GNOME 3 Is Soon Turning Five Years Old: How Are You Liking It?

It seems ok when vanilla. But after it is made usable with 5-10 extensions, it seems sluggish and the extensions may crash resetting their settings etc.

Gnome needs to do what microsoft did with win10: admit the fuckup and bring back the old paradigm of start menu & desktop and have shell only secondary.

It won't help much in terms of performance to go back to a start menu/taskbar setup unless they ditch javascript.
Someone also needs to clean up the cairo mess. Try running gnome-shell or nautilus through valgrind and watch the cairo issues.

[ElectricPrism]

Gnome without extensions is a miserable thing.

The thing that makes it great is the extensions. They help customize it to meet traditional user expectations.

 [COLOR=#000000][FONT=Droid Sans Mono]# Dash to Dock[/FONT][/COLOR]
  [URL="https://extensions.gnome.org/extension/307/dash-to-dock/"][COLOR=#0000FF][FONT=Droid Sans Mono][U]https://extensions.gnome.org/extension/307/dash-to-dock/[/U][/FONT][/COLOR][/URL]
    [COLOR=#000000][FONT=Droid Sans Mono]# Move System Tray / Icon Indicators to Top Right[/FONT][/COLOR]
  [URL="https://extensions.gnome.org/extension/495/topicons/"][COLOR=#1155CC][FONT=Droid Sans Mono][U][url]https://extensions.gnome.org/extension/495/topicons/[/url][/U][/FONT][/COLOR][/URL]
    [COLOR=#000000][FONT=Droid Sans Mono]# Add Clipboard[/FONT][/COLOR]
  [URL="https://extensions.gnome.org/extension/779/clipboard-indicator/"][COLOR=#1155CC][FONT=Droid Sans Mono][U][url]https://extensions.gnome.org/extension/779/clipboard-indicator/[/url][/U][/FONT][/COLOR][/URL]
    [COLOR=#000000][FONT=Droid Sans Mono]# Volume Mixer By Application[/FONT][/COLOR]
  [URL="https://extensions.gnome.org/extension/858/volume-mixer/"][COLOR=#1155CC][FONT=Droid Sans Mono][U][url]https://extensions.gnome.org/extension/858/volume-mixer/[/url][/U][/FONT][/COLOR][/URL]
    [COLOR=#000000][FONT=Droid Sans Mono]# Activities Configurer[/FONT][/COLOR]
  [COLOR=#0000FF][FONT=Droid Sans Mono]** In Gnome Tweak > Extensions > Activities Configurer[/FONT][/COLOR]
  [COLOR=#0000FF][FONT=Droid Sans Mono]** (a) Hide Activities Button[/FONT][/COLOR]
  [COLOR=#0000FF][FONT=Droid Sans Mono]** (b) Sharp Edges on Pane[/FONT][/COLOR]
  [COLOR=#0000FF][FONT=Droid Sans Mono]** (c) Disable Hot Corner **[/FONT][/COLOR]
  [URL="https://extensions.gnome.org/extension/358/activities-configurator/"][COLOR=#1155CC][FONT=Droid Sans Mono][U][url]https://extensions.gnome.org/extension/358/activities-configurator/[/url][/U][/FONT][/COLOR][/URL]
    [COLOR=#000000][FONT=Droid Sans Mono]# Native Window Placements[/FONT][/COLOR]
  [COLOR=#000000][FONT=Droid Sans Mono](Included in Gnome 3.18)[/FONT][/COLOR]
    [COLOR=#000000][FONT=Droid Sans Mono]# Alt Tab shows Screenshots & Icons[/FONT][/COLOR]
  [COLOR=#000000][FONT=Droid Sans Mono](Included in Gnome 3.18)[/FONT][/COLOR]
    [COLOR=#000000][FONT=Droid Sans Mono]# Places Extension[/FONT][/COLOR]
  [COLOR=#000000][FONT=Droid Sans Mono](Included in Gnome 3.18)[/FONT][/COLOR]
    [COLOR=#000000][FONT=Droid Sans Mono]# Panther Launcher (Slingshot Gnome)[/FONT][/COLOR]
  [COLOR=#0000FF][FONT=Droid Sans Mono]wget [/FONT][/COLOR][URL="http://www.rastersoft.com/descargas/panther_launcher/panther_launcher-1.3.0-2-x86_64.pkg.tar.xz"][COLOR=#0000FF][FONT=Droid Sans Mono][U][url]http://www.rastersoft.com/descargas/panther_launcher/panther_launcher-1.3.0-2-x86_64.pkg.tar.xz[/url][/U][/FONT][/COLOR][/URL]
 
[COLOR=#0000FF][FONT=Droid Sans Mono]sudo pacman -U [/FONT][/COLOR][URL="http://www.rastersoft.com/descargas/panther_launcher/panther_launcher-1.3.0-2-x86_64.pkg.tar.xz"][COLOR=#0000FF][FONT=Droid Sans Mono][U]panther_launcher-1.3.0-2-x86_64.pkg.tar.xz[/U][/FONT][/COLOR][/URL]

  [COLOR=#000000][FONT=Droid Sans Mono]# Battery (Laptop Only)[/FONT][/COLOR]
  [URL="https://extensions.gnome.org/extension/818/battery-percentage/"][COLOR=#1155CC][FONT=Droid Sans Mono][U][url]https://extensions.gnome.org/extension/818/battery-percentage/[/url][/U][/FONT][/COLOR][/URL]
    [COLOR=#000000][FONT=Droid Sans Mono]Other Extensions[/FONT][/COLOR]
    [COLOR=#000000][FONT=Droid Sans Mono]Search Providers[/FONT][/COLOR]
  [URL="https://extensions.gnome.org/extension/173/search-chromium-bookmarks/"][COLOR=#1155CC][FONT=Droid Sans Mono][U][url]https://extensions.gnome.org/extension/173/search-chromium-bookmarks/[/url][/U][/FONT][/COLOR][/URL]
  [URL="https://extensions.gnome.org/extension/473/remmina-search-provider/"][COLOR=#1155CC][FONT=Droid Sans Mono][U][url]https://extensions.gnome.org/extension/473/remmina-search-provider/[/url][/U][/FONT][/COLOR][/URL]
  [URL="https://extensions.gnome.org/extension/972/google-calculator/"][COLOR=#1155CC][FONT=Droid Sans Mono][U][url]https://extensions.gnome.org/extension/972/google-calculator/[/url][/U][/FONT][/COLOR][/URL]
    [COLOR=#000000][FONT=Droid Sans Mono]My Personal Aerosol[/FONT][/COLOR]
  [URL="https://extensions.gnome.org/extension/48/trash/"][COLOR=#1155CC][FONT=Droid Sans Mono][U][url]https://extensions.gnome.org/extension/48/trash/[/url][/U][/FONT][/COLOR][/URL]
  [URL="https://extensions.gnome.org/extension/977/recent-items/"][COLOR=#1155CC][FONT=Droid Sans Mono][U][url]https://extensions.gnome.org/extension/977/recent-items/[/url][/U][/FONT][/COLOR][/URL]
 [URL="https://extensions.gnome.org/extension/685/redshift/"][COLOR=#1155CC][FONT=Droid Sans Mono][U][url]https://extensions.gnome.org/extension/685/redshift/[/url][/U][/FONT][/COLOR][/URL]

Gnome needs to ... bring back the old paradigm of start menu & desktop and have shell only secondary.

This. Plasma 5 Activities are also superior to Gnome as you can add a top panel with Activities Tabs and have custom Backgrounds per Activitie and Separate Desktop Folder View per Activity.

That said, Gnome has done a lot of good and I greatly prefer the simplified presentation to the exhaustive options in Plasma 5. I want my Linux to be less complicated and relatively simple so I can focus on Web Development, Graphic Design, Gaming and Web.

[varikonniemi]

It seems ok when vanilla. But after it is made usable with 5-10 extensions, it seems sluggish and the extensions may crash resetting their settings etc.

Gnome needs to do what microsoft did with win10: admit the fuckup and bring back the old paradigm of start menu & desktop and have shell only secondary.

[Passso]

For me Gnome3 is the most intuitive, logical and beautiful Desktop EVER

My only fear is that they might ever change the philosophy because once you are used to the candy you get addicted.

I install it everywhere, from the most addicted Windows.. users to almost illiterate elder (literally!). And they ALL love it!

Thanks for the superior Gnome3 !

+1 for the irony

[BlueJayofEvil]

Lately I've been mostly using Gnome Shell on both my desktop (Antergos) and laptop (Ubuntu Gnome) and am liking it a lot more than I did in the past. I'm normally a huge KDE/Plasma fan, but I have to give Gnome credit for completeness. The Wayland support is also coming along quite nicely.
My biggest complaint is the extension system that can break between updates. It reminds me of the Firefox extension system that has similar compatibility issues when new updates are released.

[tuuker]

Gnome flashback still is fastest and system runs better and cooler when using cpu rendering only. To hell all those GPU based effects, main goal is to be easy and fast.

Totally agree. JS is just the wrong choice. Yesterday I opened the System Monitor and noticed that Gnome Shell was taking 1.7g of RESIDENT memory. That's insane. Fortunately restarting Gnome Shell is easy ALT+F2 then r and you'll get your leaked memory back.

Yes. That's what I do right now.
Sadly, it won't be possible to do so in the future under Wayland since gnome-shell will be acting as the display server and restarting it is basically killing the whole session. I hope things improve before then.

[sarmad]

Gnome-shell is however too heavy on memory. It was bad to write it in JS.

Totally agree. JS is just the wrong choice. Yesterday I opened the System Monitor and noticed that Gnome Shell was taking 1.7g of RESIDENT memory. That's insane. Fortunately restarting Gnome Shell is easy ALT+F2 then r and you'll get your leaked memory back.

Gnome 3 requires more mouse clicks to perform the same tasks as compared with Gnome 2. In other words, Gnome 3 is a regression in usability, and capability.

I use a 22 inch monitor and I find it easier to move the mouse to the top left of my screen to trigger the dashboard and switch to other applications than bend my neck downwards to a taskbar to switch between open applications.
It is a usability improvement for me.
Adwaita theme is not flat like Breeze or whatever Windows8/10 looks like. It is very pleasant.

Gnome-shell is however too heavy on memory. It was bad to write it in JS.

[Gibb]

Loved it from day one, although it was still rough around the edges then. By now, Gnome 3 has been polished up very nicely! The customization options are great, as are the featured applications.