this post was submitted on 29 Feb 2024
185 points (93.0% liked)
Linux
48329 readers
679 users here now
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Linux is a family of open source Unix-like operating systems based on the Linux kernel, an operating system kernel first released on September 17, 1991 by Linus Torvalds. Linux is typically packaged in a Linux distribution (or distro for short).
Distributions include the Linux kernel and supporting system software and libraries, many of which are provided by the GNU Project. Many Linux distributions use the word "Linux" in their name, but the Free Software Foundation uses the name GNU/Linux to emphasize the importance of GNU software, causing some controversy.
Rules
- Posts must be relevant to operating systems running the Linux kernel. GNU/Linux or otherwise.
- No misinformation
- No NSFW content
- No hate speech, bigotry, etc
Related Communities
Community icon by Alpár-Etele Méder, licensed under CC BY 3.0
founded 5 years ago
MODERATORS
you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments
view the rest of the comments
I use Gnome 3 because of Comic-like tiling extensions, lack of random bugs and crashes (looking at you my beloved KDE), and because so many apps require GTK that it almost always gets installed by something I want to use.
I dislike using it because SO MANY features and quality of life things were removed and never reintroduced. Like, I have to make a custom bookmark for root or my Desktop folder in Nautilus, and can't remove the default ones that I never use. Creating symlinks is disabled by default. I have to go to "other locations" and manually type in a network address because you can't even type in the ADDRESS BAR. If too many windows are open on a tiled workspace, the lack of any reserved clickable space on the titlebar means Nautilus gets squished and I can't drag and move a window without either moving something else first, opening the overview, or using the keyboard. Not entirely the Gnome team's fault, but it's little oversights like that which make the desktop a pain to use. The awful "classic mode" application menu with no ability to search or right click on entries for more options is a good example too. I have to open the mobile-like workspaces view or whatever its call to do that stuff now. I'm not on mobile, this is a desktop.
It's like they're trying to force me to use their cursor/touch based UX in some ways, but in others I have to use a keyboard or dig in the settings to do anything. Or maybe they're just of the opinion that if people want features, someone will volunteer to make and maintain an extension to enable them.
Don't get me wrong, Gnome 3 is impressive, looks good, and is generally simple to use, but I end up trying to spend so much time working around its intentional limitations, that I start to hate it a little more every day. I use it begrudgingly, waiting for something better to come along. If I was a smarter person with more time, I'd try to help the project with these papercuts, but my coding skills are crap.
But, just so I'm not beating up on them for no good reason, I'll add that there are a ton of very nice things they created or implemented that I enjoy. The quick settings menu comes to mind; and the settings app in general is very nice.
I think the Gnome devs made a lot of good choices. I just wish they could have done so without removing so many features or trying to force a paradigm change in how I use my computer. I appreciate their work, I really do, but damn...
I'm going to assume you're not doing this maliciously, as not all of those features and infos are easily discoverable so here are a few infos you might be interested in:
As for the statement "I’m not on mobile, this is a desktop", I'm not sure what you mean. You do know that you can use just start typing in the overview to search for an app, file, settings, etc (what appears in the search can be edited in the settings)? Maybe I missunderstand what you mean, but I don't see how the overview is in anyway something from "mobile". In my opinion, the overview where you can manage your workspaces , open apps and quickly search and open new app, is the best thing Gnome made and is the reason why I and many other use it on Desktop. And if that is not for you, you can recreate a traditional desktop with extensions (Dash to Panel and Arc menu for example) or use KDE or Cinnamon, which are both amazing in their own right and perfected the traditional desktop.
I'm okay with being wrong, it just means I'm less wrong in the future. Thank you for the info.
I haven't had a crash on KDE in forever. Might be worth another look. Although I'd avoid version 6 for now.
I'm still following an open bug report from a year ago where the desktop does weird stuff with AMD GPUs, like randomly scramble graphics or unmap half the screen for no reason.