I've clicked 'install' on a program and then when I get prompted for my user password to allow the install, I sometimes change my mind and click on 'Cancel'. However this results in a few issues:
A popup that's hard to notice saying I don't have permissions appears (maybe it should say I denied permissions or something else instead).
While the popup is appearing (and I don't close it), the interface still works however, text no longer works as a selection, only clicking on icons in the list (including navidation icons) does. So for example clicking 'configure monitors' in the screenshot doesn't do anything but clicking on the icon for 'monitor settings' does. This issue goes away once the pop-up 'unable to install/you don't have permissions' window is closed - clicking 'Configure Monitors' and clicking text as navigation resumes as normal behaviour. It's annoying because it's not clear that the pop-up is restricting navigation as it's just stopping me clicking on text seemingly randomly.
I wanted to raise this to the devs as I think this is a small bug. It happens on both default and 'wayland' desktop options (that you can select on login).
Gnome Software is developed as part of Gnome Applications and we must report Gnome Specific bugs to Gnome Dev.
ZorinGroup has no control over the Gnome Applications development itself.
Gnome currently has done away with the BugTracking system and accepts bug reports only through their github:
After reporting it, they said the software is too old to bug fix. I'd recommend we flag this to the Zorin OS devs to have them use a more recent version of the software app?
"GNOME Software 3.36 is too old (3 years old at this point), and unmaintained. Please try and reproduce this on a more recent version of GNOME Software, at least version 43."
The current version of Gnome requires dependencies and a build that is incompatible with Zorin OS 16. The short of this one is: The ZorinGroup cannot redevelop Gnomes apps so this would need to be included in Zorin OS 17.
Which is very likely the plan already.
Gnome 2 and gtk2 and Gnome 3 and gtk3 are drastically different.
Recently, Gnome introduced Gnome4 (Being called Gnome40). The speed and rather drastic changes of which were so stark, that even Canonical refused to pick it up until Ubuntu 22.04 - it's most latest LTS release.
@Charlie-C , I am going to be rather direct and blunt for a moment; partly because I have put in a full days worth of Drama and Problem solving for the day and it has only just now passed 8am here.
Gnomes statement is misleading.
I did not expect the response you got - but I also am not surprised by it nor that they slapped a "wontfix" on it.
It is true that the software was released about three years ago. However, it was being actively updated and maintained until recently. By deferring to the initial release date as to the age, rather than its recent activity, it makes the illusion that the software is older than it is.
And to add some perspective, some of the code in use on Linux and on WIndows and on Mac is over 30 years old.
GTK, which we are using, started in April of 1998 - 24 years ago.
And continuing my trend of being blunt:
Gnome Software has been a buggy and unreliable app from day one. You can find threads on it all over the forum.
My personal take on it and its inclusion with Zorin OS is:
It most resembles the Microsoft Store. It is, in general, easy to navigate and use for a beginner and this is important for Zorin OS and its goal.
It is not perfect... But it is a good Stepping Stone. A first step into Linux and a familiar place to start.
But it can be treated as just that and a user, as they develop and grow in Linux, can move on to better and more reliable software management tools.
The Beauty of Linux is in user choice and options (For as long as we can manage to keep them.) If we cannot fix or re-develop Gnome Software as an application and must wait for a later release - how can we solve your issue today?
I recommend using Synaptic Package Manager instead of Gnome Software.
It is more verbose, giving more critical information.
It gives warnings should a user select a potentially harmful action - which Gnome Software does not do (@Frog was bitten by this one first hand.)
It can do more. From resolving broken packages, choosing repositories and installing or removing a kernel.
What Synaptic is not, is so easy to pick up and use on the very fist use. It has more learning curve than Gnome Software does. It is safer in many ways, but can be confusing given all the knobs and buttons and dials.
appreciated and understood Aravisian! Well, thank you so much for explaining and giving me insight into the Linux world. I'm very much a Windows user who over the years (like many) have just got annoyed with Microsoft's approach to the operating system (including ads, forcing Bing/Cortana/Edge Browser/Candy Crush etc haha) that I wanted to move to Linux.
I've actually tried deliberatly to avoid the custumisations and moving away from the base install/config of ZorinOS as I like it for how - like Windows 7 (I think that's the last version I liked) - it felt at home and didn't feel the need custumisations to fix or improve things. I still don't - these bugs/issues I've reported on the forum in my first few days of using Zorin Pro 16.2 as my daily driver aren't enough to make me try other software managers/apps as they are so superficial but I was blissfully (but ignorantly ) thinking 'oh, I guess no one's reported this and it can be fixed easily' at the time - kinda around the Linux is about everyone reporting and improving things (which it is but my expectation here was a bit off) but I'm not sure an easy way to report and raise issues otherwise - I'm happy to continue reporting them and also happy for people to say 'ah, this isn't one for us/this isn't exactly something we can fix right away'.
I read that long thread from Frog on here (or another user) with a long thread about them losing their desktop GUI and not having enough data in their plan to download the fix, while getting help from users on this forum... I felt like I needed popcorn reading that drama haha - glad it had a happy end though!
Either way, I don't want to come across as critical of ZorinOS or anyone here - this is one friendly forum and community filled with people who know stuff and are super helpful. It's the best OS I've used and has a great group of people around it. I have time, and if there's things I can do to give back to the community and the project I'm here so I get to say I'm part of the Zorin community too .
I moved away from Windows to Linux due to circumstance. Now, as a Linux user, there is no going back. I am Linux all the way.
But I wear no blinders to its faults, nor put it on a pedestal. And the more users are aware of shortcomings in Linux, the better we are equipped to address them.
Please Do.
many people think that someone else probably will do it. And maybe someone has. But repeat alerts are better than no alerts.
And a squeaky wheel gets the grease. Or it gets scrapped and replaced...
Wait that's... that is not very motivational...
) thinking 'oh, I guess no one's reported this and it can be fixed easily' at the time - kinda around the Linux is about everyone reporting and improving things (which it is but my expectation here was a bit off) but I'm not sure an easy way to report and raise issues otherwise - I'm happy to continue reporting them and also happy for people to say 'ah, this isn't one for us/this isn't exactly something we can fix right away'.