Re: A call to drop gnome
On Tue, 16 Apr 2019, Keith Bainbridge wrote:
> Date: Tue, 16 Apr 2019 02:54:02
> From: Keith Bainbridge <ke1th3216@gmail.com>
> To: debian-user@lists.debian.org
> Subject: A call to drop gnome
> Resent-Date: Tue, 16 Apr 2019 07:12:08 +0000 (UTC)
> Resent-From: debian-user@lists.debian.org
>
> Good afternoon
>
>
> I've copied 2 bits from the discussion on synaptic and adding my 2 bobs' worth
> towards the next review of whether gnome remains the default desktop.
>
>
>
> On 15/4/19 9:31 pm, tomas@tuxteam.de wrote:> Because GNOME. GNOME's upstream
> said their word loud and clear, and that
> > word is - 'thou shall use Wayland for it is our favorite toy now'.
>
>
>
> On 16/4/19 12:23 am, Jonathan Dowland wrote:>
> > The decision to ship GNOME as the default desktop is regularly
> > revisited: And
> > if a future GNOME release dropped X support altogether, you can be sure
> > that
> > would be a factor in the re-evaluation that would follow.
>
>
> I've never been a fan of gnome, and I can only say that in the beginning it
> was simply because I didn't yet know about themes etc. I settled for KDE, in
> the 1990's. I now know that it was the slowest of all, but I found my way
> around easiest.
>
> I changed desktops several times over the years, settling on Mate since about
> 2014.
>
> I'm always looking for a better way, so gave gnome a run. It lasted until I
> found that I am not meant to be able to put the tool-bar where I like it. It
> is possible, but........... Smacks of os/x desktop; some flexibility, but
> not everything is changeable. (Gore, even MS allows me to move the tool-bar.)
>
> Now Tomas quips about gnome is insisting that we like a new video process,
> just because the team have decided to like it lots.
>
> I say this is NOT freedom.
>
> Of course new users accept the defaults on a fresh install - I guess that like
> me 20 years ago, they presume the defaults will work best.
>
>
> So, I am asking that gnome be dropped as an installation option (not just as
> the default desktop) until they encourage freedom. Will I ever try it again
> when it is a truly free? Probably - in the name of looking for a better way.
> Never know - there maybe something that changes my computing life totally.
>
>
> By the bye, it's 16:52, and Autumn in my back yard. There are leaves all over
> our footpaths.
>
>
>
--
Wayland if what I read on debian-accessibility list is correct has
unsolved screen reader accessibility problems. Since I came into Linux
mostly using the command line such a switch would have a limited impact
since when I do use any part of the graphical user interface environment
it's to do things the command line environment can't. I have X with mate
running on this machine now and a case in point came up yesterday.
Logging into youtube-viewer has to be done with a graphical browser since
the command line alternatives do not do javascript. Now the log in url
google requires is over 200 characters long which is no picnic typing.
So with the help of others on the blinux-list I came up with a set of
instructions to get this done. For me, only possible since X works as
well as it now does. So unless or until Wayland gets its accessibility
act cleaned up, removal of X will not be a minor event for me and others
in the screen reader accessibility user community. Linux is getting more
and more like Microsoft in this respect. Those who used to use MSdos 6.22
and remember what happened afterwards with MSDOS 7.0 with Microsoft and
how Microsoft mishandled that know what I'm talking about here. Earlier
much in Linux was based on real choices users could make now Linus
Torvalds is arguing for standardization of the linux desktop. Earlier I
worked for the Navy before NMCI came into existence and that was back in
the day when depending on what base you called home you'd likely be
running different software and different operating systems. That
non-standardization from a security perspective probably made it more
difficult for the malware writers to do their work. With NMCI and what
NMCI emanated it's either a specific version of windows or Linux for the
really important equipment system-wide.
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