Ubuntu Rant and Holler

Ubuntu Saga: Upgrade The Second

I upgraded to Ubuntu 10.04 today. I say 'upgraded', but what I should say is 'installed'.

With the new installation, everything's shiny and new: distro, themes, backgrounds... configuration settings...

I started an official upgrade from 9.10 to 10.04 and it failed miserably - as it did when I attempted an upgrade from 8.10 to 9.04 almost a year earlier. Before the upgrade completed it hung, stealing my time and my GUI interface. Luckily, the command line still worked, so I was able to back up my data and start from scratch with a LiveUSB.

Hence 'installation' instead of 'upgrade'. Hence new configuration settings.

Usability

I logged into my completely new Ubuntu 10.04 installation and the very first thing I noticed: Left-hand window controls. Like a Mac.

Now, I have nothing against a Mac per se, but I do have a distaste for usability changes without gain. In my mind, this was not the brightest move, and I don't understand what inspired this odd decision. How is it useful to make a fairly significant usability change ten versions and several years in?

On the plus side, I now know where to make major configuration changes - something I had neither the interest, nor motivation to do in the past eight years that I've actively used Linux.

- - - - - - - - - -

If (!system.Upgrade()) {
 frustration++

 system.data.backup()
 sleep(60)

 install = new Installation()
 install.Start()
 sleep(60)

 if (install.window.alignment==LEFT) {
   frustration++
   install.window.alignment.ChangeAlignment(RIGHT)
 }
}