What a complete disaster. More troubling than the technical implications is the attitude prevalent among developers and fans of this holy new version of Gnome that we should adapt to our computers rather than have them adapt to us. A perfect example of why programmers, just like many other types of smart people, suck. They think their intelligence qualifies them to make better choices for others.
Open source is a fantastic development model. It produces superior software at an obviously lower price, which results in a win-win situation for the consumer. I do however believe that one of the underlying causes of what I will refer to as “the Gnome 3 problem” is the simple fact that free and open source software is not market-driven to the extent that commercial software is. A commercial software firm would never dream of implementing such radical and unpopular changes especially in such a short period of time. It would be disastrous. Users would revolt with their wallets and money would be lost. Just imagine if Microsoft Windows were to completely revamp their front-end; remove desktop icons, minimize and maximize buttons, and kill the start menu. It would be suicide.
Of course in certain cases this dynamic can obstruct improvement by constraining the advancement of commercial software, but this particular case highlights a flaw that is only applicable to the open source model: the user doesn’t really matter that much. In the world of free software, the ratio of power between developer and user is substantially higher than in the for profit (and therefore customer oriented, since profit comes from customers) world. This is not a problem that is specific to Gnome or any single piece of software. This scenario is however one of the best recent examples of this phenomena.
Gnome 2 was a good piece of software. It was stable, fast, and relatively customizable but not at the expense of user friendliness. It wasn’t perfect of course, but in my opinion, and in many others’ (indicated by its use as the default desktop manager in a number of popular Linux distributions) it was the best option available.
I’ve been using Ubuntu on my desktop for approximately 5 years now, I’ve been incredibly satisfied with it along with Gnome, and have even persuaded other Windows users to make the switch. I will however be expecting some phone calls as they make the upgrades to 11.10 and the systems they are familiar and comfortable with are practically wiped out. This would be a complete non-issue if this new interface were optional instead of forced upon users.
And before you suggest it “fallback” or as I call it ”slightly less crappy” mode is worthless. I have no choice but to stick with it for now and will advise others to do the same but eventually I and many others will have to find a new home.
I’m thinking XFCE.
The geek community and even to some extent the less technically inclined community is by and large not willing to trade functionality for lame attempts to be “cool” and tablet-like with pretty graphics. This is a self centered approach that has been tried and failed numerous times in all sectors of the tech industry. Look at the most successful web sites on the internet for example. They didn’t get there by looking good, they got there by being functional, intuitive, and most importantly, simple. Craigslist anyone?
Why Gnome 3 Sucks
These are just a few reasons, but there are countless others.
- Change
No, change is not always good. Forced change (key word: forced), by definition, causes friction and therefore hurts productivity. Of course if done right and implemented properly the benefits can outweigh the harm in the long term, but the fact by itself that it is ”progress” doesn’t mean it’s positive, it just means it’s different than it was before. So no, I’m not going to adapt because some guy on the internet says I should, because this is a step backwards, especially for a power user such as myself.
Forget all that though, I’ll just say this: if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it. - Customization
It seems that much has been done to intentionally limit options for customization, supposedly in the name of ease of use. Newsflash: This is Linux. One of the greatest things about this OS is the emphasis on openness and flexibility. This is not a toy OS for grannies who only want to check email and will be scared off by any optional settings; stop trying to make it one. And if you do, at least leave some options open for the people that actually want to *gasp* use their computers.
What disturbs me more than the lack of any particular feature is that I have to ask the question: Why are the fundamental concepts of flexibility and power that make Linux great directly under attack, in its most popular DE nonetheless? - Features
Countless features seem to have all but disappeared for no good reasons I can think of. My desktop is practically dead, I can’t even right click it. The “compact” option for icon view in Nautilus is gone. The workspace boxes in my panel no longer show the icon of the maximized application in that workspace. The mail icon in my panel is gone.
Of course many of these features are trivial, but why remove them? - Ease of Use
The worst part about the destruction of customization options in the name of “ease of use” is that it seems to have backfired horribly. Gnome 3 is not easy to use. For the developers who created it, maybe, for all of us normal people, no. It’s a lose-lose situation.
Three clicks to get to an application? Then when you complain, some Gnome 3 fanboy tells you it’s actually easier, since you can just type the name of the application? Brilliant! If I wanted to type the names of my applications, I would be using the freaking command line. - Peer Pressure
Gnome 3 sucks because people like Linus Torvalds say it sucks.
Update: Luckily someone in the open source community has decided to create a fork of Gnome 2, the MATE Desktop Environment.
Update: It looks like we are not alone in our disappointment.
- Why Gnome 3′s Fallback mode sucks
- After two weeks of using GNOME 3, I officially hate it
- If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it
- GNOME 3 – Built for people who would never use Linux in the first place
- Gnome Developer Quote of the Day
- Has Gnome 3 decided that people shouldn’t want screen savers?
Incoming search terms:
- gnome 3 sucks
- gnome3 sucks
- gnome sucks
- gnome 3 hate
I agree about gnome 3. I’ve been an ubuntu user for 2 years now but I may be switching back to windows, this is just too ridiculous. It was so much better a couple years ago when i first switched.
…lol…
and then there’s Windows 8 “Metro” waiting for ya?
Omg!!! Is this what goes on in the hallowed board rooms/think tanks of these places?:
“We need big, Playskool-like, pretty buttons because we believe our audience are a bunch of morons”- thanks MS & the rest of you clowns for dumbing-down everything to cater to the lowest, common denominator.
Try using KDE or XFCE, don;t get discouraged by gnome, there are some great alternatives out there
@David
Same story here! I don’t want to give up Linux though
have you tried XFCE?
You hit the nail on the head. This is a disaster. I have been a strong Linux advocate for many years and am seriously frustrated with this whole thing …..
Well, commercial companies will. M$ is coming with 8 , and the same reaction through the community there… but they are still releasing it.
I’m still trying to make myself comfortable with gnome 3.2, but it’s a slow road. I vowed to use it for a while before totally switching to xfce or lxde though.
I almost died laughing at your peer pressure remark. I wish I had thought of that!
I agree that Gnome 3 really, really sucks. Gnome 3 is the main reason I left Ubuntu. I switched to Linux Mint 11 Gnome 2 64 Bit and didn’t look back. Then, Linux Mint 12 came out with Gnome 3 implemented. What a POS that was. Luckily I was just testing it out on a test hard drive. Mate is also junk. If I am to be forced out of Linux Mint 11 Gnome 2 by incompatibility with upcoming devices I have no Idea where to go. Don’t like XFCE, Debian, KDE or any of the others.
have been using ubuntu since version 5.04, being fanatically addicted to it, converted lots of windows users to linux, now dissapointed and thinking what the hell happened, gnome3 copied unity or unity copied gnome3 ?
GNOME was the BEST Desktop, now it is a crap. can not understand why they throw out a working environment for a fancy useless shit, very dissapointed guys, very very dissapointed.
“Gnome 3 is not easy to use.”
RIght! It’s NOT in the name of good user ease, because it’s not easy, and that means time consuming, for the points you spelled out very well.
I love the “gnome developer quote of the day” link. LMAO.
Apparently Gnome 3 is not for people who want to print stuff either, i can’t get a printer to work on this thing to save my life, the printing admin section has been stripped down severely.
No doubt about it Gnome 3 is a POS. Gnome 3 Windofizes Linux!. I will stay with Mint 11.
Well I tried Gnome 3 when it first came out and was horrified by what I saw. Checked it out again due to their lying release about everything being improved. Thank goodness I thought Ubuntu wouldn’t do a stupid thing like that! But uh oh! They come out with Unity, which sucks less Gnome 3, but sucks more than Gnome 2. I had a look around and XFCE seems to be a major win for me. I can make it look just like Gnome 2, and it’s fast enough as well. I like to customise my computer thankyou, and I could even do that under Windows XP, but the Gnome guys have shot themselves in the foot, and they refuse point blank, whether that is due to their pigheadedness, or just plain stupidity to change back to Gnome 2. More fool them I say.
Oh please, gnome 3 is all that and then some….I have been using ubuntu since version 6.4 and I have never once complained … then gnome 3. 2 comes out and guess what, I have to wonder, where has it beeen all my life?? Every one is yapping as to how bad Gnome 3 is … well guess what, you are not bound to use it … the way you feel about gnome 3 is the same way I felt about unity when it came out …so spare me the ‘bruhaha”…if you dont like it dont use it …
Gnome 3, some love it some hate it, have tried getting away with it for a long time now but have gone LXDE with Mint distro, torn between LXDE and XFCE at present, read some previous comments on people cosidering going back to windows, i would consider an alternative desktop environment instead.
Loving LXDE at present but have a feeling XFCE is going to gain some major ground with this Gnome 3 malarky
I agree I hate Gnome 3. I tried it and was bitterly disappointed by the lack customization, so I tried Mint 12 KDE but I dislike that also. Gone back to Debian 6.04 with Gnome 2.30. At least I’ll still be able to use Gnome at its best until Debian 7 is out and maybe go LXDE or XFCE.
Gnome 3 killed linux, It has single handedly caused the loss of thousands of linux users, The stats dont lie, People are now leaving linux in droves and going to osx or windows 7, Linux was great while it lasted but all it took was one ignorant developer to screw it up for everyone, Sometimes i wonder if Mcann isint some paid off apple or microsoft troll sent in to destroy linux with this disasterous hideous THING he calls gnome 3/shell.
Absolutely, Gnome 3.4 sucks. It is not customizable with useless effects. I dont like a tablet version for my laptop or desktop pc. I dont know why the world clock is gone with the places menu. Launchers are not easy to create, the menu editor does not work, many gedit scripts do not work. The workspace is not visible and I need to press the activity button to see it. succkkkkkkkkkkssssssss.
Thank goodness for this page.
Just got around to updating Fedora14 to 17 and discovered gnome 3.
I thought I was an idiot, but I see now that I’m not.
Switched to KDE desktop after having used Gnome for years. So far, so good. It actually does what I want instead of what IT wants.
Gnome 3 looks pretty but WHAT A STINKING PIECE OF CRAP!!!…why make something that looks beautiful but you can’t configure even in a basic sense? Like…adding an applet to the taskbar? HUH??? THATS GONE??!! TAKE A HIKE! Even windows lets you do that…
you stupid fools…get it right!
You can still have the slick eye candy without stripping out the basic stuff we all depend on…
yup…its XFCE or MATE for me…
take your Gnome 3 and shove it where the sun don’t shine…
idiots…freaking idiots
Some thoughts on Gnome 2.3 and the future, in relation to Unity & Gnome 3.
http://wp.me/pUb6O-j2