I really like gnome and how it looks. However every time I try it I find myself in need of more functionality and so I install a bunch of extensions. For example I can’t live without a dock and some sort of system tray that shows which apps are running in background.
Sometimes the extensions have small UI inconsistencies or use more memory than usual. That’s why I totally ditched gnome and switch to KDE.
Also I tend to think it’s been designed for people who are more comfortable using a keyboard. I’m mostly a mouse person.
Do any of you run pure gnome with no extensions? How do you cope with the lack of a dock and system tray?
You’re trying to use Gnome the way you’re used to using a desktop.
If you try and learn the Gnome way, you’ll have a better time.
To be honest I had the same problem when I first went from Windows to OSX, I was struggling, trying to make OSX familiar, but when I decided to learn the Apple way, everything became easier.
I agree, there’s a fundamental difference in the design philosophy. GNOME is quite nice and fast when using the overview navigation. Add-ons can either enhance the experience or move the UI towards a more “classic” setup.
It’s definitively not for everyone though.
My problem is that I feel gnome is geared toward a certain group of people users who use a limited set of apps and want to focus on development work.
Well I think that’s the issue here. It’s not geared towards a group of people, but towards an ideal workflow which is the Gnome Way.
If you’re someone that likes to have masses of applications or windows open you can certainly use Gnome, but the Gnome is more focused on one or two windows per desktop/workspace and I encourage you to embrace that way of working too
Again, it’s not about people, but the intended user experience.
I remember when Windows first introduced My Documents folder and subfolders for images, music, video. To begin with I rejected this folder because I wanted my folders in the root C: as I had always done. Eventually I decided to use these folders and I learned to appreciate the convenience of this, including all the additional thumbnails and meta data that the OS provided automatically for those folders.
I don’t use a dock at all. My workflow is super+app-name and alt+tab.
But this is the same for me on Plasma or any other DE. I just don’t need or use a dock.
What I’m saying is that my Plasma also doesn’t have a dock at all.
Have you considered Pop OS from System76? Pop OS has a GNOME-like DE where the dock is fully displayed. It’s very much like the macOS DE. The current stable release uses a GNOME-like DE, and the developers at System76 are working to make it into their own DE called Cosmic.
I use it with a system tray but no dock. The overview when you press meta is enough for me.
I have extensions that do small QOL things. I can still use GNOME just fine without a single one of them enabled.
How do you cope with the lack of a dock and system tray?
I don’t cope with that. I don’t really see a huge benefit to having a system tray. Before GNOME 44 added the background apps view to the quick settings menu I just put anything that was ‘background’ into a workspace. Even after 44 I still have this habit and rarely actually need the background view.
As for the dock argument I’m not sure what an always visible dock would provide that the current dash does not. I think I might even prefer the current dash over an always visible dock. Whenever I want to switch windows I just go to the overview and pick out whatever window I want. It’s a lot easier to hit a huge window than to have to target a small icon at the bottom of the display.
I understand that some people might disagree but I actually love what GNOME does (most of the time).
That’s me!
Keyboard centricity is a bonus to me. I don’t like having visible UI elements that don’t do anything for me (docks, task bars). I also dislike the trend of programs not closing when I close them (system trays).
In addition to these things, I value a degree of minimalism, and I’m a heavy user of virtual desktops.
I don’t need to cope with any of these potential downsides, as they’re not downsides to me in the first place. All of this said, the KDE community seems a lot more welcoming. I tend to suggest KDE Plasma for any people trying out Linux.
Hope this helps 👍
EDIT: I almost forgot to mention the most controversial one of them all. I love single click to open.
I use blur my shell, but I don’t really need it.
I started liking Gnome a lot more once I let go of trying to recreate the Win95 UX that pretty much everyone else uses.
It was such a pain at first, but then it just clicked and now I couldn’t go back to that clunky workflow.
I know most people like it that way, but IMO Microsoft didn’t create the perfect UX paradigm back in the early 90s
I use Debian + Gnome without custom extensions and like it.
I don’t use too many programs, so in the overview I have Firefox in position 1, signal in position 2 and steam in 3. Then I use Win+1,2,3 to launch them.
For other programs, I hit Win and then start typing the name and hit enter.
For switching between windows, i use alt-tab or alt-(key above tab). If I have many windows or playing game in full screen, I hit Win-key once and choose the window i want.
I don’t use workspaces, never found a good flow. And I rarely miss a taskbar.
Dash to dock. I just have to. I put it on the left Ubuntu style and I’m happy
The only extention I use is system tray, cause I rely on apps that use it. But everything else is Gnome-way and I love it
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I do, I don’t even have Tweaks installed.
I used to be an avid customiser of software, but one day I realised that I spent a lot of time tweaking things and didn’t get a great workflow anyway.
The thing about GNOME is it has a great in-built workflow and I work more efficiently now I just let it make the decisions for me.
I also kind of think that if you’re the type to install a lot of extensions you’d probably be happier with KDE anyway.
I don’t really see any benefit to using pure gnome. Extensions aren’t a negative if they improve your workflow.
What do you mean a lack of dock? Gnome indeed has a dock by default where has you need an extension on kde to have a dock.
The only extensions I use are for things that will likely get added as native in the future: Light Style for the light shell theme and Caffeine (https://gitlab.gnome.org/GNOME/gnome-shell/-/merge_requests/2507)
