I just don’t get the vendetta GNOME has against background processes. GNOME devs just don’t use email clients, cloud sync applications, chat clients…? GNOME treats my Nextcloud sync app (which I NEED to be running at all times) as if it was malware or something.
I have used XFCE, KDE, and GNOME and in my opinion, Gnome provides by far the best the best workflow for me. The UI is very keyboard-driven, which makes navigation very fast and intuitive. Also it doesn’t look like an outdated Windows version (like Plasma or XFCE) and I had way fewer bugs with it than with any other desktop.
I find it interesting how everyone always talks about the „Unix philosophy“ („software should do one thing and do it well“) but at the same time everyone likes Plasma for having hundreds of useless, buggy features.
Gnome has a core featureset and a robust extension-system if you need more. There is no bloatware in Gnome. And please don’t tell me something like „Gnome isn’t usable without a taskbar/dock“. It is, lots of people use it that way, not every desktop needs to be like macOS or Windows.
Of course it’s okay to like another desktop environment more, but I just don’t get why Gnome gets so much hate.
I’ve used GNOME for a year now.
I don’t understand people calling GNOME keyboard-driven, it doesn’t even support keyboard shortcuts for more than 4 workspaces, and it doesn’t support tiling other than left and right.
I also feel like the plugin system is not great. The plugins break on every.single.update and you have to beg the maintainers to update them.
I agree about a dock/taskbar miss me with that :P
What frustrates me about GNOME is that it’s otherwise so well-polished and smooth but just refuses to be easily customizable.
Gnome is definitely keyboard driven, this is my workflow: Use
Super + type nameto launch apps, then tile them left and right withSuper + LeftandSuper + Right. Two apps are enough for a workspace, if you need more, move to a new workspace usingSuper + Alt + Right. Gnome automatically creates new workspaces as you go, so you always have enough space. Swap between apps usingSuper + Tab. Almost like a tiling window manager, right?The plugin system is indeed very good, extensions can do pretty much everything. They break on an update because it makes sense: The author designed the extension for a specific version of Gnome, and it can’t be guaranteed that it still works as intended on a newer version. You surely don’t want an outdated extension to really mess up your desktop when it hasn’t been properly updated. This is the safe way.
And regarding customization? Funny story: when I started with Linux and I wasn’t really into the meta yet, I started with KDE, but I switched to Gnome (GNOME 3.xx and GTK3) because I found it EASIER to customize. Gnome themes always looked way better than they looked on KDE and they were never bugged (e.g. missing contrast, wrong iconography). Also “extensions” were way less bugged than KDEs equivalent features. I only later found out that people preferred KDE because of its customization. However, I do agree that with Libadwaite, they really put an end to Gnome theming, but all in all, I think it’s better because of app uniformity and an easier app development process (you can really see the Gnome app ecosystem flourish). Also, Adwaita looks pretty amazing nowadays, I don’t really feel the urge to theme my desktop.
Heh, this is literally my workflow. I’ve been using gnome3 since release, and gnome2 before that.
They need to make the Audio switcher and gTile extensions part of “core” gnome, and then it would be perfect.
Do you mean an audio output/input switcher? Because they added one a few version ago.
What’s the keyboard shortcut for switching to workspace 5? There isn’t one. And you can’t configure one either. That just blows my mind
I have never felt the need to use more, also I mainly navigate with
Super + Alt + {Left,Right}.Though Gnome workspaces are not intended to be used like they are on a tiling window manager; you should just use the workspaces you need and dynamically create them and move apps. Assigning an app to workspace 10 that just stays there all day until you need it ist not the intended workflow.
Sure, but this is exactly my biggest problem with GNOME, it’s one specific workflow and anything that is even just slightly different is out of the box.
Don’t get me wrong I have many positive feelings about GNOME but they’ve recently been overtaken by the negative ones :P
That’s what I fucking hate about it, great extensions, couldn’t fucking settle on an API that doesn’t break every update. When will the gnome devs ever be content with themselves
there is no API, which is the problem. It’s just straight code injection. That’s why extensions can be so powerful. A stable API would compromise their freedom for sure
Okay then, I’m never gonna update gnome again I guess. The machine I use it on is for work, so I care about stability. Or should I have never chosen gnome in the first place?
I’m not sure that is a fair reaction. If your workflow relies heavily on many complex extensions that have a history of updating slow it is probably worth just… waiting a bit? You don’t HAVE to be on the bleeding edge of Gnome releases. With a fairly minimal extensions list I’ve not had problems updating to new releases for a long long time
That’s just the logical conclusion of continuing development. And even if the API stays the same, the shell might function differently, which could lead to extension bugs, therefore it is safer to break them all until the extension developer validates it for the new version.
You could of course force the internal stuff to be the same, but this would just stifle development and innovation.
In my opinion, if you can only use Gnome with extensions, you shouldn’t use it in the first place. Personally, I do have extensions, but they do so little that I don’t have a problem waiting a week or two until they update. Extensions don’t influence my workflow, they just are small quality of life adjustments (e.g. hiding the battery indicator when docked to my monitor and fully charged etc).
Use pop shell for tiling and keyboard shortcuts in gnome
I guess I should give it a try. But it feels like yet another extra layer on top of GNOME. High hopes for Cosmic DE!
nah i think gnome is great for touchpad navigation
Gnome on Wayland shits on anything and everything for how well they’ve done touchpad gestures. Even MacOS. Definitely Windows as well as other Linux DEs.
Yeah, if you need to install extensions to make GNOME usable, GNOME is not for you. Seriously, there are other options. I can’t stand using GNOME, but they have a vision they are sticking to and I can respect that.
Nah, dash-to-panel is really good and makes it 10x better for me personally.
Cinnamon is probably the best DE to give that old GNOME feel. At least in my opinion.
Gnome also has their own GNOME Classic for people yearning for the old GNOME experience. Cinnamon is probably better though.
Conversely, after I tried vanilla gnome, I can’t go back. It gets out of my way, is pretty bug free, visually consistent, and the workflow is lightyears ahead of anything else I’ve used.
The Win95 UX paradigm that pretty much everybody uses just seems so clunky to me.
I love vanilla gnome. I totally understand how some users prefer the flexibility of KDE, but a clean, minimal interface with easy access to workspaces is just the thing for me.
Me too, but tbh it should at least include vitals and gsconnect.
It’s there a reason you don’t use a tiling WM with no desktop environment if those are the three things you are looking for?
Most of those require some configuration out of the box and target power-users who are comfortable with manually editing text-based config files (or editing header files and then recompiling from source if you’re one of those people). One of Gnomes big selling points is accessibility, which none of the tiling WMs offer in any significant way.
If it still allowed me to do everything I wanted to in an easy enough way, I wouldn’t be opposed. I would say in short, I don’t know enough about it to know whether I’d like it.
The only thing I really use is dash to dock
I’m tired of GNOME messing with it’s API but hopefully this is the last time since they’re switching to a standard system. Besides that, it’s my favorite DE on Linux. I have to give plasma 6 a shot when it comes out but right now GNOME feels just right compared to other desktops.
Haha, gnome becoming stable. What a bunch of malarkey
Much more stable and polished than KDE and I am running KDE myself. I think it only makes sense to run GNOME if you like the vanilla experience.
Gnome is phenomenally stable considering it’s a modern desktop.
You only really get more stable by going to XFCE or something, which is basically on life support at this stage.
Literally the reason why the Linux world went from Plasma being the standard to Gnome being the standard is because KDE was an unstable mess and Gnome was super stable.
Gnome doesn’t have an extension API. That is why it is prone to breakage, since the code is injected into the actual shell. The upshot of this is that extensions can do pretty much anything. The downside is there is no stable API.
Personally, I like the current system. I am biased, I am a trusted review on https://extensions.gnome.org
GNOME is basically the Apple of desktop environments. “You’re wrong to want this super common thing, we know what’s better for you and don’t you defy us!”
You are free to fork it at anytime. I really can’t hate them for having a cohesive vision they plan on developing.
That’s fair, and people have.
Yep. GNOME is terrible. Unfortunately, it’s the default desktop for most distros, so it’s most new users’ experience of “what Linux is”.
I don’t always use Fedora, but when I do it’s always Fedora KDE. Sometimes I forget that the default is GNOME which leads to confusion when posting about issues I run into on Fedora lol.
The reason I don’t use Gnome is because it’s only usable after you’ve installed a bunch of extensions yet after every update, half the extensions are always broken.
I like Gnome because it looks sexy and sleek, and comes default on my Ubuntu. I have a little experience with XFCE and LXDE on Proxmox and Raspberry Pis, and they’re perfectly functional and great, so I don’t want to besmirch them. But they give me a kinda uneasy sensation like I’m using a tamagotchi or something. I don’t know if this is only because I’m using them on low-power potato computers or without proper display drivers, but they just look a little crude by comparison.
gnome looks decent out the box the rest need work to look good but can look better imo
Me, casually running Mate and enjoying on stable and customizable it is. I’ll let you guys fight while I enjoy my polished experience!
I would love Wayland support tho…
Same, I love Mate but cannot use it due to it not supporting fractional scaling (I use a 4K TV as my monitor).
I would have thought a 4K TV was enough to use 200% on, no?
No, since it’s far too big for me to use
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Same, Cosmic looks very promising. I’m looking for Budgie 11 too, that could be something good.
COSMIC has been just about the only thing keeping me from my usual distrohopping. I’m so hyped for system76 to release it.
base gnome + blur my shell is enough for me
This is the way👌
Funny, GNOME 45 will break every extension without exception
Yeah, this is a big shame. I don’t have context on the technical details but JS runtimes have been supporting CJS and ES modules in parallel for a decade now. Was it really too much work to support both for some time?
Of course I say this as someone who has contributed zero time to adding this support.
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I’m not gonna lie, I really hated the direction that Gnome went after Gnome 2. Shell just felt way too constricting for my taste. Thankfully, Cinnamon and Mate released to fill in the void.
Gnome has been rudderless since 3.x. I said it.
Xfce has been my daily driver for a reason.
Can you sell me on Xfce? Haven’t really tried it. How does it compare to KDE in terms of customization?
I use two extensions in gnome I cannot live without. Currently travelling, so I don’t know their names by heart. One is for vertical workspaces, the other to visualize CPU/memory/network/disk.
I’ve had to use a Macbook for a month now, and let me tell you. The world of “I need some functionality = install third party stuff” is infinitely worse.
Want to launch custom terminal with global hotkey? => third party app
Want to manage window layout with keyboard shortcuts? => third party app
Want to add support for normal keys on an external keyboard? (like, home key not being dead) ? => third party app
Want better screenshot support? => third party app
Want to be able to navigate workspaces without waiting 2 second with 120Hz refresh rate monitors (because developers implemented it wrong)? => third party app
Want an alt+tab functionality that isn’t a mix between bugged and useless? => third party app
The situation of gnome would be a godsent. It’s so bad that I don’t care about system monitoring or vertical workspaces. But, once I do, those too would be third party apps.
