GNOME Is Good, You're Just Wrong

GNOME has certainly become a hot button issue recently in the Linux community. It seems like you either love what the GNOME team is doing, or you hate it. I personally think the vitriol is unfounded. GNOME is a solid desktop environment that has no misunderstandings of what it's trying to do.

[Allme]

Average SoystemD user using Google chrome

[Schnitzi-]

GNOME is my favorite DE. I never knew you could open programs by pressing super+(number) to open programs from the dock, thanks for the tip. I always open programs with super + typing the program name, but I will give your trick a try :-)

[intotheshred]

Other Desktop environments have the exact same Super key functionality, and they also don't have terrible mouse interface that goes from one side of the screen to the next. So the criticism still stands.

Grandma doesn't want to use the super key anyway, she wants to use the mouse. This is why the terminal never caught on with casual users.

[davidwayne]

I think gnome should come with a "manual" in EVERY distro that uses it-- to show ALL the efficient ways to put it to use BY DESIGN.. how it was INTENDED...

[MyurrDurr]

Using Gnome purely with mouse is like using a supercar to travel to the shop and back

[cesrrr]

I really like Gnome workflow, my only complain is that it has a lot of wasted space with the mostly empty global menu bar and the title bars when using a small screen, it is double the size of kde. I wish they made a native compact mode because I don't really like to fiddle with extensions that breaks every other week.

[HoangLe-omid]

@OP: more workflows i used to use which I find incredibly fast by mixing mouse and keyboard:

-you can use double super key to bring up the app drawer and at the same time use mouse to click the desired app

- you can super to bring up the workspace and at the same time scroll the mouse wheel to move the next/previous workspace. Very natural

Also I figure out the Gnome super key is much like iPhone/iPad’s home button. Maybe just have a home sticker on the super key lol

[shaunpatrick]

It's Ctrl+Enter to open a 2nd Console window.

[RamBeuk]

Too bad for people that only have one hand. Or you know, people that just like to use the mouse.

[EgidioDocile]

If you have to explain how to use an interface, then something is wrong

[drGeppo]

Long time elementary user now moved to fedora 36: I do really like the vanilla GNOME experience but I also think the extension "Hot Edge" should be a default option. It shows up the overview screen whenever you hit the bottom edge of the display (also allows you to set a threshold in order to avoid accidental behaviour).
Basically same function as the hot corner, just much usable since the mouse cursor ends up immediately where you want it to launch a new application

[misterverloc]

There are essentially only three kinds of computer workflow paradigms. There's tiling window managers, there's gnome, and there's everything else that is basically a fork of Windows 95. Gnome offers a new way to use your computer that I appreciate. It is the definitive Linux experience.

[MrLEADshed]

Gnome is so much better for me than say, windows or mac os type desktops because it merges good design with linux customizability, and provides both a keyboard based user experience and a mouse based one, while letting you add your own shortcuts on top of that.
I love it.

[little_forest]

I am not sure if you addressed the issue the reddit post was mentioning. I am pretty sure the person who wrote the post knew that Gnome wants them forcefully to use the keyboard. That's why the post starts with "I am a heavy mouse user...". And if that is your workflow, then Gnome is definitely cumbersome and very much in your way.
And then you can of course ask the question: should the desktop environment force the user to apply a specific workflow, or should the DE adjust to the users workflow, to not be in their way. And that is the question.

If the work you have to do on the computer forces you to have your right hand mostly on the mouse, then being forced to replace your hand to the keyboard to do anything meaningful in the DE is cumbersome and there is nothing you can do about it, other than either Gnome+extensions or a different DE.
Gnome overcomes this problem in the laptop realm, where they have so much functionality in mousepad gestures.
But nevertheless, your work decides about what workflow(s) will be more or less suitable to you. If the workflow that vanilla Gnome wants you to force to use is not part of that spectrum, then that is how it is.

And then again, there is the point, that people are creatures of habit and they are just used to a certain workflow coming from Mac or Win and theoretically they could just change their workflow to Gnome and still do their tasks. Still, changing your workflow, that is part of your muscle memory, is cumbersome. And even if that is just a problem for some time, it still raises the question: Should in general force the DE a specific workflow on the user or should it be the other way around.... you know, so the DE is not in the way?

I do use vanilla Gnome everyday, but only on a laptop that I don't use for my job. For the work I have to do in my job, actually the material-shell layout would give me the most efficient way to do my tasks.

[georgioskatsanakis]

I am coming from many years in KDE but got tired of some bugs. Gnome is minimalistic and you can change it as you want. BTW, if you want to be productive, you use the keyboard and shortcuts, it's much faster than using the mouse. So the first thing to do on something new is to learn the shortcuts. Good video, I totally agree. I will also add that the average user is lazy to learn something new. They expect everything is the same.

[aak]

tbh, GNOME 3 had the dash on the left and that is far better design for mouse usage, less travel time. Regardless of the fact that GNOME is designed for keyboard, many people prefer using the mouse anyway, and having the dash on the left would help those people without harming keyboard users at all.

[FreshSmog]

I was inspired to bite the bullet and try out fedora 36 workstation for about a month. I used default gnome and barely any tweaks. I think I have a far better idea of GNOME de now.

My previous comment about app menu blocking my my current tasks still holds true, but GNOME has it's own strengths and weakness. I like to split my usecases into 2 types, laptop mode and desktop mode.

GNOME is excellent on laptop mode, the trackpad gestures are fully featured such that you can navigate everywhere you want easily, you don't even need to use the keyboard for the super key or any other shortcuts. It's that great.

Desktop mode however, is decent. As long as you use it in a keyboard centric way. If your left hand is preoccupied in some way and not hovering over the super key, the experience gets worse. It's actually pretty bad navigating with mouse alone, you have to move your mouse a huge distance just to open the app menu.

I added a hotcorner in the bottom left to open the app menu directly. But that doesn't change the fact that it's not the default settings. New GNOME users like me do not even know of the existence of GNOME tweaks and how some settings are hidden there, this will not be ideal for windows migrators or people who don't Google for tiny features. It could be improved by makings them more available, but I doubt GNOME devs will care.

[johanb.]

That might be so, but with Dash to panel extension you can pin everything you use on it, so it's only one click, instead of two😉 That was my preferred workflow when I used Gnome desktop.

[TonyVisconti]

The fact that commands are more efficient with keyboard shortcuts does not explain why the Activities button is at the top and the dash at the bottom, nor why you have to click on the former to make the latter visible. This Activity button serves no purpose, except to waste time.

[uryaar]

My question is - how to learn Gnome's workflow? I got here while looking for some extensive introduction exactly because I heard it's a different experience, but haven't found one yet