b9chompsNov 25, 2023

What Tweak, Program, ... changes a Desktop Environment from unusable to great for you?

https://beehaw.org/post/9851586

What Tweak, Program, ... changes a Desktop Environment from unusable to great for you? - Beehaw

I have used Linux on and off for 15 years. I consider myself a casual user and stuck to the mainstream DEs (mostly KDE, XFCE and some Cinnamon). Gnome has been a hurdle for me before and after the big version 40 changes, I couldn’t get my head around how they handled the workspaces and workflow. At some point I I tried out an extension hat changed all of it. Material Shell [https://extensions.gnome.org/extension/3357/material-shell/] It moves the workspaces to a vertical panel and the programs onto a horizontal panel. In a workspace you can view the programs full screen or tile them. Several Programs inside a Workspace. It’s basically they same way Gnome works. However for some reason it just makes sense in my brain. No idea why. (I’m looking at WMs that work in a similar way atm. Maybe I’ll take the plunge away from DEs at some point) Has such a small change ever saved a Desktop Environment for you and is essential if you ever install it?

Show threadd3Xt3rNov 25, 2023

Material Shell

Back when I was still on Gnome, I gave this a try and it was great - until Gnome got updated and it stopped working. And then they’d fix it, and Gnome got updated and it stopped working again. So I stopped using it because I couldn’t deal with the constant breakages. I see that they still haven’t updated it for Gnome 45, despite a bug report being opened for it over two months now. It’s exactly because of breakages like this, and extension neglect from the authors, that I’ve stopped using Gnome and switched to KDE.

KDE worked great for me out-of-the-box, so I didn’t install any third-party extensions. The only changes I’ve made is for aesthetics - moved the panel to the top, enabled a global menu and a side dock, for a more Gnome/macOS-style layout.

Material Shell not working on Gnome 45 · Issue #981 · material-shell/material-shell

Describe the bug With current release of Gnome 45 Material Shell is not starting with below error SyntaxError: import declarations may only appear at top level of a module Stack trace: @file:///usr...

GitHub
Show threadNorah (pup/it/she)Nov 26, 2023
While that issue isn’t marked as closed, this PR was marked as merged two weeks ago. I honestly feel like a 6 week turnaround on what, from my quick skimming, was a rather major change in how extensions work in Gnome 45, is pretty reasonable. I understand where you’re coming from, but this comment reeks of entitlement.
Compat for Gnome 45 by PapyElGringo · Pull Request #984 · material-shell/material-shell

This includes tons of typings update and a big refactoring of the application to be compatible with gnome 45... ⚠️ Not well tested ⚠️

GitHub
Show threadd3Xt3r
You’re thinking of just one extension, one instance. Now repeat this for EVERY single Gnome release, for pretty much all extensions (not just this one), and you can understand my frustration. Which is why I’ve left the Gnome ecosystem.
Nov 26, 2023 at 5:27amWeb
Show threadPamphletNov 26, 2023
@d3Xt3r @princessnorah I only use 5 extensions, but I’ve always used those 5 and I’ve never had any break after an update. Maybe I’m just lucky?
Show threadd3Xt3rNov 26, 2023
Or maybe you’re using a distro that updates Gnome late, which may give extension makers enough time to update?
Show threadPamphletNov 26, 2023
@d3Xt3r arch btw
Show threadd3Xt3rNov 26, 2023
Then you’re lucky I guess. I too was on Arch when I experienced the extensions breakage.