Thursday, July 21, 2011

Some tools to configure Ubuntu 11.04 Unity - Confity and Gunity, and some additional Ubuntu 11.04 thoughts

Earlier I posted about the Compiz Configeration Settings manager or CCSM. In this post, I link to two alternate settings managers developed by users of Ubuntu. The two are Confity and Gunity. Why would anyone use these instead of CCSM? Well, apparently, after doing some research it seems that CCSM can break Ubuntu and Unity. How or why I have no clue and will post some specifics later, hopefully. (such as, see the comment section here -> Easily tweak the Unity desktop with ‘GUnity’ - http://www.omgubuntu.co.uk/2011/05/gunity-app-lets-you-tweak-the-unity-desktop/
)Anyways, check these out if interested.

Easily tweak the Unity desktop with ‘GUnity’ - http://www.omgubuntu.co.uk/2011/05/gunity-app-lets-you-tweak-the-unity-desktop/

Easily Configure Ubuntu’s Unity Interface With Confity [Linux] - http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/easily-configure-ubuntus-unity-interface-confity-linux/

Confity by petrus6 - http://sourceforge.net/projects/confity/

‘Confity’ lets you configure Ubuntu 11.04 Unity easily - http://www.omgubuntu.co.uk/2011/05/confity-lets-you-configure-unity-easily/

Confity & Gunity - 2 Simple tools to configure Unity the easy way - http://www.linuxtoday.com/infrastructure/2011052301239OSHLUB

which links to:

Confity & Gunity- 2 Simple tools to configure Unity the easy way - http://www.unixmen.com/linux-tutorials/linux-distributions/linux-distributions4-ubuntu/1732-2-great-tools-to-configure-u

Configure Unity with Confity & Gunity - http://www.ubuntu-corner.com/2011/05/configure-unity-with-confity-gunity/#more-431

Change Unity Settings Easily With Confity - http://www.addictivetips.com/ubuntu-linux-tips/change-unity-settings-easily-with-confity/

One point I saw someone make on a comment section here -> ‘Confity’ lets you configure Ubuntu 11.04 Unity easily - http://www.omgubuntu.co.uk/2011/05/confity-lets-you-configure-unity-easily/ makes a very good point. While the Canonical development team has focused on bugs and stability in Ubuntu 11.04 some things have been overlooked or underdeveloped due to time constraints. Thus, things like configuring Unity has been severely restricted. However, the beauty in the Ubuntu community and Linux community in general is that a few dedicated people have developed software especially for these uses, such as Confity and Gunity.

However, I see many complaints about this or that in Ubuntu's latest release. I haven't been a Ubuntu user for long, just over a year, but if I didn't not like something in Ubuntu that has changed I would look for something new, and the beauty about Ubuntu and Linux distros in general is that there is something for everyone and you and generally tweak the heck out of it to suit your needs. For example, if you don't like Unity, there are plenty of ways to not use it either by another distro, switching desktop environments such as GNOME, KDE, or XFCE, and I am sure many more. Heck you can still run older versions of Ubuntu if you like!! I mean you can do this in Windows too, but I am sure there is more support for older versions of Ubuntu even though Canonical does not officially support them like Windows doesn't support '98, XP, etc. I believe Ubuntu 6.04 would have better support because it is open source and I am sure someone has tweak with it to this day, unlike Windows '98!! Of course, I am generally not too hard to please so changes may not affect me or some users as much as others. Agian, the beauty in this system is that the creativity and options are endless like the differences in every single person on this planet.

Another complaint is the time release of Ubuntu. They release versions every 6 months with long-term support versions every 2 years. Some people do not like this since 6 months is not a lot of time to do major updates/upgrades/changes which is true. Take the jump from 10.10 to 11.04. I mean Ubuntu and Canonical were working on Unity with a 10.10 netbook release, but Unity in 11.04 for all is far from perfect. Of course, I have run into far less problems since I generally don't get into the guts as much as others, but I have noticed some nuances which are somewhat annoying, but I love Ubuntu and have gotten used to some small errors which does not stop me from uninstalling to another distro or version nor stops me from doing daily tasks. Also, with time the release is getting better, and I would put money on 11.10 and 12.04 being pretty damn good. Anyways, my point is, yes, the time table is short and can cause some development issues, but why complain when there are several options and routes to take to lessen the irritation, such as alternate distros, older versions, and the ability to test Linux using a Live CD or usb stick.

Good article here supporting my thoughts which I found after writing this.

Top 4 Lightweight, Official Ubuntu Based Alternatives for Ubuntu 11.04's Unity 3D - http://www.techdrivein.com/2011/05/top-4-lightweight-official-ubuntu-based.html

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