Linux Desktop Kinda Stinks. How Did We Get Here? DistroTube
video description
Date: 2022-03-30
Related videos
Comments and reviews: 10
Sok
GNOME is a sad story. they've really stagnated since their decision to go all-in on the mobile/touch on the desktop interface. it's buggy, it doesn't perform well because it's restricted to like 2 or 3GB of ram( it kinda idles there on it's own so it hangs a lot), and the interface doesn't really work on the desktop, IMO. Having bounced around all the various desktop environments since they moved in this direction... I'm finding plasma is really the most solid choice these days if you need a full-blown DE. For whatever reason XFCE never remembers my settings(which setting in the first place isn't the most pleasant experience), MATE and cinnamon are starting to get rather bloated and unresponsive. Plasma has just been a great set it and forget it experience for me of late.
reply
GNOME is a sad story. they've really stagnated since their decision to go all-in on the mobile/touch on the desktop interface. it's buggy, it doesn't perform well because it's restricted to like 2 or 3GB of ram( it kinda idles there on it's own so it hangs a lot), and the interface doesn't really work on the desktop, IMO. Having bounced around all the various desktop environments since they moved in this direction... I'm finding plasma is really the most solid choice these days if you need a full-blown DE. For whatever reason XFCE never remembers my settings(which setting in the first place isn't the most pleasant experience), MATE and cinnamon are starting to get rather bloated and unresponsive. Plasma has just been a great set it and forget it experience for me of late.
reply
Chalplec
As more and more money I mean corporations get involved in the Linux ecosystem, I figured this would happen. Linux is slowly but surely becoming commercialized. The Unix philosophy is dead. Everybody is a programmer now and wants to make the same thing that already exists but add monetization to it. I'd say in five years from now GTK themes will be monetized and distros will be locking customization features behind paywalls and there will be more and more closed source proprietary software. I have no idea why so many people switch to Linux then cry and complain that their favorite proprietary Windows games and applications don't work. Just stick to Windows and stop trying to bring all that BS to Linux.
reply
As more and more money I mean corporations get involved in the Linux ecosystem, I figured this would happen. Linux is slowly but surely becoming commercialized. The Unix philosophy is dead. Everybody is a programmer now and wants to make the same thing that already exists but add monetization to it. I'd say in five years from now GTK themes will be monetized and distros will be locking customization features behind paywalls and there will be more and more closed source proprietary software. I have no idea why so many people switch to Linux then cry and complain that their favorite proprietary Windows games and applications don't work. Just stick to Windows and stop trying to bring all that BS to Linux.
reply
David
I've been a Debian/Gnome user for a long time and I agree that Gnome 3+ is hot trash. Unfortunately I tend to stick with the noob distros because I just need to quickly deploy them to cloud services for work, so at home I use the GUI versions of the same distros because I just know them fairly well. That said, I almost exclusively use the MATE version of those distros because I can't bring myself to use the modern versions of Gnome anymore. And KDE just doesn't fit in my brain - I'd have to forget something else to scrap MATE and learn KDE, and I just don't have the time or willpower to do that right now.
reply
I've been a Debian/Gnome user for a long time and I agree that Gnome 3+ is hot trash. Unfortunately I tend to stick with the noob distros because I just need to quickly deploy them to cloud services for work, so at home I use the GUI versions of the same distros because I just know them fairly well. That said, I almost exclusively use the MATE version of those distros because I can't bring myself to use the modern versions of Gnome anymore. And KDE just doesn't fit in my brain - I'd have to forget something else to scrap MATE and learn KDE, and I just don't have the time or willpower to do that right now.
reply
GOD
If Linux had a solid DE then more and more people would use Linux, regardless of distro.
And the more people who use it, the more demand there will be for game developers to build for Linux.
Once that happens there's no stopping it..... but this DE problem is a huge mess.
KDE looks and functions like an old car with a new paint job. Gnome 3 is better designed for tablets.
Pantheon is made for 2 year olds. Mate, Lxde, Xfce, etc look like they belong in the 90s.
Cinnamon seems to be the best thing out right now. Hopefully they can continue to improve and create a complete user experience.
reply
If Linux had a solid DE then more and more people would use Linux, regardless of distro.
And the more people who use it, the more demand there will be for game developers to build for Linux.
Once that happens there's no stopping it..... but this DE problem is a huge mess.
KDE looks and functions like an old car with a new paint job. Gnome 3 is better designed for tablets.
Pantheon is made for 2 year olds. Mate, Lxde, Xfce, etc look like they belong in the 90s.
Cinnamon seems to be the best thing out right now. Hopefully they can continue to improve and create a complete user experience.
reply
Jonathan
The video doesn't answer the question. Put simply: bad decisions and people behaving like brats is what makes Linux world try to meet many needs and butter spread resources that companies success to keep united to bring better products that actually work.
Who kills already nice working projects to start over? I tell you: people that is thinking more on show off or bored or just idi0ts than people commited with a project.
That is why I prefer Ubuntu, let's see if I have to move somewhere else because new Gnome decisions make incompatible my theming preferences
reply
The video doesn't answer the question. Put simply: bad decisions and people behaving like brats is what makes Linux world try to meet many needs and butter spread resources that companies success to keep united to bring better products that actually work.
Who kills already nice working projects to start over? I tell you: people that is thinking more on show off or bored or just idi0ts than people commited with a project.
That is why I prefer Ubuntu, let's see if I have to move somewhere else because new Gnome decisions make incompatible my theming preferences
reply
Heaven
I hate how Gnome is trying to be a wannabe mobile OS in a desktop. They think a global menu -is obsolete- because phones use hamburger menus. And goddamn it, KDE is also getting into this. Soon, all linux DEs will be using mock tablet interfaces.
And before some smartass says -just learn the keyboard shortcuts-... That's why people think we're weird. The average normie barely knows Ctrl-C, Ctrl-V, Alt-F4 and that the Windows key -only- opens the app launcher. They aren't gonna learn a new paradigm if they can't even deal with the Windows one.
reply
I hate how Gnome is trying to be a wannabe mobile OS in a desktop. They think a global menu -is obsolete- because phones use hamburger menus. And goddamn it, KDE is also getting into this. Soon, all linux DEs will be using mock tablet interfaces.
And before some smartass says -just learn the keyboard shortcuts-... That's why people think we're weird. The average normie barely knows Ctrl-C, Ctrl-V, Alt-F4 and that the Windows key -only- opens the app launcher. They aren't gonna learn a new paradigm if they can't even deal with the Windows one.
reply
Mk
to be fair is not linux on desktop that died, it was the whole desktop that did, normies do not even own a pc anymore, desktops or even laptops only exists in the normiesphere as a windows gaming machines at home and whatever the company use at work, that being said gnome 40 isnt that bad with some very minor tweaks, i still like my xfce the best but his ages are showing and i'm afraid wayland will kill it in the not so distant future.
reply
to be fair is not linux on desktop that died, it was the whole desktop that did, normies do not even own a pc anymore, desktops or even laptops only exists in the normiesphere as a windows gaming machines at home and whatever the company use at work, that being said gnome 40 isnt that bad with some very minor tweaks, i still like my xfce the best but his ages are showing and i'm afraid wayland will kill it in the not so distant future.
reply
Bitskit
I use gnome4 on archlinux. Out of the box, it looks like crap. But if you install a few extensions, you can replace the ugly top bar with a normal taskbar, get a nice start menu, get a systray, get an update notifer, and get icons on the desktop. Find yourself a nice theme with slimmer header bars and a nice iconset, and it's a very nice take on the traditional user experience.
reply
I use gnome4 on archlinux. Out of the box, it looks like crap. But if you install a few extensions, you can replace the ugly top bar with a normal taskbar, get a nice start menu, get a systray, get an update notifer, and get icons on the desktop. Find yourself a nice theme with slimmer header bars and a nice iconset, and it's a very nice take on the traditional user experience.
reply
itech
A lot of good projects came out of being stubborn and not strafing from their true vision, and I think that's good for Gnome if that's what they want. Imagine how much worse it could have been if ideas from the community were muddled together with the vision Gnome has to create some monster that is _decent_ but no one really wants to use. Let them be on the path they want to be.
reply
A lot of good projects came out of being stubborn and not strafing from their true vision, and I think that's good for Gnome if that's what they want. Imagine how much worse it could have been if ideas from the community were muddled together with the vision Gnome has to create some monster that is _decent_ but no one really wants to use. Let them be on the path they want to be.
reply
Nicolas
XFCE is just right. light, total customisation and does exactly what I want. Others are just becoming unattractive to me and too mainstream. The main point is : I want MY desktop to optimize my work and not something weird and heavy made for someone else. I've tested many (many many...) distros (Linux, UNIX...) and finally use Xubuntu for years now because it works.
reply
XFCE is just right. light, total customisation and does exactly what I want. Others are just becoming unattractive to me and too mainstream. The main point is : I want MY desktop to optimize my work and not something weird and heavy made for someone else. I've tested many (many many...) distros (Linux, UNIX...) and finally use Xubuntu for years now because it works.
reply
Add a review, comment
Other channel videos
