Unity

Bug #668415
Comment #62

Comment 62 for bug 668415

Revision history for this message

SRoesgen (s-roesgen) wrote on 2011-05-02:

#62

I am glad to see that we see here an increase in voices that call for a change of the Launcher.

Just to comment on one statement that I read here:

Some here are not postulating the idea that one should be able to change the position of the Launcher for its own sake. This is different.
Some time ago mobile-phones did not allow any customization at all. But the more these little devices became part of everyday life the more the became configurable. A new Android smartphone now makes it possible to configure several aspects that were not configurable before. Certainly these options are not as vast as on a desktop but they are perceivable and usable.

Now, we have a desktop operating system (Linux/Ubuntu) which has emphasized simplicity since its creation. And, basically, this was a well rounded idea. A normal user does not need many customizable aspects in his operating system. But a normal user calls this system, on which he is working, not "Desktop" without a cause. The user interface of the computer's operating system has replaced the normal desktop on a working desk that one has used for decades.
I want to be able to control my own workflow and when I want to put the launcher on the bottom of the computer screen this is like being able to place some pencils (or a pencil-box) on the right or the left of my old desk. Or to place the desk lamp on the right or the left of the desk. You cannot control everything in the user's behaviour. Give them, the users, at least some freedom.

If somebody says that the decision to make the Launcher movable is solely based on his wish to make it more "compatible" with his behaviours as a native speaker of a right to left language this is not in any way different from my wish to keep my own workflow. I can only speak for me: this is my reason, I have a workflow which I have acquired in 22 years of using a computer and I am alway open for change. But I dislike the idea that essential parts of my behaviour will/should be changed by a design decision which deviated from every computer (desktop) interface that we have seen for the last 15 years.

Btw: I now use Unity since the beta 1 and while I do like the Launcher (and Unity) in general, I honestly detest the fixed position of the launcher. I use docky as an addition to my desktop, though it should not be necessary to do so. I can place docky wherever I want. I have more features in docky. And: with docky I can launch several instances of one application if I like to do so (especially I can launch several instances of Nautilus which certainly is a very odd behaviour: who the heck wants to use more than one nautilus winow at once??? Yeah, I must be a real moron!).

To become serious again: I cannot undestand what is so strange about the idea to make the launcher movable? To have a launcher at the bottom is MY design decision. And possibly that of many other people. To have the launcher at the right is the design decision of many other people. And to have the launcher at the left side is also the design decision of many other people. Heavens! This is my desktop. My desktop is quasi my virtual home. How can anybody be so rude to command me how to design my own home? I like Ubuntu, I like unity, I like the dash, I like the indicators. But actually: if I wanted the indicators to be at the bottom left, the launcher at the right side and the Dash in the middle of the screen, this might indeed sound unreasonable. But the only thing that I and many other people want is to see ONE thing changed. I do not want to change to Fedora or SuSE, really I have been working with Ubuntu for such a long time and only seen wonderful, good changes. But now - because of the perpetually encountered answer "it is a design decision" I am, asking myself if this is the right direction at which Ubuntu is heading.

I am glad to see that we see here an increase in voices that call for a change of the Launcher.

Just to comment on one statement that I read here:

Now, we have a desktop operating system (Linux/Ubuntu) which has emphasized simplicity since its creation. And, basically, this was a well rounded idea. A normal user does not need  many customizable aspects in his operating system. But a normal user calls this system, on which he is working, not "Desktop" without a cause. The user interface of the computer's operating system has replaced the normal desktop on a working desk that one has used for decades.
I want to be able to control my own workflow and when I want to put the launcher on the bottom of the computer screen this is like being able to place  some pencils (or a pencil-box) on the right or the left of my old desk. Or to place the desk lamp on the right or the left of the desk. You cannot control everything in the user's behaviour. Give them, the users, at least some freedom.

To become serious again: I cannot undestand what is so strange about the idea to make the launcher movable? To have a launcher at the bottom is MY design decision. And possibly that of many other people. To have the launcher at the right is the design decision of many other people. And to have the launcher at the left side is also the design decision of many other people. Heavens! This is my desktop. My desktop is quasi my virtual home. How can anybody be so rude to command me how to design my own home? I like Ubuntu, I like unity, I like the dash, I like the indicators.  But actually: if I wanted the indicators to be at the bottom left, the launcher at the right side and the Dash in the middle of the screen, this might indeed sound unreasonable. But the only thing that I and many other people want is to see ONE thing changed. I do not want to change to Fedora or SuSE, really I have been working with Ubuntu for such a long time and only seen wonderful, good changes. But now - because of the perpetually encountered answer "it is a design decision" I am, asking myself if this is the right direction at which Ubuntu is heading.