Ubuntu To Consider Ridding GNOME Fallback Code

[phoronix]

Phoronix: Ubuntu To Consider Ridding GNOME Fallback Code

Later this month in Copenhagen at the developer summit for Ubuntu 13.04, getting rid of the GNOME fallback code is a likely discussion item...

http://www.phoronix.com/vr.php?view=MTIwNTI

[droidhacker]

Ubuntu and gnome... two systems both known for doing STUPID CRAP.
DO NOT drop fallback mode, AT LEAST until all GPU's on ALL systems actually are able to run the GL-junk.

Just because it CAN run on llvmpipe does NOT mean that it SHOULD. llvmpipe is SEVERE and UNWARRANTED overhead on systems that are already barely able to keep up.

[lgstoian]

Didn't I tell you they'll try to fuck us? Gnome fallback was the only usable gnome desktop after the gnome 3 shit. Now they want to take it away from us!!! Unity is shit I don't even consider using it. KDE too bloated and slow. Right now I use xfce but I feel my options are getting artificially reduced. Assholes....Idiots....

You haven't tested KDE lately , have you ? And I actually mean test it yourself on your own hardware and not just repeat what you heard was the experience of some other guy on the internet. Kde 4.9 has become very stable , mature and surprisingly light. If you try doing the following tweaks : Turns off compositing by default , Reduces the number of Krunner plugins loaded by default , Reduce the amount of effects used in the window decoration , Disables the automatic loading of various system modules ? such as the free space notifier, Nepomuk services ( or if you try kubuntu install the low fat package ) , you will get less or the same amount of RAM and CPU usage as XFCE while having a more mature DE. Even with no tweaks kde 4.9 ,for me, uses the same resources as GNOME 2. I know everyone is still pissed over the hole KDE 4 fiasco ... but maybe it's time to let go of the anger and move on. Give KDE 4.9 a spin.

[thefirstm]

I don't really find KDE to be all that bad as long as you disable or remove unneeded things like Neposuk (err, Nepomuk). It does take longer to start than other DEs, but I think that is worth it to have better configurability and usability.

[Tuxee]

Didn't I tell you they'll try to fuck us? Gnome fallback was the only usable gnome desktop after the gnome 3 shit. Now they want to take it away from us!!! Unity is shit I don't even consider using it. KDE too bloated and slow. Right now I use xfce but I feel my options are getting artificially reduced. Assholes....Idiots....

I'm pretty sure developers welcome your well-balanced criticism.

[Larian]

I can honestly say boo to this. I've been running Gnome as a DE for as long as as I've used Linux, and I spazzed a bit when Ubuntu 12.04 came along. That is, before I figured out the fallback mode was there.

I intend to stick to the LTR here as its supposed to be supported for five years, which I assume means I won't be forced to change my entire workflow or learn a new desktop environment. And that's what this is really all about. Taking an Apple-like "here, this is the new, better way to do things and you're going to start doing it now" methodology rubs people the wrong way. There is a reason people want to stick with classic Gnome. And all else notwithstanding, "I prefer GNOME" is all the reason anyone needs.

Personally, I'd love to be able to install GNOME 2.X as a DE if I could. But somebody somewhere decided that I shouldn't be able to do that anymore. Enter MATE. And Cinnamon. And a few other similar projects, I'm sure.

So please, don't lock out the way your users like to do their work. Give us what we want, not what you want us to want.

[Jecos]

I was pissed when Ubuntu dropped Gnome 2 in favor of some half-baked unity desktop.

They are trying to be imitate apple's desktop from the looks of the window manager.. and it's worse than OSX.

I understood and hated the gnome developers taking features away. But what Ubuntu did was much worse.
They go and pull the rug out from under everyone and expect the users to learn this new flaky desktop environment that has less functionality and fewer options than Gnome had.

[garegin]

you want gnome 2, use centos. rhel 7 is gonna come out in 2013, by then gnome 3 may not blow chunks anymore.

[grotgrot]

I have no particular problem with Gnome Shell, except that like Unity it is unusable when you have lots of windows open. I always have many terminals, editors, browsers etc open (across two large screens) and a taskbar like interface has been by far the least worst way of dealing with those. Gnome 3 has sporadically had a taskbar as an extension but by design they break on every Gnome update, or they are missing functionality (eg drag and drop reordering of icons).

[finalzone]

I don't know about Unity which I consider it a mess source code wise but Gnome Shell is extensible.
I frankly do not understand the hate of Gnome Shell given the fact users can customize it to look like Gnome 2 or Cinnamon.
About the breaking of extension ABI, how about following Mozilla example by tracking the change through git?

Concerning Ubuntu, that considering Ridding GNOME Fallback Code only highlighted Canonical struggle to keep their
own consistency.