Ubuntu 11.10 - 1 step forward, 2 steps back?

I was just beginning to think that Ubuntu was ready to take on Windows with the release of 11.04, I was enjoying Gnome 2 and feeling really comfortable with it. Then 11.10 came along and this release was the worst Ubuntu release I've seen (I've been using Ubuntu from 10.04).

Things they shouldn't have done:

1. Unity interface - This is meant more for Tablets and touch screens. Granted its becoming a bigger market, but as a desktop user, do I really want this? Lots of apps where buggy because of Unity (e.g. eclipse). Maybe they should have come out with a tablet edition of Ubuntu (by the way, I wonder what % of tablets/touch devices are using Ubuntu?).

Also, because the Menu is now always at the top bar of the screen, the amount of mouse travel to select an option has increased. On a portable device this isn't an issue.

PS: I am using GNOME3 and its so much more usable.


2. Network Proxy Manager - This is one of the most useful features for me. It allows you to have a separate profile for each proxy server setting.

I am a roaming consultant and I normally work in three environments:

1. Home
2. Office
3. Client's Office.

With this manager, I could set up a profile and basically enable it in from one location on my system.

This was removed in 11.10, and is replaced with a new network proxy application.  Also this proxy doesn't have an ignored hosts list (really a core requirement for any proxy settings IMO,  a real loss in my books.
I remember my friend saying this was one thing Windows was missin.

3. (Ok I resolved the shutdown icon issue. Hit ALT and click on the preferences and you'll see the shutdown button :)

Check this cheat-sheet out.

" Shutdown not possible as a logged-in user. 

 

Now you have to logout from your session first, then click on the shutdown icon to switch off the machine, then click 'shutdown' if you really want to shutdown.

This is annoying since generally you're the  only user on your machine, do you really want to wait to do this?

4. Shutdown times are dreadful - I know, I may have some bad apps installed, but my machine takes up to a minute to shut down! I know rely on my ext4 journal to keep my data safe and force the machine off with the power button (5secs). Not the best idea, but really this is crazy.

My new install of 12.04 has fixed this.

5. Its still very difficult to add a custom launcher to the tool-bar. I'd like to go Right-click->add application. (Gnome3 also has this issue)

6. ATI proprietary driver - damn, when are AMD going to opensource their drivers? Currently, this driver is not compatible with the latest version of X (or was it the Linux 3 kernel). Not nice knowing this when you've forked out a pretty penny for your super duper ATI card and now be told you can't use its full features. (In the words of many unknown South Africans - eish (pronounced ay-sh)...painful.

I'm not sure whats better, according to Linus Torvalds nVidia is really bad too.
(check the rant from Linux here)

Things I like

1. GNOME3 - I know people have been complaining that they hate it, but once I got the icon to close a window working, its actually a very pleasant experience! I like the mini task bar on the bottom right that shows open applications.

Sliding to mouse to the top left corner will bring up a high-level view of your windows, so far the most useful way for me to select a window. You can even close a window from this context - Nice!

2. Apt-get (enough said)

Release Management

I wonder how the release management happens. Do the Ubuntu release managers decide the versions of the kernel, X etc before hand. If so, do they communicate it to the downstream vendors so that they can prepare for the next release to ensure that compatibility is maintained?
 

Conclusion

I'm sure there's a process being followed where features are voted in and out. It just feels like when there are gains in moving the OS forward, there is likely to be a major change that throws them all away.

There should be governing body that decides what path to take, rather than having one person decide this. Okay, thanks to Mr. Shuttleworth for Ubuntu, its really an amazing distro in terms of ease-of-use compared to certain others, but this Unity move was too radical in my opinion.

In the case of voting polls for features, I guess the guys with the biggest vote won. Democracy won for some (not me).

Linux doesn't have a Steve Jobs to drive usability or prettiness or simple ease of use (or does it??). Sometimes group-think can be a good thing, sometimes bad. I wouldn't mind follow a distro who's direction is based on a single person who has ease-of-use and aesthetics at the top of his priority list.

The beauty is that in Linux you have that choice! (I downloaded Mint, hopefully its as fresh as they say it is!)
I install 13 Mate, and wasn't too impressed. I changed to Gnome3 and am loving it!