full circle magazine #65

47

REVIEW

maintaining the software stack on

your machine, the Software

Centre, and the mechanics of

package installs. It mentions the

terminal, but doesn't go into any

detail. Security is outlined –

covering firewalls, permissions,

users and groups. There's a short

but sweet section on

Troubleshooting. Finding

Additional Help is a good list of

sources.

At the back, where it belongs,

the Open Source Licence is

included in full. There's also a

decent glossary.

Criticisms? I have very few as

the Ubuntu Manual is now a

mature publication. Yes, it could do

with a few more pictures, if only to

relieve some of the pages that are

quite bland and text-heavy. The

sidebar text is in far too small a

typeface so you can miss some

really useful snippets.

Simplify Your Life: the

"Unity Ori e n tation

Guide" Revised

http://ubuntu-

za.org/sites/default/files/unity-5-

10-0-final-pdf.pdf

With the release of Ubuntu

Linux 12.04 LTS, the Ubuntu

Vancouver Local Community

(UVLC) has updated its guide to the

Unity desktop. The fully revised

"Unity Orientation Guide,"

formerly "Simplify You r Life with

Ubuntu Unity", is publicly available

and deserves to be easier to find.

To quote editor-in-chief and

Ubuntu Buzz Generator Randall

Ross:

• If you're new to Ubuntu, or Unity,

or both, it's definitely worth a re ad .

• If you've just installed Ubuntu

12.04 LTS, then this guide is for

you.

• If you doubt that Unity is

powerful and useful, we think this

guide just might sway your opinion.

No matter what your familiarity

is with Ubuntu, please share this

guide with your neighbours,

friends, and family members,

especially those on the other side

of the chasm!

It's another stand-out job by the

Vancouver team to produce a

straight-forward guide on a

technical subject (I know, I've done

them, including a Unity Guide for

Full Circle Magazine). Plaudits go

to managing editor Charlene

Tessier and the team of guest

editors/proof-readers from Ubuntu

Vancouver.

On first glance, the Unity

Orientation Guide is a lighter and

much faster read than the original.

It's geared towards those learning

and experiencing the Ubuntu Unity

interface for the first time. Its

focus is getting you oriented

quickly, and thus allowing you to

get on with your day-o-day

computer tasks.

This is more tightly focused

than the other guides here, since it

assumes you already have Ubuntu

with Unity installed, and so gets on

with the job. Using very simple

page layouts with lots of white

space, the instructions are

unfailingly clear and concise.

It does what it says on the cover

for the most part, although I was

initially confused to find the

explanation of the Unity HUD

(Head Up Display) at the back,

feeling it really ought to go near

the front just after the description

of the Unity Dash. After all, the

HUD is a much trumpeted feature

of 12.04. Then the thinking became

clear – the HUD is the labour-saver

when you are in applications, so

the guide talks about applications

first.

This is a well structured, well

designed team effort. I heartily

recommend it.

Conclusion

Overall I still think the

Vancouver team book, Unity

Orientation Guide strikes the best

balance of style and content, but

the Ubuntu Manual is the larger

reference work and a good one at

that.