13 ms·

I ended up liking GNOME with the loss of one hand

143 points by zdw 5y ago

zhte415 5y ago
I like GNOME 3. Stuck with the need to install an OS, a somewhat terrible internet connection, and a desire to avoid as much of anything that was unnecessary as possible, I downloaded the minimum install of Ubuntu [1] which at less than 50MB seemed perfect. It turned out a window manager was not included, so I opted for Gnome 3. Previously I'd mainly been Gnome 2 and occasionally KDE. Nothing particularly Ubuntu flavourful added. It was different. It was quite easy to work with but did not have the feel a familiar piece of clothing, for all it's worts and ripped seams and buttons and button holes in slightly ill-fitting place at least they were in a known ill-fitting place. There were now no button holes. I found my workflow had significantly changed to focus on one and only one application while open, these apps mainly being Sublime Text, and Firefox, plus a Terminal, all themselves tabbed, and email / office uses focused at a different time. This is in contrast where I'd previously switch more. I also mainly only use one monitor on a laptop, second monitor replaced by a projector for video or 'thinking'. Using KDE or Windows today is a 'noisy' experience. Some small changes adapted from default, which I think only enhance this one-thing-at-a-screen workflow, are plank and albert. Would this have been possible before? Sure. Window managers are what you make them. This being the default forced me into a new paradigm that I like, so thanks Gnome people for that.
victornomad 5y ago
I really like Gnome 3. Its very minimal and out of my way for most of my work alghout nowadays I use sway (previously i3wm) because I love how far I can go with customization. I like most of Linux DE but I cannot stand KDE. Its very customizable and I love the community but the UI is a very messy. Inconsistent paddings and margins, missalignments, bad font hyerarchies and clutter stress me out. I really want to like KDE but the designer in me doesn't :/
vorpalhex 5y ago
This doesn't load right for me on mobile (even with desktop mode). I am only getting the title.
- janeroe 5y ago
  Same story on desktop. It shows all the stuff I didn't ask for (pronouns, hobbies, etc.) but no actual content.
typon 5y ago
Does this post appear empty for everyone?
- marton78 5y ago
  Only for those with two hands.
aerojoe23 5y ago
Did the site get hugged to death?
Macha 5y ago
Seems the content is broken on the web version, found you can view the gemini version with a gemini to web proxy (e.g. https://portal.mozz.us/gemini/perso.pw/blog/articles/how-I-ended-liking-gnome.gmi https://portal.mozz.us/gemini/perso.pw/blog/articles/how-I-e... )
- drewg123 5y ago
  I got a gateway timeout... If you have the text, can you post it?
  - notRobot 5y ago
    How I ended liking GNOME Author: Solène Date: 10 November 2021 Tags: life unix gnome Introduction Hi! This was a while without much activity on my blog, the reason is that I stabbed through my right index with a knife by accident, the injury was so bad I can barely use my right hand because I couldn't move my index at all without pain. So I've been stuck with only my left hand for a month now. Good news, it's finally getting better :) Which leads me to the topic of this article, why I ended liking GNOME! Why I didn't use GNOME I will first start about why I didn't use it before. I like to try everything all the time, I like disruption, I like having an hostile (desktop/shell/computer) environment to stay sharp and not being stuck on ideas. My current setup was using Fvwm or Stumpwm, mostly keyboard driven, with many virtual desktop to spatially regroup different activities. However, with an injured hand, I've been facing a big issue, most of my key binding were for two hands and it seemed too weird for me to change the bindings to work with one hand. I tried to adapt using only one hand, but I got poor results and using the cursor was not very efficient because stumpwm is hostile to cursor and fvwm is not really great for this either. The road to GNOME With only one hand to use my computer, I found the awesome program ibus-typing-booster to help me typing by auto completing words (a bit like on touchscreen phones), it worked out of the box with GNOME due to the ibus integration working well. I used GNOME to debug the package but ended liking it in my current condition. How do I like it now, while I was pestling about it a few months ago as I found it very confusing? Because it's easy to use and spared me movements with my hands, absolutely. The activity menu is easy to browse, icons are big, dock is big. I've been using a trackball with my left hand instead of the usual right hand, aiming at a small task bar was super hard so I was happy to have big icons everywhere, only when I wanted them I actually always liked the alt+tab for windows and alt+² (on my keyboard the key up to TAB is ², must be ~ for qwerty keyboards) for switching into same kind of window alt+tab actually display everything available (it's not per virtual desktop) I can easily view windows or move them between virtual desktop when pressing "super" key This is certainly doing in MATE or Xfce too without much work, but it's out of the box with GNOME. It's perfectly usable without knowing any keyboard shortcut. Mixed feelings I'm pretty sure I'll return to my previous environment once my finger/hand because I have a better feeling with it and I find it more usable. But I have to thanks the GNOME project to work on this desktop environment that is easy to use and quite accessible. It's important to put into perspective when dealing with desktop environment. GNOME may not be the most performing and ergonomic desktop, but it's accessible, easy to use and forgiving people who doesn't want to learn tons of key bindings or can't do them. Conclusion There is a very recurrent question I see on IRC or forums: what's the best desktop environment/window manager? What are YOU using? I stopped having a bold opinion about this topic, I simply reply there are many desktop environments because they are many kind of people and the person asking the question need to find the right one to suiting them. Update (2021-11-11) Using the xfdashboard program and assigning it to Super key allows to mimic the GNOME "activity" view in your favorite window manager: choosing windows, moving them between desktops, running applications. I think this can easily turn any window manager into something more accessible, or at least "GNOME like".
notRobot 5y ago
Text of post: How I ended liking GNOME Author: Solène Date: 10 November 2021 Tags: life unix gnome Introduction Hi! This was a while without much activity on my blog, the reason is that I stabbed through my right index with a knife by accident, the injury was so bad I can barely use my right hand because I couldn't move my index at all without pain. So I've been stuck with only my left hand for a month now. Good news, it's finally getting better :) Which leads me to the topic of this article, why I ended liking GNOME! Why I didn't use GNOME I will first start about why I didn't use it before. I like to try everything all the time, I like disruption, I like having an hostile (desktop/shell/computer) environment to stay sharp and not being stuck on ideas. My current setup was using Fvwm or Stumpwm, mostly keyboard driven, with many virtual desktop to spatially regroup different activities. However, with an injured hand, I've been facing a big issue, most of my key binding were for two hands and it seemed too weird for me to change the bindings to work with one hand. I tried to adapt using only one hand, but I got poor results and using the cursor was not very efficient because stumpwm is hostile to cursor and fvwm is not really great for this either. The road to GNOME With only one hand to use my computer, I found the awesome program ibus-typing-booster to help me typing by auto completing words (a bit like on touchscreen phones), it worked out of the box with GNOME due to the ibus integration working well. I used GNOME to debug the package but ended liking it in my current condition. How do I like it now, while I was pestling about it a few months ago as I found it very confusing? Because it's easy to use and spared me movements with my hands, absolutely. The activity menu is easy to browse, icons are big, dock is big. I've been using a trackball with my left hand instead of the usual right hand, aiming at a small task bar was super hard so I was happy to have big icons everywhere, only when I wanted them I actually always liked the alt+tab for windows and alt+² (on my keyboard the key up to TAB is ², must be ~ for qwerty keyboards) for switching into same kind of window alt+tab actually display everything available (it's not per virtual desktop) I can easily view windows or move them between virtual desktop when pressing "super" key This is certainly doing in MATE or Xfce too without much work, but it's out of the box with GNOME. It's perfectly usable without knowing any keyboard shortcut. Mixed feelings I'm pretty sure I'll return to my previous environment once my finger/hand because I have a better feeling with it and I find it more usable. But I have to thanks the GNOME project to work on this desktop environment that is easy to use and quite accessible. It's important to put into perspective when dealing with desktop environment. GNOME may not be the most performing and ergonomic desktop, but it's accessible, easy to use and forgiving people who doesn't want to learn tons of key bindings or can't do them. Conclusion There is a very recurrent question I see on IRC or forums: what's the best desktop environment/window manager? What are YOU using? I stopped having a bold opinion about this topic, I simply reply there are many desktop environments because they are many kind of people and the person asking the question need to find the right one to suiting them. Update (2021-11-11) Using the xfdashboard program and assigning it to Super key allows to mimic the GNOME "activity" view in your favorite window manager: choosing windows, moving them between desktops, running applications. I think this can easily turn any window manager into something more accessible, or at least "GNOME like".
dEnigma 5y ago
For people with Gemini clients, this URL works: gemini://perso.pw/blog/articles/how-I-ended-liking-gnome.gmi
titaniumtown 5y ago
Gnome is pretty good. Started using it again after a while of using kde. I fell in love with it again. Really wish that the top bar was used as a global menu like in MacOS though.
- lights0123 5y ago
  https://extensions.gnome.org/extension/4114/fildem-global-menu/ https://extensions.gnome.org/extension/4114/fildem-global-me... exists, but only kind of supports GNOME 40
- still_grokking 5y ago
  But you know you can have a global menu out-of-the-box on KDE?
  - heavyset_go 5y ago
    There's also the plasma-window-appmenu[1], plasma-window-title[2], and plasma-window-buttons[3] applets. [1] https://github.com/psifidotos/applet-window-appmenu https://github.com/psifidotos/applet-window-appmenu [2] https://github.com/psifidotos/applet-window-title https://github.com/psifidotos/applet-window-title [3] https://github.com/psifidotos/applet-window-buttons https://github.com/psifidotos/applet-window-buttons
PKop 5y ago
Ended up liking it? Or stopped liking it? I can't understand the title given the text of the post was blank (and confusing when read in the comments here..)
- belval 5y ago
  I read it as "ended up liking it", "ended liking it" does not make a whole lot of sense as a native speaker would most likely say "stopped liking it" instead.
  - PKop 5y ago
    >a native speaker would most likely say But you could also assume the title and post was written by a non native speaker (which appears to be true), then you are still confused.
- Arnavion 5y ago
  It is indeed the former.
SubiculumCode 5y ago
Title suggests she stopped liking gnome, but its the opposite?
- titaniumtown 5y ago
  Yea. That was very confusing.
  - jeroenhd 5y ago
    The author doesn't seem to be a native English speaker. She probably meant "ended up liking GNOME" rather than "ended liking GNOME". Mistakes like these are easy to make as a non-native speaker. I don't know if the Gemini protocol (using which this article seems to have been published) has a way to correct the title, or if the author is even reading these comments.
- markstos 5y ago
  It seems "ended up liking Gnome" was intended, like "In the end, I liked Gnome".
tfolbrecht 5y ago
https://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:1jm-iLD6YpsJ:https://dataswamp.org/~solene/2021-11-10-how-I-ended-liking-gnome.html+&cd=1&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=us https://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:1jm-iL...
llimllib 5y ago
I recently fell and broke my right hand, and had to get screws in it, so it was out of commission for 4 months or so (it's fine now). It was a giant pain in the butt. The best thing I found for OS X was the `half-qwerty keyboard emulation (rev 2)`[1] Karabiner plugin, that let me type with one hand by holding the space bar to mirror the keyboard layout. I got OK at it, but I went from my normal 100ish wpm down to an error-filled 15wpm or so, which fundamentally changed the way I work. It was very unpleasant and I don't recommend it. I bet with more practice that I could have gotten up to 30ish wpm one-handed, but thankfully I didn't have to do it for too long. 1: https://ke-complex-modifications.pqrs.org/?q=qwerty https://ke-complex-modifications.pqrs.org/?q=qwerty
- Toutouxc 5y ago
  Out of curiosity, have you also tried moving your hand and using the whole keyboard in a hunt-and-peck-ish manner? Or was the mirroring thing your first go-to option? Because I can't imagine something like that being my first go-to option.
  - llimllib 5y ago
    Of course I also tried hunt and pecking with one hand, and the mirror plugin doesn't prevent you from switching freely between the two. After some practice I was somewhat faster with the mirroring setup, but both were pretty unpleasant.
chris_wot 5y ago
Strange... this makes it sound like they don't like Gnome, but actually they ended up liking Gnome.
anthk 5y ago
Mmmh... CWM with a custom ~/.cwmrc with Super+left hand keys makes the layout pretty usable. Anyway, I hope she gets better.
tombert 5y ago
GNOME 3/Shell was something I hated with every fiber in my body until someone told me to actually give it a chance. They said "don't compare it to Windows, don't compare it to macOS, don't compare it to Gnome 2, just try and learn its idioms and go from there". It turns out, at least for me, he was 100% right. I grew to really like Gnome after I dropped all preconceived notions about what it was supposed to be. I ended up loving the fact that the number of virtual desktops is dynamic, I ended up really liking how much could be done without a mouse, and I ended up being kind of surprised how it was both pretty and fast on my (admittedly fairly beefy) laptop. I use macOS right now dude to the fact that I got it at a discount, but the next computer I buy will probably be a Linux machine, and it will probably be running Gnome.
- bacchusracine 5y ago
  >don't compare it to Gnome 2, just try and learn its idioms and go from there If they didn't want to have comparisons to Gnome 2 (or Mate these days) then they should have named it something else. Keeping the name Gnome and then coming out with something so radically different from the previous desktop practically demands comparisons, not invites them.
- simion314 5y ago
  The issue I dislike the entire GNOME project with it's software and philosophy is their mentality of treating users as idiots, removing options with false motives and attempting to impose their shit on other projects and application(refusing to support standard system tray and demanding all application use the GNOME way, refusing to support server side decorations and forcing all other applications, including old unmaintained ones to change to support GNOME). The bad architecture of the GNOME shell does not give me trust in the competence of the GNOME shell team (maybe they fix parts of it in GHOME4), the poor GTK story is also a bad point, arrogant developers, designers and community is also a bad point. Last time I checked they did not have real usability/UX studies except of some super old student homework projects so they imposed their concepts without real data to back it, so IMO without GNOME beeing the default on most distributions it would not have the share it has. But if you like it then is great, I don't want to switch anyone to some better DE, I just want to explain that the reason I dislike the project is not about the padding or the GUI look and feel, on short I dislike the project because of their philosophy and bad developers/designers attitude and bad architecture.
_def 5y ago
I like gnome 3 and use it for some years now. I sort of depend on some extensions for my work flow of choice but I'm happy with it.
dec0dedab0de 5y ago
I like having an hostile (desktop/shell/computer) environment to stay sharp and not being stuck on ideas. I really like this idea, it reminds me of something my dad used to do, that I copied as much as I could. Whenever I drive somewhere regularly, I try not to go the same way twice in a row. As long as it doesn't add too much time, I will take a different major road, or if that's not an option I'll take different side roads.
- noir_lord 5y ago
  I ride a motorcycle and regularly visit my mum. I’ll vary the route at random because riding the same route every time is a recipe for complacency. If there wasn’t a tractor on that bend the first 49 times doesn’t mean their won’t be the 50th time. The second I find myself zoning out I’ll pull over and stretch my legs, have a drink.
- HKH2 5y ago
  Going a different route contributes to your knowledge of the area. It is clearly not change for the sake of it. A more appropriate comparison would be something like having the car dashboard layout randomly change when you start the car.
jsemrau 5y ago
Didn't read the article, but I have been using Gnome and MacOS - M1 MacBook Air for the last 11 months intensively. My verdict is Gnome > MacOs. Reasoning in no particular order : 1. Named and Sorted Virtual Workspaces 2. Activities sorted and scrollable by Workspace 3. Searchable Apps that only search Apps 4. A more mature color scheme -> In contrast MacOS feels like a plastic toy 'Made in China'. 5. Paste with the middle mouse button.
- Toutouxc 5y ago
  > 3. Searchable Apps that only search Apps macOS' Launchpad (the Gnome-like fullscreen app matrix thingy) allows you to only search apps, unlike Spotlight (the general search thingy).
  - jsemrau 5y ago
    True, but I would argue that even though the functionality is similar, the launch icon is not visually separated from the other icons on the menu bar and also the the pagination is fully keyboard-driven on gnome while on the laptop I have to use the mouse to switch to a different page. None of these are big issues but it's just that little 5% that makes the Gnome solution better.
    - Toutouxc 5y ago
      > the launch icon is not visually separated from the other icons on the menu bar That's because Launchpad is just an app, you can move it elsewhere or remove it from the Dock altogether if you (like me) don't plan on using it. > on the laptop I have to use the mouse to switch to a different page You can actually use Cmd+arrows to move between Launchpad pages. I'm not saying it's smart or convenient, but it's there.
jude- 5y ago
The conclusion I drew from the article was "I had to lose a hand to appreciate GNOME." The author does not intend to stay with it once her hand heals.
aidenn0 5y ago
I just learned that Alt-` will switch between the windows of the same application on KDE as well; I never knew that shortcut before.
Mikeb85 5y ago
I'm a huge fan of Gnome shell. I always hated the typical desktop paradigm of desktop icons everywhere, cluttered. I love the clean and simple look, being able to just hit meta to bring up search and access everything in a few keystrokes. Windows looks cluttered, OSX looks cluttered, KDE is cluttered AND complicated, Gnome shell is just so clean and simple and quick to interact with. Extensions are great too, even though all I have these days is Caffeine.
- cjauvin 5y ago
  I recently watched a DistroTube episode [1] where he explains the many problems (cultural and technical) with the current Linux desktop environments, and he is very critical of Gnome, in particular. As an Ubuntu user with a very Emacs-centric workflow, it was slightly surprising to me, as I am quite happy with my Gnome setup, and I was not particularly aware of this "war" waging in the GUI dev world. However reading your comment I realize that I'm not alone in appreciating the extreme simplicity of Gnome, especially when it's almost entirely keyboard driven (I do everything I need by invoking the Super key). Caffeine is also the only extension I use, and my happiness would be truly complete with a keyboard shortcut for it, I think. [1] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OTY620NUdPk https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OTY620NUdPk
  - smoldesu 5y ago
    There's definitely a war, but it's mostly a war of attrition at this point. You're with one or the other, though the recent release of GNOME 40 has come with a lot more literature than previous releases, for better or worse. The GNOME team has been pushing for more dramatic breaking changes this time around, and it's gotten to the point where I, as a developer, can't really feel comfortable contributing to GNOME projects these days. If you're happy as a user though, more power to ya: open source software is highly subjective, so I totally get the appeal of a set-and-forget distro with a nice simple desktop. Going forwards though, it's going to be really interesting to see how KDE handles their increasingly massive technology stack, and how GNOME manages to expand on a relatively barren desktop. There are quite a few ideologies at play here, but only time will tell which ones are pervasive.
clircle 5y ago
GNOME is only DE I can use on Linux where it feels like the window manager just disappears, and I can focus on the task at hand. Everything is integrated and just fits me like a glove. I love that.
pyaccount 5y ago
The poor guy made an update to this blog post on 2021-11-11.
- CRConrad 5y ago
  Gal.
pipeline_peak 5y ago
I feel like the GNOME foot, while always a goofy logo, was meant to display some form of humanity on its users.
- md8z 5y ago
  I remember reading some good jokes about that a while ago. - GNOME's logo is a huge footprint, but it is not clearly established whether it is a huge memory footprint or a huge disk footprint. - It has been theorized that the logo was originally slated to have two footprints, but the developers found having 2 feet to be an unnecessary feature.
  - pipeline_peak 5y ago
    That last one kinda hints at the current toxic GTK developer team.
    - smoldesu 5y ago
      I don't think the GTK team is all that bad, the majority of them are solid people with a good head on their shoulders. It seems that GNOME is where they sent the self-righteous loonies though.
    - md8z 5y ago
      It's just a joke, I have a lot of respect for the GTK (and Qt) teams. I don't think it's fair to call them toxic, they have a lot on their plate.
    - lelanthran 5y ago
      > That last one kinda hints at the current toxic GTK developer team. With just about everyone being called toxic now, the word has lost all meaning.
puskavi 5y ago
So one really needs to be disabled to like gnome?
dotancohen 5y ago
I'd love to try Gnome, but I have a unique situation with keyboard languages that KDE addresses perfectly. If anybody has a Gnome solution, I'm all ears. I have two keyboard languages that I use daily - switching literally every few minutes. However, I have another three languages that I use often enough to need to be able to switch to them quickly as well. In KDE I have a hotkey (for me it's CapsLock, but it could be anything) to switch between English and LangB. Additionally, Win-1 is English, Win-2 is LangB, Win-3 is LangC, Win-4 is LangD, Win-5 is LangE. So I can get to any language easily, but I can switch between English and LangB very quickly. Does Gnome have any way to set up something similar? I'm willing to adjust my workflow, but I need quick access to these keyboard layouts.
- schmorptron 5y ago
  If there's a terminal command to change the layouts, you could bind those to specific hotkeys in the normal gnome settings.
- jeppester 5y ago
  I know this is not exactly what you are asking for, but are you aware of the layout called "English International with AltGr dead keys"? (lets call it EI) If two or more of languages you switch between happen to be based on latin-script, it's quite likely your will be able to use EI instead. I previously switched between Danish (for ÆØÅ) and English for programming, but since discovering EI I haven't had to switch at all and it's been a real pleasure.
- timost 5y ago
  You can use super + space [1] to switch between langages but that won't be as fast as tour current setup with five different languages [1] https://help.gnome.org/users/gnome-help/stable/keyboard-layouts.html.en https://help.gnome.org/users/gnome-help/stable/keyboard-layo...
  - dotancohen 5y ago
    Yes, I would need super + space to toggle two languages and have the rest on hotkeys. I'll file a feature request with Gnome. Thanks.
approxim8ion 5y ago
After using PopOS for a while (before the switch to Cosmic and then a few weeks after) I found myself warming to the GNOME experience. Although it isn't ideal I can get by with it. That said, there are some idiosyncrasies like mutter's focus-stealing mechanism interfering with my notifications. When I click on a firefox push notification, instead of waking my firefox window, it would say "Firefox is ready" and then clicking on it may or may not bring up the window. It was a huge hit to my productivity. Admittedly fixable using some extension or workaround, but that's just another thing that isn't part of the system and can break after an update.

143 points by zdw 5y ago

I like GNOME 3. Stuck with the need to install an OS, a somewhat terrible internet connection, and a desire to avoid as much of anything that was unnecessary as possible, I downloaded the minimum install of Ubuntu [1] which at less than 50MB seemed perfect. It turned out a window manager was not included, so I opted for Gnome 3. Previously I'd mainly been Gnome 2 and occasionally KDE. Nothing particularly Ubuntu flavourful added. It was different. It was quite easy to work with but did not have the feel a familiar piece of clothing, for all it's worts and ripped seams and buttons and button holes in slightly ill-fitting place at least they were in a known ill-fitting place. There were now no button holes. I found my workflow had significantly changed to focus on one and only one application while open, these apps mainly being Sublime Text, and Firefox, plus a Terminal, all themselves tabbed, and email / office uses focused at a different time. This is in contrast where I'd previously switch more. I also mainly only use one monitor on a laptop, second monitor replaced by a projector for video or 'thinking'. Using KDE or Windows today is a 'noisy' experience. Some small changes adapted from default, which I think only enhance this one-thing-at-a-screen workflow, are plank and albert. Would this have been possible before? Sure. Window managers are what you make them. This being the default forced me into a new paradigm that I like, so thanks Gnome people for that.

victornomad 5y ago

I really like Gnome 3. Its very minimal and out of my way for most of my work alghout nowadays I use sway (previously i3wm) because I love how far I can go with customization. I like most of Linux DE but I cannot stand KDE. Its very customizable and I love the community but the UI is a very messy. Inconsistent paddings and margins, missalignments, bad font hyerarchies and clutter stress me out. I really want to like KDE but the designer in me doesn't :/

vorpalhex 5y ago

This doesn't load right for me on mobile (even with desktop mode). I am only getting the title.

janeroe 5y ago
Same story on desktop. It shows all the stuff I didn't ask for (pronouns, hobbies, etc.) but no actual content.

typon 5y ago

Does this post appear empty for everyone?

marton78 5y ago
Only for those with two hands.

aerojoe23 5y ago

Did the site get hugged to death?

Macha 5y ago

Seems the content is broken on the web version, found you can view the gemini version with a gemini to web proxy (e.g. https://portal.mozz.us/gemini/perso.pw/blog/articles/how-I-ended-liking-gnome.gmi https://portal.mozz.us/gemini/perso.pw/blog/articles/how-I-e... )

drewg123 5y ago
I got a gateway timeout... If you have the text, can you post it?
- notRobot 5y ago
  How I ended liking GNOME Author: Solène Date: 10 November 2021 Tags: life unix gnome Introduction Hi! This was a while without much activity on my blog, the reason is that I stabbed through my right index with a knife by accident, the injury was so bad I can barely use my right hand because I couldn't move my index at all without pain. So I've been stuck with only my left hand for a month now. Good news, it's finally getting better :) Which leads me to the topic of this article, why I ended liking GNOME! Why I didn't use GNOME I will first start about why I didn't use it before. I like to try everything all the time, I like disruption, I like having an hostile (desktop/shell/computer) environment to stay sharp and not being stuck on ideas. My current setup was using Fvwm or Stumpwm, mostly keyboard driven, with many virtual desktop to spatially regroup different activities. However, with an injured hand, I've been facing a big issue, most of my key binding were for two hands and it seemed too weird for me to change the bindings to work with one hand. I tried to adapt using only one hand, but I got poor results and using the cursor was not very efficient because stumpwm is hostile to cursor and fvwm is not really great for this either. The road to GNOME With only one hand to use my computer, I found the awesome program ibus-typing-booster to help me typing by auto completing words (a bit like on touchscreen phones), it worked out of the box with GNOME due to the ibus integration working well. I used GNOME to debug the package but ended liking it in my current condition. How do I like it now, while I was pestling about it a few months ago as I found it very confusing? Because it's easy to use and spared me movements with my hands, absolutely. The activity menu is easy to browse, icons are big, dock is big. I've been using a trackball with my left hand instead of the usual right hand, aiming at a small task bar was super hard so I was happy to have big icons everywhere, only when I wanted them I actually always liked the alt+tab for windows and alt+² (on my keyboard the key up to TAB is ², must be ~ for qwerty keyboards) for switching into same kind of window alt+tab actually display everything available (it's not per virtual desktop) I can easily view windows or move them between virtual desktop when pressing "super" key This is certainly doing in MATE or Xfce too without much work, but it's out of the box with GNOME. It's perfectly usable without knowing any keyboard shortcut. Mixed feelings I'm pretty sure I'll return to my previous environment once my finger/hand because I have a better feeling with it and I find it more usable. But I have to thanks the GNOME project to work on this desktop environment that is easy to use and quite accessible. It's important to put into perspective when dealing with desktop environment. GNOME may not be the most performing and ergonomic desktop, but it's accessible, easy to use and forgiving people who doesn't want to learn tons of key bindings or can't do them. Conclusion There is a very recurrent question I see on IRC or forums: what's the best desktop environment/window manager? What are YOU using? I stopped having a bold opinion about this topic, I simply reply there are many desktop environments because they are many kind of people and the person asking the question need to find the right one to suiting them. Update (2021-11-11) Using the xfdashboard program and assigning it to Super key allows to mimic the GNOME "activity" view in your favorite window manager: choosing windows, moving them between desktops, running applications. I think this can easily turn any window manager into something more accessible, or at least "GNOME like".

notRobot 5y ago

Text of post: How I ended liking GNOME Author: Solène Date: 10 November 2021 Tags: life unix gnome Introduction Hi! This was a while without much activity on my blog, the reason is that I stabbed through my right index with a knife by accident, the injury was so bad I can barely use my right hand because I couldn't move my index at all without pain. So I've been stuck with only my left hand for a month now. Good news, it's finally getting better :) Which leads me to the topic of this article, why I ended liking GNOME! Why I didn't use GNOME I will first start about why I didn't use it before. I like to try everything all the time, I like disruption, I like having an hostile (desktop/shell/computer) environment to stay sharp and not being stuck on ideas. My current setup was using Fvwm or Stumpwm, mostly keyboard driven, with many virtual desktop to spatially regroup different activities. However, with an injured hand, I've been facing a big issue, most of my key binding were for two hands and it seemed too weird for me to change the bindings to work with one hand. I tried to adapt using only one hand, but I got poor results and using the cursor was not very efficient because stumpwm is hostile to cursor and fvwm is not really great for this either. The road to GNOME With only one hand to use my computer, I found the awesome program ibus-typing-booster to help me typing by auto completing words (a bit like on touchscreen phones), it worked out of the box with GNOME due to the ibus integration working well. I used GNOME to debug the package but ended liking it in my current condition. How do I like it now, while I was pestling about it a few months ago as I found it very confusing? Because it's easy to use and spared me movements with my hands, absolutely. The activity menu is easy to browse, icons are big, dock is big. I've been using a trackball with my left hand instead of the usual right hand, aiming at a small task bar was super hard so I was happy to have big icons everywhere, only when I wanted them I actually always liked the alt+tab for windows and alt+² (on my keyboard the key up to TAB is ², must be ~ for qwerty keyboards) for switching into same kind of window alt+tab actually display everything available (it's not per virtual desktop) I can easily view windows or move them between virtual desktop when pressing "super" key This is certainly doing in MATE or Xfce too without much work, but it's out of the box with GNOME. It's perfectly usable without knowing any keyboard shortcut. Mixed feelings I'm pretty sure I'll return to my previous environment once my finger/hand because I have a better feeling with it and I find it more usable. But I have to thanks the GNOME project to work on this desktop environment that is easy to use and quite accessible. It's important to put into perspective when dealing with desktop environment. GNOME may not be the most performing and ergonomic desktop, but it's accessible, easy to use and forgiving people who doesn't want to learn tons of key bindings or can't do them. Conclusion There is a very recurrent question I see on IRC or forums: what's the best desktop environment/window manager? What are YOU using? I stopped having a bold opinion about this topic, I simply reply there are many desktop environments because they are many kind of people and the person asking the question need to find the right one to suiting them. Update (2021-11-11) Using the xfdashboard program and assigning it to Super key allows to mimic the GNOME "activity" view in your favorite window manager: choosing windows, moving them between desktops, running applications. I think this can easily turn any window manager into something more accessible, or at least "GNOME like".

dEnigma 5y ago

For people with Gemini clients, this URL works: gemini://perso.pw/blog/articles/how-I-ended-liking-gnome.gmi

titaniumtown 5y ago

Gnome is pretty good. Started using it again after a while of using kde. I fell in love with it again. Really wish that the top bar was used as a global menu like in MacOS though.

lights0123 5y ago
https://extensions.gnome.org/extension/4114/fildem-global-menu/ https://extensions.gnome.org/extension/4114/fildem-global-me... exists, but only kind of supports GNOME 40
still_grokking 5y ago
But you know you can have a global menu out-of-the-box on KDE?
- heavyset_go 5y ago
  There's also the plasma-window-appmenu[1], plasma-window-title[2], and plasma-window-buttons[3] applets. [1] https://github.com/psifidotos/applet-window-appmenu https://github.com/psifidotos/applet-window-appmenu [2] https://github.com/psifidotos/applet-window-title https://github.com/psifidotos/applet-window-title [3] https://github.com/psifidotos/applet-window-buttons https://github.com/psifidotos/applet-window-buttons

PKop 5y ago

Ended up liking it? Or stopped liking it? I can't understand the title given the text of the post was blank (and confusing when read in the comments here..)

belval 5y ago
I read it as "ended up liking it", "ended liking it" does not make a whole lot of sense as a native speaker would most likely say "stopped liking it" instead.
- PKop 5y ago
  >a native speaker would most likely say But you could also assume the title and post was written by a non native speaker (which appears to be true), then you are still confused.
Arnavion 5y ago
It is indeed the former.

SubiculumCode 5y ago

Title suggests she stopped liking gnome, but its the opposite?

titaniumtown 5y ago
Yea. That was very confusing.
- jeroenhd 5y ago
  The author doesn't seem to be a native English speaker. She probably meant "ended up liking GNOME" rather than "ended liking GNOME". Mistakes like these are easy to make as a non-native speaker. I don't know if the Gemini protocol (using which this article seems to have been published) has a way to correct the title, or if the author is even reading these comments.
markstos 5y ago
It seems "ended up liking Gnome" was intended, like "In the end, I liked Gnome".

tfolbrecht 5y ago

https://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:1jm-iLD6YpsJ:https://dataswamp.org/~solene/2021-11-10-how-I-ended-liking-gnome.html+&cd=1&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=us https://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:1jm-iL...

llimllib 5y ago

I recently fell and broke my right hand, and had to get screws in it, so it was out of commission for 4 months or so (it's fine now). It was a giant pain in the butt. The best thing I found for OS X was the `half-qwerty keyboard emulation (rev 2)`[1] Karabiner plugin, that let me type with one hand by holding the space bar to mirror the keyboard layout. I got OK at it, but I went from my normal 100ish wpm down to an error-filled 15wpm or so, which fundamentally changed the way I work. It was very unpleasant and I don't recommend it. I bet with more practice that I could have gotten up to 30ish wpm one-handed, but thankfully I didn't have to do it for too long. 1: https://ke-complex-modifications.pqrs.org/?q=qwerty https://ke-complex-modifications.pqrs.org/?q=qwerty

Toutouxc 5y ago
Out of curiosity, have you also tried moving your hand and using the whole keyboard in a hunt-and-peck-ish manner? Or was the mirroring thing your first go-to option? Because I can't imagine something like that being my first go-to option.
- llimllib 5y ago
  Of course I also tried hunt and pecking with one hand, and the mirror plugin doesn't prevent you from switching freely between the two. After some practice I was somewhat faster with the mirroring setup, but both were pretty unpleasant.

chris_wot 5y ago

Strange... this makes it sound like they don't like Gnome, but actually they ended up liking Gnome.

anthk 5y ago

Mmmh... CWM with a custom ~/.cwmrc with Super+left hand keys makes the layout pretty usable. Anyway, I hope she gets better.

tombert 5y ago

GNOME 3/Shell was something I hated with every fiber in my body until someone told me to actually give it a chance. They said "don't compare it to Windows, don't compare it to macOS, don't compare it to Gnome 2, just try and learn its idioms and go from there". It turns out, at least for me, he was 100% right. I grew to really like Gnome after I dropped all preconceived notions about what it was supposed to be. I ended up loving the fact that the number of virtual desktops is dynamic, I ended up really liking how much could be done without a mouse, and I ended up being kind of surprised how it was both pretty and fast on my (admittedly fairly beefy) laptop. I use macOS right now dude to the fact that I got it at a discount, but the next computer I buy will probably be a Linux machine, and it will probably be running Gnome.

bacchusracine 5y ago
>don't compare it to Gnome 2, just try and learn its idioms and go from there If they didn't want to have comparisons to Gnome 2 (or Mate these days) then they should have named it something else. Keeping the name Gnome and then coming out with something so radically different from the previous desktop practically demands comparisons, not invites them.
simion314 5y ago
The issue I dislike the entire GNOME project with it's software and philosophy is their mentality of treating users as idiots, removing options with false motives and attempting to impose their shit on other projects and application(refusing to support standard system tray and demanding all application use the GNOME way, refusing to support server side decorations and forcing all other applications, including old unmaintained ones to change to support GNOME). The bad architecture of the GNOME shell does not give me trust in the competence of the GNOME shell team (maybe they fix parts of it in GHOME4), the poor GTK story is also a bad point, arrogant developers, designers and community is also a bad point. Last time I checked they did not have real usability/UX studies except of some super old student homework projects so they imposed their concepts without real data to back it, so IMO without GNOME beeing the default on most distributions it would not have the share it has. But if you like it then is great, I don't want to switch anyone to some better DE, I just want to explain that the reason I dislike the project is not about the padding or the GUI look and feel, on short I dislike the project because of their philosophy and bad developers/designers attitude and bad architecture.

_def 5y ago

I like gnome 3 and use it for some years now. I sort of depend on some extensions for my work flow of choice but I'm happy with it.

dec0dedab0de 5y ago

I like having an hostile (desktop/shell/computer) environment to stay sharp and not being stuck on ideas. I really like this idea, it reminds me of something my dad used to do, that I copied as much as I could. Whenever I drive somewhere regularly, I try not to go the same way twice in a row. As long as it doesn't add too much time, I will take a different major road, or if that's not an option I'll take different side roads.

noir_lord 5y ago
I ride a motorcycle and regularly visit my mum. I’ll vary the route at random because riding the same route every time is a recipe for complacency. If there wasn’t a tractor on that bend the first 49 times doesn’t mean their won’t be the 50th time. The second I find myself zoning out I’ll pull over and stretch my legs, have a drink.
HKH2 5y ago
Going a different route contributes to your knowledge of the area. It is clearly not change for the sake of it. A more appropriate comparison would be something like having the car dashboard layout randomly change when you start the car.

jsemrau 5y ago

Didn't read the article, but I have been using Gnome and MacOS - M1 MacBook Air for the last 11 months intensively. My verdict is Gnome > MacOs. Reasoning in no particular order : 1. Named and Sorted Virtual Workspaces 2. Activities sorted and scrollable by Workspace 3. Searchable Apps that only search Apps 4. A more mature color scheme -> In contrast MacOS feels like a plastic toy 'Made in China'. 5. Paste with the middle mouse button.

Toutouxc 5y ago
> 3. Searchable Apps that only search Apps macOS' Launchpad (the Gnome-like fullscreen app matrix thingy) allows you to only search apps, unlike Spotlight (the general search thingy).
- jsemrau 5y ago
  True, but I would argue that even though the functionality is similar, the launch icon is not visually separated from the other icons on the menu bar and also the the pagination is fully keyboard-driven on gnome while on the laptop I have to use the mouse to switch to a different page. None of these are big issues but it's just that little 5% that makes the Gnome solution better.
  - Toutouxc 5y ago
    > the launch icon is not visually separated from the other icons on the menu bar That's because Launchpad is just an app, you can move it elsewhere or remove it from the Dock altogether if you (like me) don't plan on using it. > on the laptop I have to use the mouse to switch to a different page You can actually use Cmd+arrows to move between Launchpad pages. I'm not saying it's smart or convenient, but it's there.

jude- 5y ago

The conclusion I drew from the article was "I had to lose a hand to appreciate GNOME." The author does not intend to stay with it once her hand heals.

aidenn0 5y ago

I just learned that Alt-` will switch between the windows of the same application on KDE as well; I never knew that shortcut before.

Mikeb85 5y ago

I'm a huge fan of Gnome shell. I always hated the typical desktop paradigm of desktop icons everywhere, cluttered. I love the clean and simple look, being able to just hit meta to bring up search and access everything in a few keystrokes. Windows looks cluttered, OSX looks cluttered, KDE is cluttered AND complicated, Gnome shell is just so clean and simple and quick to interact with. Extensions are great too, even though all I have these days is Caffeine.

cjauvin 5y ago
I recently watched a DistroTube episode [1] where he explains the many problems (cultural and technical) with the current Linux desktop environments, and he is very critical of Gnome, in particular. As an Ubuntu user with a very Emacs-centric workflow, it was slightly surprising to me, as I am quite happy with my Gnome setup, and I was not particularly aware of this "war" waging in the GUI dev world. However reading your comment I realize that I'm not alone in appreciating the extreme simplicity of Gnome, especially when it's almost entirely keyboard driven (I do everything I need by invoking the Super key). Caffeine is also the only extension I use, and my happiness would be truly complete with a keyboard shortcut for it, I think. [1] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OTY620NUdPk https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OTY620NUdPk
- smoldesu 5y ago
  There's definitely a war, but it's mostly a war of attrition at this point. You're with one or the other, though the recent release of GNOME 40 has come with a lot more literature than previous releases, for better or worse. The GNOME team has been pushing for more dramatic breaking changes this time around, and it's gotten to the point where I, as a developer, can't really feel comfortable contributing to GNOME projects these days. If you're happy as a user though, more power to ya: open source software is highly subjective, so I totally get the appeal of a set-and-forget distro with a nice simple desktop. Going forwards though, it's going to be really interesting to see how KDE handles their increasingly massive technology stack, and how GNOME manages to expand on a relatively barren desktop. There are quite a few ideologies at play here, but only time will tell which ones are pervasive.

clircle 5y ago

GNOME is only DE I can use on Linux where it feels like the window manager just disappears, and I can focus on the task at hand. Everything is integrated and just fits me like a glove. I love that.

pyaccount 5y ago

The poor guy made an update to this blog post on 2021-11-11.

CRConrad 5y ago
Gal.

pipeline_peak 5y ago

I feel like the GNOME foot, while always a goofy logo, was meant to display some form of humanity on its users.

md8z 5y ago
I remember reading some good jokes about that a while ago. - GNOME's logo is a huge footprint, but it is not clearly established whether it is a huge memory footprint or a huge disk footprint. - It has been theorized that the logo was originally slated to have two footprints, but the developers found having 2 feet to be an unnecessary feature.
- pipeline_peak 5y ago
  That last one kinda hints at the current toxic GTK developer team.
  - smoldesu 5y ago
    I don't think the GTK team is all that bad, the majority of them are solid people with a good head on their shoulders. It seems that GNOME is where they sent the self-righteous loonies though.
  - md8z 5y ago
    It's just a joke, I have a lot of respect for the GTK (and Qt) teams. I don't think it's fair to call them toxic, they have a lot on their plate.
  - lelanthran 5y ago
    > That last one kinda hints at the current toxic GTK developer team. With just about everyone being called toxic now, the word has lost all meaning.

puskavi 5y ago

So one really needs to be disabled to like gnome?

dotancohen 5y ago

I'd love to try Gnome, but I have a unique situation with keyboard languages that KDE addresses perfectly. If anybody has a Gnome solution, I'm all ears. I have two keyboard languages that I use daily - switching literally every few minutes. However, I have another three languages that I use often enough to need to be able to switch to them quickly as well. In KDE I have a hotkey (for me it's CapsLock, but it could be anything) to switch between English and LangB. Additionally, Win-1 is English, Win-2 is LangB, Win-3 is LangC, Win-4 is LangD, Win-5 is LangE. So I can get to any language easily, but I can switch between English and LangB very quickly. Does Gnome have any way to set up something similar? I'm willing to adjust my workflow, but I need quick access to these keyboard layouts.

schmorptron 5y ago
If there's a terminal command to change the layouts, you could bind those to specific hotkeys in the normal gnome settings.
jeppester 5y ago
I know this is not exactly what you are asking for, but are you aware of the layout called "English International with AltGr dead keys"? (lets call it EI) If two or more of languages you switch between happen to be based on latin-script, it's quite likely your will be able to use EI instead. I previously switched between Danish (for ÆØÅ) and English for programming, but since discovering EI I haven't had to switch at all and it's been a real pleasure.
timost 5y ago
You can use super + space [1] to switch between langages but that won't be as fast as tour current setup with five different languages [1] https://help.gnome.org/users/gnome-help/stable/keyboard-layouts.html.en https://help.gnome.org/users/gnome-help/stable/keyboard-layo...
- dotancohen 5y ago
  Yes, I would need super + space to toggle two languages and have the rest on hotkeys. I'll file a feature request with Gnome. Thanks.

approxim8ion 5y ago

After using PopOS for a while (before the switch to Cosmic and then a few weeks after) I found myself warming to the GNOME experience. Although it isn't ideal I can get by with it. That said, there are some idiosyncrasies like mutter's focus-stealing mechanism interfering with my notifications. When I click on a firefox push notification, instead of waking my firefox window, it would say "Firefox is ready" and then clicking on it may or may not bring up the window. It was a huge hit to my productivity. Admittedly fixable using some extension or workaround, but that's just another thing that isn't part of the system and can break after an update.