Hi Gordon,
On 02/10/12 11:42, Gordon Scott wrote:
> On 01/10/2012 21:36, Alan Pope wrote:
>> On 01/10/12 21:32, Gordon Scott wrote:
>>> Can anyone say if 'upgrading' from 10.04 to 12.04 would result in a
>>> default switch to Unity?
>>
>> It will.
>>
> Frankly that is alarming, but also as I suspected, and precisely why I
> have not upgraded.
>
What's alarming about upgrading a system and getting new stuff? It
happens in all software "distributions". OS/2 2.x -> OS/2 Warp, Windows
XP -> Windows 7, Android 2.x -> 3.x -> 4.x, Linux Mint 11 -> 12. Some
more dramatic than others, granted.
> Have you any idea how disruptive that change would be if it were
> unexpected?
>
How would be unexpected? When you click "upgrade" to go from 10.04 to
12.04 you are presented with release notes and a clear link to:-
http://www.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/features
Which goes out of its way to detail what's new and funky in the later
release.
> Do you have any idea how badly a change like that can be received?
>
I recommend this book:-
http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/0091816971/ - "Who Moved My Cheese:
An Amazing Way to Deal with Change in Your Work and in Your Life"
> I have already spent many hours trying to work out how to make Unity
> effective for me as my _work_ environment. Unity is already costing me
> time, and I don't yet even have it on my work machine.
>
So don't use it. Use something else if it's that much of a bugbear for
you. There's lots of different desktops in the repository. I'm sure one
suits.
> Are there any nasty surprises in the upgrade from 10.04LTS server to
> 12.04LTS server, without the GUI?
Not that I'm aware of. We generally don't go for "nasty surprises" in
Ubuntu, either on the desktop or server. We tend to favour "new
features" and "updated software".
> Hopefully with absolutely no bling at
> least that one should be relatively OK, though any upgrade is always a
> risk and challenge.
>
You say "bling" I say "beauty". Let's call the whole thing off.
> Does the upgrade process inform us of fallback, or better still offer it
> as an option?
No. However it's as easy as clicking this link once you've upgraded.
apt://gnome-session-fallback
> Does it remain comparable to my present desktop, i.e., I don't waste
> hours or days betting back to something with which I can work.
>
You want the world to stay the same, but upgrade nonetheless? Should we
have all stayed on GNOME 1.x or perhaps CDE? :)
> The reason I'm on Ubuntu LTS was because I understood that there would
> be steady upgrade process and I hoped that that would minimise many of
> the disruptive changes that have happened in the past .. stupid things
> like a new blingy CD writer that doesn't work properly superseding the
> old drab one that did.
>
That's a reasonable set of expectations. Nobody is forcing you to
upgrade right now, are they? I mean, there may be software you need for
your work which isn't available in 10.04, or there may be hardware which
is only supported on a newer kernel?
But if you're on 10.04 then you've got until April next year before you
need to think about "no more bug fixes and security updates on this
release". Why not sit back and take stock of the changing world around
you and make the step when you're ready?
> At this moment, Unity feels a little like Ubuntu
> threw a grenade into the mix. Yes, I know it's been around a year or
> so, but I ditched it back then as too profound a change. I'm trying to
> prepare for what seems presently to be an inevitable change, but at the
> moment that's feeling a bit of a struggle. I'm still hoping I'll
> mellow. I like Ubuntu, it's always been relatively painless to work
> with in the past. Hopefully it will be again.
>
I run 12.04 on my main machine and will probably stick with it for some
time to come. I am enjoying 12.04 much more than any of the previous
releases I've used. Each to their own though. I hope you find a desktop
that suits you.
Cheers,
--
Alan Pope
Engineering Manager
Canonical - Product Strategy
+44 (0) 7973 620 164
alan.pope@???
http://ubuntu.com/
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