Is Gnome user-friendly?

But big companies really do make most of the big commits, without them nobody will write code for the kernel. Individuals are not enough, big companies are able to hire many people to write code for the kernel. It is not totally a bad thing because it also benefits you.

Round 2 Mma GIF by FIGHTMAG

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Zorin got me back on Gnome for the first time since 2017. I still like Budgie and run both. Just installed Endeavour OS W/Budgie and it is the antithesis of a beginner friendly OS, but I get to setup and install everything from scratch. That's my idea of fun now-days. :upside_down_face:

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I started out my Linux adventure with Zorin12 Core i.e. gnome. I have stayed with gnome so far as it does the job with the work Zorin devs have done and once you have added gnome tweaks to allow some cosmetic adjustments.

I would not say gnome is either user-friendly or unfriendly, but I have limited time playing with xfce as a potential alternative.

Maybe for Linux noobs just looking for a functional DE the inability to customise all and everything is a good thing, as it avoids options to tinker and destroy.

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Could be worse. You could find it fun to be on a Linux forum. :face_with_monocle::thinking:
:open_mouth::yum:

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All D.E.'s come pre-configured.

Yes.
Let me offer you a reason that has a lot to do with why this thread exists:
Because people have been convinced that either MS or Gnome are somehow different or special.
With wording promoted that is different or special.

There are things I like about Gnome. There are things I dislike about XFCE or Cin or KDE.
This is not along the lines of "XFCE rules, Gnome Drools."
What it is; is that users that promote Gnome are highly likely to call it polished - when I have made strong and valid points demonstrating that Gnome lacks polish compared to other D.E.'s and those same users are highly likely to call other D.E.'s like XFCE "ugly" or "Outdated."
Users that say other D.E.s are ugly, etc are likely to describe Gnome as "Modern, Smooth, sleek..." I Also notice a trend that KDE, XFCE, Cinnamon, etc users tend to not use these vague and leading terms.
I would like to address why these terms are used by one crowd, but not the other. These are leading words, specifically for the purpose of influencing others to agree with them for fear of not being up to date or modern enough. For fear of being someone that likes ugly things, so they had better get with the times.

Why do people stay with Microsoft Windows? Because it is Modern? Sleek? Smooth? GOOD?
It is most often because they do not know anything different and fear that change.
Not because Windows is Good.
It's what is familiar, what they are used to... It's not good but at least they know how to use it. Which is what Makes Zorin OS different as a distro - and a very important Distro.
Please remember: I have used Windows most of my life. I only recently made the change to Linux. And it was hard.
I had to confront much about myself and no one likes doing that.
I had to learn a lot of new things and that was time consuming.
I had to accept a lot of change and I dislike change.
These things made me want to go back to Windows and had I had a Windows Disk, I probably would have.

I notice a trend that as users on this forum begin to believe in themselves and trust themselves, they begin to have a much easier time integrating into and enjoying Linux.
And if Gnome is emulating Microsoft dogma and tactics... Then that very important feature is being removed.

Not at all.
A poll of Opinions is not going to scientifically weigh the facts. It will only assert opinions. I am not as interested in opinions, I am interested in a debate that will actively examine the assumptions. That will actively reveal the important and necessary reasons for opinions, rather than creating an atmosphere of feeling entitled to ones opinions.

Losing, does not concern me. If I lose a debate, that means that my assumptions were questioned and found wanting and that allows me to learn and progress. Losing a debate can be helpful and beneficial. Losing ego only makes a person upset.

@StarTreker did not get his mouth zipped. Treker was calling Zorin OS LIte "Broken" and "Unstable" and this was confronted due to these particular statements being inaccurate. Zorin OS Lite 16 had just been released and these inaccurate descriptions were harmful to allowing users to consider Zorin OS 16 - In short, that was unfair of Treker. No one Zipped his mouth - three of us directly Asked Star Treker, repeatedly, to consider his wording and to try to be a bit more fair. And to be fair, Treker did edit some posts and try to.

I am still trekers Friend. Whether Treker is mine is up to Treker. But I did not wrong Treker,; Treker chose Trekers own path. The downside of exchanging Friendship is that it allowed me to treat Treker differently, allowing Treker to get away with more. Treker was getting a bias from me.

I understand your perspective elegant - but this is a rather Low-Blow. You are getting very personal here and you are also misrepresenting what had happened. And Treker is not deleted or removed... He merely put that on his profile himself. He is taking some time off by his own choice. I have done this before, too. In this time, he can reflect and think about all these things. He can also see clearly that disagreeing with others is the mark of friendship. And no one who pretends to agree for a friendship truly values it.

Productivity:
On Gnome, when I open a new window, for example, Inkscape, GIMP or many other things I work with, it opens as minimized on the taskbar. I find this infuriating and it cuts heavily into my productivity.
This does not happen on Cinnamon or XFCE or KDE.
On these other desktops, when I open something in a new Window- that window opens and I can get right to work inside that window instead of hunting that window down.
This is One Example. I cannot list all the examples considering how long my posts are getting... But we can go one at a time.
Once these infuriating things happen, I wish to change that setting. I couldn't find it. i still haven't found it. Since I have a choice - other options, I just use XFCE or Cinnamon.
Perhaps a user may educate me on where that setting is. On Gnome, when I go to use any tool - the tool bar is gone. I need to chase after my tools that are hidden inside of hamburgers.
And many of those setting found on toolbars and on menubars are just not in the cramped hamburgers of Gnome. This is not good for productivity.
Gnomes philosophy is that the UI needs to get out of the users way opening up Precious Screen Real Estate.
This is the opposite of reality. Most of gnomes apps and windows waste huge swaths of screen real estate with empty space, while removing the toolbars I need to have fast and productive access to My Tools.

Others call this toolbar that increases workflow "Ugly". Does this make any valid sense, at all?

Really and a reminder to all:
The question is:
Gnome is pushed as being More User Friendly, not ugly like other D.E.'s, more polished... And so on. Does it truly fit this bill? We can argue the pros and cons of Gnome vs other D.E.'s and we can demonstrate the Good that is in Gnome as well as the bad in others, easily. But that is not really the question. The question is, is Gnome as it is described?
Confronting this is very important to Linux, to users old and new.
Some of Gnomes direction is being taken, and those of us that can enjoy Gnome due to being able to customize it to our productive workflow or to our comfort or liking are LOSING this ability.
LibAdwaita removes Orchis theme. You are not allowed to use it because Gnome says they do not want you to.
Many of us that rely heavily on and enjoy Gnome Extensions... are LOSING that ability. Gnome voiced a strong desire to stop theming. They deliberately (and they admitted this) altered the gtk toolkit with each release to break user themes until version 3.20 when the stakeholders for Gnome made Gnome sign a pledge agreeing to stop breaking themes. After 3.20, themes stopped breaking. But Gnome got to work on LibAdwaita which sidesteps that pledge by halting all custom theming.
Now... Gnome development has voiced Gnome-Extension "hacks" as their next target.

Consider this direction. Consider it very Carefully.

And if some of you believe that The Microsoft way Works: That controlling Users by dumbing it all down and restricting freedom... and that Gnome should emulate this... Then you are Imposing Your Beliefs and Your Will on the rest of us.
The vast majority of users here seek to get away from that... Only to find it being promoted here, now?

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I didnt read all posts i just share my thoughts.

  • I like gnome because of simplicity , i tried both xfce and kde , i like how kubuntu and xubuntu look out of the box but everytime i click on setting in kde and i see too many option too many tabs too many checkboxes to configure things and its terrifying. But in gnome in just 2min after installing OS you can review all settings , as a noob user this what i want to see.
  • Also people asking for help in this forum about gnome because most of us using zorin core , if zorin had kde version things could have been different.
  • majority of users are noob or busy or just lazy people and as i see gnome is doing good job covering their need
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I did, from a distance :joy:

https://i.imgur.com/85Z2oSa.gif

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A screenshot of that dfference would I believe be useful illustration for Gnomeettes to see, if they have not looked at what alternative DE's offer.

3 posts were split to a new topic: Addressing StarTreker and Moderation

You my friend...backed me up without knowing. :relaxed: :relaxed:

Edited in content from other thread per Elegant_Emperors request:
Edited again...This time by the Emperor himself...Moved the post in a more suitable place.

That was a long post...took time to read and reflect after something else that you don't know about...

You are going with the words again...
By pre-configured I meant that Gnome reduces or halves the work in setting up their OS..Weather you like it or not depends upon you, I certainly do because I am person of the current generation whom the older ones consider "lazy and spoon-fed".

Microsoft is..not sure about GNOME...If Microsoft did not exist today, people would not even want to switch on their computer..Why?
Because they provide everything on your doorstep. I am not saying Microsoft is better than Linux, because both of them are good at what they seek to achieve. Maybe if we did not have to open the terminal and sudo blah blah blah for basically everything I would say Linux has won the competition. However, this does not mean that this will remain forever thanks to the recent developments being made in the Linux factory".

I don't know about others...I have not used any of the words polished, modern, smooth or sleek so far.

I don't see how...I find everything else equally "modern" to that of gnome...And even if something is considered outdated, it does not mean that it should not be used anymore...If something is called modern, sleek or smooth then that does not show fear but appreciation. If the consumers appreciate GNOME DE then what is bugging you?..No one is calling XFCE or KDE or Cinnamon outdated, dull or rough...

I find other DEs equally modern and smooth but if that isn't reflected by the consumers then it is because they did not find anything modern or sleek or smooth in their desktop environment...

I did not find anything difficult to understand thanks to Zorin OS and everyone in this forum and also because I am a quick learner but you made a valid point and it makes sense.."People don't want to change because they dislike change." (I will note that down in my quote diary)...

I also like to have fun...and who doesn't. But that does not mean people should for get their work and fiddle with their newly discovered Operating System all the time and Gnome aims to remove that..GNOME makes sure that people can get their work done in Linux without much hassle and configuration.

And here I thought you want to simply know what others feel...Had I known it was a debate I would not have participated.
At first I thought this thread was created because of my reply to @Bourne in my tutorial page on How to install various DEs? because just after 30 minutes of posting that reply you created a thred on "Why I hate GNOME and you should too." . Later on when others posted their opinions and beliefs I thought you just wanted to know what others feel..How was I supposed to know that you were challenging my reasoning and wanted to debate?

Noting that quote too.. :writing_hand:

That did not happen to me....ever. I guess it is a bug or it was added in a recent update.

NO ONE..I mean NO ONE! has called other DEs ugly..Gnome was only called more beautiful.. I don't really want to argue on user-friendliness and polish (snake-oil?? :rofl: :rofl: LMAO) anymore.

Where did you hear that?? I did not hear anything like that..Show me where it says that..I love orchis theme. If they remove it, then they will leave a sour taste in my mouth.

I never denied that GNOME breaks extensions and prevents theming but why are you stuck with it...GNOME still works without theming atleast you can apply a wallpaper and every distro provide their own bit of themes and changes to the OS so for those people who love customising, they can avoid using GNOME and if they feel the need to convert a dock to dash or getting the superkey to open the app menu instead and other such reasons are just too picky and cause unnecessary tantrums. I agree that users who come to Linux come mostly for the privacy and freedom and customisation but the way Linux shows itself will not attract many people. I am user who does not care if Microsoft or Facebook or Google is selling away my data because it is not hurting me. As long as I can get my work done and sleep well with the (no matter how much hopeless) Windows OS lying around, why should I cry? After all I don't care about customisation and freedom (from what? or is it freedom of choice? Linux seems to have blundered with that also).

At the end of the day I am come to you not as a Microsoft salesman or a "Gnome-hired-me guy"; neither do I say "Microsoft sucks..Linux rocks" or "Leave Gnome Today!"
I am a guy with free will and always decide independently. I don't let others decide for me. I always read other's perspective of seeing things carefully and decide for myself weather 'what they are saying is correct and should I change my mind'.
I am ending my argument and would not contribute to this debate further....
sudpense killed

Little reading this hot discussion.
I found in this discussion two sides where with one i have feelings talking about how good is gnome or xfce from design sides for users. Another sides i saw a xfce or design for people where desktop is very flexible to configuration for users how they liked. What I can sayed our forum is little small to get statistic how many people using Gnome or XFCE to them preferences. Here mostly i saw like "Zeus with Atena" (old mythology gods) trying proof something what is like football in a game. Why? Because we don't know what will be example next 6 months with Gnome or XFCE. It could be shapes the way where today our words can be changed because this is linux and he is evolved on many years. Canonical like a Gnome trying to get bigger piece from a cake. We know linux is used for every server unit also every hardware router,tv and any hardware electronics and there isn't a design DE but working very good.
What I remember I vote for xfce because i have a old pc. I tested a GNOME and yes sometimes some package in store working and someone not working about snap or flat if i have choice deb then mostly i installing a deb if i can.
Linux Torvalds also sayed to much diffrents way is difficult to create a Desktop Linux for users example like a chromebook or android. In Zorin one from many distributions is very diffrent from another is only two people.

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@Kedric Yes that is true everyone have a choice which DE want choice, that doesn't mean someone sayed this is not good. It depends for preferences people what they liked. Some a man's liked a woman with a one colour from many diffrent a colour hairs. That means he don't like another womans because they have a diffrent a colour but they are still a woman.

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Yes! It's all about personal preference. I can't even read the whole post, it's so long.

When First Zorin out it was Gnome. I cannot complain it is bad. Besides if you using any linux distribution you need always using a terminal where everywhere is the same. Depends on drivers and software what you need to installing. That for daily users it is ok if he don't to much trying changing many options what could be changing,remove some package from original Zorin distribution. We have on this forum some topic where people going some guide lost desktop or any data files. Besides what is it the problem when you login you can install any DE what you liked. I saw last time in customization good guide

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I think you angered Athena (the Goddess of knowledge, wisdom and education) for getting her name's spelling wrong. :joy:

Me too!

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Well that is sometimes mistakes i mean Athena and Zeus but a battle and some words can gived a humoristic. So Gnome looks like more modern DE but XFCE could be a poor on start but can easier changing DE to another. Example last time when I using Cinnamon what is a fork Gnome. Fedora using Gnome 41.2
I reading Zorin is a release version update not a rolling like arch what gived you newest updates but not checked with security what could gived you unstable that why ubuntu is stable edition.
Everyone from you can gived answear why I choice Zorin? Many distribution linux have a Gnome DE. I am example with Zorin because i have proof how it evolved from lower version cd plate before 15.3 ultimate. Many youtubers sayed the Zorin is best distro 2021.

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I’m counting on you when the “summarize this topic” button appears at the top of the thread.

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I think Gnome is a great DE! I don't understand why you guys say Gnome is not polished, it really is. Gnome is very beautiful and clean design, even though it's not the most flexible. It looks amazing and a lot of people use it.

Arch Linux shows that most people in Arch use KDE, so KDE is more popular than Gnome in Arch I guess.

If KDE died (which will basically never happen, I will probably go to Gnome ngl.

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I have outlined exactly why repeatedly. Across several posts.

It is perfectly fine if a user prefers or enjoys Gnome. However, the issue that I raise in this thread is not about whether a user enjoys and uses Gnome.

It is about Gnome being Represented by many users in a certain way, even as many users belittle other D.E.'s by calling them Ugly or Outdated. This thread is not about gathering opinions about this, but rather, confronting that misrepresentation.

Many users say they like or prefer Gnome due to its simplicity. That is fine and if they prefer it, that is fine. However, many of us Linux users do not feel the need to give up control for simplicity and the problem becomes where your preferences are forced on ALL of us due to Gnomes control over the GTK (Gnu ToolKit).
GTK4 creates that same simplicity across ALL D.E.'s excepting KDE.
If you want no settings and simplicity, that is fine. You shouldn't enable it being forced on everyone else. It only makes fair sense that many of us should be able to address these heavy concerns without being misrepresented or belittled by others.
And for those that say this is disparaging to Zorin Core - it is Not: Evidenced by the sheer number of Gnome-Extensions that the ZorinGroup needed to include and tweak into Zorin Core to make it what it is today.

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