Gnome 3 -The switch!

[viking60]

Well time for a status here then.
Gnome3-shell is not finished - as I have said a lot of times. The extensions forced back some flexibility into gnome-shell but they are a nightmare to handle.
After having installed them with the package manager for a while Gnome comes up with this site:
https://extensions.gnome.org/
Oh nice we do not need the package manager then we can do it directly from the site. That even worked - once or twice. And then it stopped.
As the sites states - it is Alpha. And so is gnome3-shell.
Now the hopes are out for gnome 3.4 because rumor has it that the gnome guys have realized that the gnome shell is not flexible and that they cannot dictate how we should use it.
For this they got a lot of "help" from Linus Torvalds himself. And he knows what he is talking about.
In Gnome3.4 the flexibility will be integrated in Gnome-shell again if I read this right.
The success of Mint with a lot of extensions to bring back the gnome2 look and feel might have helped a bit too.
Gnome3 has potential - if they keep having it for 10 years then they are a failure. Nobody can stay promissing and tallented for 20 years
So 3.4 it is then.... I can't wait.

[dedanna1029]

Now the hopes are out for gnome 3.4 because rumor has it that the gnome guys have realized that the gnome shell is not flexible and that they cannot dictate how we should use it.

You mean dictate if we should (I hope)?

[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!

I don't understand. The menu, I get by default on installation of Linux Mint 12. No need to install anything. What's Arch's problem? And, I have both taskbars, top and bottom, just had to add a second one is all.
What I do want, is arrows on the taskbars to hide them with, and arrows on scrollbars, and to be rid completely of Adwaita (evidently Adwaita has to be used to get those scroll bars? What b.s.). Also, the colorful and nicely-shaped Esco window title bars to work again.

[dedanna1029]

What I do want, is arrows on the taskbars to hide them with, and arrows on scrollbars, and to be rid completely of Adwaita (evidently Adwaita has to be used to get those scroll bars? What b.s.). Also, the colorful and nicely-shaped Esco window title bars to work again.

Someone is a total genius. I went on a search on where to extract themes like from gnome-look to in Linux Mint (as there is no ~/.themes folder in Mint), and came across this.

I have my Esco windows back, totally, with color, all kinds of things are beginning to happen. Still have a lot to go through on that, but that is a wonderful Gnome 3 how-to page.

Here's the baby that FINALLY made me (somewhat, slightly) happy with Gnome 3:

Code: Select all

dedanna@dedanna ~ $ gconftool-2 -s -t string /desktop/gnome/shell/windows/button_layout "menu:minimize,maximize,close"
dedanna@dedanna ~ $

Then, Alt+F2, r

[viking60]

Yeah as we have done here - a while ago:
viewtopic.php?f=11&t=1298&start=60#p9043

[dedanna1029]

That has a few things though that I don't think we even had. Not 100% on it, but I'm glad there's a page that has it all so that I don't have to wade through a bunch of stuff to find it - it's all together right there.

The only issue I'm having right now is that I can't find gnome-shell-extension-weather for Linux Mint. It's not in the repos, and not at that page they said.
Never mind, found it.

[viking60]

I am loosing my patience with Gnome 3 here. I just got the Gnome 3.4 update and rebooted and got the famous "Oh no something went wrong" message.
I am getting tired of being a Gnome guineapig.
I am not sure what to do about it right now...
Edit:
It turns out that Gnome-shell 3.4 will not start without the networkmanager daemon running. The reason I was not using it in the first place is that it freezes my system completely when using wireless.
So this is double trouble
Edit

Code: Select all

# cd /usr/share/gnome-shell/js/ui/status
# mv network.js network.js.disabled

This fixed it for me - not very elegant but it works again on that networkmanager sensitive lap.
https://bugs.archlinux.org/task/29222
_________________
All the extensions are gone and so are all the themes. The improvments in Gnome3.4 are far less then what I had accomplished with the extensions in 3.3 even that stupid System menu where you have to hit ALT to find the turn off key is back.
So the Gnome guys have forced us back to their twisted way of thinking - and removed flexibility once again.
I have no doubt that new extensions will come, but it is tiresome to start from scratch every time.
...
I could reinstall the extensions from https://extensions.gnome.org/ so I am back to the old status now

[viking60]

Ok time then to check out the improvements.
Overall look and feel is the same.
I have been annoyed that I could not use nautilus with SSH so I guess they must have fixed that by now?
No! It still does not work. So this is one bug they missed (it works in KDE)
The search is good as it has been all the time so it is hard to tell the difference.
Smooth scrolling? Well they say it has become smoother so it must be true - I cannot tell the difference.
So far the only difference is a lot of grief during installation.
Systemsettings from the main menu do not start - must be a bug.
Checking further....
System Settings do not work! But this workarround takes care of it:

Code: Select all

MALLOC_CHECK_=1 gnome-control-center

I am still working around bugs here.....
Screenshots do not work so I had to install:

Code: Select all

xdg-user-dirs-gtk

For later editing
For now the gui screenshot only works with:

Code: Select all

gnome-screenshot --interactive

The Gnome Guys have decided that all the screenshots should be saved to the picture directory without your intervention.
Yet another example of the lack of flexibility.
I just do not like the mentality behind this, so even if I can tweak my way around it I am very unsure if it is worth supporting a group advocating this mentality.
I think KDE just got a bit more popular in my book....again.

[viking60]

I feel a Linus Torvalds quote coming up:

I'm sure there are other ways, but that's just an example of the kind of "head up the arse" behavior of gnome3. Seriously. I have been asking other developers about gnome3, they all think it's crazy.

At the moment this expresses my state of mind.

Anyway to get back the screenshot function like it was I had to:
Open the system preferences. Click Keyboard. Click shortcuts tab. Click custom shortcuts. Click the plus sign. Give a name. Enter the command gnome-screenshot --interactive. Apply. Click where it says "disabled" to assign a new accelerator. Press Print Scrn key on keyboard. Accept the warning and let it reassign.

Yup it is that easy to get back the functionality they had taken away

[dedanna1029]

I'm mighty glad I have this in System Settings in Linux Mint. Works a charm.

[viking60]

It all works like a charm until you update to Gnome3.4 .
In Mint I think you can punch

Code: Select all

gnome-shell --version

to find out.

[dedanna1029]

Not there yet.

Code: Select all

.:[ dedanna@dedanna : 21:07:43 : ~ ]:.
:) gnome-shell --version
GNOME Shell 3.2.2.1
.:[ dedanna@dedanna : 21:07:49 : ~ ]:.
:)

I think though, that because of the Cinnamon project and Mate, even when there's an upgrade, it will still be here in System Settings.

Also, unlike other distros, Mint came with gnome-tweak-tool and a couple other things like that on default install, rather than having to download them later.

They honestly are quite unsupportive of Gnome 3. The only reason they have it, is to give the users choice.