jcartner-young
Tue Mar 15, 2016 9:54:57 pm
Hello all. This is my first post.
I am above average competency with computers and software, but Linux systems are different to each other again, so I make no presumptions about any Linux distros including Zorin/Ubuntu. In fact, I started on Ubuntu, but don't like the idea of an unknown binary blob running my OS as much as everyone else apparently does - I thought Zorin was different in that respect, but apparently systemd does a Microsoft (gets it's claws and tendrils in) and doesn't let you get rid of it that easily.
I have been using Zorin Linux for a year or so now and I have found a couple of things which need some fixing. If there is a place I can drop all my observations, please let me know
1. Drag and drop from SMB mounts don't seem to work universally, esp. with Thunderbird. The application sees an smb:// path, whereas it should see a local mountpoint path, shouldn't it? Maybe work needs to be done on FUSE/GVFS? AFAIK, I've never had to use FUSE/GVFS before, just normal mounts from my fstab and had no issues connecting to Windows shares before Zorin. I can't find any specific log entries (can't find a gvfs/smb log file anywhere!) which show any errors, it just takes ages talking back to it.
2. Clicking on a menu item seems to make it close the sub-menu O_o meaning I have to move off and then back on and wait - slightly annoying and slows things down;
3. It freezes when I leave it for a couple of nights. I got a Kernel Dump after coming back to it after the weekend - All hardware checks out.
4. There is no log browser, which makes finding relevant entries in the myriad of log files very hard. Something akin to Computer Management should do, unless there's a tool out there somewhere which can do this?
5. SMB is veeeerrrrrryyyyyyy slooooowww to respond where my Windows PCs are fine and have nothing special configured on them. Nautilus seems to be slow to connect to SMB shares on my Windows 7 File Server;
6. Support for iPhones is somewhat lacking - I have customers who use iPhones, unfortunately, and so I still have to have a spare Wintel boxen to pick up the slack. Although, to be honest, iPhoners can go fiddle;
7. The control panel / system configuration applets are either extremely limiting or there is something missing from my install - Where do I change my mouse speed? How do I change the refresh rates of my monitors? Where are all the sound options? How do I set sample-rate/quality for the audio output? How do I monitor audio inputs? Why do I have an option to set up a 'Wacom Tablet' when I don't have one connected? O_o How do I set up my mouse buttons and scroll-wheel?
8. The multiple monitor applet freaks out when you have more than two monitors... When attempting to arrange my third monitor, it jumps around, display icons get stuck outside the positioning space and I have to relaunch so I can try again - More trial and error tweaks than predictable configuration changes!
9. The boot screen sometimes doesn't show a Zorin logo, just a blue or sometimes a white screen with some text about manual mounting which is disconcerting;
10. It is running systemd O_o Why? If it were a choice I'm sure youi would just do without, but I'm guessing it's a vestige of the ill-fated Ubuntu;
11. The Software & Updates applet can ignore your input, leaving tickboxes unticked, etc;
12. The Printers Settings is very slow to open;
13. The Brother printer I have doesn't wake up when I send a print, Zorin tells me the printer is off-line, but it worked fine with Windows;
14. The scrollbars are too narrow and don't have single arrows to scroll by one line, as the mouse scroll-wheel doesn't always work on all applications;
15. Scrolling the list of 'Online Accounts' with your pointer over the list leaves items highlighted;
Apart from these few things, Zorin seems to be a nice distro so far. Thanks for the work and keep going - it's nearly there!
It is good so far, but I wouldn't recommend it to home users just yet due to the inconsistent interface ('Move to Rubbish Bin' instead of just 'Delete' or even 'Recycle' and unusual and cryptic responses from some operations.
#1 is the biggest issue so far, with the others just irritating me and knocking confidence in the integrity of the OS when they happen.
Do you gather telemetry about Zorin's performance? ie Does Zorin measure how long things take and report back when they're taking too long to improve software performance?
Has anyone else noticed these inconsistencies and strange behaviours? If not, I could just do a re-install (again)
Many thanks
PS: I hope you're getting all my Zorin error reports and that they're helping
I am above average competency with computers and software, but Linux systems are different to each other again, so I make no presumptions about any Linux distros including Zorin/Ubuntu. In fact, I started on Ubuntu, but don't like the idea of an unknown binary blob running my OS as much as everyone else apparently does - I thought Zorin was different in that respect, but apparently systemd does a Microsoft (gets it's claws and tendrils in) and doesn't let you get rid of it that easily.
I have been using Zorin Linux for a year or so now and I have found a couple of things which need some fixing. If there is a place I can drop all my observations, please let me know
1. Drag and drop from SMB mounts don't seem to work universally, esp. with Thunderbird. The application sees an smb:// path, whereas it should see a local mountpoint path, shouldn't it? Maybe work needs to be done on FUSE/GVFS? AFAIK, I've never had to use FUSE/GVFS before, just normal mounts from my fstab and had no issues connecting to Windows shares before Zorin. I can't find any specific log entries (can't find a gvfs/smb log file anywhere!) which show any errors, it just takes ages talking back to it.
2. Clicking on a menu item seems to make it close the sub-menu O_o meaning I have to move off and then back on and wait - slightly annoying and slows things down;
3. It freezes when I leave it for a couple of nights. I got a Kernel Dump after coming back to it after the weekend - All hardware checks out.
4. There is no log browser, which makes finding relevant entries in the myriad of log files very hard. Something akin to Computer Management should do, unless there's a tool out there somewhere which can do this?
5. SMB is veeeerrrrrryyyyyyy slooooowww to respond where my Windows PCs are fine and have nothing special configured on them. Nautilus seems to be slow to connect to SMB shares on my Windows 7 File Server;
6. Support for iPhones is somewhat lacking - I have customers who use iPhones, unfortunately, and so I still have to have a spare Wintel boxen to pick up the slack. Although, to be honest, iPhoners can go fiddle;
7. The control panel / system configuration applets are either extremely limiting or there is something missing from my install - Where do I change my mouse speed? How do I change the refresh rates of my monitors? Where are all the sound options? How do I set sample-rate/quality for the audio output? How do I monitor audio inputs? Why do I have an option to set up a 'Wacom Tablet' when I don't have one connected? O_o How do I set up my mouse buttons and scroll-wheel?
8. The multiple monitor applet freaks out when you have more than two monitors... When attempting to arrange my third monitor, it jumps around, display icons get stuck outside the positioning space and I have to relaunch so I can try again - More trial and error tweaks than predictable configuration changes!
9. The boot screen sometimes doesn't show a Zorin logo, just a blue or sometimes a white screen with some text about manual mounting which is disconcerting;
10. It is running systemd O_o Why? If it were a choice I'm sure youi would just do without, but I'm guessing it's a vestige of the ill-fated Ubuntu;
11. The Software & Updates applet can ignore your input, leaving tickboxes unticked, etc;
12. The Printers Settings is very slow to open;
13. The Brother printer I have doesn't wake up when I send a print, Zorin tells me the printer is off-line, but it worked fine with Windows;
14. The scrollbars are too narrow and don't have single arrows to scroll by one line, as the mouse scroll-wheel doesn't always work on all applications;
15. Scrolling the list of 'Online Accounts' with your pointer over the list leaves items highlighted;
Apart from these few things, Zorin seems to be a nice distro so far. Thanks for the work and keep going - it's nearly there!
It is good so far, but I wouldn't recommend it to home users just yet due to the inconsistent interface ('Move to Rubbish Bin' instead of just 'Delete' or even 'Recycle' and unusual and cryptic responses from some operations.
#1 is the biggest issue so far, with the others just irritating me and knocking confidence in the integrity of the OS when they happen.
Do you gather telemetry about Zorin's performance? ie Does Zorin measure how long things take and report back when they're taking too long to improve software performance?
Has anyone else noticed these inconsistencies and strange behaviours? If not, I could just do a re-install (again)
Many thanks
PS: I hope you're getting all my Zorin error reports and that they're helping
