Saturday, January 14, 2017
Coming to terms with Gnome 3
Coming to terms with Gnome 3
While many Ubuntu users are jumping like rats from a sinking ship in droves to other greener, Mintier pastures, I for one am not a fan of change for the sake of change, whether it be in the DE (desktop environment) or which distro Im using currently. Ive been an Ubuntu user since 2007 and was perfectly happy to stick with Ubuntu until the catastrophe that is Unity was unleashed upon the unwitting Open Source masses. No thank you, Ill stick with my Gnome desktop. Oh wait, the rest of the Linux world has switched to Gnome Shell! Gnome shell and Unity are horrible implementations of a desktop environment, and they suffer from the same mistakes that both Windows 8 and OSX 10.7 "Lion" do -- trying to implement a touch centric interface that lends itself well to mobile devices like smart phones and tablets to the desktop. Creating a unified computing environment for the desktop, netbook, tablet and smart phone is certainly a novel concept but in practice it is a complete disaster. A desktop computer does not fulfill the same role that a tablet or a netbook does. For one thing, with the exception of a very select few, desktop computers lack one major feature that differentiates your computer monitor from a tablet, namely, a touch screen. The reason why the touch screen interface lends itself well to a phone or tablet is primarily because the screen can be laid down on a flat surface (like your lap). A computer monitor is a vertical surface, a design aesthetic that will not be changing any time soon, and having a vertical touch screen just doesnt work. Once again, another novel concept but in practice its a disaster.
For some unknown reason, the Gnome developers along with the Unity developers have not taken any cues from the rest of the computer world and failed to include a viable traditional interface. Windows does not require you to use Metro, Launchpad can be thoroughly ignored in OSX Lion and even KDE still includes a fully functional traditional desktop. The Gnome camp has put all their eggs in the Shell/Unity basket leaving only the "Gnome Fallback Session" (AKA Gnome Classic), which is a stripped down stop gap effort to retain support for lesser hardware, where lightweight desktops like XFCE and LXDE would be far better suited. Massive gaping holes are left where Gnome 2.3 used to shine, leaving users to fend for themselves and install third party tools like "Gnome Tweak Tool" to hack some semblance of traditional functionality back into their desktop. By default there is not even a way to change GTK, Metacity, Cursor and Icon themes! To wit, the same criticism can be leveled at OSX and Windows but coming from the free world of software where such things have been customary for years (and are still supported on EVERY OTHER DESKTOP ENVIRONMENT) this development is a step backwards.
In short, Gnome 3 is a disappointment much in the same way that KDE4 was when it was first released. It is buggy and far from feature complete. But despite its many faults, it does have one saving grace and for that reason I continue to soldier through the disaster that has become of my once finely tuned desktop experience on Linux. I can still use my computer in a traditional manner. For Ubuntu 12.04 which is due to hit the www in just a few days, special attention has finally been paid to the Fallback session likely in anticipation of the users who have been using 10.04 LTS blissfully unaware of the catastrophe that has befallen their beloved Gnome desktop. There are still quite a few things that are not intuitive when transitioning from Gnome 2.3 to Gnome Classic, notably the need to press alt+left click to rearrange panel applets (they really should have made a sign or something). But after a few hours of tinkering, its possible to get back to a desktop experience that makes sense once again without having to use any silly add ons or patches that are certainly not well supported, nor will they ever find their way back up stream. While I commend the Linux Mint developers for their fine work and attempts to bring functionality back to the Gnome desktop, I feel that their efforts are far too divided to be effectual. I mean, cmon! Gnome Shell, Mint Gnome Shell Extensions, MATE and AND Cinnamon?!?!?! Why so much schism? The Mint devs, and the devs from EVERY OTHER distro for that matter who are not keen on the changes to Gnome should put their efforts into improving the fallback session rather than creating further schism within the already fractured camp that once was the mighty Gnome desktop.
The fact of the matter is, MATE is an evolution brought about my necessity much like Trinity was when KDE4 was first introduced. I say was because although its still available for download, Trinity is largely unsupported and has already enjoyed its 15 minutes of fame. Its flash in the pan popularity has waned and and it will eventually disappear and become a footnote on a Wiki page somewhere. Eventually, porting Gnome3 to the Gnome2 environment will become impossible and MATE along with its ridiculous and unnecessary renaming of applications will unceremoniously be forced into retirement just like Trinity, with nothing to show for its existence except for a git repository that will most assuredly become a 404 in the process of time.
My suggestion is that there be a push for Gnome Classic as the default desktop and MAKE IT WORK DAMMIT! Call it Gnome and make it the default session, no need to downplay it by calling it a "fallback" or "classic" environment. Then just refer to Gnome Shell as "Shell". Make it optional and not the default. Do not force it down the throats of those who do not want to use it. And while were on the subject, maybe we can get the UN involved and place a formal injunction or something against Unity and have it banned once and for all.
Available link for download
