Thoughts on the new face of Ubuntu
March 16th, 2010 by scottOne of the biggest flaps in the Ubuntu community has come about as the result of the new look that’s being applied to version 10.4 of the distro. Suffice it to say that the new interface has been garnering mixed reactions from Ubuntu users.
Some people really like it. Others are loudly complaining about the changes, which involve not just cosmetic alterations but also changes to positions of buttons. I’ve been following this flap in a very oblique way, and I have to chuckle. I’ve only got one thing to say about this:
Stop whining!
The interface is new. It’s a little different. It’s not the end of the world. Anyway, there are more important things to worry and complain about.
Admittedly, I haven’t tried it out in any of the alpha versions of Lucid Lynx. I like what I’ve seen, but I can’t definitively say whether or not the new interface is an improvement.
But guess what? When I upgrade, I’ll adapt. And that’s the key. Adapt. As I wrote elsewhere:
Humans have an incredible ability to adapt. But often, we fall into the trap of complacency and embracing the familiar. Sometimes, developers need to shake things up a bit. Users shouldn’t whine about how one application doesn’t look like another. Instead, give the application a serious try, and try to adapt.
I’ll close with some thoughts from Bruce Lee on this subject:
Don’t get set into one form, adapt it and build your own, and let it grow, be like water. Empty your mind, be formless, shapeless — like water. Now you put water in a cup, it becomes the cup; You put water into a bottle it becomes the bottle; You put it in a teapot it becomes the teapot. Water can flow or it can crash. Be water, my friend.


