Call Me Old School

I've been coming to a conclusion regarding Linux desktops. With both Unity and Gnome 3 bowling over new and long time Linux users with their tablet/phone type interface, requiring users to learn how to use their computers in a whole new way, many, like myself, have decided: meh, think I'll pass.

There has been an exodus of main Ubuntu users who have been moving to other desktop interfaces, particularly those desktops that offer a classic interface. Xfce, KDE, LXDE, and now the MGSE and MATE desktops are gaining ground in the face of the tablet-phone-interface-apocalypse.

It may not sound flattering, but I've come to the conclusion that I'm too old, too lazy, too set in my ways, or to say it nicely, too old school to want to spend time relearning how to use my computer for basic functions after well over a decade of time spent with computers. And I'm not alone.

Linux Mint is known for making a very user friendly distribution that works out of the box. Any Windows user can sit down to a Linux Mint operating system and find themselves completely at home. But Mint is not alone, the children of Ubuntu: Kubuntu, Xubuntu, and Lubuntu, also are user friendly, Windows user friendly, Linux distributions.

With a bit of tweaking, Xubuntu provides a nice classic desktop. Both Lubuntu and Kubuntu are pretty much Windows user friendly out of the box. I suspect this is the year of the old farts in Linux, considering the unpopularity of Gnome 3 and Unity desktops. Or we could put it nicely and say this is a time when old school rules.

Gnome 3 and Ubuntu's Unity may think they are leading the way, but they might want to look behind them to see if anyone is actually following. I don't fault them for wanting to find a way to get Linux on phones and tablets--though it's already there via Android--but I do fault them for foolishly expecting that those who have been comfortable for years using what is now a "classic desktop" should toss aside years of habit and comfort and go strolling into the sunset with app-centric interfaces that slow down workflow and hinder productivity. Oh, I know, if you are willing to develop a new mentality that you should use the keyboard for everything rather than the mouse or touchpad that you still could be productive. But my common sense tells me that is a losing argument. Why should users change just because certain parties want to turn their computers into tablets and phones? That's what tablets and phones are for, leave our computers alone!

At least Linux is not alone in the desktop firestorm. Windows 8 is already gathering opposition to its shiny new tablet interface operating system due to be released next year. The Linux community can sit smugly by while the Windows world is also shaken by the tablet-interface-on-a-computer-madness.

I will end where I began. I will have my old school computer interface or else. If Linux will not offer it to me--thank God it does--then I will really go old school, turn off my computer, and go read a book.

Why Mint 12 Will Rock The Linux World

I've been thinking about just how much Mint has rocked the Linux world even before Mint 12 RC and the official Mint 12 release comes out, with Mint climbing to the top of distrowatch and so many Ubuntu/Unity and Gnome 3 refugees looking for a user-friendly Linux distribution and coming to Mint. I think the explosion of Mint interest will truly go ballistic with the Mint 12 release.
   I'm pretty much willing to learn new things and mess with different distros, but Linux newbies and those folks who are interested in moving from Windows to try Linux for the first time are going to want an easy-to-use intuitive desktop, and that's why I think Mint use will explode.
  While other desktops are chasing the illusive tablet and phone market, Linux Mint 12 takes advantage of newer features but remakes them into a desktop any Windows users can sit down to and click on the familiar left-bottom of the desktop and easily find their applications. Their familiar minimized and opened Windows will show up on their desktop, they will find Mint 12 familiar and yet something more.
  OK, but what about those who are not happy with an easy-to-use desktop, who want hidden menus and all the problems some geeks thrive on? Guess what, you still have Gnome 3 with all its crazy alt-this and alt-that it is there beneath all that  Mint goodness. So Mint 12 accomplishes the impossible, user-friendliness and a nice level of geek complexity. Mint 12 will succeed because it offers so much.
My two cents.

Mint 12 RC First Thoughts

I can't stress enough that this is a release candidate version and not the final version that will appear later this month, and these are just my initial thoughts after sampling the 3 default desktops that come with Linux Mint 12. I have every confidence that what will appear later this month will be more polished.

OK, having said that, with Mint 12 and everything that has gone into making Gnome 3 usable, Clem and his team really had an uphill battle. And they have made Gnome 3 usable. It does not have the customization or the user friendliness of Gnome 2, but they have given the Gnome 3 pig a complete makeover rather than just applying lipstick.

The MGSE desktop above has workspaces on the desktop, and it shows minimized windows. It has the Mint Menu on bottom, and the little infinity symbol at the left top opens the Gnome 3 desktop with its weird one-window design. MGSE is usable, and will likely improve with time.

What I don't like about MGSE: I can't seem to enlarge the text on the top panel, you almost need a magnifying glass to see the clock on my netbook. And the icons are spread out, and badly uneven in size. Most of my problems with MGSE so far are cosmetic. Last night sporadically when I would click on the Mint Menu my desktop would disappear for a few seconds, but that is a bug I expect to be soon fixed.

As I said, MGSE is usable compared to Gnome 3 Shell, and while not likely to please everyone, it is better than a number of alternatives.

To get to the other desktop options in Mint 12 you need to log out, then click on that cog-like icon, and log into your choice of desktop. Right now my favorite choice is Classic Gnome.

A couple of reasons why this is my choice desktop for Mint. First of all it took me just a minute or so to configure it as I wanted it to look. I just needed to drag and drop my favorite apps onto the desktop, and then move them where I wanted them. (Note that you cannot do this in MGSE. You must click on the infinity symbol on the upper left of the desktop then add apps to favorites by right clicking on them, but I found no way to actually add apps to the desktop or panel in MGSE). Also it needed but a right click on the workspace at the lower right corner in Classic Gnome to add a second workspace, though I could have added more than that. And I find the clock and text on the Classic Gnome large and readable, which I prefer. From what I've seen so far, this is likely to be the desktop that Gnome 2 lovers are going to feel most comfortable with. There is the caveat that this Is Not Gnome 2, the Gnome developers have done a good job making it harder to configure the Gnome desktop overall, so keep that in mind, also keep in mind that this Classic Gnome desktop choice only exists as long as the Gnome developers decide to allow it to, and my confidence in them doing anything smart or useful is in the low single digits percentage-wise.

This brings me to MATE. My first impression of MATE was that I liked it. It reminds me an a whole lot of Lubuntu (LXDE) desktop.

The problem with MATE is that it is so unfinished. My volume control would not work, there is no volume icon on the panel, no battery indicator on the panel either, and if you look closely at the screenshot above you will see that the Wireless icon is running off of the bottom right corner of the page. I added the workspaces by simply right clicking on the panel, choosing add, then workspaces. But there was no choice for adding the volume or battery indicator.

I think MATE will improve in time, but it is clearly unfinished at present, and it does not have the polish of Classic Gnome, for instance, the font rendering is not as good in MATE as it is in Gnome and Gnome Classic. Also Mate froze up on me while writing this so that I had to restart the computer.

Some early conclusions: Again, this is a release candidate that will have more polish and bug fixes by the time of the formal release later this month. But from what I have seen so far, I would have to say that Mint 12 using the Classic Gnome desktop is the most usable for me. The MGSE desktop is a somewhat close second choice. But MATE I'm afraid is just too unfinished to satisfy those Ubuntu/Unity and Gnome 3 refugees. I think they are going to be happier with MGSE or Classic Gnome, either of which is a matter of simply logging into their choice in Mint 12.

Mint 12 RC

Mint 12 RC is out now and I've been playing around with the MGSE desktop. I think it will help to mollify those who hate Gnome 3. Clem has tweaked it to give visible work spaces and visible minimized windows on the desktop. The Mint menu is nice on the bottom, but you also have the Gnome 3 menu at the top. Very interesting hybrid desktop, mixing both the old and new. I suspect it will be successful.