Non-geeky Linux
Over the years I have added a couple of laptops for my wife and I and a PC on the TV which are all using Linux too. I have been a subscriber to LXF since 2006 and have been using Linux exclusively on my office PC since then. Even though I’ve been using Linux for years I am just a user, not a programmer. I rarely use the Terminal and I have no interest in writing scripts or learning to program. I just prefer using Linux to Windows as it gives me choice, and it’s 100 times (approximately) easier to install and get up to date, and for the most part it just works.
As I am not interested in programming many of the pages towards the back of the magazine are just flicked over so I end up paying for a lot of content which I don’t read. I’m not suggesting you stop such content as I’m sure many enjoy it but please don’t let it take over. Linux has become so good now that there are lots of us out there who use it; not because we are geeks but because we aren’t.
On another note I use Ubuntu most of the time even though I have tried lots of distros. The one thing which keeps bringing me back to Unity even though I dislike the launcher hiding all the apps and the Dash/ HUD (If man were meant to use a keyboard then God wouldn’t have given us the mouse) is the way it merges the top of each window with the menu bar. This seemingly simple saving of real estate is brilliant as most monitors are now wide but not tall therefore the saving is all the greater. Is there any way to achieve something similar in Gnome (without pressing F11 that is) which would be my preferred desktop otherwise? A lister Brown, Co. Armagh Northern Ireland. Neil says: Absolutely, I suspect there’s a high number of people in a similar position. Now that Linux desktops largely ‘just work’ people just want to install and forget about them, not mess around. It’s a tricky balancing act trying to build features and tutorials that appeal to as wide an audience as possible, which is why we have our regular favourites, and have accessible subjects like Media Centres [ LXF204] and this issue’s Ubuntu guide ( seep32).
As for your menu question, it appear that’s not possible. There was a Gnome Global Menu widget but it’s unmaintained and doesn’t appear to work. Find out more here http://bit.ly/UnityGlobalMenuInGnome.