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Odipides
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Sob!

Post by Odipides »

Sorry, it's no use, I've tried but I just can't hack it with Gnome3. Had it installed for two weeks now and I've tried to like it but, sob, it's awful. I'm sure I'll get a load of hate mail as the result of this post and cries of 'RTFM' etc but that doesn't make me wrong.

One of the reasons I recommend open source, (community developed) software is that it usually only changes when there's a useful improvement. This is in contrast to proprietary apps that change whenever the company wants to cash in on a new version (exhibit 'A' being Adobe Photoshop CS<n> with its yearly addition of a new menu item and a $600 bill). Unfortunately, Gnome3 seems (so far) to be a step backwards.

I use my PC as a tool; I'm not interested in being a 'Linux Guru', I just use it to do my work. If I have to spend a fortune on courses and read tomes of spurious 'for dummies' books, I might as well use a Mac.

One of the things that used to recommend Gnome 2 was everything was easy not to mention intuitive. Sure, like everyone, there were a couple of times you think 'now how the hell do I do that' but it was the exception rather than the rule. Now all the normal, simple functions one associates with a desktop manager are weird. I used to love being able to right click on a menu entry to add to desktop; now I don't even know HOW to add something to the desktop without writing a bash script. I haven't the faintest clue how to put an app on a panel. When I first installed Mint 12, I couldn't even edit the menus because alacarte isn't installed as standard. As it stands, Gnome3 seems close to useful but not close enough for it to be usable yet. And, yes, I've tried 'Mate' but it made all the screens look 'clunky' and seemed to screw all the fonts up; not nice.

And to think I used to believe releasing stuff before it's really ready was the province of M$. Unfortunately, this sort of thing plays right into the hands of the 'total cost of ownership' brigade

P.S. Is it easy to install KDE as an alternate or will I have to read a pile of telephone directory sized references?
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xenopeek
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Re: Sob!

Post by xenopeek »

Moved here by moderator

Which version of Linux Mint are you using? I guess you still have Linux Mint 12, and not the just released Linux Mint 13. You need not suffer Gnome 3 on Linux Mint 12 :D At the login screen, click the little gearwheel icon in the top right of the login box. Select MATE. MATE is the continuation of Gnome 2, you should be right at home :wink: Though perhaps worth upgrading to Linux Mint 13 MATE, http://www.linuxmint.com/download.php, as that brings improvements over Linux Mint 12 and is a long-term support release, with support till April 2017.

Alternatively, on Linux Mint 12 open the Software Manager and search for Cinnamon. Install it. Then again at the login screen, select to run Cinnamon. Cinnamon is the new desktop being developed by the Linux Mint developers. Though it runs on the modern technology offered by Gnome 3, it looks and behaves more like the "classic desktop paradigm" as offered also on Gnome 2 / MATE.

Here is the announcement of both Linux Mint 13 MATE and Linux Mint 13 Cinnamon for some comparison: http://blog.linuxmint.com/?p=2031
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Odipides
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Re: Sob!

Post by Odipides »

Yes, Mint 12. I've tried Mate but it still left a bit to be desired. That said, I've just hit the button on "sudo apt-get install kde-full"

Been meaning to move over to KDE for a while now but always resisted because Gnome (v2 anyway) was so nice to use.

I'll definitely upgrade to version 13 though. Any idea if there are any application casualties as the result of the upgrade?
altair4
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Re: Sob!

Post by altair4 »

One of the reasons I recommend open source, (community developed) software is that it usually only changes when there's a useful improvement.
Linux is not regarded as or treated as a "product" that "ships". It's treated as an ongoing software development project and at any given moment in time a distribution will release a snapshot of that development process.

The Gnome High Command decided that Gnome2 should be scrapped and replaced with Gnome3. In the process the desktop paradigm changed a bit but also some of the function was removed so for example Nautilus doesn't have quite the same ability it had before, the printers utility doesn't do much of anything, and "users and groups" was replaced with "user accounts" eliminating the ability to graphically alter a users group membership. Ubuntu's reaction to Gnome3 was to extend the paradigm shift and they created Unity. Mint's reaction was to create Cinnamon.

The same thing happened with KDE. When KDE3 was replaced with KDE4 many thought it looked an awful lot like Hannah Montana Linux ( http://hannahmontana.sourceforge.net/ ). Some of those people moved to Gnome. And now some of those people have moved to XFCE.
Please add a [SOLVED] at the end of your original subject header if your question has been answered and solved.
isaach

Re: Sob!

Post by isaach »

I recently installed Linux Mint 13 MATE after keeping Ubuntu 10.10 past the end of support and I am very happy with it (I didn't like what I saw of the direction Ubuntu was taking with desktop UI, have an older PC, and like Linus Torvald think XFCE is a step down from Gnome 2). I don't see any significant different between MATE in Maya and Gnome 2. I didn't like the default theme, but that's easy to fix: I just installed the Ambiance debs from Ubuntu 10.04 (my favorite version of the Ambiance theme), set them not to update and am thouroughly satisfied. I'd suggest giving MATE another try once you upgrade to Mint 13.
Odipides
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Re: Sob! - All is forgiven

Post by Odipides »

Scraped the drive and installed Mint 13 (Cinnamon). All the functionality which disappeared in version 12 (with Classic Gnome 3) is back again with improvements. Excellent interface now that leaves that godawful Unity desktop manager standing.

So, anyone struggling with basic Gnome 3 and Mint 12 I heartily recommend you bite the bullet and follow Vincent's advice to upgrade to Cinnamon & v13. Well worth the effort. Congrats and applause to the Cinnamon developers - great job!!

:D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D

P.S. Tried KDE (after +/-500MB download) and wasn't very impressed (it also nerfed Synaptic Package Manager and obliterated half my menus - the former probably due to the activation of the accessibility options but I didn't bother to investigate - just scraped and reinstalled).
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