GNOME 3.28 Is Being Released This Next Week With Many Features & Improvements

[Vistaus]

Don't agree with you. Gnome 3 tends to break anything that is not in core and stability of extensions is questionable. Just like system tray, it should be a core feature. If it is against philosophy then as an option disabled by default.

But the desktop icons code has been deprecated and unmaintained for years. So even if they were to keep the code and disable the feature by default, then someone has to at least fix and update the code. Maybe you should offer to do that.

[Stoatally]

Of course people are making a fuss about it. GNOME 3 is not for desktops but touch screens so desktop icons don't belong.

(hint to all readers: don't take this post too seriously)

The number of times I've heard this said seriously. It really bothers me that people feel the need to be completely toxic about software they don't even use. Sometimes they're "just trolling" which is another way of saying "I'm being a massive dick".

[srakitnican]

But the desktop icons code has been deprecated and unmaintained for years. So even if they were to keep the code and disable the feature by default, then someone has to at least fix and update the code. Maybe you should offer to do that.

I don't do programming, sorry and I think this is not the issue here, the issue is in the design. Even if someone could come up with something like this it wouldn't be accepted anyway, probably.

Personally I've learned to live without desktop icons, but occasionally I miss the desktop ability to accept temporary files when unpacking something in a rush. Most users coming from more popular OSes expect that functionality and the first impact with Linux will be a Gnome without this possibility, because of that I expect 70% rejecting Linux immediately because of that. Having half baked display server enabled by default in Gnome surely doesn't help Linux ecosystem. e.g. input lag and missing functionality (like a remote desktop to help those new users :facepalm as major ones.

Now with system tray there is no other solution then to implement it in core in my opinion. After reading long reddit thread this is the only option. Gnome is doing something unusual that 97% (speculated) of application developers are not used to. By just removing that functionality entirely and hoping for everyone to adapt is a little bit naive to say the least. And it seems that their way of doing things currently can't even replace system tray entirely.

[srakitnican]

We're talking about a first party extension that'll be delivered as a default part of the installation and only needs to be turned on. I'm not really sure why you think non-core parts of GNOME should be supported just for your particular use case, but in this case they are literally making the effort and you're still damning them for it.

The system tray is in fact entirely different, as it was core functionality, however when better alternatives exist it's not surprising that they'd want to be rid of their clunky implementation. I also wish they had turned this into a first-party extension, but doing so would be essentially forking Ubuntu code and you can be sure that'd start a flame war. It's up to Ubuntu to work with GNOME in order to do it, so it may still happen.

The opportunity for outrage vanishes the moment you spend more than 30 seconds looking into these things.

I have a bad experience with extensions, that is a big no no, especially for something that should be implemented in core.
* Crashing
* Breaking with new Gnome releases

[Stoatally]

I have a bad experience with extensions, that is a big no no, especially for something that should be implemented in core.
* Crashing
* Breaking with new Gnome releases

Neither of these points will apply to this extension, it's not going to crash any more than if it was implemented in core and it's going to be distributed as part of GNOME. Honestly it just sounds like you're grasping for reasons to be angry.

[Stoatally]

Personally I've learned to live without desktop icons, but occasionally I miss the desktop ability to accept temporary files when unpacking something in a rush. Most users coming from more popular OSes expect that functionality and the first impact with Linux will be a Gnome without this possibility, because of that I expect 70% rejecting Linux immediately because of that. Having half baked display server enabled by default in Gnome surely doesn't help Linux ecosystem. e.g. input lag and missing functionality (like a remote desktop to help those new users :facepalm as major ones.

This is what I use the Downloads folder for. I mean everything temporary seems to end up there anyway, putting it on the desktop isn't more convenient, especially as there's only a fixed amount of space available for icons on the desktop.

Now with system tray there is no other solution then to implement it in core in my opinion. After reading long reddit thread this is the only option. Gnome is doing something unusual that 97% (speculated) of application developers are not used to. By just removing that functionality entirely and hoping for everyone to adapt is a little bit naive to say the least. And it seems that their way of doing things currently can't even replace system tray entirely.

In my opinion applications abuse the system tray way too much, especially on Windows. It's a terrible concept and it was a terrible implementation. I used to immediately uninstall software that minimised to the system tray when clicking on the "Close" button and I still disable it everywhere I can. But now we at least have an alternative that works well and is supported by most software and integrates much better into the shell. Even Steam supports AppIndicator.

[srakitnican]

No, I am just being realistic. I haven't tried extensions linked, but just look at users review. Official extensions that Gnome team recommended didn't work BTW when they've removed the system tray. After years of half-baked system tray they've just removed it without any other option, what makes you think they will not do it again. I am just tired of design decisions.

There is no remote desktop in by default in Gnome. Input lag are facts. No hard feelings, but it just doesn't work.

[Stoatally]

No, I am just being realistic. I haven't tried extensions linked, but just look at users review. Official extensions that Gnome team recommended didn't work BTW when they've removed the system tray. After years of half-baked system tray they've just removed it without any other option, what makes you think they will not do it again. I am just tired of design decisions.

Except for the options we've discussed. Here's one more extension that implements a system tray. Of course if you're going to reject anything because it's an extension then there's really no helping you.

There is no remote desktop in by default in Gnome. Input lag are facts.

What does that have to do with any of this?

No hard feelings, but it just doesn't work.

What doesn't work? GNOME? Then why do you use it?

[jacob]

GNOME Usage isn't ready for prime time yet either as it's not even half finished, yet it's available in Ubuntu 18.04 anyway. So if they include barely finished apps, then I see no issue shipping a half-finished extension.

There is a big difference between an app that 20% of the users will use once a month and the 80% won't ever use at all, and an extension that would be an integral part of everyone's daily usage. Don't you think?

[Mez']

Don't agree with you. Gnome 3 tends to break anything that is not in core and stability of extensions is questionable. Just like system tray, it should be a core feature. If it is against philosophy then as an option disabled by default.

When someone basically states that different opinions from his own are uninformed idiots, we shouldn't bother much.

There are so many reasons why it's bad to have such a normal, standard, trivial feature completely deprecated and hidden in an extension that will be lost amongst the terrible website for gnome extensions. If they don't know what they're looking for in that horrible mess, they will never find it.

I'm not using these icons as I don't like clutter on my background. Also, I understand that it hasn't been maintained. Still, I think most newcomers will be disoriented by this and thus it's the wrong move with regard to common features. It's just a right click away in Windows (as much as I hate to admit this).

PS: Even if it ends up being a first party extension, most newcomers will not be aware of its existence or how to activate it. Better than expecting for them to find it on the extensions site though.