RetroFed Forum
Your home away from modern life.
Facts
Post Reply
AuthorMessage
dil lemmy.zip dil@lemmy.zip
Joined: 2025-06-05
#52 · Quote Reply

The criticisms I've heard: You can't customize it! Hey, extensions don't count, because sometimes they break between major version upgrades! The developers are mean! They didn't even take my suggestions! The design philosophy is bad! It doesn't even want to be windows! I have been using versions of GNOME for about 5 years now and I have always been able to customize my DE to a very high degree....

I find gnome easier to customize, something always messes up with kde for me when setting up my ui, gnome also lets you use your computer and watch videos while customizing, kde plasma takes over your screen and you cant see your windows.

5
pinball_wizard lemmy.zip pinball_wizard@lemmy.zip
Joined: 2025-02-13
#53 · Quote Reply

In fact there were several manpages available in the terminal and online, but Lucille was in denial about that.

Well done. I read that in Ron Howard's voice.

2
Gaja0 lemmy.zip Gaja0@lemmy.zip
Joined: 2025-06-30
#54 · Quote Reply

I don't get tiling window or desktop stuff but hyprland 🤤

2
Willem kutsuya.dev Willem@kutsuya.dev
Joined: 2023-07-05
#55 · Quote Reply

on my normal desktop I use the flavor of the day DE, gnome is only used on my 40 inch touchscreen, because its the only one I could imagine being good on a touchscreen

6
Calfpupa [she/her] lemmy.ml Calfpupa@lemmy.ml
Joined: 2026-01-26
#56 · Quote Reply

As a GNOME user since forever, I find it fascinating how much time KDE users spend thinking about GNOME. They seem so obsessed with customization, yet seem incapable of understanding that people could have preferences different from their own.

We don't, except for when gnome is installed by default.

22
woelkchen lemmy.world woelkchen@lemmy.world
Joined: 2023-06-12
#57 · (edited) Quote Reply

Kde is so ugly and buggy, requiring tons of setup n knowhow to fix. GNOME feels limiting and oversimplified, but honestly 9 out of 10 times its fine.... even if its setting menu infuriates on the regular. Im old and i dont having 100 hrs to rice shit anymore

Kde is so ugly and buggy, requiring tons of setup n knowhow to fix.

Surely you confuse Plasma and Gnome. To get a sane setup on Gnome, you need to install Refine to enable the minimize button and then install Gnome Extension Manager and enable Dash to Panel or Dash to Dock.

That's an insane amount of setup work for someone who doesn't know about those things.

17
woelkchen lemmy.world woelkchen@lemmy.world
Joined: 2023-06-12
#58 · Quote Reply

As a GNOME user since forever, I find it fascinating how much time KDE users spend thinking about GNOME. They seem so obsessed with customization, yet seem incapable of understanding that people could have preferences different from their own.

yet seem incapable of understanding that people could have preferences different from their own.

Perfect description of Gnome developers.

78
cabbage piefed.social cabbage@piefed.social
Joined: 2024-01-08
#59 · Quote Reply

The criticisms I've heard: You can't customize it! Hey, extensions don't count, because sometimes they break between major version upgrades! The developers are mean! They didn't even take my suggestions! The design philosophy is bad! It doesn't even want to be windows! I have been using versions of GNOME for about 5 years now and I have always been able to customize my DE to a very high degree....

I'm happy I'm not the only one to experience KDE like that. I've had far better experiences with XFCE than with KDE, but I keep going back to GNOME because of the user experience. I'm happy people enjoy KDE though, so I don't generally feel a strong need to trash it online. But my god can the user base be insufferable at times.

7
TrickDacy lemmy.world TrickDacy@lemmy.world
Joined: 2023-07-27
#60 · Quote Reply

When saying it deserves "all" the criticism, I might have been hyperbolic I agree with most of what you said. The keep it simple philosophy I agree with, but there are a few UI decisions, a few missing features I couldn't wrap my head around. They tend to be rectified in the end because it's common sense, but it takes a very long time and it can be frustrating. I'm sorry my memory is shit so I ...

You seem to have a really balanced point of view and that's good. I wanted to like KDE but on the other hand it reads as windows 2000 to my eyes and it bothers me. I did like some things about the interface but overall it felt too busy for me. I hadn't tried it in years until the recent plasma update and people raving about it and its customizability convinced me to give it another shot. One of the first things I did was try to customize the top bar and task bar to be cleaner. It crashed several times very quickly. That's a really bad first impression. The bugs I experienced immediately were as many as I'd seen in years of GNOME experience.

In a perfect world though, yes, GNOME would be more customizable, particularly the overview mode. I do not like it at all. On the other hand, it's not so bad I wouldn't just live with it if I didn't have other options. I do though. To launch any app not common enough to put on my dock, I use ulauncher. It's not the best but it usually works well as an alfred-style launcher app.

I hated macs until OSX and since then I've hated windows more. Just mentioning because I'm sure someone will read what I've written and think I'm a Mac guy. Which was true for a bit but I've grown to dislike macs a lot as well. Their OS is still better than windows though!

7
woelkchen lemmy.world woelkchen@lemmy.world
Joined: 2023-06-12
#61 · Quote Reply

why in the fuck is it pronounced guhnome

why in the fuck is it pronounced guhnome

It's not. There is no vowel between G and N. Watch an episode or two of Star Trek and listen to some Klingon or Vulkan names to learn how such a combination of letters is pronounced without adding a vowel.

3
cabbage piefed.social cabbage@piefed.social
Joined: 2024-01-08
#62 · (edited) Quote Reply

yet seem incapable of understanding that people could have preferences different from their own. Perfect description of Gnome developers.

Oh yes, I forgot about that time they tracked down and kidnapped KDE contributors never to be heard of again, depriving the poor FOSS community from their freedom of choice.

-16
woelkchen lemmy.world woelkchen@lemmy.world
Joined: 2023-06-12
#63 · Quote Reply

Gnome has one great purpose and that is for tablets. Not a fan of their whole ethos though

Gnome has one great purpose and that is for tablets.

Doesn't work well on tablets, though.

7
TrickDacy lemmy.world TrickDacy@lemmy.world
Joined: 2023-07-27
#64 · (edited) Quote Reply

I'm happy I'm not the only one to experience KDE like that. I've had far better experiences with XFCE than with KDE, but I keep going back to GNOME because of the user experience. I'm happy people enjoy KDE though, so I don't generally feel a strong need to trash it online. But my god can the user base be insufferable at times.

Yeah, a part of me wants to vent my frustration with kde since I truly wanted it to be good, but it wasn't, ime.

Now for some reason I just had an idea. It would be pretty awesome if there could be a desktop layout standard configuration format such that on any DE that supports it, you could just load up a config file and get a very similar UI on any DE. I know, it's a pipe dream but it would be cool.

Edit: and yes I know, GNOME haters. GNOME devs would be the first to reject this idea.

6
Lawnman23 lemmy.world Lawnman23@lemmy.world
Joined: 2023-12-08
#65 · Quote Reply

I liked Gnome back when Ubuntu was brown.

The Gnome 2 days 👍

After Gnome shit the bed with Gnome 3 and beyond, MATE continued everything great about 2 and continues its legacy.

14
Wilmo lemmy.ml wilmo@lemmy.ml
Joined: 2025-11-03
#66 · Quote Reply

Kde is so ugly and buggy, requiring tons of setup n knowhow to fix. Surely you confuse Plasma and Gnome. To get a sane setup on Gnome, you need to install Refine to enable the minimize button and then install Gnome Extension Manager and enable Dash to Panel or Dash to Dock. That's an insane amount of setup work for someone who doesn't know about those things.

Going to Refine instead of the age old Gnome Tweaks is an interesting way to tell how long someone has been familiar with Gnome.

That being said if you use Gnome how they want you to, you don't need those extensions.

That way isn't for everyone as it's very different from what many used to but when you do get used to it those extensions will feel unnecessary

3
CannedYeet lemmy.world CannedYeet@lemmy.world
Joined: 2023-07-02
#67 · Quote Reply

why in the fuck is it pronounced guhnome

To match GNU

5
drcabbage lemmy.ml drcabbage@lemmy.ml
Joined: 2023-06-04
#68 · Quote Reply

Kde is so ugly and buggy, requiring tons of setup n knowhow to fix. GNOME feels limiting and oversimplified, but honestly 9 out of 10 times its fine.... even if its setting menu infuriates on the regular. Im old and i dont having 100 hrs to rice shit anymore

I like gnome too. Its simple and works. The only extension I use is a weather widget.
People who need a million extensions are going against the grain of the design.

2
randint lemmy.frozeninferno.xyz randint@lemmy.frozeninferno.xyz
Joined: 2023-08-09
#69 · (edited) Quote Reply

Kde is so ugly and buggy, requiring tons of setup n knowhow to fix. Surely you confuse Plasma and Gnome. To get a sane setup on Gnome, you need to install Refine to enable the minimize button and then install Gnome Extension Manager and enable Dash to Panel or Dash to Dock. That's an insane amount of setup work for someone who doesn't know about those things.

I'm pretty sure you can live without the minimize button. I've used Gnome for 3 years and I've never felt the need to minimize a window. Even now after I switched to KDE Plasma a few days ago, I still don't minimize windows.

-3
Possibly linux lemmy.zip possiblylinux127@lemmy.zip
Joined: 2023-06-26
#70 · Quote Reply

This but for me it is KDE.

21
Possibly linux lemmy.zip possiblylinux127@lemmy.zip
Joined: 2023-06-26
#71 · Quote Reply

Kde is so ugly and buggy, requiring tons of setup n knowhow to fix. Surely you confuse Plasma and Gnome. To get a sane setup on Gnome, you need to install Refine to enable the minimize button and then install Gnome Extension Manager and enable Dash to Panel or Dash to Dock. That's an insane amount of setup work for someone who doesn't know about those things.

...if you want

For the max/min buttons you can just turn them on in gnome tweaks

4
Possibly linux lemmy.zip possiblylinux127@lemmy.zip
Joined: 2023-06-26
#72 · Quote Reply

The only bug I ever see is Dolphin having a delayed startuo, and I have a bunch of file shares mounted which NFS might be causing delays. KDE is awesome, and it's Tumbleweed so not even stable KDE. That being said I put my family on Cinnamon.

Cinnamon is pretty solid. I can't wait for Wayland support.

1
Possibly linux lemmy.zip possiblylinux127@lemmy.zip
Joined: 2023-06-26
#73 · Quote Reply

Kde is so ugly and buggy, requiring tons of setup n knowhow to fix. GNOME feels limiting and oversimplified, but honestly 9 out of 10 times its fine.... even if its setting menu infuriates on the regular. Im old and i dont having 100 hrs to rice shit anymore

KDE is way less buggy than it used to be. I still prefer gnome but I don't mind KDE from s stability perspective.

16
somenonewho feddit.org somenonewho@feddit.org
Joined: 2024-07-24
#74 · Quote Reply

It deserves all the criticism. And it is by far my favorite DE.

Been using GNOME since ~ 3.8/3.10 (so i guess a while now) and out of the box it mostly just works for me. I have maybe 3-4 extensions none of which I desperately rely on (although TopIcons is clutch) and I agree with most design choices.
I've thought about switching some times but I think all I would do is try to replicate my GNOME workflow elswhere so why bother?

4
cmbabul lemmy.world cmbabul@lemmy.world
Joined: 2023-07-07
#75 · Quote Reply

why in the fuck is it pronounced guhnome

It’s not expect for the few times I ever talk about desktop environments with people IRL

3
TerdFerguson lemmy.world TerdFerguson@lemmy.world
Joined: 2023-07-24
#76 · Quote Reply

This but for me it is KDE.

What? No… that is wrong.

12
Possibly linux lemmy.zip possiblylinux127@lemmy.zip
Joined: 2023-06-26
#77 · Quote Reply

I would be much more interested in GNOME if I could replicate my top bar with all extensions on both my monitors. I don’t want to only see the clock on my 2nd monitor.

I'm not sure if there is a way to actually do thus unfortunately

3
Possibly linux lemmy.zip possiblylinux127@lemmy.zip
Joined: 2023-06-26
#78 · Quote Reply

I would be much more interested in gnome if it didn't feel like the offspring of 2010s mac and fisher price.

It is personal preference

2
Possibly linux lemmy.zip possiblylinux127@lemmy.zip
Joined: 2023-06-26
#79 · Quote Reply

I myself identify as an equalist . I hate all of them DE equally. Standalone WM is superior (for me).

Honesty I use the terminal for most things

2
Possibly linux lemmy.zip possiblylinux127@lemmy.zip
Joined: 2023-06-26
#80 · Quote Reply

why in the fuck is it pronounced guhnome

I don't pronounce it that way

0
three lemmy.zip three@lemmy.zip
Joined: 2025-06-04
#81 · Quote Reply

why in the fuck is it pronounced guhnome It's not. There is no vowel between G and N. Watch an episode or two of Star Trek and listen to some Klingon or Vulkan names to learn how such a combination of letters is pronounced without adding a vowel.

lmfao gonna pass on the homework, teach

-3
negativenull piefed.world negativenull@piefed.world
Joined: 2025-06-12
#82 · Quote Reply

As a GNOME user since forever, I find it fascinating how much time KDE users spend thinking about GNOME. They seem so obsessed with customization, yet seem incapable of understanding that people could have preferences different from their own.

JcbqeC1pYZL8yUT.jpg

26
Captain Aggravated sh.itjust.works captain_aggravated@sh.itjust.works
Joined: 2023-06-20
#83 · Quote Reply

As a GNOME user since forever, I find it fascinating how much time KDE users spend thinking about GNOME. They seem so obsessed with customization, yet seem incapable of understanding that people could have preferences different from their own.

As both a Cinnamon and KDE user, you can tell you're using an app made for Gnome because it either outright doesn't do anything, or it does the barest least nuanced most stereotypical version of that thing. Oh great, another empty fuckpuke window that doesn't respect the system theme with an empty hamburger menu and one button in the very top-left that says "Do Something".

I don't know of a package manager with a GTK filter.

18
FreddiesLantern leminal.space FreddiesLantern@leminal.space
Joined: 2025-09-19
#84 · Quote Reply

So today I made a VM of Debian that has all the DE’s as a matter of experiment to try them all out back to back to get an idea of what each one feels like. And right out of the gate gnome feels, a bit too abstract? You don’t get the sense that one screen is the default homescreen over another.

It looks nice but it feels weirdly organised. (Which I’m sure I could get used too, but you know preferences)

4
swab148 lemmy.dbzer0.com swab148@lemmy.dbzer0.com
Joined: 2025-06-04
#85 · Quote Reply

To match GNU

Guh-NU

5
Count Regal Inkwell pawb.social VinesNFluff@pawb.social
Joined: 2023-06-27
#86 · (edited) Quote Reply

Gnome is very competently made except it's made for a different genre of person to me, and their attitude towards customisation is outright disdainful. You install an extension or mess around in tweaks and gnome looks at you like you just used the salad fork for seafood.

I think it's made for people who like Macs or sth.

Wouldn't be a problem(people can use whatever makes them happy) if the gnome Devs shit attitude didn't trickle outwards and harm customizability in other environments.

49
NoPanko feddit.uk NoPanko@feddit.uk
Joined: 2025-05-19
#87 · Quote Reply

Gnome has one great purpose and that is for tablets. Doesn't work well on tablets, though.

Worked great on my old surface, though the surface for linux kernel definitely helps that

3
irelephant [he/him] lemmy.dbzer0.com irelephant@lemmy.dbzer0.com
Joined: 2025-06-04
#88 · Quote Reply

[deleted]
28
Possibly linux lemmy.zip possiblylinux127@lemmy.zip
Joined: 2023-06-26
#89 · (edited) Quote Reply

What? No… that is wrong.

"How dare someone have a preference different than me"

Seriously though, I don't get the gnome hate circle jerk. It isn't for everyone but works well for some.

7
Meron35 lemmy.world Meron35@lemmy.world
Joined: 2023-12-01
#90 · Quote Reply

Kde is so ugly and buggy, requiring tons of setup n knowhow to fix. Surely you confuse Plasma and Gnome. To get a sane setup on Gnome, you need to install Refine to enable the minimize button and then install Gnome Extension Manager and enable Dash to Panel or Dash to Dock. That's an insane amount of setup work for someone who doesn't know about those things.

People always rave about dash to panel/dock and I just... don't get it?

Genuinely though, what is the purpose of the taskbar except to potentially you with notifications and take up valuable screen estate?

If I need to switch apps, I'm either opening the overview/mission control, switching workspaces, or the app is already on the screen for multitasking purposes.

Even on macOS I set the dock to autohide, and near exclusively just use swipe gestures, keyboard shortcuts, or spotlight.

But alas, maybe it's just one of those things that just not for me.

5
coolman lemmy.world coolman@lemmy.world
Joined: 2025-10-21
#91 · Quote Reply

lmfao gonna pass on the homework, teach

Lmao imagine taking that seriously

2
TerdFerguson lemmy.world TerdFerguson@lemmy.world
Joined: 2023-07-24
#92 · (edited) Quote Reply

"How dare someone have a preference different than me" Seriously though, I don't get the gnome hate circle jerk. It isn't for everyone but works well for some.

Oh this argument is just a meme and I'm here to enjoy that. But also KDE > Gnome, no question.

Gnome is the reason it took me so long to like Linux for daily driving, because it was the default DE on the distros I was trying. Thank goodness for Fedora+KDE Plasma. If someone else likes it, good for them - I like that they are using Linux.

3
rushmonke ttrpg.network rushmonke@ttrpg.network
Joined: 2026-02-16
#93 · (edited) Quote Reply

"How dare someone have a preference different than me" Seriously though, I don't get the gnome hate circle jerk. It isn't for everyone but works well for some.

It's extremely important we voice our opinion on bad design so that their decisions don't become mainstream or standard.

GNOME has been a dumpster fire since 3 and the developers only care about what will result in the least amount of work for them. They think they're as good as Apple, where they can be the sole authority on how their DE is used, but then they make incredibly stupid decisions like dictating where users can put the dock. Their design team is nowhere near the level of Apple and they should stop pretending otherwise.

-4
rushmonke ttrpg.network rushmonke@ttrpg.network
Joined: 2026-02-16
#94 · Quote Reply

The Gnome 2 days 👍 After Gnome shit the bed with Gnome 3 and beyond, MATE continued everything great about 2 and continues its legacy.

I genuinely hope history remembers the GNOME desktop as "it was good, and then they started making some really stupid decisions!"

6
rushmonke ttrpg.network rushmonke@ttrpg.network
Joined: 2026-02-16
#95 · Quote Reply

yet seem incapable of understanding that people could have preferences different from their own. Perfect description of Gnome developers.

And that's why they're so out of touch.

5
low lemmy.today low@lemmy.today
Joined: 2025-12-16
#96 · Quote Reply

Gnome is very competently made except it's made for a different genre of person to me, and their attitude towards customisation is outright disdainful. You install an extension or mess around in tweaks and gnome looks at you like you just used the salad fork for seafood. I think it's made for people who like Macs or sth. Wouldn't be a problem(people can use whatever makes them happy) if the gno...

I hopped from a fully customized AwesomeWM install on Arch to Gnome on Debian and... there is something to be said about having your OS look & work cleanly out of the box.

5
Scrollone feddit.it Scrollone@feddit.it
Joined: 2023-06-03
#97 · Quote Reply

GNOME was so great... Then GNOME 3 came out and it feels like it's been designed by a person with severe brain damage.

11
TemplaerDude sh.itjust.works TemplaerDude@sh.itjust.works
Joined: 2025-07-09
#98 · Quote Reply

I don’t like it when people pronounce it with a hard G

4
Scrollone feddit.it Scrollone@feddit.it
Joined: 2023-06-03
#99 · Quote Reply

I started my Linux journey about 5 years ago on mint with the cinnamon DE. It's not the fanciest but it got the job done, no real complaints. Recently I made the change to debian without too much thought on the DE and I was presented with gnome. Took me about 5 minutes before I was looking up alternatives. Now on KDE plasma, and out of the 3 I've tried it's definitely my favourite.

Yeah I agree. GNOME 3 is hideous, completely unusable. I don't know why they had to ruin the perfection of GNOME 2.

1
Scrollone feddit.it Scrollone@feddit.it
Joined: 2023-06-03
#100 · Quote Reply

I genuinely hope history remembers the GNOME desktop as "it was good, and then they started making some really stupid decisions!"

Why would they ruin their very good software with so many stupid decisions?

4
Scrollone feddit.it Scrollone@feddit.it
Joined: 2023-06-03
#101 · Quote Reply

My main issue when I was using GNOME is that it needed a run ton of extensions to be truly useful, and most broke after a new release. I'm using KDE basically out of the box, nothing bothers me enough to try to fix it.

Yes, GNOME 3+ is completely unusable. It looks like it's been designed for a tablet.

Plus, I can't stand client side window decorations.

10
Post Reply Page 2 of 6   Goto page « First 1, 2, 3, 4 ... 6 Last »

Back to top