What will be the fate of Ubuntu Classic?
 

Hi, Ubuntu developers!

I stumbled onto Ubuntu way back in Sep 2008 when it was still Hardy Heron. A friend brought me an old laptop he'd bought in a PC junk shop, not knowing it contained a bootleg version of Microsoft Windows, and he said I could have it if I found a way to clean it up.

I cleaned it up by installing Hardy Heron to the entire disc. It worked so much faster and better than Windows, and from then on Ubuntu has been my operating system of choice.

And then along came Unity. I keep my Ubuntu set on Classic so I can use the workspace switcher and the Avant icon tray. Also I can move windows around on the desktop and maximize and minimize them more easily.

However, in the back of my mind there's deep concern that if the good people at Ubuntu decide to ditch Gnome entirely it would deep-six the Classic version altogether. I've already decided that Unity is definitely not for me.

So, first question: what are the chances of this ever happening? Second question: is there anywhere a Wubi-like installer for Fedora? The idea of partitioning a disc and then having something go wrong doesn't sit well with me. (If you need to uninstall a faulty installation of Ubuntu, you simply go to the Windows Control Panel and uninstall it.)

Thanks for any advice,
TokyoJohn

Like you, I have a bad feeling about the future of Gnome 2 on Ubuntu, but I much prefer Fluxbox to any desktop environment, so it's not an immediate worry.

I think Wubi is the only Wubi-like thing out there, though you could run any distro you want in Windows in VirtualBox or a similar environment if your computer has enough muscle. I have a gorgeous Windows computer (it was a thank you gift from someone I had helped out considerably) and I have Fedora and several other Linux distros virtualized on it, because, frankly, I can't think of a better use for Windows than running Linux.

I must say, though, I'm a little puzzled by your reasoning for not installing a Linux distro directly to your HDD. Hard drives are no more immune to malfunction under Windows than under Linux, and Linux is a darn site easier to rescue and has file systems that are way better than NTFS. Indeed, Wubi adds an extra layer of complexity to the whole shebang, as, according to the Wubi docs, the virtual disc is particularly vulnerable to improper shutdowns. Although I must say that Wubi is a great way for the Linux-curious to satisfy their curiosity.

Almost every major distro except Slackware will offer to partition and format a hard drive automatically upon installation. Unless the user is looking to do something quite specialized or tailored, that is usually quite sufficient for the home user.

I, too, started with 8.04.1. Gnome2 with its panels has been a great ride. It is over.

Ubuntu, as much as I would like to blame them, is not responsible for this. Gnome is. Gnome3 has come out and Gnome Shell is the desktop. Ubuntu built Unity, for some reason, to use instead. I think Gnome Shell is better.

That said there is one way that you can stay with Gnome2 for a while. That is to switch to Debian Squeeze. It is what Ubuntu 10.04 is based on. It will run for another 2 or 3 years fully supported.

If I were you, though, I would look at Xfce as the Desktop Environment. You can install it right along with your Gnome and choose it at your log in screen (bottom panel under "session") if you do that. From your Ubuntu repos this would be the Xubuntu desktop. You could do a clean install of Xubuntu.

I am running Debian testing (currently Wheezy) with the Xfce and Gnome desktops installed. I have not booted to Gnome in quite a while now. I really prefer Xfce.

11.04 is the last version of ubuntu that will have 'classic' gnome desktop. 11.10 will use unity 2D for users without the video hardware to run unity. It should be possible to install gnome 3 fallback, but thats not quite the same as gnome 2.X

http://www.omgubuntu.co.uk/?p=12299
http://www.webupd8.org/2011/06/ubunt...pha-1-has.html
http://www.webupd8.org/2011/08/insta...e-desktop.html

Canoncial could easily have forked gnome 2 if they wished.

Ubuntu started what would end up as 'unity' a long time before gnome 3 was out....possibly even before the gnome devs were talking about scrapping gnome 2.X and moving to gnome 3.X.

As for why unity, not gnome 3...well, you should check the canonical contributor agreement.

http://aseigo.blogspot.com/2010/09/c...ld-or-why.html

Edit- typos, and I wonder who found this popst 'unhelpful'? I'd guess its TokyoJohn...in any case, could you please explain why this post was unhelpful?

Now why didn't I think of that?! Thanks, man! Already, the sunlight is breaking through the clouds!

As for why I'm skittish about partitioning a disc, I've had Ubuntu installations on Windows go belly up on me (granted, maybe a Windows problem), and all I had to do was uninstall them and start all over again. Imagine this happening on a disc partition. I understand that restoring a hard drive is not a very pleasant thing to have to do. (Every laptop I have or have had gets the double-boot maker over. It's not a PC if it can't do what I want it to do.)

If something happens to Ubuntu, you do not need to repartition. When reinstalling it, tell the installer to use the existing ones.

I don't have to tell it to do anything because that's not the road I want to take. Okay, here's why. Several years ago, a friend sold me his old i-Mac for about $100, no big deal, but that was the very first Apple I ever had and I was excited. So what do I go and do? I try to use Bootcamp or whatever it is they have on i-Mac to make a double boot. Something went horribly wrong, and I ended up with an i-Mac that could only do Ubuntu. "Chotto hazukashii!" as they say here. Yeah, I'm not messing with hard drives any more!

I don't know about the iMac, but it's impossible to permanently change anything in a normal PC by messing with the hard drive.

(Note that you would need a Windows installation CD if you wipe out Windows and want it back, though)

@ TokyoJohn- could you please explain why MTK358s post (#6) and my post (#4) are 'unhelpful'?

Cascade buddy, I doubt you will ever know who marked it unhelpful. I had a similar thing a while ago and asked who and why but with no reply. I have considered asking Jeremy but probably wouldn't find out so gave up and accepted I now have 4 little black marks :eek:

Maybe it's an Ubuntu conspiracy lol.

Normally I would agree with you, finding out who marked a post as 'unhelpful' isnt somethign that us users can figure out (I'd assume that mods, or at least admins could find out).

In this case though, TokyoJohn has made 1 thread, 3 posts, and rated 4 posts. When I made the edit to post #4 there was 3 posts rated by TokyoJohn, then after MTK358s post was rated 'unhelpful' TokyoJohn had rated 4 posts.

I cant know for sure that it was TokyoJohn who rated those posts 'unhelpful', but I'd be confident enough to place a bet that it was.... :D

At least the little black marks are put there by peers rather than mods that are part of the Ubuntu conspiracy. I like the concept of Ubuntu enlisting "agents" to infiltrate other forums to help their agenda though.

It is entertaining. I do not, as I am sure you do not, actually believe in this conspiracy. For one thing it would require a level of expertise that I doubt they have. They can't control the thoughts, hard as they try, of the folks on their own forum. Poor buggers.

@Cascade-I understand and agree, just trying to lighten the mood, lol.

Peers? Not to sure about that. Some of the pieces of advice and other things I have read are extremely out of date (not from Cascade and yourself though) yet people ark up when you tell them their are better and or easier options. I would hope our peers are better educated or at least willing to take under careful consideration what is being explained to them.

I don't believe there is any organised grand conspiracy though I see trends and similarities between some people here and in another place I use to frequent, you may remember I worked out who you were just from your writing style. I believe the term is "fanboy" and despite the best efforts of people who see the bigger picture some fanboys continue to proclaim some distros as the be all and end all on every forum they join.