6 ms·

When Unity was introduced I did not like it at all and now it defaults to Gnome 3, which also feels weird to me. I'm not sure but it feels like it all started w

by CSDude 6y ago

When Unity was introduced I did not like it at all and now it defaults to Gnome 3, which also feels weird to me. I'm not sure but it feels like it all started with moving from Start Menu to Windows 8 and very large tiles, which was marketed for tablets and touch screens, and seems like Unity and Gnome followed. I never liked this trend and today go with Xfce or LXDE, where I found more practical and feels like a computere, or I am just old fashioned.

holtalanm 6y ago
when I used to use linux as a desktop environment, I preferred LXDE or even just Busybox. So, you're not alone. Another decent one is Ubuntu Mate.
- majewsky 6y ago
  I think you mean Openbox. Busybox has nothing to do with GUI.
  - holtalanm 6y ago
    I stand corrected. Been a while. heh
jorams 6y ago
Your timeline is incorrect. Both Unity and GNOME 3 came out before Windows 8. I also dislike the trend, but I've moved on to tiling window managers after a few months on Ubuntu/Kubuntu.
- giancarlostoro 6y ago
  I was curious and sure enough Unity is from 2010, and came out with Ubuntu 10.10, whereas Windows 8 came out in 2012. Unity: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Unity_(user_interface) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Unity_(user_interface) Windows 8: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Windows_8 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Windows_8 Edit: Looks like Zune had a metro based design in 2006 though: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Metro_(design_language)#History https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Metro_(design_language)#Histor... I never had a Zune so no idea if it had icons like that at all.
panpanna 6y ago
I think you are mistaken, only unity 8 was designed for touch screens. Yes, Gnome 3 might feel odd. But I noted it improved my productivity once I get hang of the win-button, virtual spaces and hot corners. Please give it a serious try
- esamueljohnson 6y ago
  Agreed, this is one of the common misconception of Gnome 3. Gnome 3 actually encourages keyboard driven workflow: "Ensure that every operation in your application that can be done with the mouse can also be done with the keyboard."[1]. They use 'big buttons' mostly for accessibility reasons. Although I personally don't use Gnome 3 as DE because of lack of customizations, I agree to most of their Human Interface Guidelines[2]. 1. https://developer.gnome.org/hig/stable/pointer-and-touch-input.html.en https://developer.gnome.org/hig/stable/pointer-and-touch-inp... 2. https://developer.gnome.org/hig/stable/ https://developer.gnome.org/hig/stable/
  - horsawlarway 6y ago
    Also, if you happen to be on a laptop, Gnome 3 on Wayland is a MUCH better experience for touchpad input. Less of a gnome thing than a wayland thing, but it matters since not that many DEs support it yet. Basically, after having moved to wayland I find it incredibly difficult to go back and use X on laptops.
- gardnr 6y ago
  The hot corners suck with multiple monitors. Moving the mouse curser to the edge of the screen should not cause all the windows to fly away. It's even worse that you need a gnome plugin to disable them.
- pmlnr 6y ago
  > Please give it a serious try Nope. Not again. Gnome3 made a simple, basic functionality, namely to delete - not reset, delete - data set by an application in a user registry nearly impossible. The only data that should be stored there is DE related configuration, but most of the gtk3 application ecosystem now stores a lot more information in dconf, and it's making one's life miserable. No, thank you; gnome3 messed up enough things. Please choose Cinnamon, XFCE, LXDE, or even KDE instead.
skocznymroczny 6y ago
I didn't like Unity at first either, until I got to use macOS a bit more. Got used to the things like closing windows button on left side, global menu bar, and now I actually enjoy it. Also Unity is one of the faster desktop environments on my older PC, whereas Ubuntu Gnome is very sluggish in comparison.

by CSDude 6y ago

holtalanm 6y ago

when I used to use linux as a desktop environment, I preferred LXDE or even just Busybox. So, you're not alone. Another decent one is Ubuntu Mate.

majewsky 6y ago
I think you mean Openbox. Busybox has nothing to do with GUI.
- holtalanm 6y ago
  I stand corrected. Been a while. heh

jorams 6y ago

Your timeline is incorrect. Both Unity and GNOME 3 came out before Windows 8. I also dislike the trend, but I've moved on to tiling window managers after a few months on Ubuntu/Kubuntu.

giancarlostoro 6y ago
I was curious and sure enough Unity is from 2010, and came out with Ubuntu 10.10, whereas Windows 8 came out in 2012. Unity: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Unity_(user_interface) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Unity_(user_interface) Windows 8: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Windows_8 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Windows_8 Edit: Looks like Zune had a metro based design in 2006 though: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Metro_(design_language)#History https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Metro_(design_language)#Histor... I never had a Zune so no idea if it had icons like that at all.

panpanna 6y ago

I think you are mistaken, only unity 8 was designed for touch screens. Yes, Gnome 3 might feel odd. But I noted it improved my productivity once I get hang of the win-button, virtual spaces and hot corners. Please give it a serious try

esamueljohnson 6y ago
Agreed, this is one of the common misconception of Gnome 3. Gnome 3 actually encourages keyboard driven workflow: "Ensure that every operation in your application that can be done with the mouse can also be done with the keyboard."[1]. They use 'big buttons' mostly for accessibility reasons. Although I personally don't use Gnome 3 as DE because of lack of customizations, I agree to most of their Human Interface Guidelines[2]. 1. https://developer.gnome.org/hig/stable/pointer-and-touch-input.html.en https://developer.gnome.org/hig/stable/pointer-and-touch-inp... 2. https://developer.gnome.org/hig/stable/ https://developer.gnome.org/hig/stable/
- horsawlarway 6y ago
  Also, if you happen to be on a laptop, Gnome 3 on Wayland is a MUCH better experience for touchpad input. Less of a gnome thing than a wayland thing, but it matters since not that many DEs support it yet. Basically, after having moved to wayland I find it incredibly difficult to go back and use X on laptops.
gardnr 6y ago
The hot corners suck with multiple monitors. Moving the mouse curser to the edge of the screen should not cause all the windows to fly away. It's even worse that you need a gnome plugin to disable them.
pmlnr 6y ago
> Please give it a serious try Nope. Not again. Gnome3 made a simple, basic functionality, namely to delete - not reset, delete - data set by an application in a user registry nearly impossible. The only data that should be stored there is DE related configuration, but most of the gtk3 application ecosystem now stores a lot more information in dconf, and it's making one's life miserable. No, thank you; gnome3 messed up enough things. Please choose Cinnamon, XFCE, LXDE, or even KDE instead.

skocznymroczny 6y ago

I didn't like Unity at first either, until I got to use macOS a bit more. Got used to the things like closing windows button on left side, global menu bar, and now I actually enjoy it. Also Unity is one of the faster desktop environments on my older PC, whereas Ubuntu Gnome is very sluggish in comparison.