Tag: unity desktop

Support for Ubuntu Unity Desktop after 16.04 LTS

Can still use the Unity Desktop after Ubuntu 16.04 Xenial Xerus? Is it still supported?

I like the Unity desktop way of things. Been using it many years now. Read about and tried the new Ubuntu that with Gnome Shell, but I don’t like it much at all. It look clunky with many of missing things from it.

Come April 2021 Ubuntu 16.04 will EOL. Starting to find alternatives, but if Unity is still out there, I’d pick it over the others.

ANSWER

In one word, Yes.

Still can run on both LTS versions of 18.04 and 20.04. Go ahead and install it with:

sudo apt install ubuntu-unity-desktop

Choose Lightdm display manager when asked during install. Best to restart your computer afterwards. Then enjoy.

Consider that many people have said some weird looks of Unity when installed on said LTS versions appear. I forget, but I think its the window decorations and such. This is supposedly caused by the newer Gnome versions, and unpatched by Ubuntu. Unlike before.

You may also like to try out an alternative in the Ubuntu Unity Desktop spinoff. Can be found at this website – https://ubuntuunity.org/

It is not official Ubuntu flavor, but being maintained by some other 3rd party group. The experience is different from just installing 20.04 and then install Unity DE afterwards. Try it out if it suits you.

How to show Snap app icon properly on Ubuntu Unity desktop

Had this issue where after I logged into my Ubuntu desktop all Snap apps icons do not show properly. Instead I see a plain icon in place of what the app icon should be. Have you the same experience?

This might have been fixed in later Ubuntu LTS releases, I really don’t know. But I am still on 16.04 Xenial Xerus until its EOL. Also, the reason is that I love the Unity Desktop. The Gnome Shell replacement just doesn’t cut it for me.

I have been looking for a solution on this issue for some time. The 2 main things people point out are:

– Add /snap/bin to the /etc/environment file, and;

– Something to do with the profile.

Neither of those solutions worked for me. But it did work for others according to what I have read so far.

ANSWER

To fix this icon issue, create a symlink of the Snap’s .desktop shortcut file to your user’s .local/share/applications directory.

It is as simple as that. Once done the problem will go away, and you will be left with a nice-looking icon that came with the Snap installation. This won’t go away on following restarts.

For more details on how to do this fix exactly, refer to this article – https://www.joseyamut.xyz/2020/08/13/getting-that-ubuntu-snap-icon-right-on-unity-shell/