Any Gnome 3 fans here?

Been on Fedora 15, with the new Gnome 3 GUI for two days now, and I must say I really like it. Gnome 3 really leaves the Windows heritage far behind, without moving to a MacOS set-up which I feel Ubuntu's Unity does (which is not nessesarily a bad thing).

It looks similar to Unity, but works much better once you get used to using the Windows key a lot. The application manager is similar to Unity but more intuitive and easier to use.
The desktop as you we have known it no longer exist. Windows are no longer minimized. Yes, this is something really new. Well, maybe no. If Android ever came to the desktop, it might look like this.

The settings lacks some options I would like to find there, but not a deal breaker. I tried Fedora out of curiosity, and decided to give it a long period of use. Hard to come to a conclusion on something till you use it a lot. But I was thinking I would go back to Ubuntu in a month. Now it looks like I might keep this one until the next cycle of released of Ubuntu and Fedora.

 

I've tried Gnome 3 and I like how polished it looks. It sorta looks like a mix between Mac OS X and Windows 7. It is pretty easy switching between workspaces using the mouse scrolling wheel and using Alt+Tab to switch between applications (just like Windows).

I also like the concept of laying your mouse pointer on the top left corner of the desktop and it'll popup the "activities" menu automatically. Much easier than clicking it every single time. Also, the searching feature works very well; it seems to be faster than Windows 7.

The only annoying thing to me was the way Gnome 3 was set up to not have have icons on the desktop, but you can fix that easily if you search on Google.

 

I wonder why Canonical just did not go with Gnome 3 for Ubuntu 11.

 

I think they're trying to evolve into their own OS, rather than just another linux distro. Well, that's what I think

 

Yes this is really bad from Ubuntu. They even get worst (IMO) with thier windows managment system in 11.04

 

I guess it might be like custom GUI's for Android phones. Trying to build customer loyalty by getting them to like a particular GUI. I think though that if a Linux distro would finally make in-roads to the masses it would be the one that can come up with a App Store/Market type concept for software install.

The traditional Linux GUI is similar to Windows which people are pretty comfortable with using. Adoption of iOS and Android devices would seem to indicate that people are ready to use different GUI's from what they are used too, provided that it is fairly easy to use.

 

Gnome 3 has been in the works a long time and supposed was a bit buggy when Canonical made the decision to go with Unity. So, which is the lesser of two evils?

Personally, I think that Gnome 2.32 represents an optimal solution, without any obvious shortcomings, while Gnome 3.0 feels like a contrived, forced answer to a question that nobody asked. Given the choice between Unity and Gnome 3.0 in another 6 months, my tentative answer might be in favor of Unity, if only because the Gnome project feels like it has "jumped the shark" with 3.0. Similarly, the future of KDE is uncertain, courtesy of Nokia's deal with Microsoft, and LXDE isn't ready for the mainstream and requires too many resources to be described as truly "lightweight."

Yes, eventually Gnome 2.32 will fade away, and when that happens, I don't see Gnome 3.0 filling the void, under any circumstances. As far as I'm concerned, if the Gnome developers can't preserve the functionality of Gnome 2.32 in future iterations, they are doing Linux community a great disservice.

 

I installed G3 onto a notebook and tried using it for the best part of 2 months....

1. I do not like the lack of applets on the desktop, I realise 'extensions' are coming to fill the gap but it seems to me that Gnome is resistant to extensions as they 'distract' from users being focused on one application at a time. I use applets to warn me of things, while I'm focused on the main app I'm using. I don't like being told I can't focus on more then one thing at a time as it smacks of arrogance.

2. The loss of 'eye candy' provided by Compiz means my machine feels less fun to use.

3. Workspaces should work right to left, not up and down. In Western culture we read left to right and therefore it's easier to 'visualise' where things are, I find myself constantly having to 'think' where applications are in an up/down workspace environment.

4. Not being able to easily have multiple applications on one desktop just doesn't work IMHO. I often had maybe 3 vnc sessions, a couple of nautilus sessions and a few gnome terminal sessions all on one workspace. It wasn't unusual to have 10 vnc sessions, 8-10 nautilus sessions and 12-15 gnome terminal sessions, firefox and openoffice apps open across 5 workspaces. This now takes 15+ workspaces to manage and anything over 7-8 workspaces becomes difficult to manage.

In a nutshell I think what G3 tried to do is sensible for low density users (i.e. people only doing one or two things at a time) but for high density users (people doing 5+ things at a time) it forces too many compromises.

When I had to switch to my backup laptop for a few days which still had G2 and Compiz I just found it much more 'comfortable' to use.

Maybe the G3 people will take on board some of the comments from users, however having followed some of the mailing lists comments I get the impression some of the developers are feeling a little defensive.

I think I read somewhere that there's a G2 fork for Fedora 15 somewhere and I think that's where I'm heading......

Pinson

 

The new Gnome 3 GUI is actually pretty great, it's graphically amazing compared to its counterparts. Even if it's not the most intuitive yet, I'm sure it'll only get better with time.
I'm running Fedora 15 w/ Gnome 3, and Ubuntu 11.04 with Unity
I wonder if there's a way to get Gnome 3 running in ubuntu, tried it once and it messed up my whole installation

 

You can run Gnome 3 fine in Ubuntu 11.04, but it will render Unity useless. You just need to remember to input some specific commands in the terminal before installing Gnome 3 or the installation will mess up and you will be stuck on the login screen. I had to install Gnome 3 again on a new installation of Ubuntu because I forgot to input one or two commands.

 

Gnome 3 has tried to take a radical step somewhere to redefine desktop... There has been mixed reviews so far....

I personally hate the concept of redefining basic things like Alt + Tab which forces window grouping (there is no option to change it without extensions). So if I need to switch between multiple code editor windows of gvim - I need to do Alt + Tab then use arrow keys to choose the right window. Previously this was a less than a second time taking task for me.

The window list in the taskbar hardly takes up any space in today's high resolution workspaces and I honestly dont understand why I should be forfeiting that.

The list of open windows, having to use the mouse more than the keyboard (it is always faster with a keyboard than a mouse), compiz completely kicked out (mutter doesnt have so much effects as compiz) - are few things which really keep me from switching from gnome3.

Fedora had been equally radical enough to adopt it as the only gnome options early of others. I honestly could not stand using gnome3 for more than 1 hour. They could have at least made fallback mode a little better especially with window decorations.

 

No. 2.30.2 until I HAVE to move to xfce or kde....

 

The new Alt-Tab feature is not to my liking either. Having to use two hands to use a shortcut effectively does not make sense to me. Although I just use the Windows key and mouse point my way to the Windows I want to it does not really bother me.

I would prefer if Alt-Tab acted like the Windows key and pressing Alt-Tab would emphasize one app which would be brought forward when Alt is released.

 

I'm now running xfce, no regrets.
Lite window managers can get addicting. (and yes i know xfce isn't as light as it should be!)

 

Yeah I loved xfce for the short time I used it but had some stability issues so I went back to gnome. Id probably go back to it if I had to upgrade to gnome 3 though as I am not too fond of kde.

 

Scientific Linux 7 will probably have gnome 3. I'll try my best to appreciate it...if I can't, then I'll go to KDE. After than Xfce.

 

Hopefully, with better fonts. I have a comparison of Fedora with tweaked fonts and Ubuntu with default fonts:

Mobile Raptor: Fonts: Fedora 15 versus Ubuntu 11.04

 

Was thinking of running Gnome 3 on Ubuntu...

Will try it on a USB

 

After doing some reading, this may not be such a great idea... if I get it working well apparently an update could destroy my install. Looks like Gnome 3 might be an option in 11.10.

 

Tried to install Gnome 3 on Ubuntu 11.04, twice, on a Live USB. 2GB of persistent storage. Both attempts left me looking at a Ubuntu splash screen with dots running horizontally forever...

 

ral ha, been there, done that! Also two times, third time didn't bother, used Unity with Gnome 2.x in between and after some time grew to like Unity, but not as much W7 or Gnome 2.x interfaces (they are the most productive for me). And after watching some review videos of Gnome 3 began to think that this thing is not for me, since it still lacks some things, like task bar for instance... But what the heck, gonna try out Fedora 15 off USB stick right now just for the lulz! Wanna experience it for myself

 

Just made a third failed attempt. Problem seems to be the absense of "mesa-utils". Maybe it cannot be done on a USB Live disk, and can only be done on Ubuntu installed in the hard drive.

I will stick to Fedora + Gnome 3 for now. Might be best to wait for Ubuntu 11.10 before trying Ubuntu + Gnome 3.

 

Gnome 3 looks really fun and neat. I think for a touch screen interface you couldn't ask for a better set-up. But who is using touch screen interfaces on a Linux Desktop?

Big issue I personally had with fedora 15 on my macbook pro, is that the "windows key/superkey" shortcut didn't work. So every single time I wanted to switch between activities and workplaces I had to use the mouse.

Gnome 3 would be a sweet interface for a touch screen future computer.. But we're not there yet.

 

Just tried Fedora 15 with Gnome 3 and I must admit I kinda liked it. I just played with it about 15 minutes and from what I saw it looked really is nice. And it works really fast. Ubuntu 11.04 felt a bit slow, but Fedora 15 is lightning fast. Maybe it was so 'cuz I tried it off USB stick.

 

I have use both from the same laptop, installed on the hard drive. Unity suffers from some "lag". It is generally fast, but sometimes I wonder if I actually clicked the icon.

How do you like the default font's on Fedora 15?

 

Well F15 font is ok I guess, but Ubuntu has better out of both, although it really doesn't matter for me, OS functionality, this is what matters I loved the applications menu, so much better than Unity, and the icons are huge
Still using USB stick to boot Linux kinda sucks, you get only live CD functionality. Can I actually install Linux on USB so it could function as normal OS? I'm too lazy to google it right now
But in general I liked Fedora 15 & Gnome 3

 

yes you can

 

Gnome 3 also suffers "from some 'lag.'" Given a choice between Unity and Gnome 3, I'd be hard pressed to say which desktop seemed more mature. Unity was a little ragged to begin with, which is to be expected, but the fact that Gnome 3 still feels like an Alpha is inexcusable, given the long, long gestation period. What I really can't forgive is that Gnome 3 lacks the flexibility of Gnome 2.32. You can't easily reconfigure Gnome 3, and the interface is just plain peculiar. Why do I have too click "Activities" just to reveal a left handed launcher? What's the point of Gnome 3? You can customize the task bar, you don't have applets, and Gnome 3 hides a launcher that shouldn't be hidden. All considered, Gnome 3 manages to be less intuitive than Unity.

The bottom line is that Unity only exists because of the Gnome community fell into disarray over Gnome 3. Gnome 3 is a lot older than Unity but not any more mature. Gnome 3 was the problem and Unity became Canonical's solution.

I still don't see any key Gnome 3 developers stepping forward to explain how they managed to botch Gnome 3 so completely?

 

@lw Right now I like Gnome 3 more than Unity, though the two share a lot in common. But Gnome 3 does run substantially better in my PC at least. Both Gnome 3 and Unity are closer to Mac OSX. I guess Windows users may find Gnome 2x more familiar, but I think Mac users will find either Gnome 3 or Unity more familiar. But preferred DE is really a highly subjective matter.

When I was using Unity, I configured it to have the dock always visible like my Mac. When I went to Gnome 3, I configured it to hide my dock like Gnome 3... now if I only had a Windows button on my Mac.

@kk Yes you can, just activate "persistance" when you create the USB Live install.

 

linuxwanabe I hear you. It's hard for me to to decide which GUI is more mature aka better too. Now since I've tried both, I really can't decide. They are both good, but dunno they lack something, can't really tell. Maybe I like Gnome 2.x because it reminds me of Windows interface, still being different, thus making it other and also interesting experience for me. Maybe that's why I don't use KDE, since it functions very similar to big W, and when I use another OS I want to have another feel to it too

For running OS off USB stick, I did that persistence thingy, but I can't seem to be able to install any drivers, because poking around in Linux without any music is kinda bad for me Here a wicked idea - can I actually install it on USB stick, what I mean is, when installation running from Live CD asks me to choose the partition where to install can I choose USB stick? Or will I screw up my USB stick?

 

The advantage of classic Gnome 2.x is that it's so easily reconfigured and mature as a desktop. Yes, I love the applets and being able to customize the taskbar(s).

You can download drivers during the installation of Ubuntu, if you have a wired Internet connection. There's no reason why you can't install to a USB drive, since most PCs can boot from USB. If music is an issue, you can either download the necessary codec pack through Ubuntu Software Center or just go with VLC, which plays just about every audio or video format.

As far as screwing up a USB stick, by all means back up all data you have on the thumbdrive, but worst case scenario, you can just reformat the thumbdrive again.

 

If you're a Mac users, I can understand why you might like the slightly more "Mac-like" experience being offered by both Gnome 3 and Unity. Personally, I think that while Canonical and the chaotic Gnome community are targeting OS X, there are more potential converts among current PC users than among Mac users. Ofter all, OS X already is a Unix derived operating system with a very approachable GUI. In short, Apple took BSD and developed it into the most polished proprietary "distro" in the world.

Of course, the difference is that Apple put a lot of time and resources into OS X, while Unity represents a hasty response on the part of Canonical to a disorganized and divided Gnome community. Gnome 3 makes me wonder whether the Gnome community is in the process of disintegration.

 

Gnome 3 was released four months ago. You don't expect it to be as stable and as polished as OSX, do you ?
Btw, why do you think the Gnome community is chaotic ?

No disintegration, don't worry. Just a user base "refresh". Similar to what happened to the KDE community after KDE 4 release.

Back on topic: I think Gnome 3 is great... but it's only a "newborn". Give it another year or so...

 

No, I expected Gnome 3 to be "as stable and as polished as" Gnome 2.32, but it very obviously isn't.

Various accounts indicated that Canonical's negotiations with the Gnome community broke down to the confusion and disorder within the Gnome community - hence the shift to Unity as the default desktop.

Oh, so the idea is to drive off existing users? How clever.

Give it another year or so? So end users are supposed to put up with an inflexible, counterintuitive abomination for another year or so?

Gnome 3 is just bad on a conceptual level. I don't really see any way forward for the Gnome community.

 

That's apples to oranges. Gnome 3 is four months old. Gnome 2.32 is a nine years old platform. And you are expecting G3 to be as stable and as polished as G 2.32 ? No wonder you're disappointed. You're probably (relatively) new to Gnome but some of us still remember the days of Gnome 2.0. Know that it was worse than Gnome 3.0. That's apples to apples.
Same complaints back then but only from different people:
Gnome 2 fails to impress. It is not intuitive. It feels limited and not done yet.
Happy reading !

Can't please everyone, no matter what you do. You don't like Gnome 3 ? Fork. Or take over Gnome 2 and recode/modify as you please. Or join the gnome developers... Plenty of options there...

It might be counterintuitive to you but not to all of us. You sound like someone put a gun to your head and forced you to use Gnome 3 against your will. As I said, this is linux and everything is about choice.

Peace.

 

Okay, exactly what is wrong with Gnome 3? I have not had any crashes or stability problems... my main complaint is the available System Settings are scant, but the power user can always download and add-on.

My main complaint with Unity is that somethings launching software is slower than it should be, but my Linux box might be short of graphical power to run Unity perfectly. If feels less polished than Gnome 3 for me, especially the applications Window. It tries to do too much, showing you favorites, available downloads... all at the same time.

Ubuntu + Gnome 3 would be my favorite. So far, I have had no luck putting these two together. I do not know why. Other people have gotten it done.

In either case, I did not find anything in either DE which were deal breakers. For two months on Ubuntu 11.04, I used Unity. Went back to Gnome 2.x for a day, and decided once you get used to the new DE, it is actually pretty good.

 

Gnome 3 might have been excusable if it had been produced by a recently formed community of inexperienced developers. However, it's been in the works for a long, long time and the subject of nearly universal criticism. Gnome went from being a nearly universal desktop to being the subject of derision and the cause of a new wave of fragmentation in the Linux community.

At this point, it doesn't make sense for "power users" to invest any time or effort in Gnome 3.0 since it looks like a failure at the conceptual level. I know that I'm sticking with Gnome 2.32 until this fall or the spring of 2012 at the latest.

I think that Gnome Desktop Manager might be the source of sluggishness with Unity, but it's going away for good in 11.10 in favor of LightDM.

Overall, even in its current implementation, Unity does run better with more modern integrated graphics. For me, Gnome 2.32 remains the optimal solution, but I'm also running Ubuntu 11.04 on extremely old, old and nearly new hardware.

I haven't tried Gnome 3 with Ubuntu, but after sampling it on Fedora 15, I decided not to bother.

I've reserved judgment on Unity until we see LightDM in 11.10, but the implementation in 11.04 was a lot better than in 10.10.

 

As near as I can tell, the universal criticism has been targeting both Gnome 3 and Unity. Many in the community do not seem to like the new direction these simplified DE are going.

Am sticking with Fedora 15 for now, but will see where to go next when Ubuntu 11.10 comes out.

 

To the contrary, the controversy seemed to start when relations between the Gnome community and Canonical broke down, which lead in turn to the adoption of Unity. Unity is the product of the Gnome 3 controversy.

I'm not against the various Red Hat copycat distros, although I do prefer .deb to .rpg. I've tried Fedora 15, and quite frankly, if I wanted to go in that direction I'd go for a subscription to Red Hat.

 

Sadly the mainstream OS' are going this route and gnome and ubuntu are trying to follow. The problem is the linux community is not in favor of over simplified UIs, if I wanted a simplified UI I would go back to windows or invest in windows 8 when it arrives.

Do I think these options should exist for linux? Sure. But dont force feed it to us as the standard UI (Im looking at you Ubuntu...).

 

I don't see how you can call Fedora a Red Hat copycat distro, and why would I want RHEL (and I don't think I am part of their target market)?

You are correct I think. Commercial distro's would want cater to the mainstream who want a simpler DE. The situation seems to be similar to the time when Red Hat went with their Bluecurve desktop. I remember a lot of people did not like that move back than.

I suspect that there were similar issues with CLI versus GUI issues before, but that was before my time

When I look at Gnome 3 and Ubuntu's Unity, they do look like they are preparing for a touchscreen environment. A direction that Apple has done with Lion and Windows appears to be going with Windows 8. Hardware is changing, and some Linux distro's will change with it.

Ultimately, GUI's have always been about making things simpler.

 

The main problem now distros are facing is that gnome3 is not favourably received by the entire community. And since it is tough for a distro to maintain packages for both gnome2 and gnome3 and allow users to switch seamlessly between the two after installation would be a real pain. The other reason being that gnome3's fallback mode could have been done better - it falls way back than gnome2's non-3d mode.

Ubuntu and canonical on the other hand have taken a step to come up with their own DE - Unity - which is also facing criticism from the users just like gnome3.

Both these are radical changes in a way user perceives his/her desktop and it takes time to adapt. On the other hand the devs have left out features (at least as of now) to release the DEs even though they're not as fully featured like their earlier counterparts. Only time will tell how these DEs will evolve.

These mainstream distros play a key part in the success of a DE - since at least 75% of home linux users go with the mainstream distros since it is easier to install and hence use the DE provided as part of their release.

 

I don't see a positive reaction from any corner.

In that case, the easy answer is to stick with Gnome 2.x to send a message to the Gnome developers.

No, the criticism of Gnome 3 started during the earliest phase of development. This storm has been a long time coming.

Unity is still "new" while Gnome 3 is just plain "bad."

Expectations are also quite different for the two desktops. Gnome 2.x was the default choice for many developers, and the Gnome 3 blowout has major consequences within the broader Linux community. It isn't often that see Linus step forward to make comments about a desktop, but if Linus Torvalds condemns Gnome 3.0, it's a sign that something has to change in the Gnome community.

Well, a lot of self-proclaimed experts don't even explore the simple options for alternative desktops, even when they wouldn't have to leave the GUI.

 

I am glad to see that Gnome 3 will be included in Ubuntu 11.10 (well at least its in Alpha 3). I can use Fedora fine, and have done my best to fix the fonts, but Ubuntu simply displays font's better. I am not sure if it is a graphics card issue or a font issue. I have installed MS TrueType fonts on Fedora which make it better, but its still not as good. Am eagerly awaiting the October release. Actually, I might even move to the Alpha...

At the same time, you will have Unity now based on GTK3. I can happily live with Unity if Gnome 3 turns out to be a dead end disaster.

I think both are the step in the right direction for the mainstream PC user. I gather that the current Linux users are not too keen about either one. But there are plenty of distro's to choose for the more knowledgeable.

I got a friend to try Ubuntu 11.10, and she liked Unity so much she has stuck with it now for more than a month, and purged Windows XP. I think this move is permanent. This is a good thing I think.

 

Yes for people who have been used to something for nearly the past decade, the change would be too much to take and adapt....

I started using gvim most of the time rather than console vim just because there was one while I initially started my linux experience and I know of many people at my work place who prefer plain old xterm terminal without any colors - and when they work on my console with colors all around - they kinda feel uncomfortable to work in it, same with gvim as well - they just stick with vim and some just vi.

I guess many people are going through this phase with moving ahead from gnome2 and its equivalents.....

 

Last night I had friends over. After dinner and drinks, when things were winding down, I showed two friends Fedora (Gnome 3) and Ubuntu (Unity). Both seemed pretty amazed that this was how Linux looked like. The new GUI's looked modern and surprised them. Both are Windows users, but their impression was that they looked like Macs.

Ubuntu was easier for them to use. No instruction needed. With Gnome 3 they would be okay once you teach them how to access apps.

 

For me Gnome 3 and Unity are a love hate situation as i like how it is and where its going but i dont think its there yet. although i do like Gnome 2 as well. Any time there is a big change in how things are done people are going to complain until till they get use to it then they will be like "how did i ever live with out it" (this only being possible it they keep up a good development and build it in to something that is great). Gnome 3 i will say is a bit half backed, they pulled it out to soon.

 

Unless its iOS on a tablet...

 

true but iOS had the backing of the iPhone and it large user group. When it did come out people where complaining, saying it was just a over sized iPhone. but now tablets, both android and iOS, are selling more then computers. the naysayers and the undecided that have switched to one are saying how did we ever live without it (to some degree).

 

Good point.