I want to clarify: I have not confirmed that Gnome is absolutely planning to do away with extensions.
I strongly believe it plans to.
I have noticed that when Gnome suggests that it will do something, there is a very high probability that it will indeed do it. Theming is one example. LibAdwaita. Pushing Flatpak as the Future. As well as abandoning the Desktop in favor of a Mobile layout. There are examples where Gnome Devs voiced a desire to do something that they have not done (yet) including leaving the Gnu General License and turning to a more proprietary one in order to achieve their "goals."
However, much of this comes straight from the mouth of Tobias Bernard himself.
Not just the reference of calling extension "hacks", but
Every unnecessary variable you eliminate across the stack frees up time and energy, and creates opportunities for features you couldn’t otherwise build.
Shell extensions are always going to be a niche thing
It makes sense. Gnome Developers removed features in order to ensure that Gnome behaves the way that they want it to... Devs putting those removed features back in with extensions must cause ire among the devs that took them out.
Tobias Bernard is very good at the Politics of misleading the reader away from important issues by use of misdirection - In order to convince the reader that his way is the best way, rather than allow undue attention on the actual reasons why he does what he does.
I come across this type of subtle gaslighting quite a lot, sadly. It is easy to spot.
The writing on the wall is quite very clear. It is the purest fallacy in that it is Tobias Bernard who is the one forcing his own personal preferences on every one else, not us users forcing ours as he tries to convince us to believe. Having desktop preferences and options is the exact opposite of such - and his arguments utterly collapse under this realization. He seeks to remove the ability of users to utilize their preferences and therein lies the lie.
In which case his own motives become much more clearly defined.
This is why he is so forceful in his demand that devs should never develop extensions or themes, but instead, contribute directly to Gnome itself: The fallacy of his "Community Power" claim --- Because this then puts him and Gnome in FULL control of what makes it into Gnome and what doesn't. Mislead with Misdirection. Don't look up.
He has openly voiced his distaste for extensions - which he cannot control - and every time he has done this before, he has found a way to put a stop to users taking control of their desktops back.
It is extremely likely that extensions are on the chopping block - but also extremely controversial as extensions are used so widely. Sadly, being controversial does not stop Gnome - as we have seen many times before when users suddenly find essential UI just simply removed without warning.
https://blogs.gnome.org/tbernard/
https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=29234796
Very well said.
The idea is presented here, openly and as a suggestion.
Whether the ZorinGroup finds appeal in the suggestion or not- they are 100% capable of it fulfilling it if they chose. And it would be an initial effort, I think, followed by less work later to maintain.
KDE is far more long term stable than Gnome is with its stark and sudden changes.
Zorin OS is high on the list of Distros that buck Gnomes trends. By its very reason for existence, Zorin OS must shun Gnomes controls. It's not just a reskinning of Ubuntu and a Distro specific theme we are talking about here. Zorin OS is one of the most customized Linus Distros available, which is what sets it apart giving it fantastic appeal to Windows Users.
