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Open Source


Deployment Ease, Experimentation Highlights of Ubuntu 11.04

  • Written by Christopher Tozzi
  • April 25, 2011

The latest and greatest release of Ubuntu — 11.04, or “Natty Narwhal” — is nearly upon us. To get a sense of how the new version situates Ubuntu and the rest of the open source community going forward, I recently spoke with Canonical VP Steve George. Here’s what he had to say about the new release and more:

For starters, anyone who reads Linux blogs at least once in a while knows by now that Natty’s major claim to fame is the Unity desktop interface, which will become the default in new installations. Traditional GNOME will remain available as an option, at least for this release cycle, as will a 2D version of Unity catered to users whose hardware doesn’t support the video acceleration demanded by the default interface.

Asked about the motivations behind the switch to Unity, George stressed simplicity and ease-of-deployment. “The direction for Unity is to try to simplify the user interface,” he explained. In addition, he pointed to the increasing importance of mobile phone interfaces, which Unity parallels in many respects, as a “reference point” for user expectations — even as he cautioned that, at least for now, Canonical has no plans to try to compete on mobile hardware.

When the discussion turned to the friction between the GNOME and Unity communities which has emerged over the course of the Natty development cycle, George predicted that both desktop interfaces would continue to exist as important projects for a long while to come. They are competitors, he pointed out, but also collaborators — a relationship which, surprisingly enough, isn’t contradictory in the open source community, where projects can share ideas and code even as they vie for users and prestige.

Natty as a Preview

George stressed as well while talking about Unity that Ubuntu 11.04, which represents the halfway point between the last long-term support (LTS) release in April 2010 and the next one in April 2012, is an opportunity for users to experiment with new technology more than a mandate for immediate change.

Large organizations that deploy Ubuntu on their desktops, he noted, tend to stick with LTS releases, and can therefore use Natty to preview the Unity interface without having to undertake any major overhauls. Home users, in my experience, mostly fall into the same category; the geeks among them will upgrade to 11.04 and experiment with Unity, while a majority of users will continue to run GNOME for at least the next year.

Different User Spheres

Speaking of different groups of users, George also pointed out that the new Ubuntu release marks an increasingly strong distinction between qualitatively distinct groups of users, which Canonical aims to recognize and address. As he sees it, “there’s a wide range of people using Ubuntu, and a wide range of usage scenarios,” ranging from corporations running Ubuntu on their desktops, to server administrators deploying only cloud-based instances, to owners of non-traditional hardware devices.

All of these groups form important segments of the Ubuntu community, but as their needs and ideals grow increasingly distinct, Canonical is working to diversify the resources available to each of these different spheres. That change is reflected, for instance, on the Ubuntu website, which now has a prominent link for business alongside the traditional tabs for netbook and desktop users.

The Cloud

Last but certainly not least, the cloud is a vitally important focal point of this Ubuntu release. Beyond changes to Ubuntu server on this front, the most exciting cloud-based feature for this recycle is the ability to preview Ubuntu instances via the cloud on Amazon Web Services. This offering comes on the heels of the cancellation of Ubuntu’s long-running ShipIt program earlier this month, and while the new service may not appease all users upset about that change, it will make Ubuntu easier to test for most people around the world with broadband Internet connections.

According to a Canonical press release, the AWS-based preview service, set to debut April 28 (the same day Ubuntu 11.04 is officially released) will support Ubuntu server. George indicated, however, that Canonical developers were working on making Ubuntu desktop instances available for preview via AWS as well, and that their efforts may be complete by next week. Stay tuned.

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Tags: Cloud Service Providers Digital Service Providers MSPs VARs/SIs Cloud Mobility Open Source

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14 comments

  1. Avatar tracyanne April 26, 2011 @ 2:24 am
    Reply

    I’ve already tested the Unity desktop, and I is absolutely useless on my High resolution multi monitor rig. It makes a complete mockery of the configuration I’ve down to create an ergonomic desktop environment, and it cannot be configured to suite.

    As a desktop on my new tablet when I get it it should be ideal. But I can see many geeks moving to XFCE or even other Distributions that don’t force such a dumbed down and uncingurable desktop as Unity or GNOME 3 Shell on them.

    In addition I can see most, if not all, of my clients, who currently use Ubuntu confused and making support calls, and asking me to give tham back their old desktop. It’s probable I will have to move most, if not all, of them to either Linux Mint (because they will be using GNOME 3 Classic, not Shell) or XUbuntu.

  2. Avatar ed April 26, 2011 @ 6:04 am
    Reply

    @tracyanne: geez, you’re real smart. “because they will be using gnome 3 classic” ? Regular gnome 3 is easily installable on top of xubuntu, which does not conflict with gnome 3. And it only takes 10 min to install. Get your head out of your butt.

  3. Avatar tracyanne April 26, 2011 @ 6:53 am
    Reply

    GNOME 3 Shell is just as bad as Unity. So regardless of how long it takes….

  4. Avatar tracyanne April 26, 2011 @ 7:06 am
    Reply

    In addition it means a callout, where I have to spend 10 minutes after driving 20, that I can’t charge for times as many of my clients who want their old desktop back, and they aren’t using XUbuntu, they are using standard GNOME 2 on Ubuntu, so wether my head is up my arse or not, your advice doesn’t address the issue.

  5. Avatar georg April 26, 2011 @ 7:58 am
    Reply

    I can agree in all arguments with tracyanne. New Unity and Gnome3 is unusable for me, actually I`m preparing for move to XFCE (Xubuntu) as my default desktop.

  6. Avatar gman April 26, 2011 @ 1:14 pm
    Reply

    I have been using Unity on my laptop running since the last alpha of Natty. Gotta say it has taken a lot of getting used to, but at this point I think I can force myself to use it.

    On my work machine, that’s a whole other issue. I know that there was a bug tracked concerning Unity and Duel / multi monitor and they where discussing what to do and how to tackle that issue. If it is not resolved in a way that is satisfactory to me personally, then I will change desktops, and I have been messing around with some of the alternatives on my laptop. So far XFCE seems to be the best bet for my situation. We will just have to wait and see.

  7. Avatar Jack April 26, 2011 @ 2:38 pm
    Reply

    Most people dissatisfied with Linux are those who don’t use it. Such as Windows users.

    Most people complaining about Ubuntu are using SLED/Opensuse.

    It’s just the way it is.

    Unless you are willingly accepting the risk by using freshware such as Unity and Gnome 2:
    Wait at least 2 – two – releases.

    Want to be experimental? Try it – without moaning – and EXPECT trouble with some GPU’s-

  8. Avatar syncdram April 26, 2011 @ 7:50 pm
    Reply

    Unity stinks and Gnome 3 stinks. Its degrading and humiliating even to know they are using this for a desktop application. As a very long time ubuntu user i switch to linuxmint debian xfce edition. End of this story! Mark will realize very soon this was a big mistake. The only way ubuntu will survive now is if from this release on they keep the gnome classic option, other than that there is no further reason to stay with ubuntu. Its now become a pitiful joke.

  9. Avatar Andy April 26, 2011 @ 8:57 pm
    Reply

    My 2 cents. I stopped using Windows in 1998. At the time, I used SUSE (the spelling changed several years later). I have used and enjoyed Red Hat, SUSE, SuSE, Ubuntu, Debian and probably one or two others that I’m forgetting. I tried Slackware early on, but it was too much for me as a noob and when I finally had the skills, I was too busy doing other things. I am a network administrator, and policy analyst for the company I work for. I write long reports, manage servers, and spend a fair amount of time programming. I consider myself a “power-user” and have some long-developed habits.

    Unity/Gnome3 are taking a lot of flak from the self-proclaimed Linux purists and others who apparently have a need to moan and groan on the Internet. I admit that I approached Unity with some trepidation, after using Gnome 2.x for several years. I was comfortable with it and was not sure I wanted to see it change.

    I have used Unity for the past two weeks and I have to admit that I really really like it. It works well in a variety of settings, including a development laptop, a Computer/TV combo and a netbook. On each of these systems I have different needs but Unity seems to get me what I want on all 4 systems.

    Obvious Questions.
    1. Is it perfect? No. It’s too early to expect perfection. It is already really good and I do expect it to improve.
    2. Did I have to adjust my workflow? Yes, I did. But no more than a user moving from Windows or OS X.

    Here’s my take on the ongoing conflagration. Emacs still works the same way and I still can’t do anything complicated in Vim.

    People who use OS X and Windows often point out that they don’t want to have to learn how to use new applications or change how they get things done. I have told untold number of people to get over themselves. I tell anyone who will listen to me about Linux and explain that while it is different, different is not always bad.

    Unity _is_ different from Gnome2, but no more different than Gnome2 is compared to Windows or OSX. If I am willing to tell others that they should try something new, I should be willing to take some of my own advice. So I did, and I tried Unity. And I liked it.

    If you are a Linux devotee who has spent considerable time and effort explaining to others how/why Linux is better than Windows or OSX, I think you should saddle up and try Unity and/or Gnome3 or KDE 4 or what ever. If you are going to tell other people to try something new, you should be willing to do the same. I am not telling you that you have to like it, but I think people should be willing to give the new ideas a fair chance. Use them for more than 10 minutes. Yes, you will have to learn a few new shortcuts. My muscle memory took about 3 days to get used to the new stuff, then it was back to business as usual. I haven’t tried Gnome3, yet, because it’s not available in Natty. I will probably install Fedora 15 in a virtual machine and play with it later this week.

    Too much drama people. Too much drama. New is not all bad.

  10. Avatar Tom April 26, 2011 @ 9:45 pm
    Reply

    I’m in the same camp as those above who find both the Gnome 3 Shell and Unity unsatisfactory. I refuse to change my workflow because a group of developers have decided that one-desktop-fits-all (i.e., we should all be using a tablet or small-screen netbook, not a full-blown desktop with multiple large monitors), so we should all man up and accept their wisdom. The computer works for me, not the other way around. Now that KDE-4 has matured sufficiently, I’ve decided to make the move away from Gnome-2. KDE can be re-configured sufficiently to let me keep both my workflow and my sanity. If that doesn’t work, I’ve already experimented with similar configuration changes to XFCE as an acceptable fall-back position. Either way, I’ve tried both Gnome options (Gnome Shell and Unity) and rejected them.

  11. Avatar Miles April 26, 2011 @ 10:53 pm
    Reply

    I’ve been using for a little bit amp; for me it’s an improvement over the Gnome 2 interface. Specifically the more efficient use of screen real estate and the Unity keyboard shortcuts are nicely done.

  12. Avatar Jack April 26, 2011 @ 11:15 pm
    Reply

    For the sake of good order:

    I do indeed wish Ubuntu, Gnome and Unity every bit of success they achieve. Hence no sympathy for the moaners who want to keep Linux desktops in the stoneage.

    No need to switch now if you don’t like it. In 1 or 2 years time they will be very good. Or very dead.

    This is early days and no time for execution just yet.

  13. Avatar tracyanne April 27, 2011 @ 3:28 am
    Reply

    I moved away from Windows in part because I wanted a desktop that did not force me into ways of doing things, where I had the choice and functionality available to me to build a desktop that actually fitted with how I like to work, a desktop that requires little thought or effort to navigate around, and as a consequence is mostly transparent.

    Everything can be achieved with the click of a 3 button mouse, I have no need to memorise key combinations… move my mouse to the right edge of the screen and click the middle and I can preview all the open windows on my machine, move to the same edge and click the left mouse button and I preview just the applications on the current workspace.

    Move the mouse pointer to the left edge and click the left mouse button and all 9 workspaces can be previewed. the panel(s) hide until move the mouse pointer to the bottom or top of the monitor, and because I use the DockbarX applet in place of the GNOME window List applet I can preview multiple windows of any application, and select the one I want and be taken to the workspace that window was opened on (even if it is currently minimised).

    All my applications are available either from a real menu or from the quick start applet on the panel. I don’t need to clear my screen to locate icons on the desktop… there are none.

    No I don’t want to be stuck with the old desktop paradigm, in fact I created my own. The problem is the “new” desktop paradigm is now as restrictive as the one I left behind on Windows, and neither of the 3 examples allow me the the freedom to recreate a better one.

  14. Avatar rick fender May 19, 2011 @ 6:09 am
    Reply

    I just installed 11.04, man what a mess. I had dozens of apps loaded in the prior version and now they are all on the left of my desktop which is fine but I have so many I have to scroll down a mile to find anything. I can’t believe anybody thinks this is an improvement over Gnome. I can see this being great in a mobile phone but it does not work on a desktop. You guys screwed up bit time!

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