Looking a little bit more into Gnome (S)hell I have become very annoyed at the truth. The truth being Gnome (S)hell is designed for the mentally impaired.
Here is the proof.
Why no window list or dock?
http://live.gnome.org/GnomeShell/Design/FAQ
The Shell is designed in order to minimize distraction and interruption and to enable users to focus on the task at hand.
A persistent window list or dock would interfere with this goal, serving as a constant temptation to switch focus.
The separation of window switching functionality into the overview means that an effective solution to switching is provided when it is desired by the user, but that it is hidden from view when it is not necessary.
If this is not an attempt to justify a poor UI decision its an insult to users. I hold the latter view since a lot of time and effort went into Gnome 3.
Why aren't there applets, widgets or gadgets?
http://live.gnome.org/GnomeShell/Design/FAQ
Essential functionality aside, an applets, widgets or gadgets framework is essentially aimed towards providing optional and additional functionality, and this does not necessarily fall within the design scope of a desktop shell.
If you are wondering what design scope, as stated here, http://live.gnome.org/GnomeShell/Design
Makes it easy for users to focus on their current task and reduces distraction and interruption
Putting it all together, is this a piss take or what?
If anyone can't focus on getting their work done due to the presence of the window list showing what applications are minimized or are distracted by docks and applets, please do not operate any machinery.
A beeping noise or flashing light may break your focus or distract your attention. You know what, I am no longer going to drive with my SatNav.
Gnome Shell is supposedly designed for users like me and you, the design principles behind Gnome Shell are a reflection of what the Devs think about their users.
Even though there is the ability to customize Gnome (S)hell with extensions, the point remains that by default Gnome Shell is an insult to users.
If you feel working with multiple open applications in Gnome (S)hell is awkward and an annoyance, it is now clear why. The Gnome 3 devs intentionally made it to be like this, they do not want you to multitask, correction, they think you are incapable of multitasking. If docks and applets can cause you to lose focus and become distracted why let users multitask between open applications with ease?
This would go against the Gnome 3 design principles...
This is why I no longer feel there is a bright future ahead for Gnome 3, it is designed for the mentally impaired from the ground up, the devs have made the assumption their users are morons, are morons, more ons.....
Sorry, I lost my focus just then, my slick looking Cairo-Dock distracted me.
Unless the Gnome 3 developers change their design principles and remove the 'users are idiots' attitude they can stick Gnome (S)hell up their backsides.
I am commonly seeing the statement in many forums and other online media that Gnome (S)hell is great once you get use to it.
But get use to what, being an idiot??
At least now I can fully appreciate why restart / power off is no longer available to click on directly, because as an idiot you may inadvertently click on it.
Rant over.
LOL!
ReplyDeleteSeriously, where is the turn off button on Gnome Shell?? I used it briefly on a live-cd and it only had the suspend option (I think).
If you press the alt button whilst viewing the suspend option it will change to shutdown.
ReplyDeleteAlternatively press alt-f2 and type poweroff.
No Kidding,
ReplyDeleteEvery time I have tried GNOME(s)hell -and Unity, I feel treated like a stupid little kid in grade school.
My job requires that I continuously use several applications concurrently, exchanging data among all apps.
Presently each app is one click away on the bottom panel. This is not possible in GNOME (s)hell or Unity. Changing the focus to a different app will take a few clicks or keystrokes.
The result is decreased productivity. Way to go GNOME.
Sam
Here is a funny fedora forum thread that asks if Gnome thinks you're a child with A.D.D.
ReplyDeletehttp://forums.fedoraforum.org/showthread.php?t=259779
I haven't tried it out yet. I just hope it remains optional. I like the current Gnome very much.
ReplyDeleteI think you are being unnecessarily being too harsh...using gnome-3 for more than a month now I can very well appreciate the non-distraction philosophy..plus if one knows a few important keyboard shortcuts he,ll not even bother for the old UI.
ReplyDeleteI don't know why Apple bothered offering multitasking for the iOS. Apparently noone needs it.
ReplyDeleteYou attract what you design for.
Can't stay and chat, an application called Gnome Defender is requesting my root password to install itself. ;)
I totally agreed with the author of this post. I am using Linux exclusively and has been a Linux user well over 10 years and I simply do not like Gnome 3. I am considering of switching to Bodhi for the Enlightenment WM.
ReplyDeleteThis is really a retarded design and it requires you to RTFM to learn how to use the new freaking ways of doing things that you have been so used to. I can not stand it when I have to look through sea of applications to find an app that I want to run. If I happen to install a lot of apps in Gnome 3, then that means I have to do many clicks to narrow down the group and then to the app. In the old Gnome, I needed at most 3 clicks to get to an app. Retarded.
When I need to configure a static IP, there is no easy ways to do it but I had to open web browser and do a search and then run the nm-....editor...... What the hell is that? The new ways of naming networking devices as m[12345] is fine and an improvement but to new users to Linux who needs to configure a static IP, the experience would be a show stopper for them. You can not do it with GUI without running a CLI. I spent more than 10 minutes clicking around the networking management interface and could not find any places to configure a static IP address.
My guess is that the devs want to get a head start against M$ and Apple because if you think of it, this is more like for a touch interface. Icons are big and things are resembled to Android interfaces.
Anyway, I do not like it. I hate the new Gnome 3. I installed Fedora 15 to try out systemd and other server related stuffs but the Gnome 3 interface is such a PITA to use even for experienced Linux users.
Installed KDE Fedora Spin on my desktop and xubuntu on my seven year old laptop and am even considering xubuntu for my netbook which is currently running ubuntu 11.04 and unity. I dislike both the gnome3 and unity interfaces. At work I use Mac OSX and as a graphic designer with multiple applications open at once, dare I say it here, APPLE got it right and has spent loads of cash and time figuring what a user wants and needs.
ReplyDeleteThe person who wrote this article is mentally impaired.
ReplyDeleteI have been using Linux since 1994, so consider myself a bit of a power user. Linux filled the gap for me that Minix created then left void 30 days later. I've tried many desktop environments over the years. I settled on Gnome because it was easy to use, didn't require I spend too much time teaching people to use it, and it still gave me access to some pretty advanced power features without cluttering up the interface in the way KDE did.
ReplyDeleteGnome 1.2 was a great platform. It really was when Gnome finally started coming right. Gnome 2.x took a while to get used to, but it didn't deviate so much that you had to learn everything from scratch. Most things were in the same place, or close enough that you didn't have to think too hard to find them.
Gnome 3 and these Gnome Shell and Unity interfaces have to be the worst desktop managers I have ever used. In fact, I consider them to be so bad that I'm considering KDE or XFCE. Hell, I'd prefer TWM over Unity at this point. This new "touch friendly" crap getting forced down everyones throats makes me want to vomit.
If they want to develop for mobile platforms, great. But don't take away the ability my computer has to run many things at one time with simple and easy task management. Don't take away my ability to know the state of an application at a glance to the bottom or top of the screen. Don't take away my ability to put widgets on the desktop so I can see at a glance how much disk space I have left for that video I'm rendering or that ISO I'm downloading.
Don't force my powerful computer to be subjected to the constraints of a mobile phone or tablet just because that is the interface meme of the moment!
So the result? I'm switching to XFCE or KDE or something else entirely without this rubbish Canonical and Gnome Foundation want to put us through. At the rate they're going Gnome will only be useful on the Meego platform. Or as an alternate interface on Android tablets.
Mr Briggs, the person who wrote this article is simply expressing their views. Like it or lump it. Leave the personal attacks for the school playground.
ReplyDeleteI don't like the new gnome shell, or the unity shell,I tried Bodhi Linux and now it is on all of my machines. Its fast, light, fully customizable, and even eye catching. What more could I want.
ReplyDelete"This is why I no longer feel there is a bright future ahead for Gnome 3, it is designed for the mentally impaired from the ground up, the devs have made the assumption their users are morons, are morons, more ons....."
ReplyDeleteI find it disgusting that the author is willing to mock the mental impaired to try to make his point. Freaken disgusts me.
Personally I like Gnome3 and gnome-shell very much. You can get a view of running apps - just mouse up to the upper left hand corner. Different doesn't necessarily mean worse. The author sounds like the die hard Win2K users that hated XP because it looked different. Don't worry, you can always use Icewm for that good ol Windows 98 look and feel.
ReplyDeleteDevin, your poor interpretation is causing you to see a mockey that doesnt exist.
ReplyDeleteGlenn, looking different has nothing to do with it. The behavioral characteristics of Gnome Shell are what I take issue with. Influenced by the assumption that applets, docks and the window lists cause users to be distracted and unable to focus on their work....
That alone speaks volumes about what the Gnome 3 devs think about their users.
I am so pissed of at this perverted screw up.
ReplyDeleteWith the insult to me as a user I am surprised it allows dual screens and multiple tabs in Firefox :-)
I'd recommend xfce. Its basic but that's all you need in a `desktop', beyond a window manager, a menu of applications to launch (with clock!), and a file-system viewer, I never really saw the need for a 'desktop' anyway. xfce is more like gnome 1.x, back when it was just about giving you a simple list of applications but otherwise not trying to dictate how you use your computer.
ReplyDeleteThe thing that most worries me about the efforts in things such as 'wayland' is that the old X window managers and button panels wont work anymore and we'll all be forced to use the new crap.
"they think you are incapable of multitasking"
ReplyDeleteYou are. As with computing, multitasking is an illusion created by context-switching. Only difference is, you've only one core* and no stack protection.
*okay, a split-core.
I ran Gnome Shell on my Ubuntu 10.11 release and loved every minute of it (even though it was only an early Gnome 3 beta.. not true 3.0). I appreciated the design and agree with the elimination of "distractions". I understand that some people feel there should be an option for those who want things "their way", but as a developer I feel that Gnome 3 is a step in the right direction. I've since upgraded to 11.04 and don't care of Unity. I'm currently using the "Classic Ubuntu" interface aka Gnome 2 until I can find a stable way to use Gnome 3 (Fedora is NOT it! Tried it but never got it do what I needed.).
ReplyDeleteFind out what works for you.
ReplyDeleteUnity does it for me.
Unmount? Easy- at your left.
On Linux desktop since 97.
Gnome 3 would work nicely on a smartphone. It looks pretty and I guess it would be fun to use with a touch screen. But on my desktop I am using KDE from now on.
ReplyDeleteGnome 3 is great. The reason you are complaining and whining like teen girls, is due to your nerd arrogance and fear of change.
ReplyDeleteI personally found it crap when I first saw it, since it differs from what I am used to use.
Nonetheless, new Linux comers and especially children in the school I work in, found it cool. When we had Gnome 2 and compiz running, they found it old and boring, and would always recommend us to install Windows, instead of this old Windows95 rip-off. Now they like the new style that Gnome has adopted, and find Gnome Shell, a fast, simple and well-organized desktop environment.
So stop nagging, for Gnome Shell is a big step to Gnome, that takes it closer to the average users, and far away from the whiny geeks.
@hoodedthis
ReplyDeleteIf someone took a crap on a plate and called it the future of the Gnome Desktop, it is neither arrogance nor is it fear when we call it shit! Just because you like the taste of shit doesn't mean everyone else is afraid to try it.
Gnome 3 may be the future, but the shell needs a good flushing.
The comment regarding "touch" future nailed it. Unity/G3 are betting on this market. I am a Linux user from almost day1. As a developer, I can't multitask as needed, so I am now a kde user. I stuck with gnome for the licensing of devel libs, but as Nokia open even more with the lgpl, I do not mind using their libs now (which are far more developed). Also, I remember Linux to be about choice. If I want a dock (being mature enough to handle the temptation), let me be able to turn it on...call it advance mode:)
ReplyDeleteI've been using Linux as my primary OS for 6 years, so I'm not really a noob... but I find the new GNOME3 desktop refreshing and uncluttered, and I actually agree with the "multitasking is an illusion" school of thought. GNOME3 is the first desktop I've had where I don't spend half my time applying themes and changing backgrounds and messing with layout, and no, not just because it's harder to do (it isn't), but because the default layout just works for me.
ReplyDeleteIt's also the first mainstream Linux desktop I've seen that isn't just borrowing ideas from the 2 Big Desktop operating systems. Finally, Linux has a functionally, well-designed, unique desktop experience.
"If you treat your users like idiots, only idiots will use your software. I just recommend that people use KDE now" - Linus Torvalds.
ReplyDeleteThat quote came from about 4 years ago - when it was discovered that gnome's printer dialog had removed the option to print multiple pages on a sheet or do double-sided printing- EVEN IF THE PRINTER SUPPORTS IT. Features that were implemented in cups and the driver, used to be in gnome, and got removed from the interface.
Apparently people are too stupid to be allowed to use the features of their hardware. People pay for double-sided printing -but if it's actually there it would be too hard.
My point is - this is not a new attitude for the gnome devs, it's been a central Gnome philosophy for years. Gnome doesn't base their design philosophies on real user needs, or even true ease of use. They base it on the worst calls to the helldesk "my pages are coming out two to a sheet and I don't know how to change it back" - the same people who gave us the legendary cup-holder joke.
Reality check: they may be a majority of helldesk callers but they are a tiny minority of actual computer users. The vast majority of computer users who are not that lost simply don't call the helldesk because they can google, or find something.
Designing your interface around the lowest common denominator of user capability is not a wise move as it prevents everybody else (who are the far larger percentage) from actually getting their jobs done. I always used to prefer KDE's approach - sensible defaults - with absolute and unlimited customizability. It recognized the individuality of human minds - and let you organize your workspace to your own preferred working methods- not those dictated by a bunch of arrogant devs who have been to too many of those business self-help seminars.
The "one true way" simply doesn't exist. The "way that's right for me" - is the only way to recognize that computers are used for a massive array of different tasks (what makes them computers is exactly the ability to do that) - and that the best working method is defined by what you use them for coupled with your own personality.
Where KDE is too heavyweight, I use LXDE (because XFCE is not lightweight - just boring) - an interface that really works the way I want it to, gives me what I need and lets me change what I want to - when I want to - to suit my own personality.
Gnome hasn't gone astray with gnome shell - it's simply the culmination of a bad philosophy they've clung to for over a decade now. If the net and comments like these are any indication - then they've finally pushed it far enough to get users to see the downside...
I've been a PC user since the days of MS-DOS and had an Atari 65 XE before that. I've seen interfaces come and go and Gnome 3 is no different. It's just another GUI. Fortunately gor people who don't like Gnome 3 there are alternatives.
ReplyDeleteSo vote with your feet and look around. One of the greatest strengths of the GNU/Linux based desktop OS is it's customisable. You can change anything you don't like.
So while I appreciate the sentiment of the authors rant. He's ironically behaving in exactly the way he described idiot end users behaving.
As for the current trend of single tasking on a PC/tablet/netbook/laptop? I don't care for it. If I wanted that I'd go back to using MS-DOS.
Personally, I like Gnome Shell.
ReplyDeleteIt did take some getting used to but once I was down with the flow I found it no better or worse than Gnome 2, just different.
As an app admin I do a lot of scripting and cgi, this new interface has in no way slowed me down or tripped me up. In fact, it seems to have increased my productivity to my surprise.
I do like the customization abilities of Gnome 2, and I do miss my system monitoring applets in the launcher bar (always good to keep an eye on CPU temperatures when kicking the hell out of your machine) but they aren't things I can't live without and I do like the new look.
That said, I can't stand KDE. Been using Linux for personal and work for near 20 years now and am glad to see a move away from the default Windows style rip offs for a change. Particularly the badly implemented ugly ones like KDE.
@ aikiwolfie, I am fully aware of the alternatives and effectively calling me an idiot because I choose to voice my views and not use something else in 'silence' is silly.
ReplyDeleteI do not feel it is right to sit back and watch a mistake happen in silence, sometimes the views of others can make a big difference or have a big influence.
People should not be afraid to voice their views.