GNOME 44 Released

"9to5Linux.com reports that the GNOME 44 desktop environment is officially released and gives a detailed look at the major new features and improvements," writes Slashdot reader prisoninmate. From the report: Code-named "Kuala Lumpur" in recognition of the work done by the organizers of GNOME.Asia Summit 2022 conference, GNOME 44 introduces a GTK4 port of the Epihaphy (GNOME Web) web browser, a file chooser grid view for apps that use the standard GTK file chooser, as well as support for adding a WireGuard VPN directly from the Network panel. GNOME 44 continues to improve the Quick Settings feature introduced in GNOME 43 by implementing a submenu to the Bluetooth button to more easily and quickly connect or disconnect peripherals, adding descriptions to buttons to easily see their status, and implementing a new feature called Background Apps via a new background monitoring service in XDG portals 1.16.0." A full list of changes are available in the official release notes. The GNOME project also published a launch video on YouTube.

KDE For The Win!

[zenlessyank]

Keep trying Gnome!

Re:KDE For The Win!

[innocent_white_lamb]

Sadly they did have a very usable desktop at one point. It was called Gnome 2.

(And it lives on today as the Mate Desktop while the Gnome folks still wander around in some kind of a cloud...)

Re:KDE For The Win!

[sjames]

This. When I saw Gnome3, I promptly switched to Xfce.

Gnome fell hard down the everything is now a tablet rabbit hole and never climbed back out.

My PC is definitely not a tablet.

Re:KDE For The Win!

[techno-vampire]

You aren't the only one to move to Xfce. I did too both because of the bloat and the need for third-party extensions. What I can't understand is why so many people put up with a DE that's so user-hostile.

Re:

[KiloByte]

I'm on XFCE too, but alas, it relies on GTK which is on a rapid treadmill to hell.

Re:

[AmiMoJo]

The power of defaults. A lot of new Linux users start with Ubuntu. It might be shitty but it gets the job done of launching apps, and they probably only need to load a browser and a terminal.

Might also be lack of exposure to anything better. Windows starting going tablet-like with 8, and Windows 11 is basically the same bullshit as Gnome for launching apps. Windows before 8 wasn't exactly great either. Unlike us they don't remember the superior UIs of the 90s and late 80s.

Re:

[sjames]

User choice is a great advantage to Linux. When Windows 8 came out, users were mostly stuck with it though IIRC there was an add on that bolted a start menu back on.

When Gnome pulled a similar UI screw-up, users were free to pick something else.

Re:

[whoever57]

I moved to MATE.

The madness is spreading beyond Gnome. Recent version of TigerVNC appear to require Gnome 3.

Re:KDE For The Win!

[markdavis]

I was using KDE even when there was Gnome 2 because it was so much better, even back then. But at least Gnome 2 was usable. Gnome 3 was a true abomination. They STILL haven't recovered usability back. Year after year of people still trying to force it to just be more like it was.

Meanwhile, I can switch between XFCE, KDE/Plasma, and Cinnamon and be happy in any of them.

I don't want maximized windows
I don't want hidden scrollbars
I don't want menus that slide in and out
I don't want hamburger menus
I don't want "clean"
I don't want an "activity view"
I don't want useless animations that slow things down
I could go on, but you get the idea

Re:

[sremick]

I keep checking KDE but there's just something... off... about KDE to my eyes. Something a bit too garish. A bit too inconsistent... a lot of work to make each component some slick 1990s-style shiny gradient without effort for an overall polish and consistency. I can't quite put my finger on it, but it's been there for more years than I can remember.

XFCE user here. I use to be a Gnome fan.

Re:

[airport76]

I can't quite put my finger on it

I can. Too many lines. The toolkit likes to put borders and lines everywhere. It makes apps look busy and complex for no reason. Also, inconsistent spacing. And it used to crash from time to time (I haven't tried in a few years, so it may not be the case anymore).

XFCE just works great, swiftly, and is very customisable. Replace the default panels with Plank, and it is pure bliss.

Re:

[DrXym]

KDE has always had that kitchen sink mentality - throw in everything that Windows has and even more on top. It ends up being a cluttered, unintuitive mess of toolbars, menus, dialogs, tabs, more dialogs. Quantity over quality.

Re: KDE For The Win!

[Anonymouse Cowtard]

Kubuntu 22.04 here. So I moved to Plasma 5.27 via the backports ppa to fix a fan always on bug. 5.27.2 praise the Lord. Then they go and reintroduce the bug in 5.27.3. Stupid cunts.

Re:

[JamesTRexx]

KDE is indeed better, but then years ago I tried fluxbox.

For me, nothing beats a completely empty desktop apart from a little digital clock in the corner, and one key combination to bring up the application menu.
Working distraction free is so very satisfying, I even turned off window borders by default and the only bling is transparent background windows.

Re:

[ronaldo1]

I do my computing on a desktop, I dont need a "toy" os or touch desktop. I use a mouse and keyboard. I prefer an desktop with windows, buttons, and menus.

Re:

[thecombatwombat]

Does your desktop have a terminal?

This is what I don't get about most of the GNOME haters who are all, I'm a professional blah blah it's not unixy enough for my power user self etc.

I really like GNOME for the last few years, it gets the hell out of my way and is really navigable from the keyboard. That's really all I need, all the complicated stuff happens in the terminal.

Gnome just needs to die

[lsllll]

It fills a niche market for touch devices. While I like eye candy for a little while, functionality trumps all else. XFCE4 just keeps on ticking and doesn't try to reinvent its interface. It's mature, has many addons, and very stable.

Re:

[blinky]

Eye candy is overrated, unless it's Rihanna, Jenna Ortega etc...

Functionality is golden (e.g. Yes I want to fucking print this page, I would'nt have pressed print otherwise! stop fucking asking me and get on with it!)

GNOME is fine

[Stephen Chadfield]

GNOME is fine. It is a good option for Linux users who want to use their systems to get some work done instead of messing around changing configuration settings.

I run GNOME on Debian stable and developed a shogi analysis GUI: https://github.com/schadfield/... [github.com].

I wonder how productive those people are who are endlessly distro hopping and ricing their desktops?

Re:

[drinkypoo]

GNOME is bad. It's marginally okay for people who don't know anything, although frankly it has some weird decisions that will affect them too where things don't work like you expect and you can't change them without installing an addon. And that's why it's bad, it's oversimplified.

KDE used to have too many options, they finally got it right while GNOME has too few. There's no reason not to let users configure their interface. That is the Apple way, not the Unix way. That ugly AF drawer thing aside, you coul

Re:GNOME is fine

[greytree]

"And that's why it's bad, it's oversimplified."

Amen to that.

The disappearing scrollbars in Gnome should be in UI design textbooks as the perfect example of how simplifying things too far makes them much harder for ( technical and non-technical ) people to use.

Re:

[Fly Swatter]

Disappearing scrollbars is absolutely stupid. It is not simple at all. It takes work to stay on the thing, the usefulness of glancing to know how big the view area is in relation to the entire scroll area is lost. And who's stupid idea was it for the primary button to jump the scrollbar directly to where you clicked? That flies in the face of established behavior going on multiple decades.

Rant over, GNOME 4 made me jump ship. Maybe they fixed it by now?

XFCE!

I do not get KDE/GNONE

[jmccue]

As a UN*X workstation user for a very long time, I still do not get the point of using "desktop" environments.

I have tried them and forced to use GNOME 3 on RHEL 8.x at work. They are OK, but they do *not* add anything that fvwm (or other WMs) do not already have. I find fvwm meets all my needs, and it can be configured to do anything.

Dreading the day Wayland becomes required for Linux, but at least for a while afterwards I can use fvwm and friends on the BSDs.

Re:

[blinky]

Well said and so true, both "desktop env" and especially Wayland. FVWM (someone please bring OLVWM). Finally can someone kill Client-side decoration (CSD). The Window manager does much job better of doing max/min buttons and benhaviour than every app trying to do it.

Re:

[jmccue]

I miss olvwm too :) That was my goto along with the applications that came with openview. I know there is a port of it, but it only works on 32 bit systems. Since I am on a 64 bit (no multilib) I never looked into it.

"Epihaphy". FFS

[greytree]

I spotted that within 5 seconds of opening the page.

It's not MY job.

It is YOUR job, Beau.

You must be so proud.

And was there any rejoicing?

[RUs1729]

At least Gnome is contributing to keeping Linux insignificant in the desktop, which is a win for those of us who use a different desktop paradigm under Linux: the bad guys will not devote much effort to attack us.