Last week I conducted a workshop on libre graphics tools in an
important meeting here in Argentina. The attendees were people who
don't use graphics programs regularly (and most of them don't use
gnu/linux at all).
We had Ubuntu 11.10 with Unity in the classroom's computers.
Unity proved to be a negative experience for most of them. The ugliest
experience was for people with 17" CRT monitors (some computers had
them), where the global menu wasn't wide enough to display the menus.
Launcher popping up everytime they wanted to use the main toolbox
(GIMP and Inkscape) was another important issue.
They also experienced problems with focus of applications. Sometimes
GIMP lost focus and using the menu or switching apps with launcher
required to make an extra click on GIMP's window.
They were regular people using applications that are available in
Ubuntu's software centre. They weren't a "minority" who needs to be
productive with graphic design (as I do).
Every single person trying to adjust a birthday photo with GIMP or
trying to create a christmas card for their relatives with Inkscape
will bump with these issues.
What's the next excuse? That GIMP and Inkscape are "broken" for Unity
and their developers should work something that wasn't an issue until
Unity?
Sorry if this seems like I'm trolling, but It's pretty frustrating to
get always the same reply when somebody points out a real issue:
"unity works for the majority. If you can't use it, then you're part
of a minority that should use anything else".