Oh how I hate Gnome 3!! Gnome3 sucks.

[TrailMyx]

The question was always KDE or Gnome, but now there's no question for me.  Neither.  I still hate the bloated feeling of KDE, but they really booted it with Gnome 3.  I think they were trying to go for an OS that is more tablet friendly, but in the process they created more button clicks, and hid existing functionality.  At this point, there are many things in Gnome 2 that you can no longer do in Gnome 3.  

1) Icons are massive without the ability to resize them.
2) Loss of context clicking
3) Limited widgets (no widgets in Gnome2 mode)
4) Additional clicking to do the same thing
5) Loss of desktop icons(can be hacked back, but sheesh, why?  Don't be KDE)
6) VERY limited configuration or customization.  Terrible actually.
7) Compatibility mode:  Where in the hell is the "logout"?  Jeebus.

People might recommend that you use the "compatibility" mode for Gnome2, but they have removed the widget functionality, and menu bar control.  It's pretty much useless.

For me, the only option at this point to get some of the Gnome2 functionality back is to run XFCE.  

So in summary, the Gnome team has a lot of work to bring the compatibility mode to a usable point.  And they really must re-think the button click count and general obscurity.  I have a couple large monitors, and it just doesn't make sense to use my vast desktop area to look like a Google/iPhone.  Yuck.

Shame on Fedora for making this the main GUI.  What the heck were they thinking?

Anyhow, this will be my running rant regarding this pathetic GUI.

So do yourself a favor, if you don't have xfce as an option under F15 do (as root):

Code: [Select]

yum groupinstall xfce

Reboot and log in under XFCE.  Problem solved.

[gimlet]

I think you need to tell us how you really feel!

[TrailMyx]

Gnome3 Sucks!!

[Masscre]

Are you trying to tell us some thing TM? Do not hold it in just let it all out !!

[TrailMyx]

Lol, just venting.  I hate when an organization takes a relatively useful GUI and makes it a crap-filled mess.

[Masscre]

Money and lack of patience will do that to projects !!

[TrailMyx]

Good bye Gnome!  Kiss my butt!

Hello XFCE!!! 

[TrailMyx]

What the heck is going on with desktop operating systems?  First it was Gnome 3, now we have Windows 8??  When are they going to realize that desktop OS requirements are DIFFERENT than tablet devices?  Wow, the new Windows is going to kill the PC industry.  Or at least it's not going to be adopted and people will stick with Windows 7.

[TrailMyx]

As much as I've grown to like XFCE, I'm looking forward to giving MATE a whirl!  Been 2 years now and Gnome 3 still sucks.  MATE is an official fork of Gnome 2.  There's nothing wrong with that sentence.   If you don't like MATE, then you might give Cinnamon a go!

[TrailMyx]

So this weekend I upgraded my Fedora installation from 17 to 18 just because I heard about what MATE and Cinnamon was.  After the initial, "Why the hell did I upgrade Fedora?!??" woes (things always break with multimedia with Fedora and upgrades), I managed to get everything going again (3D video drivers, thumbnailer, desktop decoration, etc.)  

Booting into Mate was like, "Ahhhhhhhh, I missed you!"  The feeling of having all that functionality back from Gnome 2.x was such a relief!  XFCE is a bit limited in its presentation, but the Mate project has really brought back that useful quality that's been lacking in a Linux desktop environment ever since Gnome 3 lurched onto the scene.  I can't believe after so long that Gnome 3 feels this clunky still.  Every time I upgrade to a new version of Fedora, I give Gnome3 a try to see if they have added any usability aspects to it.  Nope, still clinging to the keyboard shortcut dependence, no context click mouse, hot-corners, no real usefulness for multiple displays, tablet-ready kind of vision (cough, Windows 8 anyone?)

After I got my video driver all straightened out, I decided to give Cinnamon a whirl.  It's a very nice windows manager.  It reminds me of a combination of Gnome 2 and feels much like some of the custom managers I've used in both Mandriva (back in the Mandrake days) or SUSE.  Doing a little more reading showed this is the manager that MINT uses and has a good following now.  I really kinda like it and may keep it since it feels a bit more modern than Mate (uses desktop effects and variable opacity windows and menus).

Hopefully going forward Fedora will continue to use Mate and Cinnamon as an alternative to the Gnome 3 abomination.  This also made the Fedora 18 adoption enjoyable in that I found 2 possible window managers instead of a "what the heck am I going to do now?" window manager options.  I have been a bit apathetic about Linux for a while now, but I have a renewed sense of purpose with regard to Linux.  Linux had drifted off my latest computer systems, but now I'm actually considering new partitions to bring Linux back into the mainstream of my computing life.

[ximan]

Thanks for the reviews, TM.  Going to recommend these to my bro-in-law who was showing me a windows-based ubuntu install he's fiddling around with on his erstwhile work laptop.  Its interface isn't Gnome 3 but it's just as jacked!

[TrailMyx]

You bet; hopefully it works out.  I believe they have an Ubuntu spin of both Cinnamon and Mate.  I was actually surprised that Fedora had ported these.  They are normally just so minimalist over there since they are just a playground and testbed for CentOS and their little cash cow they have to keep fed.  Mooooo-ney!

For Cinnamon, it does require you have a working set of video 3d drivers for either ATI or Nvidia or else you'll boot into vanilla Gnome2 compatibility mode where you'll say, "Wow, this sucks."  This is how you'll know you've landed within the tentacles of the suck that is Gnome3.

[ximan]

I'll let him know to sort out drivers first.  Looks like mate and cinnamon have installs for ubuntu.  Will pass along this link in case things don't work out.  Not a ubuntu fan, however their windows-based installer is pretty handy; let's one run ubuntu from a file in the existing windows file system and automatically updates the windows boot loader.  Later the file install can be moved to a dedicated partition or flash drive if desired.  Pretty handy and painless for a non-geek to experiment with.

[TrailMyx]

I found an interesting article regarding Fedora and Gnome 3. 

http://www.zdnet.com/mate-gnome-2-on-the-way-to-fedora-18-7000008165/

I guess I wasn't the only one that has been holding back with my progression of Fedora.  I went from having Fedora installed on just about every one of my computers to only having it installed on my main Linux box where I'd bend it with XFCE until it was usable again.  All the rest of my Fedora computers were stuck at F14 and my new laptops remained Windows 7 and no longer dual booted.  It seems I was just one of many people suffering from this, so I glad I wasn't the only one.  At the moment, I'm typing away on one of my F14 laptops as I prepare it for a migration to F18 and using either Mate or Cinnamon. I'll let you know how this migration goes.

F14 was the best in my opinion since I could get all the desktop effects working with Compiz/Emerald and had the best plug-in features of Gnome2 (weather, wifi, bluetooth widgets, etc.). 

[Ultima]

I'm taking a Linux course this semester. I finally get to whet my beak and see what all the hub bub is about with Linux.

One of my assignments was watching two interesting documentaries on Linux/Unix. They are very interesting and entertaining for anyone of you geeks who might be interested and haven't heard of them.

Revolution OS

The Code

What is it TM you like so much about Linux?

I'm already impressed with some of the things it can do!

I really think Linux will one day rival Microsoft.

It's growing!