So it has been twelve days now that I am back on a Ubuntu machine full time. I might want to write some observations now and then, so I have set up this particular blog to be able to do exactly that. Plus, I have some other ulterior motives, you know traditional taking over the world type stuff.
First off, I am impressed with the Unity desktop that has become the default environment. I have, for years now, been highly in favour of more powerful interactions with the keyboard and less usage of the mouse or trackpad. Taking this step has vastly improved the experience for me over competing operating systems. What really makes it all work well, is that the Unity experience makes it seem as if each application is part of a greater whole, rather than the disjointed experience which has been so typical of modern computing environments. I want to explore this concept a little bit. It might be worth some thought.
The Typical Linux Desktop experience of being able to pick and choose your own preferred applications is still valid, even with the Unity Desktop. For instance, I have decided that Rhythmnbox is just not the media player for me, right now, so I installed Banshee, I also removed Rhythmnbox; try doing that to iTunes on your Mac. I do like most of the other default applications, but in cases where I found something better, I was able to install it and remove the default. Love that. Also love that it does not disrupt the continuity of the desktop experience to do that. This indicates that the development community is working very hard to preserve this experience.
What I want to see more of, is an increase in interapplication linkages. This is really a personal thing, maybe. I've noticed that there is a background set of processes that have been developed under the Zeitgeist frameworks. This lets someone develop, and other someones install, an application called Activity Journal. This records all the things you are doing with your machine in a chronological manner; or at least all the application which report to the zeitgeist. Its very nice to be able to see the timeframe I spent listening to music (and which tracks) while reading "Learn Python the hard way" and typing out the exercises in that book. I'm looking forward to more development of these back end processes and even some more powerful adaptations of the front end clients which access them and share information. It would be ultimately cool if Wunderlist and Spotify would be a part of this system. Speaking of Wunderlist & Spotify, it is really cool to see hot young internet properties building applications for the Linux desktop.
So for what it is worth, I have been really impressed with my experience working on and with a computer powered by the Ubuntu Linux desktop. I am looking forward to working more with the community and developers as I get deeper into usage.
PS. The fonts are AWESOME!!!!!!!!!!!