Gnome 3 -The switch!

[dedanna1029]

For Suse and Mint and Windows fans there is a possibility to get that bottom bar back even in Gnome3 shell.

Install MGSE and activate the menu extension and bottom panel in Gnome-tweak-tool and you have it:


Of course you do not have to put the menu in the bottom panel:

You have to install gnome-shell-mgse-git from AUR in Arch to get it.
This stuff gives you back some of the good old flexibility.
Here is a video:

To add programs to the menu manually you could install alacarte (alacarte 0.13.2-6)
from AUR in Arch.

It seems to work again in Gnome 3.2


I hit <ALT>+<F2> and started alacarte and there I picked system tools and added alacarte to the menu.

Gnome3-shell just got a whole lot better!

Am still in fallback mode in Gnome. No extensions, no mutter, no gnome-shell. Seems this probably wouldn't help in that situation (other than adding "Shutdown", "Logout", etc. commands to the menu), eh?

Thanks.

[viking60]

Right! All of this will improve the shell, not the fallback mode,

[dedanna1029]

Crap.

[viking60]

Not necessarily you have a lot of flexibility in the shell now. I added the App favorite extension and got my favorites on the gnome panel like in the good ol' Gnome 2 days.
One thing that has annoyed me with Gnome3-shell though is that I could not record my desktop decently with gtk-recordmydesktop and the <CTRL>+<SHIFT>+<ALT>+R key-combo did not work.
It turns out that I needed to install gstreamer0.10-bad-plugins to make it work so finally I can show you decent videos:

[dedanna1029]

But it still starts with mutter, eh? And you have to have it do that, in order to get the rest. That's my own personal pet peeve with Gnome3 - my computer is old, my video card has issues, and I don't need all that memory hogging me on login. Yet, there are things I'd like to be able to do in fallback mode. Sux that I have to start with mutter to do them.

[viking60]

Hmm I am convinced that your HW should be able to handle Gnome3-shell. You did present some pics of it working earlier in this thread.
Maybe installing sux will help.
Seriously; do a

Code: Select all

yaourt sux

and you will see

[dedanna1029]

lol. No, it's that it's aged since, Boss. Quite a bit. I still have the screen blanking issue (it's the monitor I'm almost sure), my video card is still running really hot, and the mutter's not liking the gig of ram either. Everything's getting old on me. Also, I need to get it back online before I can do anything at all with it. At any rate, even if my HW weren't failing, I think it should still be a personal choice to do or not. They took that away.

[viking60]

Well sux is X related:

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1 aur/sux 1.0.1_6-2
    A wrapper around su which will transfer your X credentials


[dedanna1029]

Looks like I'm not the only one to think as I do about Gnome3.

[viking60]

His arguments are the same but I doubt he has been testing much. He is pissed that Gnome3 does it different than Gnome 2. And that is fair enough because we establish habits when working,
But the extensions make Gnome3 pretty flexible and can be added directly from a web page so even if he is making many valid points - he is just being conservative - like you - really.
Even Linus is coming around now
https://plus.google.com/102150693225130 ... TLyn7dqYoR
"Almost usable" is a huge compliment coming from him I agree with his criticism of Gnome 3 though. But it is getting there....
From "crap" to "almost usable" - that is a development. Next step will be from "almost usable" to "usable" And what Linus finds usable is rather great for mortals.

[viking60]

Since all Gnome users are conservative and want everything to be like Gnome2 I checked out Cinnamon
This is supposed to be the Gnome2 look and feel on Gnome3. So far it is not unlike the MSGE extension and right-click does not work on the panels.
But it is still under heavy development so it will probably come.

I installed Cinnamon from Arch AUR and and started it by entering <ALT>+<F2> and write

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cinnamon --replace

To make this permanent you can start dconf-editor and go to
org->gnome->desktop->sessions and alter the value to cinnamon
At the moment there is not much point though, but with the ambitions of the project it can become a valued asset to the Gnome2 fans.
The main difference is that the panel favorites can be right clicked so you can add your own launchers.
Many Gnome2 people miss that in Gnome 3.

[viking60]

Correction!
You can right click and add favorites on the panel in Cinnamon.
Now your good old launchers have a home again. (the icons are not working yet though).
Edit: The icons will show up correctly on the panel when added by right clicking in the meny:




(As usual; do not be alarmed by the different backgrounds - they are animated on my Gnome3 installation)