Thought I would share my news with you. As a KDE die hard, I decided to give Gnome a run. Using 11.2
Pretty slick if you ask me, I have Mint 8 on another partition and I gave F12 a go too.
This is my Sandbox Laptop.
No updates done yet but so far everything is perfect, easy and pleasant to look at. It is has been a really easy install, should be a walk for anyone.
Itās always a worthy task to broaden your horizons. Are you planning on giving other desktop environments a spin as well?
Iāve used Gnome enough in the past on Ubuntu and Mint to know I prefer KDE4. It just looks so much better, eye candy doesnāt matter to some but when everything else works just fine itās an extra worth having. Iāve wondered how Mint 8 KDE compares to openSUSE 11.2 though.
Iāve thought about trying Fedora in the past but the bleeding edge-ness puts me off. I want stability to be inevitable not breakages, which is also the problem with Arch.
Hi
Search on the OBS for gnome-shell and give the preview a whirl. Just
disable desktop effects logout and you should be able to select via
gdm. There is tilda as well which I prefer over Guake (yakuake) and
medit over gedit.
ā
Cheers Malcolm Ā°ĀæĀ° (Linux Counter #276890)
SUSE Linux Enterprise Desktop 11 (x86_64) Kernel 2.6.27.45-0.1-default
up 2 days 0:13, 2 users, load average: 0.31, 0.29, 0.55
GPU GeForce 8600 GTS Silent - CUDA Driver Version: 190.53
@malcolmlewis
Will look at that for sure.
@Raffles10
Mint/Ubuntu all a muchness, Mint does work well though. I didnāt try kde there yet. Fedora I have used extensively and it works fine, not so scary as you have been informed. But my one advice would be: Install the video driver manually.
@Wrath5000
KDE and Gnome, thatāll do me. I have no need to go down the lightweight route
Iāve been running Opensuse GNOME for the past 2 months (always been a KDE fan), after the Akonadi/Nepomuk fiasco in KDE 4.4.x. GNOME is something quite differentā¦a lot more stable and fast. It has less bling, but doesnāt get in your way to get the work done. I like the fact that for my laptop, it has all of the special keys mapped outā¦so I can easily lock my screen with Fn+F2, hibernate with Fn+F12 etc.
Give the Shiki-Wise theme at Eyecandy for your GNOME-Desktop - GNOME-Look.org a try, youāll like itā¦if you like dark themes.
My plan is to give the Black Screen theme a try this weekend and get some housework done. lol!
Although I probably wonāt be able to resist having a peek at the net in between chores. :\
Hi
Iāve also packaged up GnoMenu
(ŠŃŃŃŠµŠµ ŠæŠ¾ŃŠ½Š¾ Šø Š½ŠøŃŠµŠ³Š¾ ŠŗŃŠ¾Š¼Šµ ŠŗŠ°ŃŠµŃŃŠ²ŠµŠ½Š½Š¾Š¹ ŠæŠ¾ŃŠ½ŃŃ
Šø - Gtk-Apps)
Then there is always avant-window-navigator.
ā
Cheers Malcolm Ā°ĀæĀ° (Linux Counter #276890)
SUSE Linux Enterprise Desktop 11 (x86_64) Kernel 2.6.27.45-0.1-default
up 2 days 4:19, 3 users, load average: 0.16, 0.41, 0.26
GPU GeForce 8600 GTS Silent - CUDA Driver Version: 190.53
I liked Gnome a LOT when I tried it on my Sandbox PC. I think Iāve mentioned in other threads that using it changed my desktop outlook a bit, and I went and retuned a number of my KDE desktops as a result of having played with Gnome.
I found its clean simplistic ( ? not sure if thats a good description) presentation a refreshing and enjoyable change from KDE. But its mouse double click requirements DROVE me up the wall, until someone explained to me how to change it to single click. Its YaST implementation of Software Management is truly IMHO subpar, and unacceptable for me. Fortunately one can run the āqtā version of YaST in Gnome, which I did.
In the end though, Gnomeās pulse audio implementation in 11.2 was the end of Gnome on my sandbox PC. It was constantly in need of tuning with my hardware, in order to get things working each time in new applications, which is something I do NOT have to do in KDE. If Gnome can sort their pulse audio problems for more hardware, then IMHO I may consider a move to it, but for now, I plan to avoid Gnome. Maybe after 11.3 is released, Iāll put Gnome back on a sandbox PC. It IS a nice desktop.
One thing I wanted to pontificate a bit on, is the silly attitude many KDE and Gnome users have toward each otherās desktop selection. I note that both xfce and lxde packagers on openSUSE work together, supporting each otherās desktop, so as to make BOTH xfce and lxde better.
Why canāt Gnome and KDE users work together positively, instead of the constant bickering ?? In the past I would just ignore the Gnome vs KDE debates/bickering, but I am finding it difficult to ignore now. Maybe its because Iām a moderator now, or maybe its because I discovered I really like Gnome, but this continued bickering between KDE/Gnome users is starting to annoy me.
I need to find a way to insert a KDE vs Gnome filter and not display such threads!
Good on ya for trying Gnome. In many respects I think it a good desktop.
I must admit, the audio is something I must look at. I did notice no sound when the desktop first started, but I had other priorities. Iāll check it later today.
I held back yesterday morning from starting up the laptop because I know the sound had not been muted and just wasnāt sure if audio was there or not. As it was 3amI didnāt want the rest of the house waking. Itās darn annoying that, same with live CDās.
I just updated it and installed from my own multi-media guide, with success:)
Audio was a problem for me too. But when i uninstalled Pulse Audio all the problems disappeared. Well i canāt control the volume level from the system tray and i canāt use the muntimedia keys on my keyboard (only on Gnome) but itās a small price to pay. With pulse i had no problems in Gnome but when i logged in KDE the applications started behaving strange and i had no sound most of the time.
BTW i think openSUSEās Sonar theme is one of the best themes for Gnome. openSUSE team rulz!lol!
> Pretty slick if you ask me,
The honeymoon isnāt over yet.
Give it a few more days.
Still impressed;)
Hi
So what is missing?
ā
Cheers Malcolm Ā°ĀæĀ° (Linux Counter #276890)
SUSE Linux Enterprise Desktop 11 (x86_64) Kernel 2.6.27.45-0.1-default
up 3 days 20:10, 3 users, load average: 0.19, 0.18, 0.12
GPU GeForce 8600 GTS Silent - CUDA Driver Version: 190.53
Actually Malcolm, I was just comparing ssh transfers and Gnome won hands down.
Actually I think there is something wrong in kde4, itās ultra slow ATM.
Itās getting my serious consideration. I really mean that.
Hi
I normally create ssh keys, use ssh-copy-id and then just add bookmarks
in Nautilus to different systems. One of the features I miss when using
KDE is if I right click a src rpm I canāt unzip itā¦ Have you tried
tilda and medit?
ā
Cheers Malcolm Ā°ĀæĀ° (Linux Counter #276890)
SUSE Linux Enterprise Desktop 11 (x86_64) Kernel 2.6.27.45-0.1-default
up 3 days 23:43, 3 users, load average: 0.85, 0.47, 0.19
GPU GeForce 8600 GTS Silent - CUDA Driver Version: 190.53
ssh is working - not a problem, except in kde ATM. But then Iām using factory.
I canāt extract .rpm in kde.
Iāll look at the apps you mention in time. Iām kinda busy ATM.
I used to run Gnome and then defected to KDE4. Loved all the eye candy, the plasmoids, and activities. But Iām seriously considering a return to Gnome as the immaturities of KDE4 are beginning to bug me. First I ignored them, now they are beginning to be cumulative: poor support for dual monitors, the Nepomuk/Strigi fiasco, the usability issues with some key apps which seem to be KDE issues (copy/paste in OOo), lack of PIM syncing with anything other than itself, the vagaries of āactivitiesā, etc, I could go on. I still like the underlying concepts but it will probably be KDE 4.5 until it all become usable in earnest, in a production environment.
Then again, I love Kwinās built-in effects, and Iām not keen on Compiz. Decisions, decisionsā¦
While I am a KDE fan, and I think Gnome is mostly great, donāt forget there is also Xfce and LXDE.
In particular if one wants a very clean simplistic desktop, then LXDE is difficult to beat in terms of being clean, simple and very light weight.
LXDE is still fairly new to openSUSE, and IMHO still relatively fragile programmatically in that we do not have a large established packager, tester nor user base. We need more volunteers to package, test and just use LXDE.
So kudoās to caf4926 for using a great Desktop here (Gnome) but I wanted to put a plug in at the same time for an area (LXDE) where we need more user support on openSUSE. In some respects one might consider LXDE the poor (but very fast) minimal cousin of Gnome.
I have been with it for a good few days now and my happiness increases. Someone mentioned sound issues. To the contrary - I have no problem, in fact sound is way better than in KDE. Strange.
USB devices definitely have a better transfer rate as does ssh.
Yes, you loose some of the modernity and glitz of KDE but it is probably a better choice for the user that just want stuff to work. Though having said that, I never have trouble with KDE,except those annoying little things I already mentioned (ssh and usb transfers).
I have had a big foray with winders this week too, Vista and 7. Iām about ready to cry, they drive me nuts. If anyone tells me, winders just works! Iāll say they Lie! Itās rubbish. I digress.
Iāll always have kde running somewhere. But hear this Malcolm! I really like Gnome and Iām planning to use it on my must have working machines. At least thatās the plan. The wife uses one of them, she might not like the games experience in Gnome.
What would you Gnome users say was the best option as a launcher/dock. I currently use a hiding panel in kde4 and the search and launch desktop.