this post was submitted on 03 Aug 2023
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Linux is a family of open source Unix-like operating systems based on the Linux kernel, an operating system kernel first released on September 17, 1991 by Linus Torvalds. Linux is typically packaged in a Linux distribution (or distro for short).
Distributions include the Linux kernel and supporting system software and libraries, many of which are provided by the GNU Project. Many Linux distributions use the word "Linux" in their name, but the Free Software Foundation uses the name GNU/Linux to emphasize the importance of GNU software, causing some controversy.
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GNOME has some quite strict design guidelines (a "vision", if you will). And sticking to that a vision has enabled them to create a very polished DE (probably the most polished DE on Linux). What people get wrong is that GNOME wasn't really made for desktops. It was made for mobile devices (laptops, tablets, and in the future phones). Using GNOME on a "proper" mobile device really makes sense. No, that doesn't mean using a laptop connected to an external monitor all the time, or just using it at a desk all the time. It means using a laptop as a laptops, going out and about, using it without a mouse and using it with it's internal display.
I can certainly believe that. Yet, pretty much every desktop distro ships it as the default, which boggles my mind.
Well GNOME is the most polished, which means it eneded up being the most popular, which means GTK has the most apps, which makes GNOME look very polished, and the cycle repeats itself.
Also the vast majority of people use laptops, not desktops.
Why not? Plasma is much more usable out of the box for many users including myself. GNOME's out of the box experience is really lacking IMHO and requires me to install and configure several extensions just to get what I consider to be a functional UI. I know they have this vision for how they want people to use their OS, but that vision is not aligned with how I actually want to use it. The best way distros can vote against the design choices of GNOME is by making something else the default. The problem I have is that I generally prefer GNOME's app suite to KDE's, so that makes the decision a bit more complicated for me.
XFCE. Just as mature, also GTK-based, and a truly happy medium between predefined choices and customization without excessive complexity.
@thegreenguy @TCB13 yep this exactly I first used gnome on a laptop and the experience is great the gesture support makes all the workspaces and different overviews work perfectly
then I started using it on desktop and it just doesn't work the same. it feels clunky and far from as smooth.