raymac46 Posted January 9, 2018 Share Posted January 9, 2018 Was this the article? https://www.theregister.co.uk/2018/01/08/desktop_linux_open_source_standards_accessible/ Much as I enjoy using the GNOME desktop I think it is a bit premature to call this moment the end of Linux history. KDE is still the default desktop in many distros and Xfce and Cinnamon are out there too. That said I can't deny that if you install Debian Fedora or Ubuntu you'll get GNOME as your default choice. Pretty significant. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
V.T. Eric Layton Posted January 9, 2018 Share Posted January 9, 2018 I cried all my tears for KDE when 4.x came out. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
securitybreach Posted January 9, 2018 Share Posted January 9, 2018 I cried all my tears for KDE when 4.x came out. Yeah, I felt the same when Gnome 3.x came out.They are always removing things and making it almost impossible to configure It seems like the gnome devs consider their userbase to be complete morons who should only be able to change the wallpaper. You cannot even minimize a window without a third party extension (gnome-tweak tool). Glad that I stopped using Gnome back in the 2.x days. Heck Windows is more configurable than Gnome is and that is saying a lot... I am glad that I use i3 where things are sane.. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
V.T. Eric Layton Posted January 9, 2018 Share Posted January 9, 2018 Yeah, my Gnome days ended at 3 also. I've been a happy Xfce-er ever since. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
securitybreach Posted January 9, 2018 Share Posted January 9, 2018 Nice I wasn't trying to hate on those who enjoy Gnome but I honestly think that the devs are trying their best to prevent any customization at all. IMO, this is a very bad thing to do especially considering how customizeable Gnome was at one time. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
V.T. Eric Layton Posted January 9, 2018 Share Posted January 9, 2018 Yes, that's why I loved Gnome and pre-4.x KDE. I used to love to tweak and customize. I've gotten lazy in my old age, though. Nowadays, I'm just happy if something works. You'll get there. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
raymac46 Posted January 9, 2018 Share Posted January 9, 2018 I was a converted Gnomie back in the 2.X days but then got turned off by GNOME 3. I switched to Cinnamon as my main driver but I also use Xfce. I came back to GNOME when I started dabbling in Debian and I have found you can customize it enough to suit me with the Gnome Tweak Tool and Gnome Shell Extensions. Mind you I am not the most demanding tweaker out there. As for KDE I really think they have got a nice desktop with the new Plasma version. Mageia (old Mandriva fork) has a particularly nice implementation of KDE Plasma. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
securitybreach Posted January 9, 2018 Share Posted January 9, 2018 I came back to GNOME when I started dabbling in Debian and I have found you can customize it enough to suit me with the Gnome Tweak Tool and Gnome Shell Extensions. Mind you I am not the most demanding tweaker out there. That was my point, it's a shame that you have to use third party tools just to achieve functionality. It also doesn't help that most all extensions break when a new release comes out. It also seems like the Gnome Devs prevent backward compatiblity on purpose for extensions. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
saturnian Posted January 9, 2018 Share Posted January 9, 2018 (edited) I'm one of the oddballs who didn't care all that much for GNOME 2, but took to GNOME 3/GNOME Shell almost right away, and manages to be productive using GNOME Shell without any extensions! GNOME Tweak Tool and donf-editor are essential tools, though, in my opinion. I enjoy customizing and tweaking the desktop (especially Openbox!) so I don't know why I don't dislike GNOME 3. I guess each DE or WM has its pros and cons. I like having several different kinds of desktop setups available to log into. Not sure how I'd feel if I ever wanted to choose just one! But I don't have to (choose just one). Edited January 9, 2018 by saturnian Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
raymac46 Posted January 10, 2018 Share Posted January 10, 2018 As a general rule I just roll with the default desktop for any distro I choose to run. The exception is Arch which doesn't really have a default desktop - I use Xfce there because it is lightweight and my Arch laptop isn't a burner. With Debian I have GNOME, Linux Mint Cinnamon, and with MX-17 it's Xfce. I find that the applications that come with a distro usually work well with the default desktop. I prefer the GTK type of applications so that means that GNOME, Cinnamon and Xfce are fine with me. As I said I am not really a tweaker. Never have been - aside from some themes and icons. The GNOME 2.X lovers can always use MATE - fairly light, a dead ringer for GNOME 2.X, and both Ubuntu and Mint have fine implementations. I haven't felt the need to do that though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
saturnian Posted January 10, 2018 Share Posted January 10, 2018 You cannot even minimize a window without a third party extension (gnome-tweak tool). I don't understand this part. Why is gnome-tweak-tool considered to be a "third-party extension" when the package is right there in (for example) the Debian repos? And because it's in the repos, I don't understand why it isn't included by default when GNOME is installed. dconf-editor as well -- I think (can't quite remember) that I had to add that to my Stretch GNOME installation, too. It seems that both are necessary for any GNOME Shell fine-tuning. Are not gnome-tweak-tool and dconf-editor part of the overall GNOME Shell project? And if not... Why not? https://wiki.gnome.o.../GnomeTweakTool https://wiki.gnome.org/Projects/dconf Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
securitybreach Posted January 10, 2018 Share Posted January 10, 2018 You cannot even minimize a window without a third party extension (gnome-tweak tool). I don't understand this part. Why is gnome-tweak-tool considered to be a "third-party extension" when the package is right there in (for example) the Debian repos? And because it's in the repos, I don't understand why it isn't included by default when GNOME is installed. dconf-editor as well -- I think (can't quite remember) that I had to add that to my Stretch GNOME installation, too. It seems that both are necessary for any GNOME Shell fine-tuning. Are not gnome-tweak-tool and dconf-editor part of the overall GNOME Shell project? And if not... Why not? https://wiki.gnome.o.../GnomeTweakTool https://wiki.gnome.org/Projects/dconf Well as pointed out here, Extensions are third party tools for gnome: https://itsfoss.com/gnome-shell-extensions/ Gnome-tweak-tool is an extension, so that would make it a third party tool. If it was built into Gnome, then it would be a part of Gnome and not third party. Just because it is in the repos doesn't make it an offical part of Gnome. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
saturnian Posted January 10, 2018 Share Posted January 10, 2018 Well as pointed out here, Extensions are third party tools for gnome: https://itsfoss.com/...ell-extensions/ Gnome-tweak-tool is an extension, so that would make it a third party tool. If it was built into Gnome, then it would be a part of Gnome and not third party. Just because it is in the repos doesn't make it an offical part of Gnome. From within GNOME, I can go to https://extensions.gnome.org/local/ to view the installed extensions on my Stretch GNOME system. gnome-tweak-tool is not listed as one of the installed extensions, even though I do have gnome-tweak-tool installed. Same with dconf-editor. So I question calling either one of those tools an "extension." I also question calling either tool "third-party" because it appears that they are put out there by the GNOME dev team. That's why I wonder why they aren't included by default. We would consider dconf-editor to be an "official" part of GNOME, even though I did in fact have to install it myself (checked my installation notes), right? Same with gnome-tweak-tool, I'm thinking. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
saturnian Posted January 10, 2018 Share Posted January 10, 2018 Either way you look at it, this sort of thing is what I don't like about GNOME. Tools like gnome-tweak-tool and dconf-editor should be right there in the Settings module, by default. They are two of the first apps I add to a GNOME installation, just like some years back when I used to add gconf-editor. The focus is so much on keeping things simple for the user that they don't even make it easy to get to these essential tools for fine-tuning GNOME Shell. I don't understand this thinking, and I don't think it really started with GNOME 3. There were other things that you couldn't find in GNOME 2 (like a nice, automated wallpaper changer!). Anyway, no big deal; with any DE or WM, there are pros and cons. I have no problem with adding non-native apps to any DE, and of course my Openbox setups can include packages from any DE, along with packages that aren't part of any particular DE. The important thing, to me, is: Can I use it to get things done? And it doesn't have to be set up for me to get things done the way I've always gotten things done in the past. In that sense, I'm okay with GNOME Shell, just like I'm okay with KDE Plasma, and Cinnamon, and so forth. Or, for example, I don't care much for tiling window managers, but I've used AwesomeWM and some others, and I think that if I spent time with something like i3 I'd get along just fine with it. I won't go back to using only one type of desktop setup, though. That's what I had in Windows XP! For me, one of the advantages of using Linux instead Windows or macOS is all of the choices in DEs and WMs, etc. My favorites are Xfce and Openbox (hard to say which one of those I like most), but I like to have at least one installation with GNOME, one with KDE, one with LXDE. I keep Fluxbox installed, too. Yet I'm using GNOME Shell in Stretch on what I call my "primary" computer. In other words, I'm all mixed up! Can't stick to any one thing, ha-ha! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
securitybreach Posted January 10, 2018 Share Posted January 10, 2018 Either way you look at it, this sort of thing is what I don't like about GNOME. Tools like gnome-tweak-tool and dconf-editor should be right there in the Settings module, by default. They are two of the first apps I add to a GNOME installation, just like some years back when I used to add gconf-editor. The focus is so much on keeping things simple for the user that they don't even make it easy to get to these essential tools for fine-tuning GNOME Shell. Yeah that was my point as well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.