this post was submitted on 14 Jan 2024
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Linux is a family of open source Unix-like operating systems based on the Linux kernel, an operating system kernel first released on September 17, 1991 by Linus Torvalds. Linux is typically packaged in a Linux distribution (or distro for short).
Distributions include the Linux kernel and supporting system software and libraries, many of which are provided by the GNU Project. Many Linux distributions use the word "Linux" in their name, but the Free Software Foundation uses the name GNU/Linux to emphasize the importance of GNU software, causing some controversy.
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One of the few moments I can appreciate a response critical of GNOME. You did not do the anti-GNOME/systemd counternormie dogwhistling, which is highly appreciated.
Its a tradeoff between performance + coherence and KDE level of customisability. Once your teenage hobbyist years are over, you move from stuff like KDE/XFCE to stuff like GNOME. And that's not to shit on hobbyists, but people who grow up simply do not have as much liberty for these pastime luxuries.
All I could do with GNOME is this, which I am fine with.
Unless you're writing ruby on rails on a 13" macbook, you'll run into Gnome's limitations when working.
Gnome is in many ways so focused that it makes a lot of productivity use impossible. You always have to open the menu to launch software, you've got no system tray, and worst of all, Gnome apps are so simplified that you constantly run into the limitations when using it productively.
When working with dozens of windows open at the same time across multiple monitors, I'm a fan of KDE. And KDE apps tend to also have all the extra features I need to handle weird situations, files, and edge cases.
Might I ask what you do for work? I do software development stuff at my job and I’ve found gnome lets me be like 3x as productive as other desktops. The simple desktop experience coupled with the robust app ecosystem simply can’t be found anywhere else. I use like 3 monitors with dozens of apps open as well.
I'm a software dev as well.
But I often layer multiple windows in the same tile of the screen. e.g. I may have the IDE with the software I'm working on in one tile, the IDE with the library source code I'm working with in the second tile, and a live build of the app in the third tile. But I've also got documentation, as a website, in the same tile as the IDE with the lib's source.
Now when I switch between the IDE with the lib's source, and the browser with the lib's documentation, I only want that tile to change. No problem, with KDEs taskbar and window switcher I can quickly do that.
But when using the applications menu on Gnome I get a disrupting UI across all screens that immediately rips me out of whatever I was doing.
I guess that’s fair, I rarely need to switch between windows that heavily so workspaces setup with what I need when I need to switch makes vanilla gnome work perfectly for me. Especially since hitting the super key let’s me see everything at a glance. I also hate tiled setups since they make me super unproductive as the windows are more cumbersome when they aren’t maximized or floating.
Something about whitespace and negatives I guess. Same thing that makes libadwaita the nicest ui toolkit to me. Kde was just too busy while libadwaita and gnome struck the best balance between usability and visuals.
I think it’s just a case of different people enjoying different things.
So how do you juggle having to see dozens of windows at the same time then?
I kinda just do, I press super maybe once every 10 minutes or so and just see all my windows. It takes me maybe half a second to find what I want and that’s it. Less time if I’ve already setup my workspaces as I can just three finger swipe or super plus scroll to get to what I want. Pretty simple.