When KDE4.0 was released I knew the KDE world would lose some users. I also assumed the other desktop devs would take note, but I guess my assumptions were wrong.. Gnome3 includes the same mistakes.
1. The menus will require more work. If I'm working in a window at the bottom right of the screen in gnome 2, I simply travel some pixels to the window menu and click on an item. The menus will eventually be incorporated into the panel in gnome-shell causing me to have to travel much further to click them. I bought a mouse for a reason, it's more work to let go of the mouse, press a key combo and then go back to the mouse in order to hit a menu item 2. Themes are more difficult to create.. not everyone understands CSS. And now the themes are broken into two components, gnome-shell and gnome3 making us have to search more for desired theme combinations. Gnome 2.x was better because one the entire desktop only required one theme 3. Drastic changes push users/donations away. Gnome-shell isn't even finished yet and some distros are including it by default. Gnome-shell and gnome3 should have been kept in closed beta until it was more polished. I would have thought the gnome devs would have learned a lesson from the KDE soup sandwich when KDE 4.0 was released, but I guess I assumed too much 4. One of the best ways to make your product unusable, require non-standard hardware. I build my own computers and I refuse to use 3d accelerated graphics cards - if I wanted a game machine I would go buy a game console. So, I won't even be able to use gnome at all due to it eventually requiring 3d acceleration. Linux prides itself on running on old hardware.. and this does NOT include 3d accelerated graphics 5. Pride trumps usability. It doesn't really matter how much we complain because devs rarely listen to users when their "pet project" is being criticized. Closed minds and egos always win, it's sad 6. A lesson about pooping in one's own nest. I have a feeling the gnome dev team will eventually learn this valuable lesson 7. Some of us are more interested in getting our work done rather than having to learn a new way to navigate our once-favorite desktop environment It would not have been so bad had these changes been spread out over several releases, but I guess the gnome devs are too blinded by their need to "keep up with the jone's" to have thought of that. On the positive side, there are other window managers and desktop environments that are coded by people who don't make stupid decisions. I'm assuming this email will be met with hostility because nobody wants to "go back" to the way things were and do the right thing by spreading these drastic changes over several releases. Who's going to be the first to prove me right?
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