Gnome 3.2 beta2

[oz]

I installed the beta2 version of the upcoming Gnome 3.2 release earlier this morning, and while it comes with a few extra goodies and a little more polish here and there, it isn't any huge leap forward by any means. Frankly, I'll be glad when things are more normal once again with both, Gnome/Gtk, and KDE/Qt. Either of them are usable, in my opinion, but they both continue to have plenty of annoyances that aren't easily remedied.

[jayd512]

Thanks for the heads up, but I'm gonna pass.
I've come to a realization: I am not part of the target audience for the Gnome dev team!

[oz]

I've come to a realization: I am not part of the target audience for the Gnome dev team!

Yes, I do know what you mean.

I keep trying Gnome3 but can't quite get used to it, so I was hoping that version 3.2 would alter my opinion, but it doesn't appear that's going to happen. I also keep hoping they will bring back some of the old ways of doing things, or at the very least put some serious effort into fallback mode so those users that don't like the new stuff can stick with Gnome, while having something they do like. I played around with fallback mode this morning for a while but it feels very incomplete, and it comes with plenty of annoyances of its own.

It's funny how I used to not like Gnome2, but preferred KDE3. Then KDE4 came out and I hated it, so ended up falling in love with Gnome2. Then Gnome 3 came out and now I'm leaning heavily toward KDE4. Xfce is nice and works well so I run it at times, but it simply doesn't feel as complete or as polished as Gnome and KDE do, at least in my opinion.

[jayd512]

Yeah... Gnome 3, even with Fallback Mode, just doesn't look or feel right for me. And I've never really been a fan of KDE.
While I'm happy using Gnome 2, I'll probably be looking at going back to IceWM as a default unless the Gnome team changes something.

[oz]

While I'm happy using Gnome 2, I'll probably be looking at going back to IceWM as a default unless the Gnome team changes something.

There is a Gnome 2 fork that is called Mate Desktop Environment, but I've never tried it:

http://www.matsusoft.com.ar/redmine/projects/mate

Oops... the link seems to be down at the moment. A google search should pull up some info for you, though.

Anyway, it was put together by an Arch user, so I'm not sure if there are packages available for other distros.


Here's a short article about it if you have any interest:

http://www.phoronix.com/scan.php?pag...item&px=OTgxMA

[jayd512]

There is a Gnome 2 fork that is called Mate Desktop Environment, but I've never tried it...

I saw something like that about a month ago... my main reservation with using something like Mate is the lack of a development team. And I simply don't have the skills to contribute to the code! So there are bound to be bugs and other problems that I just wouldn't be able to deal with.
And since Mate is really just one guys project right now, so if he decides to let it drop...

I'm gonna keep an eye on Gnome 3, maybe something will change with it. But somehow I think that we're watching a project go from 'Attractive and Functional' to 'WOW! That's awesome looking!... and I think I can do some work...'

[elija]

From what I'm reading on forums, blogs and community sites around the net, at least 85% of Gnome users dislike Gnome 3 or more properly Gnome Shell and as a result they are leaving for environments new. I think that's a feat that even KDE 4 didn't match. I know I haven't read every article on the net about Gnome 3 but from the ones I have stumbled over, it would appear that the vast majority of Gnome 2 users loved it's understated elegance, it's simplicity and the fact it got out of your way and let you get things done. Gnome 3 loses all that.

XFCE for me now. It turns out I'm not really missing anything.

[cynwulf]

Thanks for the heads up, but I'm gonna pass.
I've come to a realization: I am not part of the target audience for the Gnome dev team!

+1

The target audience appear to be the "bright and shiny" people who use butnut or mint, haven't got a clue it's actually GNU/Linux they're running, but think the whole OS was built from the ground up by Shuttlecraft himself... You'd think the gnome project, with a major part of their userbase coming from butnut users, would have the sense not to create another appalling disaster in UI design, but no... once again yet another dumbed down DE that's only fit for smartphones or tablets...

XFCE for me now. It turns out I'm not really missing anything.

Probably one of the better options for gnome 2 users facing the inevitable gnome 3 "upgrade" in the future.