Proposed removal of GNOME Classic desktop would be a serious usability and accessibility regression
Affects | Status | Importance | Assigned to | Milestone | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
NULL Project |
Invalid
|
Wishlist
|
Unassigned |
Bug Description
In https:/
"... we have the Classic desktop fallback in Natty, but will not in Oneiric."
This is worrying. Any attempt to remove support for the Classic desktop is likely to cause serious problems for many Ubuntu users, either because Unity doesn't work on their hardware for some reason, or because they just don't like it -- and it's abundantly clear that many people don't like it.
For the purpose of this bug, it doesn't really matter why people don't like Unity or why it breaks for them. (In my case, it's because I have a 4480x1440 total display area, for which many of the tablet-oriented design decisions in Unity make absolutely no sense.)
It could be argued that that anyone who doesn't want Unity can stay with Maverick or Natty. However, since those aren't LTS releases, they are only supported until April 2012 and October 2012 respectively (including for security fixes). So that's not really an acceptable alternative to continuing to provide the Classic desktop until at least the next LTS release. In my case, I switched from Windows having no idea that Ubuntu would make such drastic changes to the interface in the very next release. (If I'd known that, I might have installed Lucid instead. But downgrading from Maverick to Lucid to get the LTS support doesn't make sense; that would just cause stuff to break.)
It is possible to switch to KDE or some other alternative to Unity, of course (although making that switch from a GNOME/Metacity-
So, we need some clarity:
* what does "we will not [have the Classic desktop fallback] in Oneiric" mean precisely? Does it just mean not installing packages needed for the Classic desktop *by default* on new installs (but keeping them in the repositories and in a working state, and not messing about with them on existing installs), or does it mean more than that?
* will anything that might be necessary for a particular setup currently using the Classic desktop to work, be uninstalled or disabled on an upgrade to Oneiric? (such as disabling the proprietary NVidia drivers as in bug 772019, for example)
* if a user has explicitly changed the default environment back to Classic desktop in Natty, will installing Oneiric override that preference, and if so will changing it back again cause regressions like there were with the Maverick->Natty upgrade? (bug 734373 and bug 735861, for example)
* for those users who do use Unity, will critical usability and accessibility regressions such as bug 654988, bug 739812, and (not specific to Unity) bug 762806, block the Oneiric release?
Changed in ubuntu: | |
status: | New → Confirmed |
tags: | added: natty oneiric regression-release |
tags: |
added: precise removed: natty |
affects: | ubuntu → gnome-session (Ubuntu) |
Changed in gnome-session (Ubuntu): | |
importance: | Undecided → Wishlist |
status: | Confirmed → Invalid |
affects: | gnome-session (Ubuntu) → ubuntu |
affects: | ubuntu → null |
I will not use Unity unless it becomes *much* more configurable. For a start, the icons have to be shrinkable to the sort of size you can get them down to in GNOME 2. I've been using Ubuntu (Maverick then Natty) for less than a year; the Classic desktop is configurable and I can get it pretty much as I want it. Being forced onto a barely configurable Unity is the last thing I expected or wanted. I also can't stand the Menu Bar for an application getting confused with a part of my desktop which is operating- system- related, not application- related. And I don't get on with looking for things which are hidden until you move the mouse near them.
Why are people being pushed that way? It's clearly been designed for touch screen devices, which many of us don't use, so there's no advantage for us. As a laptop GUI it is, IMHO, not fit for purpose.
I totally agree with David-Sarah Hopwood's concerns and questions. Canonical are losing a lot of goodwill over this divisive "Unity" platform.