The current state of Ubuntu 12.04 LTS

[craig10x]

@exploder: you want to laugh? My bongo drums sound does work!
What it was is that i didn't have the "alert volume" set high enough...apparently in 12.04 you need to set it past the mid point to get alert sounds to kick in...
once i raised it up and rebooted, the familiar bongos came on as it usually would...

So, it was working all along

[Myself]

up 2 days, 2:03, 1 user, load average: 1.51, 1.58, 1.56

It now seems stable.

Been running 12.04 since I had a problem with LMDE Xfce 64 UP4 after a small recent update.

What I have noticed also is that BOINC in producing 22.2% higher work results, with no change of settings, than LMDE Xfce 64 UP4.

[badmotor]

So.... did they fix everything?

[cromat]

Fix everything maybe not but let me give you my perspective on things. As a user with very difficult hardware requirements to solve I have found that Ubuntu 12.04 was a huge improvement as I could not get 11.10 to work properly without a few extra tweaks. Reguardless... About 6 months ago I moved off of Ubuntu 10.10 and onto Linux Mint 12, because at the time I had tried unity and hated it. I am running a desktop with a ATI 5870 and 3 monitors, and an Asus Zenbook (my other machines are not as heavily used). I had Linux Mint 12 running on both with all extensions turned off so it was almost stock gnome 3 shell. I ran it for 4 months and then one day realized that I can't stand how gnome 3 shell handles multiple windows (especially when I had 10 windows open on my laptop) I couldn't decipher which application was which on the overlay. My other issue was running 3 monitors gnome 3 shell didn't allow moving the main bar to the center screen and have the hot corners work on the center screen. So 2 months ago I decided that Ubuntu 12.04 beta was probably stable enough there were some bugs I noticed but in general worked pretty well. Note all of those bugs have been fixed. So I have now been using unity for 2+ months and I have to say it has really really grown on my its snappy and works well especially with a lot of applications open, switching using alt-tab or the launcher works well (there is still room for improvement). However, what unity does provide is the best muli-monitor experience on Linux I can find. I choose the monitor the unity bar appears on and everything else works fantastic. I can't live without at-least 2 monitors so for me this makes 12.04 a winner. I would say for anyone who has problems with 11.04 or 11.10 (I was one of them) give 12.04 a try it made me go back to Ubuntu as my main distro.

As a die-hard gnome 3 shell fan, I am now a fan of unity and user.

As a side note I have been running LMDE the most recent version and I really like the Cinnamon desktop its pretty slick, however, not for me I don't like that we are stuck with the old 10.10 / Win XP window management system.

Just my 2 cents, enjoy...

Anyone know when Maya betas will be out?

[z06gal]

One thing I really like about Ubuntu and would like to see Mint do is offer the F6 boot options = nomodeset, etc. I see alot of folks on the Ubuntu forums that are having booting issues and have to use that option to get to the desktop. Just a thought

[dagon]

Ubuntu, Kubuntu and Edubuntu is out now.

[KBD47]

I've liked the idea of LTS releases from the first time I heard about them, can't wait for Mint 13 to arrive Trying out the 12.04 Ubuntus KDE seems solid as ever, regular Ubuntu is getting some complaints about Unity--no surprise there--but Ubuntu with the gnome fallback desktop feels very solid to me. I used the guide in the Gnome Classic Mega Thread on the Ubuntu forum, and when I look at my desktop with no overlay scrollbars, no hidden menus, close/minimize/maximize buttons on the right side, easy maneuverability around the desktop, it's kind of astounding that Ubuntu is still married to Unity, but to each their own. Xubuntu 12.04 is nice but the hyperactive crash notifier is beginning to get on my nerves. Lubuntu 12.04 was a mess on my computer, kept freezing up. I finally took an ubuntu 12.04 install and added LXDE to it and it ran great, so something is up with Lubuntu 12.04
KBD47

[craig10x]

Actually i have been following the ubuntu forums quite a bit since i installed 12.04 and though of course you still here some that talk like you do about unity (in a negative way) i've noticed a BIG trend of many who USE to knock it and came totally around and now really enjoy the unity experience (including myself)
Many of those came around while playing with the alphas and betas of 12.04 and even more now that it has been final released...

[KBD47]

I wrote Unity off as getting in my way rather than helping me on Ubuntu, now use Classic/Fallback tweaked as I like. Just saw a thread where some folks are having trouble with Unity hiding and not responding when they shove the mouse into the left side of the screen, before it wouldn't get out of the way, now it won't come out of hiding At least for some folks. I'm happy to use the Ubuntu base with just about anything else.
KBD47

[craig10x]

Probably a bug that happens with some hardware...they will probably work it out...the "auto hide" works fine on my toshiba laptop (with intel)...i only have the sensitivity set about 1/4 way up and with just a little extra push the dock bar comes right out (if i set it higher, it makes it even easier to come out)....so on mine it is working as it is supposed to...works fine on my friend's toshiba with amd as well...

But there is so many choices one can have with it...as you mentioned, "classic" (fallback mode) cairo dock or awn, gnome 3 shell interface of course and even Cinnamon if one desires...

I just grew accustomed to unity and i don't find it really getting in my way for my purposes...The only problem i have is can't get the "bongo drums" start up sound on my re-install..and it doesn't appear in the start up menu on top for me to turn it on...

Otherwise, everything else is smooth

[bimsebasse]

Pretty nice and snappy on my machine, it bodes well for Mint 13.

Unity has seen some refinements but what kept people off Unity was not rough ends, it was basic things like application launch, menu, desktop handling, panel customization, window and workspace management, the whole new desktop paradigm which of course remains essentially unaltered, so previous detractors will not be converted though you may read some confused promises to the opposite around the web. The same thing could be said of Gnome Shell which also improved slightly in the new release, so no consolation there for the Gnome 2 diehards (for consolation see: Cinnamon/MATE/Xfce. For consolation with an expiration date see: Gnome Classic).

[z06gal]

Does the top panel have an autohide? That would be a deal killer for me. I cannot stand a top panel. I checked out the live cd last night and like alot of the changes but I could not find a way to hide or move that panel

[craig10x]

Hey Robin
I know what you mean about a top panel...i prefer just a bottom panel too...
However, the main reason i do not mind the top panel in Ubuntu (with unity) is because of the global menu...

It is because of that, that the Chrome and Firefox browsers (i use Chrome myself) gains back the extra web page space...it is as if there was no panel on top at all, because of the incorporation of what would usually be a separate top bar with the top panel of the browser...

If one shuts off the global menu (i believe there is a way to do that...i think with the my unity program) then you would lose that extra space...
And since i don't mind the global menu it works out fine for someone like myself who normally isn't that fond of the top panel...

So, while you can't autohide the top panel (at least not as of yet) i lose no space because of the global menu factor...

And the same is true when applications are open and filling up (maximized to) the screen (like say, Rhythmbox or VLC player for example)...

In fact, though i like and use unity....with the global menu and top panel and using the radiance theme (lighter, more metal-like theme available in settings) like i use, but if you added cairo dock, it would look and work almost like a "mac" clone

[craig10x]

Here is a screenshot of my home page with google chrome browser, Robin, just to illustrate what i mean...
When i am web surfing, i am not even aware of having a top panel, it looks like it is part of the browser panels (and of course, no lower panel)...
Full Screen applications also have that same "effect"...this is why i love the global menu...

[z06gal]

Thanks craig. That is much better and I did not realize that about the global menu. I am thinking of checking it out when Mint 13 releases and see what the changes are like

[badmotor]

Did they fix the G-streamer issue?

[craig10x]

Did they fix the G-streamer issue?

What was the problem with G-streamer?

[ashtonford]

I started out Linux with ubuntu 8.6 and enjoyed using it untill they tried to force feed unity on users. The newest incarnation is a mess and buggy with nothing great or fantastic. Mint12 is a much better option out of the box. Everything works, ready to go out of the box. When ubuntu lost its focus and stopped listening to what its users wanted, as well as putting on blinders and only thinking about the tablet market etc that was the beginning of its down fall.

[craig10x]

I started out Linux with ubuntu 8.6 and enjoyed using it untill they tried to force feed unity on users. The newest incarnation is a mess and buggy with nothing great or fantastic. Mint12 is a much better option out of the box. Everything works, ready to go out of the box. When ubuntu lost its focus and stopped listening to what its users wanted, as well as putting on blinders and only thinking about the tablet market etc that was the beginning of its down fall.

Glad to hear you are enjoying mint...and i have always been a big fan of it too and have used it quite a bit (although i am currently using ubuntu 12.04 w/unity)...

Unity is NOT a tablet interface at all...it's a dock-centric way of doing things (kind of like the mac) except on the left side instead of the bottom of the screen...
Also many who did not care for unity in it's earlier editions (11.04 and 11.10) now absolutely love it in the latest (12.04) and it keeps improving all the time...
So, while you may not care for it...many do enjoy it...

I would say a "key" thing to liking it, is one must use it with an open mind and positive attitude for several weeks and at that point they would either like it very much...but if they didn't (at that point)...well, at least they would have given it a fair chance...

I didn't care for it much when i first used it, but after doing what i just outlined above, i was amazed how my attitude changed and i got to like it a LOT...

[bimsebasse]

Little aside for a heartfelt THANK YOU to the whole Ubuntu project, the Canonical mothership and remixed derivatives like Mint. Had to do some IT support at the old folks' place today and their Vista machine made me very grateful for Linux - that thing is so painfully, excruciatingly slow! Installed the new Ubuntu 12.04 (with Cinnamon for a smooth Windows-to-Linux transition) and everything is fast and hassle-free