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GNOME Linux

GNOME 3.2 Released 205

supersloshy writes "Today marks the release of the latest edition of the GNOME Desktop for Linux-based operating systems. There are numerous fixes and improvements in this release such as smaller title bars (for small screens), the integration of GNOME Contacts and GNOME Documents for easy data management, web application integration, many more configurable settings, and other updates such as a more unified appearance and better chat integration."
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GNOME 3.2 Released

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  • by Superken7 ( 893292 ) on Wednesday September 28, 2011 @04:59PM (#37545882) Journal

    Quick search reveals an 8 minute overview
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wnxvRr-3MSA [youtube.com]

    Thought it might come in handy; TFA only contains a few shots.

    I think overall it looks better, it's great. But there is still something about the icons that needs to be improved. Maybe too colorful? The shape? It becomes more apparent when compared to an OSX desktop (or other simpler desktops, if you like that kind of style)

    • I see no taskbar in that video...you need to zoom out to pick up windows in the same workspace?

      • by 0123456 ( 636235 )

        I see no taskbar in that video...you need to zoom out to pick up windows in the same workspace?

        But it's so much cooler than just clicking on the taskbar.

      • by HJED ( 1304957 )
        Avant Window Navigator, work very well as a taskbar for GNOME. I strongly suggest you try it if you are using GNOME 3.x. It's described as a 'dock', but it is easy to setup like a taskbar.
        I have to agree with you though, I find a desktop environment close to unusable without a task bar.
        • by macshit ( 157376 )

          Also "cairodock" is a great taskbar replacement; I've used it for a while instead of the gnome2 taskbar.

          It can be easily configured to be more "OSX like" or more "taskbar like", though it tends towards the former.

      • You can have a task with an extension if you really want one.

        That said, you really have to try the overview-style. Whack the windows-key, and you very quickly have almost the entire screen used to select windows, meaning you can see which one you're interested very easily and go to it. It takes some getting used to.... but the added bonus of the zoom-out view being live updates means you get the ability to monitor many windows simultaneously for interesting updates, without needing to throw in a different u

      • Yep. Window handling in GNOME 3 is plain retarded - i highly reccomend Docky [go-docky.com] if you need something more usable.

  • And, of course, user-defined window manager. Seriously, how do those people expect anyone to use this?

    • Isn't Gnome the window manager already? So picking Gnome is the user defining the window manager? Or did you mean something else?

      • by Hatta ( 162192 )

        Gnome is a desktop environment, of which a window manager is only a small part.

      • OS -> X11 (or equivalent) -> GDM (or equivalent) -> Gnome (or equivalent) -> Metacity (or equivalent) -> Nautilus (or equivalent)

        In the above, 'Metacity' would be the window manager, I believe. I may be wrong on the above though. I'm not a Gnome fan, so my usage is fairly basic.

        • OS -> X11 (or equivalent) -> GDM (or equivalent) -> Gnome (or equivalent) -> Metacity (or equivalent) -> Nautilus (or equivalent)

          In the above, 'Metacity' would be the window manager, I believe. I may be wrong on the above though. I'm not a Gnome fan, so my usage is fairly basic.

          Incorrect. Metacity was the Window manager in Gnome 2. In Gnome 3 the developers just stabs you in the eye. Can you tell I switched to KDE?

          • Hmm. Metacity -> Metastasize. Interesting how close they are, no?

          • by snaggen ( 36005 )

            Why is the thing rendering the borders on the windows so important to people... I never get that?! Did you really run another window manager than Metacity in Gnome2? And how is it different when the Desktop environment handles the window management, from when fwvm2 or windowmaker that was window managers tried to be desktop environment with launchers and stuff?

            For 10-20 years (depending where you draw the line) developers have tried to separate the desktop environment and window managers, and still Gimp i

            • Don't ask me. I just know that in the latest Fedora release, even our die-hard Gnome zealots are abandoning Gnome 3 for KDE 4 due to it being unusable and destroying performance.

              Serious deja vu for me, considering how angry I was for the first few revisions of KDE 4.

        • Mutter is the Gnome 3's EGL accelerated window manager.

          Metacity with Intel's Clutter EGL library.

          Fun fact: Mutter is German for Mother.

    • If you need a user-defined window manager there are lots of other DEs out there since you probably won't use GNOME3 anyway. It's a design decision, and not a bad one when you consider where GNOME is trying to go. Mutter isn't awesome or Compiz, but it does what it needs to do well.

      On that note, Mutter is the *first* compositing WM I've seen that didn't cause video tearing on nVidia. I've been jacking with Compiz/nvidia-settings for years and I still see tearing, and KWin is only a little better. Mutter

      • by armanox ( 826486 )

        Have you tried apt on Fedora?

        • I could, but all the useful, well-tested stuff is found in yum repositories.

          I don't mind the technology (yum/rpm), and yum itself isn't too bad once you get used to it, but it is a little slower, doesn't seem to handle dependencies quite as well. Mostly I dearly miss synaptic.

    • by daemonc ( 145175 )

      Where the Hell is panel decoupled from shell?

      The same place it's been since 3.0 was first released: choose the "GNOME Classic" session when logging in.

      Where the hell have you been?

    • by Dr. Blue ( 63477 )

      OK, so lots of comments coming down from this, but is there an answer? Is there a panel available for Gnome 3.2? I have a list of about 3 things that went so far into unusability as far as my workflow went that I kept all my systems at Fedora 14 after some initial tests of F15 with Gnome 3. One of those was the ability to have an always-visible panel with a list of active windows. Seriously, that's not too much to ask, right? I don't even require that it be on by default, just something that I could a

  • GNOME has lost some steam over the time.
    From 2001 - 2010 when Microsoft was stuck with XP (dont count vista it was an early beta for windows 7) GNOME had a wonderful opportunity to surpass Windows with a good set of new UI functions. But it laggard and let Apple come up and take the place.

    • Apple didn't get ahead by being a better desktop though, they've got ahead through "synergy"/halo effect with iPod/iPhone/iTunes. So much so that my flatmate who loves his iDevices has been considering buying an iMac despite not wanting to touch any other OS than Windows in the past..

    • Mac OS X has the most terrible UI in the world.

      The GNOME 2.x UI is pretty decent though.
      GNOME 3 looks like GNOME for tablets.

      • I agree that it is a terrible for you and me however not for the general public. If you think about it from a typical users perspective where they don't interact much with the OS, all their programs are available at the bottom of the screen. That's very convenient for them compared to other DEs where applications are hidden within menus.

        Most users simply want to use their programs for some simple basic computing and that's why OSX is in some ways a good UI for their target market. I don't think the same hol

  • by Anonymous Coward

    Have there been any fixes to how it handles multiple desktop setups? I've been using Gnome 3 for a while and applications like libreOffice still show the splash screen split across both, and the second monitor limited to a 'sticky' surface common to every desktop is irritating.

    It would be really nice if the second desktop darkened like the primary in the overview, displayed a similar thumbnail view as the primary but on the left side (when the secondary monitor is on the right it would look cool, and when

  • by Anonymous Coward

    Last I heard, configurable settings were bad -- they scare, confuse, and intimidate users, and they open the possibility that someone might choose to configure their desktop wrong, which is antithetical to the GNOME way.

    Seriously, is this a new direction? Did they make a public announcement or something? Or is this just a one-time concession to reduce the GNOME 3 backlash, perhaps as an experiment so 3.4 can replace all the new options with a selector amongst the most popular configuration for each of deskt

    • by Knuckles ( 8964 )

      Last I heard, configurable settings were bad

      Someone lied to you or you misheard. Go read the original article by Havoc Pennington.

      • Someone lied to you or you misheard. Go read the original article by Havoc Pennington.

        You don't read what someone writes, you look at their actions. The behaviour of the Gnome project over the years says otherwise.

      • by jejones ( 115979 )

        I'd suggest reading the interview with Jon McCann [derstandard.at], who heads up GNOME3 development and who brought us the "user configuration is bad, because the user will do evil things" gnome-screensaver. Note particularly the following:

        "And I think there is a lot of value to have that experience you show the world to be consistent. In GNOME2 we didn't do that particularly well because everyone's desktop was different."

    • You know it all went to shit when GNOME developers release a tool [gnome.org] to tweak "advanced options" like how the laptop behaves when you close the lid, font sizes or if the shell clock shows date or not.

  • Comment removed based on user account deletion
    • by neiras ( 723124 )

      Today - do I have fingerprint by default? Hell no, but it is "integrated with the rest of the user experience". Quite disappointing.

      Fedora 15 has fingerprint authentication by default, and I've had it for years with a bit of work (fingerprint readers weren't so common 6 years ago). This kind of integration is usually a distro-specific thing.

  • The icons are ugly and the styles never seem to get there. The layout does though.

    KDE has the same issue. So many things done right, but missing the polish.

    The two should really merge and create a desktop that doesn't suck. KDE 4.x is buggy, and mediocre at best. Gnome 3 is, from what I have experienced, trying to hard. Both rip off OSX instead of ripping off KDE 3.5 and Gnome 2x.

    • by Anonymous Coward

      The icons are ugly and the styles never seem to get there. The layout does though.

      KDE has the same issue. So many things done right, but missing the polish.

      The two should really merge and create a desktop that doesn't suck. KDE 4.x is buggy, and mediocre at best. Gnome 3 is, from what I have experienced, trying to hard. Both rip off OSX instead of ripping off KDE 3.5 and Gnome 2x.

      This is all that is wrong with KDE and Gnome projects. Trying to rip off OSX or Windows.
      Why don't they embrace 100% the unix/linux philosophy. No mainstream application (except for Gimp) nowadays uses multiple windows on linux (why ? because of trying to copy Windows).
      No shit, they even want to do away with focus follows mouse.
      Damn, if I wanted the windows or osx experience I would be using a damn windows pc or a mac.
      Can't we throw away these designers in a fire and get some people that know what they're do

    • The two should really merge and create a desktop that doesn't suck.

      What you'd get is a DE with ugly icons and no polish.

  • I wonder how it works with a laptop whose lid is closed an external monitor is attached? With both Fedora and Ubuntu, I find the most recent version still uses the laptop's monitor to show all the controls and panels. I can mirror the display but then my 24 in monitor is running in 1024 x 768. Trying to disable the built-in monitor just locks everything up.

    I'd use an older "stable" version, but they don't support the built-in video card of the Intel i7 very well (software render only).

    I'd much rather the

    • I wonder how it works with a laptop whose lid is closed an external monitor is attached?

      I read this one quite often and no it does not suspend if an external monitor is attached. 3.0 didn't either.

      With both Fedora and Ubuntu, I find the most recent version still uses the laptop's monitor to show all the controls and panels. I can mirror the display but then my 24 in monitor is running in 1024 x 768. Trying to disable the built-in monitor just locks everything up.

      I'd use an older "stable" version, but they don't support the built-in video card of the Intel i7 very well (software render only).

      You know, you can just select which one is the primary display in the settings. Not sure what's wrong with your setup but all you describe works fine fore me. (using: Fedora 14, sandy bridge cpu/gpu 24" external monitor with desktop spawning both displays or built-in one deactivated; suspend on lid close - if no external monitor attached as well)

      I'd much rather they focus on working with my hardware than working with my chat programs.

      It's not like the intel driver developers are writing c

      • by hazem ( 472289 )

        I complain about Gnome because it's the one that doesn't work.

        I don't have any problems with Kubuntu or Fedora's KDE spin. I use xrandr to get the setup the way I want, but doing that under gnome locks the whole system up tight. I suppose it could be a hardware issue but then I would think that would also impact KDE as well.

        The sad thing is, I actually find the Gnome 3 interface appealing in a lot of ways, even though it's pretty different from what I'm used to. It's really innovative and I think it coul

  • Like a working desktop pager?

    • Yes. If you'd read TFA you would have seen this:

      The workspace switcher in the overview remains expanded by keeping its full width displayed when you are using more than one workspace.

  • Gnome 3.0 does not even start up on most systems with nVidia-based graphics cards. I've been trying to get it started to no avail. Nobody seems to know or care about the problem. I've had to switch to xfce.

    Makes no sense to me; KDE4.x works fine, so does Gnome 2.x. X itself has no problem either for 2D, 3D or sound. Hope they have fixed this in 3.2.

    • by msevior ( 145103 )

      Works fine on this machine. F15 with gnome-3 and NVIDIA. This is a really nice workstation.
      *shrugs*

    • by Flammon ( 4726 )

      Sadly, you'll need to install the hardware vendor drivers for best performance. Nouveau isn't quite ready yet.

  • Much more productive (Score:5, Interesting)

    by Flammon ( 4726 ) on Wednesday September 28, 2011 @10:00PM (#37548666) Journal

    The new shell is absolutely fantastic. The flow between the apps and tasks is incredibly smooth. It's really too bad that Ubuntu didn't see the potential and decided to go their own way. Don't get me wrong, I'm all for competition but it would be really nice to see Ubuntu join the GNOME shell effort. Unity is just getting in the way when it's trying to get out of the way ironically. If you haven't tried the new GNOME shell, you're missing out on a really cool experience. I haven't this happy with my desktop since I ran a very customized AfterStep about 10 years ago.

    • Re: (Score:2, Redundant)

      If you haven't tried the new GNOME shell, you're missing out on a really cool experience. I haven't this happy with my desktop since I ran a very customized AfterStep about 10 years ago.

      +1

      I wouldn't go back to the old gnome if you paid me.

    • Awesome! (Score:4, Funny)

      by neiras ( 723124 ) on Wednesday September 28, 2011 @11:55PM (#37549470)

      Everyone, please note that a slashdotter with a 4 digit UID likes GNOME 3.

      Hey bashers, take note! :-)

      • by dbIII ( 701233 )
        Thousands of people looked at Slashdot on the first day and didn't bother getting a UID. I didn't get mine until the mod system came in, then lost the password and got a slightly higer UID a year or two later.
        • by Flammon ( 4726 )

          Actually, I waited a couple of weeks after it launched too. I had been reading Rob's Chips & Dips religiously and knew months before that it would become Slashdot. My UID really should be -42 or something.

          • by dbIII ( 701233 )
            I was one of the many people following his Enlightenment stuff (ePlus and the themes) - probably just as well I didn't sign up for a low ID because it would have been annoying to lose that instead of the higher number :)
      • by Nite_Hawk ( 1304 )

        Everyone, please note that a slashdotter with a 4 digit UID likes GNOME 3.

        Hey bashers, take note! :-)

        Wow, that's almost as good as having Linus's endorsement!

      • may that happen because he has a fullscreen terminal window opened by xinit and not much else? :D

    • by celle ( 906675 )

      "I haven't this happy with my desktop since I ran a very customized AfterStep about 10 years ago."

      Get a rope. Don't forget the gall and spikes and do this crucifixion up right. /humor

      PS. Robes and torches optional.

  • If you wanna try out without waiting for official distribution releases like Ubuntu Linux 11.10 (with apt-get install gnome-shell) and Fedora 16 (full GNOME 3 desktop by default), try Fedora 16 Desktop Live CD nightly builds from here: http://alt.fedoraproject.org/pub/alt/nightly-composes/ [fedoraproject.org] (As currently available alpha is way behind in fixed bugs sense). Drop it on Flash USB and you are set. You can even install it on hard drive if you like what you see. Click on 'Desktop' Spin and use ISO file from Output.

  • Gnome's been great to me. If it hadn't sucked so badly, I wouldn't have given up on Linux desktops after 13 years of trying and gotten a Mac. Thanks!

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