Ubuntu 11.10 Oneiric Ocelot

Posted: Mon Oct 17, 2011 9:55 am

A definitely worth while upgrade.
Some of the 'default' programs have changed, most notably Thunderbird is now the default email client - though you will still use Evolution if upgrading. Evolution now uses the maildir format instead of the mbox format in previous versions. Evolution will upgrade your existing mail the first time you run it.
On a side note; maildir is compatible with the KDE mail client and also Thunderbird so this gives you the opportunity to try those out if you want to. Personally, I prefer the KDE-desktop versions of the mail/PIM software so I can now export my data from Evolution and import it to KDE (there was no way to do this before).

Unity seems to have improved a bit. I get less collisions between the active software toolbar, which used to cause it to permanently disappear at times and the icon size in the left dock now seems to 'stick' wheras before sometimes it would use the icon size I had specified in the Unity settings and sometimes it would use the default size.
My only gripe is that some software still has its minimise/maximise/close button on the right and some on the left - pretty annoying! And it is particularly annoying when it's on the left because you can easily (accidentally) activate the side dock menu.

I still hate Unity; accessing the settings or indeed any software you cannot remember the name of is still a PITA but any improvement is a welcome one.

Site Admin Joined: Jan 06, 2006 Posts: 308

I read somewhere that GNOME3 also ships with 11.10 and should be an option on the login screen. Have you tried that out yet? Someone at work told me its supposed to be really fantastic.

I haven't downloaded 11.10 yet to put into a VM for testing purposes. But hope to soon. Wink

Posted: Sat Oct 22, 2011 4:55 pm

Yes, 11.10 ships with Gnome 3.2
The only options at start-up are Ubuntu or Ubuntu 2D, (though I also have KDE since I also use kde-desktop).
The 2D being for old hardware that doesn't support or have accelerated graphics support required for Unity to run properly.
Out of curiosity I also tried in the terminal;
gnome-shell --version
and it came back with nothing (except the option to install the gnome shell).

Site Admin Joined: Jan 06, 2006 Posts: 308

Bummer... bad info then. Odd as it came from what I thought to be a reputable source. Oh well. <sigh>

Posted: Sat Oct 22, 2011 6:33 pm

After a quick bit of research, it seems that although Gnome 3 is installed under 11.10 it is being controlled by Unity.
As you know, I'm not what you might called Unity's biggest fan <cough> so thought I would install the Gnome shell

Code:

sudo apt-get install gnome-shell

and after a reboot you get offered the option when logging in to use GNOME (incidentally the 'Gnome Classic' returns as well).

So, figuring that it couldn't hurt, I selected the GNOME option...
Holy sh.. I mean holy cow, I mean, oh my, oh, wow, erm, I'm in love again.....
OK so I still don't have a drop down menu bar but at least I can actually see all my installed software and what's more, I get to see a whole screen full, not just a handful - that is MUCH better.
Ta-ta Unity, Gnome3 Shell FTW

Site Admin Joined: Jan 06, 2006 Posts: 308

VERY COOL!!!! Thanks!

Site Admin Joined: Jan 06, 2006 Posts: 308

OMG! What a mistake this upgrade was for me! Sad

Why do I do this to myself. lol. The upgrade from 10.10 to 11.04 seemed to go fine. Then I jumped into 11.04 to 11.10 which seemed to go well until the final restart.... DEAD. PC is DEAD.

In searching around the web, I find others with the same issue as me... cannot find the network... issues with the dbus (whatever the heck that is). And can't get a login prompt to save my life.

Time to download the ISO and start this over from scratch. Uggghhh... guess I didn't have anything else to do this weekend. Oh well. Better go start the download...

My lesson and to others as well: it could very well work just fine for you, but not everyone. Wait several months for others to experience the pain and let Canonical fix their upgrade!

Ok... off to download the iso... Sad

Posted: Sat Oct 29, 2011 7:43 am

OUCH!

Wondering if this might be VMware related since dbus is used as a communications channel between different bits of software.
http://www.zdnet.com/blog/perlow/why-ubuntu-1110-fills-me-with-rage/19103

I hope you get back up and running soon my friend!

Site Admin Joined: Jan 06, 2006 Posts: 308

Wow, G-man, this thread is on the first page of Google search for gnome3 ubuntu 11.10. Nice job!

I'm up and running for now. Had found this article yesterday and with a USB stick plugged in with 11.10 on it, it finally brought up the means to go into the recovery console. Updated the grub loader and then also had to move around some files (which is why a fresh install would have worked great rather than my upgrades...)

But now how do I get all my favorite application icons on my bar up top so that I don't have to go hunt and peck for them all the time! I really hate the direction all the UI's are going. Its probably good for a novice to have the deep menus and search, but I know what I want and I want immediate access to it right from my desktop / menubar!
Aaaarrrrggghhhhh....

Posted: Sat Oct 29, 2011 2:49 pm

I know what you mean about wanting direct access to programs. I hate having to type in the name for each program; with my memory I cannot remember half of what I install or even sometimes what it is actually called Sad

This might help BUT I have not tried any of these;
http://askubuntu.com/questions/13758/how-can-i-edit-create-new-launcher-items-in-unity-by-hand

At least with gnome-shell installed I have a whole desktop full of program icons to choose from instead of just a handful of what Unity thinks is 'most commonly used'. There are some minor niggles with gnome-shell if you log-in using 'GNOME' but I prefer to use it rather than Unity. The 'Classic' option returns as well once gnome-shell is installed, though I haven't tried that yet under 11.10.
I know when installing software from the Repo you have the option to add a launcher to the (Unity dock) menu but that doesn't really help those of us that use none Repo software like NetBeans, Eclipse, BC3 etc.

I love Ubuntu but it really annoys me that they force you to use Unity. Even with that said, if they added some means to easily configure the menu items with some right-click context menu so you can add/remove launchers it would be great.

Site Admin Joined: Jan 06, 2006 Posts: 308

Yeah, when I upgraded, all my panel bar application icons moved over onto the Unity toolbar and what a mess that is. Can't really get to what I want quickly. I just don't understand why they would remove such a useful feature for the power users. Let us configure a toolbar the way WE want and don't assume everyone is the same...

Posted: Sat Oct 29, 2011 3:32 pm

I agree entirely!
I know many people like Unity but it was designed to conserve screen real-estate on laptops and netboooks and thats where they should have left it, not used it for a desktop OS.
Which reminds me, I sent some colorful emails to the ditor of Full Circle magazine, have to check the latest copy to see if they dared to print it lol

Site Admin Joined: Jan 06, 2006 Posts: 308

Even GNOME3 has gotten rid of the toolbar panels. At least I cannot figure out how to get them back... total waste of my top bar with a wide monitor. Sad

I am also trying to figure out how to get back my 4 separate desktop workspaces. I LOVED that feature and now it looks like it no longer exists. This is definitely steps backward, but I'm sure they have heard it a ton already.

Site Admin Joined: Jan 06, 2006 Posts: 308

Hey, just saw this from Ubuntu Geek... if you are using Unity, you might like this:

http://www.ubuntugeek.com/how-to-install-classicmenu-indicator-on-ubuntu-11-10-oneiric-ocelot.html

Posted: Sun Oct 30, 2011 1:42 pm

Great find - thanks!!!!
Not sure yet if it displays the classic menu icon after a reboot because I haven't rebooted yet. I did install it, then use Unity to search for 'classic' then clicked the icon and it loaded an Ubuntu icon in my top menu bar (next to the Evolution mail icon) - and it works!

I know I can access the actual classic menu to customise it (if I can remember) like we could before, including adding new menu items etc so this is very promising indeed.