GNOME 3: Shocking changes for Linux lovers

Lots of uninformed rants...

It's easy to kick off when you see something different but spend a little time trying it instead and see how it actually works for you.

I've been using the Gnome shell preview for a while and my personal niggles have mainly been addressed in the proper version.

True Unix / Linux users will see it as a return to fast and efficient ways of working (think keyboard short cuts). Has anyone noticed that instead of the dragging the bar nonsense you can hit F11 for a fullscreen interface? It's much better than a maximised but still decorated window on Gnome 2...

I don't think it's perfect, I would still like to see some things like a CPU usage applet but maybe that will be covered in future releases...

Smell the Coffee

Mobile devices, Phones, Tablets and The Cloud are in. Desktops are out.

It's the desktop idiom that is going to look veerry dated before long

You can bet that OSX and iOS will converge before long too

KDE had its problems of course but it's increasingly looking that it was just too early

People should REALLY get away from the idea that XP defined a desktop interface that could/should not change. Moving the pedals or steering wheel of a car is something entirely different to do with erganomics and human anatomy, A GUI is just a blinkin' screen!

Does everyone say that all stereos or vacuum cleaners should look the same?

If you were in charge of OS evolution to gain more market share, which direction would You be going?

It's a little ironic really: Remember the standard GUI for the original eeePC 701 or Acer netbooks? They were slated as not being windows enough. No though they're starting to look prescient - All they needed was an 'App Store'!

I'd rather use Windows ME than this.

Yay, let's blur the difference between apps that are and aren't running, make the replacement for the Start menu take up the whole screen, remove UI features that have been around for over 20 years, hide stuff under additional clicks, and 'search' for everything instead of knowing what I want and where to get it.

If I wanted an iPad or a Mac I'd buy an iPad or a Mac.

Getting my coat, because the last time I saw it, it still had two sleeves, pockets in the sides and buttons on the front.

If I'd wanted a fondleslab UI.....

...I'd have bought a fondleslab.

Another vote for Xfce.

There is some progress...

At least it is not all gray anymore.

I still use KDE simply because it works better for me. Will give GNOME a shot the next time I redo a test server.

Either theme is better than Windows in any event.

But .....

Will it be possible to launch applications by clicking on them once, and type in text boxes just by hovering the mouse cursor over them?

Cos that's how it always used to be in The Olden Days before KDE and GNOME, and how I still have my KDE set up; and that's also why I invariably end up sitting staring stupidly at a highlit icon wondering why the application hasn't opened anytime I am forced to have to use Windows (which, thankfully, isn't often).

I'll get my pipe and slippers as well .....

Ubuntu useless, Fedora useless, what next?

Did I just leave Ubuntu for Fedora to escape experimentalism, if I understood this correctly, now Fedora starts with it.

Does Slackware still exist?

I'm depressed

As a long term UNIX user and more recently (13 years seems recent to me) Linux user, and having been taken through Sun View, OpenLook, twm, vtwm, Motif, CDE, fvwm, and various releases of KDE and Gnome, as well as many different experiments with the less well known desktop managers like Afterstep and Elightenment, I'm finding The World moving further and further away from what I want to use.

All I want is multiple overlapping windows, with a focus policy that I can change to what I want, and a quick way of starting any of the applications I use in a constant and consistent manner that does not conflict with selecting already opened windows. Multiple desktops are nice, and starting up a walking menu, either from a fixed point on the screen, or from a button press over the desktop is all I need. I can cope without drag-and-drop between folders and onto applications, and I can live without using the 'desktop' as a drop area to hold files (all this does is make you messy and uncaring about where on the system your files actually are).

I'm thinking of giving up completely on computers, grabbing a broom, and applying for a street sweepers job.

This icon depicts a pint of beer.

Beer has been around for a very long time with a similar basic recipe. I quite like beer. There are different types of beer, and sometimes a brewer will create a speciality beer with some extra flavour or ingredient.

However, I would be really f*cking annoyed if the brewer of my favourite real ale decided to turn it into a lager, under the same name and discontinuing the previous product, because a group of shandy-drinking lightweights started buying different-sized glasses.

What a drag

OK, I'm using the touchpad on a laptop. Moving the pointer and clicking are easy enough, but dragging doesn't work very well. Maybe it's me, or maybe it's my touchpad, but in order to drag I have to hold down a button and slide my finger on the pad. This is sufficiently awkward that I end up using two hands.

So a simple click to minimize/maximize/restore a window becomes a two-handed operation. I think I'll give it a miss.

Why am I the first

to mention Enlightenment as a viable alternative? Sensible (right click wherever you are) and pretty.

But yes, this is the huge advantage of *ix - if you don't like how one window manager looks, there are about a hundred alternatives.

Not a fan

I'm not a fan of where Gnome is going. It seems they're trying to dumb it down too much. I can see how it would be good on tablets and netbooks but not on real computers. I also don't like the look of the new Unity thing for Ubuntu (though it looks nicer than Gnome3.

I think it's gunna have to be KDE for me from now on unless they sort it out. I just can't imagine using a desktop environment in which I can't minimize windows or have a proper menu system.