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Lobotomizing Gnome

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Re: Lobotomizing Gnome

#91

Post by keyle »

genpfault wrote: post #89
brusch64 wrote: post #80

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I have no experience with Mate, but the feature I miss the most in the traditional desktops is starting programs by hitting the super (Windows) key and typing the programs. I know that you can use Alt+F2 for this, but using super is much more ingrained for me since I've seen Windows Vista (I am using Linux at home and Windows systems at work)

> I miss the most in the traditional desktops is starting programs by hitting the super (Windows) key and typing the programs. Brisk Menu. It binds to the Windows key by default and still somehow allows shortcuts like Win+R to work. https://github.com/solus-project/brisk-menu

Ah thank you, I was wondering if there was such thing :)

Re: Lobotomizing Gnome

#92

Post by diffeomorphism »

brusch64 wrote: post #80
probably_wrong wrote: post #76

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Long time Mate user here. The "problem" with Mate is that it just works. I interact with Windows and OSX daily, and I have yet to find a feature that makes me thing "I wish my desktop environment could do this". Mate gets out of my way and lets me work. In other words, it's boring. There's nothing new and shiny to be excited about, because it's as good as it gets. I left Gnome 3 because I was tired of visual effects…

I have no experience with Mate, but the feature I miss the most in the traditional desktops is starting programs by hitting the super (Windows) key and typing the programs. I know that you can use Alt+F2 for this, but using super is much more ingrained for me since I've seen Windows Vista (I am using Linux at home and Windows systems at work)

You can use https://github.com/alols/xcape or https://github.com/hanschen/ksuperkey for that.

The windows key is a modifier like shift, alt or ctrl and hence at first it seems like a really, really bad idea to use it a shortcut by itself. The above programs hence implement the same behind-the-scences workarounds other desktop environments and windows use: treat pressing and releasing win alone as special.

You can of course also use this for other keys, for example

caps alone-> Esc

caps+c -> ctrl+c

Alternatively, I win+space instead of just win also is quite natural shortcut.

Re: Lobotomizing Gnome

#93

Post by brusch64 »

diffeomorphism wrote: post #92
brusch64 wrote: post #80

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I have no experience with Mate, but the feature I miss the most in the traditional desktops is starting programs by hitting the super (Windows) key and typing the programs. I know that you can use Alt+F2 for this, but using super is much more ingrained for me since I've seen Windows Vista (I am using Linux at home and Windows systems at work)

You can use https://github.com/alols/xcape or https://github.com/hanschen/ksuperkey for that. The windows key is a modifier like shift, alt or ctrl and hence at first it seems like a really, really bad idea to use it a shortcut by itself. The above programs hence implement the same behind-the-scences workarounds other desktop environments and windows use: treat pressing and releasing win alone as special. You can of…

I know about all these problems, but if you are used to it is so convenient.

For me it became the most important feature of a window manager / desktop.

Re: Lobotomizing Gnome

#94

Post by matthiasv »

rullopat wrote: post #47

I don't understand what's the need to go on with this (probably unstable) path. I would rather try XFCE or LXQt before trying this.

Read again. He said he likes the workflow GNOME provides, he just wants to reduce a bit of the bloat. Maybe, unlike you, he does not want to use a more traditional desktop …

Re: Lobotomizing Gnome

#95

Post by berbec »

donquichotte wrote: post #44
keyle wrote: post #3

I recently switched to Linux (from Windows 10 - forced upgrade took 45' in the middle of an extremely important moment) Debian netinstall + Mate desktop (Gnome 2/3 extension?) I expected to switch back within a week. Surprisingly, I love it. After a few tweaks and Nvidia drivers installed, it's way better than I expected. Super fast, minimal, and no annoyances. Linux desktop really has improved in the last 20 years,…

2018 is, after all, the year of the Linux desktop. I was surprised to find that Ubuntu 16.04 worked better on my Thinkpad T450s than the stock Windows 10 install (which came with a lot of crapware). I had sound stutters and mult-monitor issues on Windows, and everything worked out of the box on Ubuntu.

> $(date +%Y)+1 is the year of the Linux desktop.

Fixed that for you :)

Re: Lobotomizing Gnome

#96

Post by callahad »

teekert wrote: post #88

Did this guys just completely ignore Plasma (KDE)?? I'd say they are the ones ahead on high DPI and Wayland... Seriously, install it, even on old hardware. Plasma is really fast and stable these days. Also, Mate has no problems with High DPI and given the right theme look beautiful with rounded corners all over the place. Edit: Ok, I may have misread the piece as a critique at first but it's just his way of getting G…

Not the author, but I just tried KDE for two weeks, and coming from Gnome, I couldn't acclimate. I found the Plasma experience unpolished, inconsistent, and prone to error. I also ran into quite a few bugs (at one point, Plasma just stopped giving me window previews when alt-tabbing, and not a single alternative alt-tab style from the built-in installer worked for me).

Two examples of things I missed coming from Gnome:

- I really appreciate the gnome-shell's unified "Activities" overview: I tap Super and I get a single experience that combines Plasma's Quick Launch Bar, Present Windows, and Desktop Grid features. I find that to be a faster, more fluid experience than the Plasma equivalents.

- KWin expected me to resize windows by, somehow, hitting a border that's exactly 1 pixel wide. I evidently don't have the motor control to do that quickly or reliably. Gnome adds a ~10 pixel wide invisible border to each window which is quick and easy to hit regardless of input device.

That's not to say everything is all roses in Gnome land, either, but what's there just seems more reliable, consistent, and intentionally designed. Still, there's no panacea. I wish Gnome's screen zoom was half as fast and fluid as Plasma's. I wish Gnome still supported desktop icons. And AppIndicators. And a 2D grid of virtual desktops. I wish Gnome felt as responsive as Plasma.

I'm planning a switch from Fedora to OpenSUSE later this year, at which point I'll give Plasma another shot and be more diligent about recording and reporting bugs I run across.

Re: Lobotomizing Gnome

#97

Post by InternetOfStuff »

mort96 wrote: post #90
DocTomoe wrote: post #10

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm using i3. I still keep Gnome around, because from time to time I need to hold presentations, and randomly appearing and disappearing monitors (=beamers) is not something i3 deals with gracefully.

I use i3 on my laptop, where I routinely connect and disconnect external displays. I wrote a small program to deal with that: http://github.com/mortie/dedaemon That tool also handles input stuff (like setting the keyboard layout when a keyboard is connected, or setting the mouse speed when a mouse is connected), and setting the wallpaper (because the wallpaper has to be re-applied when a display is connected). Here's…

Where has this been all my life?

So far I've been making do with shellscripts I call ad-hoc, but dedaemon looks super convenient.

Thanks for creating it, I'll certainly give it a try!

Re: Lobotomizing Gnome

#98

Post by bittermang »

jeena wrote: post #74

On Arch Linux installing GNOME does not install all of the GNOME apps, just the shell. The rest I only install if I want it. What I like most is their calendar and their address book.

Switching to Arch was revelatory, and I've been using some form of Linux at work or home since 2001.

It's hard for me to describe, or quantify. But it's almost like, with a distro that embraces the Linux-ness of Linux, one that's not trying to be like Mac OS or Windows, you're able to cut to the heart of your user experience and make it your own.

Plus, rolling release, bro. I don't need monolithic version releases, I just have Arch now.

Re: Lobotomizing Gnome

#99

Post by onosendai »

JepZ wrote: post #45

First I thought 'Fedora?!? seriously???'. Last time I used Fedora (several years ago) I was pissed off when I had to learn that they didn't support system upgrades. So with every major release you had to reinstall the whole system, which is not that much fun. But it seems they support system upgrades since a few releases now [1]. So maybe I should try it one day again, but as I fell in love with (stable) rolling rele…

I've been using dnf to continuously upgrade my Fedora installation between 24 and 28, and it's worked pretty much flawlessly.

It's gotten to the point that system upgrades are as boring as the regular stream of updates that you receive daily, the only difference being that every 6 months you get more updates than usual being pushed.

Remember when the first real tool you had to perform system upgrades on Fedora was called FedUp? It was quite amazing, not to mention unexpected, seeing Fedora go from being one of the worst distros to upgrade to one of the best.

Re: Lobotomizing Gnome

#100

Post by majewsky »

berbec wrote: post #95
donquichotte wrote: post #44

Earlier quoted context omitted.

2018 is, after all, the year of the Linux desktop. I was surprised to find that Ubuntu 16.04 worked better on my Thinkpad T450s than the stock Windows 10 install (which came with a lot of crapware). I had sound stutters and mult-monitor issues on Windows, and everything worked out of the box on Ubuntu.

> $(date +%Y)+1 is the year of the Linux desktop. Fixed that for you :)

  echo $(($(date +%Y)+1)) is the year of the Linux desktop.
Let's go all the way, shall we?
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