Sometime ago in a GNOME Team meeting we approached the topic of having GNOME2 available for the upcoming openSUSE 12.1 release. As most people are aware, the GNOME stack is quite big in size and there’s some core changes in technology used between GNOME2 and GNOME3, this to say that the main problem regarding GNOME2 availability is actually manpower, in other words, volunteers to make it happen and maintain it.
I’ve decided to open this pool to check out what users think… this is merely a poll to collect some information which can motivate people to work on GNOME2 for openSUSE 12.1, but doesn’t exist any assurance that it will happen.
Hi
Alas, I voted No… I’m happy with my Gnome 3.0 setup and think we should really concentrate on that for a release live CD. That being said, maybe some of the community members can team up and do what the KDE3 folks are doing to keep that alive.
I haven’t even tested Gnome 3 so far.
Just for the sake of an option, i think it should be included. This will benefit most the users that are hesitant to switch.
I had been using Gnome 2 in 11.4
But I just switched back to KDE because I don’t want to use Gnome 3 when 12.1 is released. It’s slow and clumsy compared to Gnome 2
Most folk will know I had always been die hard KDE until recently. I like Gnome 2, it’s great, quick and trouble free. Gnome 3 will be going thru the KDE3 ->4 saga. I don’t have time to fiddle around with it. Hence back to KDE. And I have it running really nicely now. It’s very nostalgic
I’d like to Gnome 2 available as an option in 12.1 though. Heaven help us if the deploy Gnome 3 in SLED.
>
> I had been using Gnome 2 in 11.4
> But I just switched back to KDE because I don’t want to use Gnome 3
> when 12.1 is released. It’s slow and clumsy compared to Gnome 2
> Most folk will know I had always been die hard KDE until recently. I
> like Gnome 2, it’s great, quick and trouble free. Gnome 3 will be going
> thru the KDE3 ->4 saga. I don’t have time to fiddle around with it.
> Hence back to KDE. And I have it running really nicely now. It’s very
> nostalgic
>
> I’d like to Gnome 2 available as an option in 12.1 though. Heaven help
> us if the deploy Gnome 3 in SLED.
>
My first impression was (when I played with gnome 3 and its fallback mode)
that if the so called fallback mode of gnome 3 is carefully configured it
should be possible to give the gnome 2 feeling with gnome 3. I did not play
long enough with it to see if it is as flexible as the real gnome 2 though
to make that possible.
–
PC: oS 11.3 64 bit | Intel Core2 Quad Q8300@2.50GHz | KDE 4.6.3 | GeForce
9600 GT | 4GB Ram
Eee PC 1201n: oS 11.4 64 bit | Intel Atom 330@1.60GHz | KDE 4.6.0 | nVidia
ION | 3GB Ram
That’s similar to my own thoughts. I use KDE and Gnome2 with different applications, on separate partitions with a shared data partition. The separation is convenient, and as you mentioned Gnome2 is quick and trouble free. I haven’t tested Gnome3 yet, but I have no reason to doubt that my reaction would be similar to yours, and also time is an issue, especially with Tumbleweed (KDE) in play on a third partition with lots of regular updating.
I too would like Gnome 2 available in 12.1 and voted for having the a CD download.
Gnome 3 doesn’t seem to support my system, so all I’ve been able to see of it is the fallback mode. Being stuck with the limited version would be a downgrade for me, so I’m voting to keep Gnome 2.
Given the fact that despite the pleas from the Gnome community the developers decided to ignore our wishes and requests for a settings option in Gnome-Screensaver, but rather sited some obscure maybe nonexistent security reason. I doubt Gnome 3 will ever be as easy to reconfigure or customize as Gnome 2 was. Their attitude (the Gnome developers) seems to be remove a feature, don’t re-implement it. I guess it’s easier to maintain with less features, but most of us came from a MS-Windows world and don’t wish for a 1 size fits all attitude for our user interface. I guess KDE will get my vote if Gnome 2 disappears completely. I tried Gnome 3 and was very disappointed with the lack of options it gave the user, the 3 clicks to do what I did with a single mouse click in Gnome 2. Come on Gnome developers a desktop/laptop is not an iphone —.
I, too, voted no. I love Gnome 2 and I always will, it was what I switched to when KDE4 was woefully poor on my machine back when the big switch took place. I found a whole new world of things I was missing as a die hard KDE user. I find Gnome 3, especially the shell to be a fresh new take on the desktop. Don’t get me wrong, some things need to change, and 3.2 ought to be a fairly featureful release. I’d like my Matrix screensaver back, thanks
On another note, all of my friends are Windows users, bar one die-hard Mac fanboy, and they all find my Gnome 3 desktop to be quick as well as pleasing on the eye. And I’ve almost completely convinced my girlfriend that the Shell IS better than Windows’ 7 superbar
The Gnome 2 and Gnome 3 libraries are not compatible so I’m not sure why this is even a question. Gnome will continue to move forward and be further optimized with the G3 branch where as Gnome 2 will likely stagnate unless someone makes an offshoot of it. It seems logical to include only stable/maintained DE’s thus KDE & Gnome 3. XFCE is another possible option, though again with that we would be including libraries from Gnome 2 which would have to be maintained separately from the main Gnome 3 project since the developers of Gnome are not making further changes to that branch of the project.
The question itself was explicit enough. But your other comments about “gnome2 availability” confused the issue.
I voted “no”. What I meant by that vote, was that even if a gnome 2 live CD is available, I won’t be using it.
On the question that others seem to be addressing - sure, I might still install gnome 2 if it is available. But that would be a secondary desktop environment and not what I mainly use.
If Gnome 3 is able to get up to speed as far as desktop integration is concerned and do better than the current fallback mode, that would improve matters for me.
Hence I voted Yes, to have Gnome 2 available. I do however realise that progress will leave Gnome 2 behind and the nails are already being made for the coffin.
KDE4 though will likely be my choice, especially during this period of transition.
There is no point in including DE unsupported by its creators. Gnome 2 is DEAD.
No updates for 2.x branch, no updates for all included applications (brasero for example).
And it will be a problem to maintain two “editions”.
BUT still i can’t believe they messed gnome3 shell so much. I tried it on suse and fedora and… well, while it looks great - it’s real pain to use
For example: if I want to switch active desktop, I need to move mouse pointer to the left corner, and then to the right corner (what is this? mouse gestures?).
They made everything look simple but became in fact more complicated. Everything looks like it was designed for mobile phone and/or small touch screens
I think i will be moving to … xfce maybe? Of course I will check how gnome3 looks in new OpenSuSE. But as for now I just don’t like it at all (except it looks great). I don’t like KDE either, but I will try it again too.
Have you tried CTRL-ALT-UpArrow and/or CTRL-ALT-DownArrow?
I have the same overall impression, that they made things harder to use. But perhaps that depends on how you use the system. Others might find it easier.
Are you on some sort of drug or something, as i cannot imagine any sane person enjoying the locked down, uncustomizable, un reconfigurable POS that is gnome 3, or gnome shell
Bah, Gnome 3 sucks people…
Hell if all this rally call in for the useless waste that is gnome 3 and gnome shell is valid, then i say openSUSE might as well embrace Unity.
Hell I would have Unity ANYDAY over gnome shell and gnome 3 as at least you can have the ability to change the bloody wallpaper by default without installing some lame extra package that you know SHOULD BE INSTALLED BY FRIGGIN DEFAULT
And at least unity can shut down WITHOUT HAVING TO GO TO THE BLOODY LOGIN SCREEN!
Yup…the Gnome3 drug man… Sure it’s still young. Locked down…noooo One thing I can do at the moment is actually go to the code and change things without the need to rebuild and rpm etc and just restart the shell. Sure it’s sub optimal, but do able without the need of a compiler, make etc…
The nice thing about open source software, is that if you don’t like it you can try something else. I have enough alternatives choices, that I am not bothered if the gnome folk go off in a direction that doesn’t suit me.
I bet there are keyboard shorcuts to speed things up but…
I wouldn’t call it a “progress” if I need to use keyboard so frequently to do things that require one click in old gnome…just to make DE look “clean and elegant”.
And the sole purpose for entire desktop is to display wallpaper. What a waste of usable space.
Pressing alt to shutdown or add panel is so stupid that I don’t know what to say. There is plenty of room left in menu to include this important option without pressing “magic” keys.
I’ve already installed XFCE4.8. It’s nice, but nowhere near Gnome2 + compiz. Anyway it seems like the only way to go. I hope version 5.0 won’t look like Gameboy.
Sure it’s still young. Locked down…noooo One thing I can do at the moment is actually go to the code and change things without the need to rebuild and rpm etc and just restart the shell. Sure it’s sub optimal, but do able without the need of a compiler, make etc…