Sunday, November 27, 2011
Ubuntu and Mint "Open with other Application"
I just realized something that irks me a little bit about Ubuntu and Mint. Now if you right click a file and choose "Open with other application", you can choose from a list of applications to use, but you can't browse your filesystem if the app you want isn't listed. It's a real shame that they removed that functionality. Even Windows still lets you do that.
Linux Mint 12 Released -- Still with Ubuntu
In case you weren't aware, it looks like Linux Mint 12 has been released. But before I get into why I won't be switching to it, I'd like to give a new update on my experience with Ubuntu 11.10.
I'm actually still enjoying it on both my desktop and laptop. The only thing that continuously annoys me is that sometimes when I have an application maximized and I go to close it, the Unity launcher pops up in the way. Granted, this is my fault for moving the mouse to the left of the screen before moving it up to where the close button is located. However, this could be solved simply by moving the close button back to the right side of the screen. By the way, Linux Mint does this, giving us a more familiar interface for closing, maximizing, and minimizing windows.
As far as the Unity dash goes, I wish it were a little more configurable. Especially the primary dash screen. I'd really like to be able to configure which apps show up there. My only other dash related gripe is the Find Files section. It only appears to be searching recently used files. I would think that it would at least search all files on my hard disk and possibly any other mounted drives. But, alas, it does not appear to do so. Of course, I'm not really searching for applications that often because I have moved the few apps I use regularly to the launcher. I'm sure this is the intended effect of Unity. I've also found over time that users who have hundreds of applications installed probably only use a handful of them on a regular basis. I guess I am one of those users, too.
Even though I don't really have any major complaints for the direction Ubuntu has chosen, it's hard not to be tempted by Linux Mint. Version 12 gives us a Gnome 3 environment that looks and handles much like a Gnome 2 system. In fact, it looks like the Mint devs have listened to what people hate about Gnome 3 and tried to make their system do the opposite of what the Gnome 3 developers had in mind. And while I'm the first to admit that familiarity is extremely tempting, there is one major reason and one minor reason why I won't be switching to Linux Mint.
The minor reason is related to how often Linux Mint asks me to input my password. I know this is to protect users from doing something stupid with their systems, but come on! I bet if I looked at Mint sideways it would probably ask me to type my password for doing so. It kind of reminds me of Windows Vista's UAC. Ubuntu still asks for it, but it doesn't seem to do so quite as often. An example is if you install Mint using the CD that doesn't have the extra codecs. On the startup menu, there is an option to install the additional codecs. When you click it, you'll be asked for your password. A moment later, right before the codecs are installed, you'll have to type your password again. It really should only ask once, right before anything new is installed.
The major reason is full disk encryption. My personal laptop and my work laptop are one in the same. Sure, my company would give me a laptop if I asked for it, but I prefer using my own and I have that option where I work. Since I could have work related files on my laptop at any given time, the disk must be encrypted. It's not a matter of how secure full disk encryption is, it's a matter of adhering to company policy. Full disk encryption is something that is done during the installation of the operating system. Everything except the /boot partition gets encrypted and protected by a passphrase. Linux Mint does not give you this option. The funny thing is that Ubuntu does give you that option on their alternate installation CD. Since Mint uses Ubuntu as its base, you'd think they would offer a similar option or at least their own alternate CD. However, they do not seem to offer any such thing, at least at this time.
At the end of the day, I'm satisfied with Ubuntu, but it would still be nice to have an alternative "easy to use" distro as a backup. The fact that Linux Mint seems to be going the opposite direction of Ubuntu makes it an even more appealing candidate. But the lack of full disk encryption as an installer option is what is keeping me away from it. Other than that, I would suggest that you give it a try if you absolutely can't stand the current direction of Ubuntu or other Gnome 3 using distros.
I'm actually still enjoying it on both my desktop and laptop. The only thing that continuously annoys me is that sometimes when I have an application maximized and I go to close it, the Unity launcher pops up in the way. Granted, this is my fault for moving the mouse to the left of the screen before moving it up to where the close button is located. However, this could be solved simply by moving the close button back to the right side of the screen. By the way, Linux Mint does this, giving us a more familiar interface for closing, maximizing, and minimizing windows.
As far as the Unity dash goes, I wish it were a little more configurable. Especially the primary dash screen. I'd really like to be able to configure which apps show up there. My only other dash related gripe is the Find Files section. It only appears to be searching recently used files. I would think that it would at least search all files on my hard disk and possibly any other mounted drives. But, alas, it does not appear to do so. Of course, I'm not really searching for applications that often because I have moved the few apps I use regularly to the launcher. I'm sure this is the intended effect of Unity. I've also found over time that users who have hundreds of applications installed probably only use a handful of them on a regular basis. I guess I am one of those users, too.
Even though I don't really have any major complaints for the direction Ubuntu has chosen, it's hard not to be tempted by Linux Mint. Version 12 gives us a Gnome 3 environment that looks and handles much like a Gnome 2 system. In fact, it looks like the Mint devs have listened to what people hate about Gnome 3 and tried to make their system do the opposite of what the Gnome 3 developers had in mind. And while I'm the first to admit that familiarity is extremely tempting, there is one major reason and one minor reason why I won't be switching to Linux Mint.
The minor reason is related to how often Linux Mint asks me to input my password. I know this is to protect users from doing something stupid with their systems, but come on! I bet if I looked at Mint sideways it would probably ask me to type my password for doing so. It kind of reminds me of Windows Vista's UAC. Ubuntu still asks for it, but it doesn't seem to do so quite as often. An example is if you install Mint using the CD that doesn't have the extra codecs. On the startup menu, there is an option to install the additional codecs. When you click it, you'll be asked for your password. A moment later, right before the codecs are installed, you'll have to type your password again. It really should only ask once, right before anything new is installed.
The major reason is full disk encryption. My personal laptop and my work laptop are one in the same. Sure, my company would give me a laptop if I asked for it, but I prefer using my own and I have that option where I work. Since I could have work related files on my laptop at any given time, the disk must be encrypted. It's not a matter of how secure full disk encryption is, it's a matter of adhering to company policy. Full disk encryption is something that is done during the installation of the operating system. Everything except the /boot partition gets encrypted and protected by a passphrase. Linux Mint does not give you this option. The funny thing is that Ubuntu does give you that option on their alternate installation CD. Since Mint uses Ubuntu as its base, you'd think they would offer a similar option or at least their own alternate CD. However, they do not seem to offer any such thing, at least at this time.
At the end of the day, I'm satisfied with Ubuntu, but it would still be nice to have an alternative "easy to use" distro as a backup. The fact that Linux Mint seems to be going the opposite direction of Ubuntu makes it an even more appealing candidate. But the lack of full disk encryption as an installer option is what is keeping me away from it. Other than that, I would suggest that you give it a try if you absolutely can't stand the current direction of Ubuntu or other Gnome 3 using distros.
Saturday, November 19, 2011
Distro Hopping
I have been a Slackware user for many years. I absolutely love it. That has not changed. However, I feel that I have changed. Realizing that I'm spending more and more of my time experimenting and tweaking my system rather than using it, I decided that something needed to happen. So I have installed Ubuntu 11.10 on my desktop.
Does this mean that I'm not an advanced Linux user? No, it does not. It just means that I'm tired of spending all day doing complicated things and solving complicated system problems as a systems admin, only to come home and do the same exact thing with my home computers. Just because I'm a power user at work, doesn't mean I can't be afforded some simplicity in my home life. I evaluated several different distros and arrived at Ubuntu because it is known for making things simple. Tasks like installing video drivers that would require some command line effort in most other distros can be done in Ubuntu with a few clicks of the mouse. I honestly don't have to think much, and I appreciate being able not to. It lets me get back to what I should be doing...playing the role of an end-user.
I'm using the default Unity interface on Ubuntu. At first I didn't like it, but it has grown on me. I guess I had better get used to it because it looks like even Windows is going down the road of having a single look for desktop computers, tablets, and phones. Although I like the Unity interface much more than the Metro interface (at least as it appears in the Windows 8 Developer Preview). Of course, I don't own a tablet and my phone runs Android.
The Ubuntu Software Center has also made installing the applications that I commonly use a breeze. I can use it to search for new applications and easily click to install them.
I did make some small tweaks to the LightDM login manager. I wanted it to prompt me for both username and password instead of showing me a list of users to click on. Then I wanted it to enable numlock automatically. I use the number keypad a lot and didn't want the extra step of having to hit the numlock key. Yep, I'm just that lazy.
As far as Unity goes, I haven't made a lot of changes other than adding/removing programs from the launcher. I am a little annoyed, however, that Unity doesn't feature a slideshow-type wallpaper selection. I know there are 3rd party applications that can automatically change my wallpaper for me, but they all have to run in the background in order to function. I used a Python script that I found with a little Google-Fu, which uses the Contest wallpaper and background-1.xml to change the wallpaper (using the wallpaper image path I provided) at a specified interval. However, the script doesn't support scaling the images, so some of my larger wallpaper images don't look right on the screen. I'd love a script or command that will change the wallpaper randomly when given a path with images and for it to also support scaling. Something I could just stick in the cron would be preferred. Maybe something already exists like that and I just haven't found it yet.
All in all, it's been a good experience so far. I was worried, especially with so many people jumping ship from Ubuntu because of disdain for Unity. It is very different from what most of us are used to, but if you spend enough time with it, you'll see that it really isn't all that bad. But I can only imagine that if Linux users, who are typically thought to be more advanced computer users, are this upset over a change like Unity then Windows users are going to hit the roof with anger when Windows 8 gets released with its Metro interface.
Update: I found out how to get the contest wallpaper slideshow to scale the images. I just deleted the "<option>zoom</option>" line from the contest section of /usr/share/gnome-background-properties/ubuntu-wallpapers.xml. After doing that, the option to choose tile, zoom , scale, etc., became available when selecting "Contest" in the wallpaper selection area of the Appearance configuration window.
Does this mean that I'm not an advanced Linux user? No, it does not. It just means that I'm tired of spending all day doing complicated things and solving complicated system problems as a systems admin, only to come home and do the same exact thing with my home computers. Just because I'm a power user at work, doesn't mean I can't be afforded some simplicity in my home life. I evaluated several different distros and arrived at Ubuntu because it is known for making things simple. Tasks like installing video drivers that would require some command line effort in most other distros can be done in Ubuntu with a few clicks of the mouse. I honestly don't have to think much, and I appreciate being able not to. It lets me get back to what I should be doing...playing the role of an end-user.
I'm using the default Unity interface on Ubuntu. At first I didn't like it, but it has grown on me. I guess I had better get used to it because it looks like even Windows is going down the road of having a single look for desktop computers, tablets, and phones. Although I like the Unity interface much more than the Metro interface (at least as it appears in the Windows 8 Developer Preview). Of course, I don't own a tablet and my phone runs Android.
The Ubuntu Software Center has also made installing the applications that I commonly use a breeze. I can use it to search for new applications and easily click to install them.
I did make some small tweaks to the LightDM login manager. I wanted it to prompt me for both username and password instead of showing me a list of users to click on. Then I wanted it to enable numlock automatically. I use the number keypad a lot and didn't want the extra step of having to hit the numlock key. Yep, I'm just that lazy.
As far as Unity goes, I haven't made a lot of changes other than adding/removing programs from the launcher. I am a little annoyed, however, that Unity doesn't feature a slideshow-type wallpaper selection. I know there are 3rd party applications that can automatically change my wallpaper for me, but they all have to run in the background in order to function. I used a Python script that I found with a little Google-Fu, which uses the Contest wallpaper and background-1.xml to change the wallpaper (using the wallpaper image path I provided) at a specified interval. However, the script doesn't support scaling the images, so some of my larger wallpaper images don't look right on the screen. I'd love a script or command that will change the wallpaper randomly when given a path with images and for it to also support scaling. Something I could just stick in the cron would be preferred. Maybe something already exists like that and I just haven't found it yet.
All in all, it's been a good experience so far. I was worried, especially with so many people jumping ship from Ubuntu because of disdain for Unity. It is very different from what most of us are used to, but if you spend enough time with it, you'll see that it really isn't all that bad. But I can only imagine that if Linux users, who are typically thought to be more advanced computer users, are this upset over a change like Unity then Windows users are going to hit the roof with anger when Windows 8 gets released with its Metro interface.
Update: I found out how to get the contest wallpaper slideshow to scale the images. I just deleted the "<option>zoom</option>" line from the contest section of /usr/share/gnome-background-properties/ubuntu-wallpapers.xml. After doing that, the option to choose tile, zoom , scale, etc., became available when selecting "Contest" in the wallpaper selection area of the Appearance configuration window.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)