2014-08-07 23:57 GMT+02:00 Jordi Mallach <jo...@debian.org>: > Hi Debian, > > It's been around 9 months since tasksel changed (for real) the default > desktop for new installs. At the time of the change, it was mentioned > the issue would be revisited before the freeze, around debconf time. > > Well, it's roughly that time. :) So I'd like to plainly request GNOME is > reinstated as the default desktop environment for a number of reasons. [snip] > > Many members of the Debian GNOME team feel shipping Xfce by default would > mean regressing in a few key areas like, as mentioned before, accessibility, > localisation and documentation of the default set of applications. We are wary > about the state of some features of the current default with respect > to power management and bluetooth, for example. These features are driven by, > and working since day 1, by GNOME 3.12.
In my own PCs most of the time I have Arch Linux installed, and I use Gnome 3 as my DE of choice since its first release. However, when I have to install a GNU/Linux distro in a system I do not directly control (i.e. my sister's pc, my mom's pc etc), or when I want a solid distro, I always install Debian for its great stability, and I usually choose Xfce as the DE. This is just to say that I have experience with both the DE and I like them both, but in different ways. I feel that Xfce4 is more conservative than Gnome 3, both in term of look & feel and the way it is developed. Yes, this is my opinion, and I have no 'hard data' to back up this claim, just my experience. My point is that Gnome 3 has a history of abrupt (and sometimes disruptive) changes between releases, and I say this as a generally satisfied Gnome 3 user. A couple of examples come to mind. I don't remember in which release, but support for terminal transparency was abruptly and unexpectedly removed. You could call it an eye-candy, but for me and many other users it was a feature. I used it to see an underlying windows while typing. Now I use Xfce-terminal. Another example: in Gnome 3.8 (I believe) the look and behavior of GDM were abruptly changed. I used to have a customized background in my login screen; one day I updated my system, and I found an ugly grey background (e.g. http://worldofgnome.org/uploads/2013/03/gdm.png ). I was sure I stumbled in a bug, but then to my surprise I realized that *everyone* was seeing the grey background, and that it was actually intended behaviour. I should also point out that at the time I couldn't find a simple way to change the grey background (eg. a .conf file to edit) so I desisted. As far as I know you needed (and I think you still need, though I'm not sure) an external tool to change the background in GDM. Personally, I'm happy enough with the look and feel of Gnome 3 to tolerate these nuisances, but I have also to say that this sudden changes don't feel very debianish. On the other hand, Xfce has a slower relase cycle, and I don't remember any drastic change in behavior between Xfce4 releases. I'm not a DD, so I'm not advocating for one choice or the other. Obviously, my experience is n=1, so my sample is probably not very representative of the whole population of users. Just my 0.02 euros. Lorenzo -- To UNSUBSCRIBE, email to debian-devel-requ...@lists.debian.org with a subject of "unsubscribe". Trouble? Contact listmas...@lists.debian.org Archive: https://lists.debian.org/cabqumk-fvj0qyjm6wp-z13a7_eimnftv-jsd3smyryr2yqe...@mail.gmail.com
