useable by everyone ... but on the other hand people shouldn't be encouraged to totally stop thinking about what they do.

I don't see much of what you complain about. Looking at purely community driven sites like, e.g.:

blender (recently redesigned)
gimp (upcoming design for gimp.org)

... they are as simple/accessible as the new ubuntu.com. To be honest I welcome this attention to look and style in OpenSource-projects.
I welcome this, too. I was always sad about the ugly and unprofessional way in which many great OSS-projects are presented - still the new ubuntu.com reminds me of sites like adobe.com or old macromedia.com .... maybe it's just because of the rounded corners and that "business-guy"-image at the top of the start page. :D ...

You seem to be just overly cautious on the wrong spots
I guess you're right - sometimes my imagination goes too far.

And only to make it clear - I didn't want to complain in any way about Linux becoming more userfriendly and accessible by everyone :D ... we just shouldn't make the modern Linux desktop a visual copy of Windows XP.

EDIT: and thanks for the link :) ... I really wonder where you found that :D

:)

[racarr]

I think you have a skewed view of "Linux makes people think for themselves", "Windows treats people like idiots".

To me the distinction is more that linux DOES make sense when you think about it, whereas windows rarely makes sense regardless of your expertise or expended thought.

[RYX]

I agree - my yesterday post was definetly too critical. I guess it was due to my frustration about several bugs I wasn't able to find paired with the bad weather we have in germany these days (last winter was the hottest since 160 years - now we have snow in spring ... :shock: ...)

So after fixing these damn bugs (after a three-days-hunt) and sleeping slightly more than the usual 5 hours, I visited the Ubuntu site again to realize that I was badly wrong. (Though I still don't like the "business-guy" at the top :) ...).

I hereby apologize for my complaining - and will now install Herd5 to see what's going on with the new gnome-control-center ;) ...

@racarr: Interesting point - you're absolutely right when talking about the whole system. I kinda mixed up Linux (as system) and the Linux-desktop (gnome in my case) ... I was more focusing on the ongoing changes to the UI which are sometimes hard to digest if you just like it the way it already is (like panel::System/Settings/Theme::click ... there!). Switching the configuration to a SLAB-style system is a point where the opinions heavily diverge.

:)

[Amaranth]

The "business guy" is a part of a new item for an upcoming event, not a permanent fixture on the page.

[RYX]

After quickly looking at installed Feisty beta I was quite shocked (in a positive way) that compiz is installed by default - I thought it would be in universe ... but installed by default??? That's amazing ... (gotta get the screenlets to a stable state :) ...)

Also they seem to have removed the control-center-style from Herd1 and got back to the usual system-menu configuration. So my biggest fear is gone and I am happily awaiting the final release :D ...

btw: xorg7.2 seems to play much better with the nvidia-drivers ... does anyone feel the same?

@Amaranth: thanks for the info :)

:)

[fldc]

If using one of the xorg-server 1.3 RC builds compiz is much smoother yes. Very noticeable on my GF7300 crap for a card :)