12 ms·

I'm afraid I don't understand -- the extensions are configurability. That hasn't been removed. If you didn't have an API to configure these things, there would

by zxzax 5y ago

I'm afraid I don't understand -- the extensions are configurability. That hasn't been removed. If you didn't have an API to configure these things, there would be no way to do it at all, so it still sounds like you're asking for something contradictory. What would help here? What would be the benefit of removing the extension API, and what would you replace it with?

Nursie 5y ago
It sounds more to me like you're twisting these things to make them seem contradictory. > the extensions are configurability And this is an inadequate mechanism. (For me! If it works for you, that's great! Me, I like to be able to configure bars and widgets and menus and stuff wherever I want with a few clicks, which is why I run Xfce. Far be it from me to say there should only be one true desktop)
- zxzax 5y ago
  I'm not sure what you mean twisting. If you're asking for the extension API to not be there, I think that would result in a strictly less configurable program. If that's not what you're asking for, then please clarify. Also, I'm not sure what you mean inadequate, the extension API is the internal API of the shell. You can use it to do anything that the shell can do. How could it be made adequate? You can install many extensions to configure the panels and menus in just a few clicks. Edit: Somebody could probably make an extension to make the shell look and act like XFCE if that was really desired, for whatever reason. I don't think XFCE users would care much, but I just mean this as a way to illustrate what level the extension API sits at -- it's a level below the panels and menus and stuff.
  - Nursie 5y ago
    > You can install many extensions to configure... There, that's the issue you're refusing to see. Having to discover and install extensions to do basic things is not a good feature. If that's OK for you, great. Doesn't work for me.
    - zxzax 5y ago
      I'm sorry, please don't assume bad faith, I'm not refusing. I just don't understand how opening a configuration dialog and doing a couple clicks to install an extension that changes the panels, is different from opening another configuration dialog and making a few clicks to change the panels. It seems exactly the same to me. I don't have any preference towards either of these, I'm just interested to hear why it doesn't work for you.
      - Nursie 5y ago
        Well, because I'm having to install third party pieces which may or may not break stuff, may or may not be supported for long, may or may not break on the next update, in order to achieve a base level of configurability which it seems like DE designers don't want you to have in the first place. Maybe they fixed things in the last few years, I have no idea, but last time I had to use Gnome 3 it broke existing DE muscle memory of using all sorts of environments across all sorts of platforms, and made it hard to discover how to change anything. Having to then install third party pieces to achieve minor change is not something I feel is an adequate replacement, particularly coming from systems where easy, built-in configurability comes as standard. Again, if that all sounds fine to you, more power to you. To me it's an opinionated DE that tries its best to push its own ideas of usage on the user, and hides any/all options behind an API rather than exposing them to the user by default. Why would I bother with such a DE when I can find one that supports what I want to do out of the box?
        zxzax 5y ago
        >having to install third party pieces which may or may not break stuff, may or may not be supported for long, may or may not break on the next update Right, so that is a problem, but it's a different problem from lack of configurability. Those things are being addressed in other ways such as with the extension rebooted initiative: https://blogs.gnome.org/sri/2020/09/16/the-gnome-extensions-rebooted-initiative/ https://blogs.gnome.org/sri/2020/09/16/the-gnome-extensions-... You're making a distinction of "third party" here but I don't understand why that really matters for configurability, for example it's no different from installing an unoffical XFCE panel applet, or using a third party file manager, etc. In the gnome shell, the extension API is built-in and standard. That is the configurability. If you're asking for specific panel settings to be included by default, that really isn't possible in a way that would please everyone -- you can look at the sheer number of panel extensions there are to see why that is the case. Again someone could make one to make it look and act exactly like XFCE's panel, but that would just be yet another option. Does that explain it? It's not really possible for the shell to act the way you're asking. I support you using XFCE if that's what you want, but if you're asking for changes to be made in Gnome, those could probably not be made without causing much worse breakage. If you're not asking for that, then never mind, I misunderstood :)

by zxzax 5y ago

Nursie 5y ago

It sounds more to me like you're twisting these things to make them seem contradictory. > the extensions are configurability And this is an inadequate mechanism. (For me! If it works for you, that's great! Me, I like to be able to configure bars and widgets and menus and stuff wherever I want with a few clicks, which is why I run Xfce. Far be it from me to say there should only be one true desktop)

zxzax 5y ago
I'm not sure what you mean twisting. If you're asking for the extension API to not be there, I think that would result in a strictly less configurable program. If that's not what you're asking for, then please clarify. Also, I'm not sure what you mean inadequate, the extension API is the internal API of the shell. You can use it to do anything that the shell can do. How could it be made adequate? You can install many extensions to configure the panels and menus in just a few clicks. Edit: Somebody could probably make an extension to make the shell look and act like XFCE if that was really desired, for whatever reason. I don't think XFCE users would care much, but I just mean this as a way to illustrate what level the extension API sits at -- it's a level below the panels and menus and stuff.
- Nursie 5y ago
  > You can install many extensions to configure... There, that's the issue you're refusing to see. Having to discover and install extensions to do basic things is not a good feature. If that's OK for you, great. Doesn't work for me.
  - zxzax 5y ago
    I'm sorry, please don't assume bad faith, I'm not refusing. I just don't understand how opening a configuration dialog and doing a couple clicks to install an extension that changes the panels, is different from opening another configuration dialog and making a few clicks to change the panels. It seems exactly the same to me. I don't have any preference towards either of these, I'm just interested to hear why it doesn't work for you.
    - Nursie 5y ago
      Well, because I'm having to install third party pieces which may or may not break stuff, may or may not be supported for long, may or may not break on the next update, in order to achieve a base level of configurability which it seems like DE designers don't want you to have in the first place. Maybe they fixed things in the last few years, I have no idea, but last time I had to use Gnome 3 it broke existing DE muscle memory of using all sorts of environments across all sorts of platforms, and made it hard to discover how to change anything. Having to then install third party pieces to achieve minor change is not something I feel is an adequate replacement, particularly coming from systems where easy, built-in configurability comes as standard. Again, if that all sounds fine to you, more power to you. To me it's an opinionated DE that tries its best to push its own ideas of usage on the user, and hides any/all options behind an API rather than exposing them to the user by default. Why would I bother with such a DE when I can find one that supports what I want to do out of the box?
      - zxzax 5y ago
        >having to install third party pieces which may or may not break stuff, may or may not be supported for long, may or may not break on the next update Right, so that is a problem, but it's a different problem from lack of configurability. Those things are being addressed in other ways such as with the extension rebooted initiative: https://blogs.gnome.org/sri/2020/09/16/the-gnome-extensions-rebooted-initiative/ https://blogs.gnome.org/sri/2020/09/16/the-gnome-extensions-... You're making a distinction of "third party" here but I don't understand why that really matters for configurability, for example it's no different from installing an unoffical XFCE panel applet, or using a third party file manager, etc. In the gnome shell, the extension API is built-in and standard. That is the configurability. If you're asking for specific panel settings to be included by default, that really isn't possible in a way that would please everyone -- you can look at the sheer number of panel extensions there are to see why that is the case. Again someone could make one to make it look and act exactly like XFCE's panel, but that would just be yet another option. Does that explain it? It's not really possible for the shell to act the way you're asking. I support you using XFCE if that's what you want, but if you're asking for changes to be made in Gnome, those could probably not be made without causing much worse breakage. If you're not asking for that, then never mind, I misunderstood :)