Gnome removes desktop Icons and Status icons

Gnome removed Status Icons in 3.26 (The right side of your panel) giving the reason that they are old and not aligned with Gnome's wider design philosophy and goals. Whenever they say that reason, the hair stands on the back of my neck.
And 3.28 brought about the removal of desktop icons.

Well, then. As it is, I see many complaints when status icons don't work properly. I cannot imagine the complaints we may see if they are altogether removed. People clearly want and use this feature.
Gnome states that status icons predate Gnome 2.0 and being so old, they should go.
So do monitors, Morons. We aren't doing away with those, now are we? In fact, humans predate Gnome 2.0
We should do away with the aged things.
UNIX Predates Gnome. Kill it with fire.
But whatever. I imagine the end users, you know... the ones that make the money flow... The ones Gnome relies on to continue existing in order to outdate Gnome 3....
Anyway, fine.
Following a LONG list of many features Gnome removes saying it doesn't align with their goals (Screw the users goals). They already turnedNautilus into a skeleton of what it used to be and is by far, the WORST most unuser friendly File Manager currently available. After enough complaints, they did restore some of the missing features.

Desktop Icons? Those also predate Gnome 2.0 and Gnome, itself. Gotta go. Ancient decrepit things.
We all know people use desktop icons like crazy. (Admittedly, I never do. But I like to have the option available to do so if I choose).
Feature removed.
Which, again, is just another in a long list of what people actually used stripped away by Gnome for reasons that do not make any sense at all to the user and make sense only to Gnome and it's "philosophy." I think if people will be upset to see status icons gone- having the entire Desktop launchpoint removed is going to create Riots In The Streets. And who must deal with much of the fallout from that? The Distros far more often will bear the brunt, not Gnome.

And people wonder why I see Gnome as being just like Microsoft. Gnome wants complete control over your desktop.

What you will immediately notice is that the thing both of these features have in common is -user Customization.
Which explains how they do not align with Gnomes Philosophy and Goals. Gnome sees the entire layout and appearance of the desktop as "their Brand Image" and they seek to protect it. They clearly Do Not Believe what GNU stands for.
For Years, Gnome has dogged Themes and themers, dogged distros, and dogged independent developers pushing hard that they do nothing that might impact the Appearance of Gnome.
They have driven many away from GNU entirely, reducing and limiting open source development and expression of individuality.
And it's so blatantly obvious.
No, desktop and tray icons should stay- What Has to Go is Gnome. They are the antithesis of Free Open Source.

I agree with you. I never had any fun with Gnome. It seemed like everything I wanted to do as far as customization, I wasn't able to accomplish. Gnome feels like a desktop that fights me at every turn. And nothing pissed me off more, then when at certain times, Gnome would turn off my Zorin extensions for no reason. Which resulted in the OS looking like pure Ubuntu again. So I had to always go into the Tweak tool, and turn the extensions back on, to bring Zorin back to where it needs to be.

I also agree that Gnome appears to operate under the Microsoft philosophy. Its not about what we want that matters to them, its about what they want. Some people will stick with Gnome though, because its what they know. Take TOSS for example, I don't think we will ever pry him away from his Ubuntu Mate, no matter how bad Gnome gets. My choice to go with XFCE was first motivated by customization, but now its also motivated by being able to have a choice, which in the end, is what Linux is all about.

In my signature, I use the line from that Ubuntu developer, "When knowledge is shared, everyone benefits." But I also believe, "When given the freedom of choice and free open source, everyone benefits."

star treker wrote:I agree with you. I never had any fun with Gnome. It seemed like everything I wanted to do as far as customization, I wasn't able to accomplish. Gnome feels like a desktop that fights me at every turn. And nothing pissed me off more, then when at certain times, Gnome would turn off my Zorin extensions for no reason. Which resulted in the OS looking like pure Ubuntu again. So I had to always go into the Tweak tool, and turn the extensions back on, to bring Zorin back to where it needs to be.

I also agree that Gnome appears to operate under the Microsoft philosophy. Its not about what we want that matters to them, its about what they want. Some people will stick with Gnome though, because its what they know. Take TOSS for example, I don't think we will ever pry him away from his Ubuntu Mate, no matter how bad Gnome gets. My choice to go with XFCE was first motivated by customization, but now its also motivated by being able to have a choice, which in the end, is what Linux is all about.

In my signature, I use the line from that Ubuntu developer, "When knowledge is shared, everyone benefits." But I also believe, "When given the freedom of choice and free open source, everyone benefits."

Interesting points.

I like Old Gnome a lot. Gnome2 is easy to use, customizable and well within the GNU philosophy.
I suspect that the Gnome Development crowd were changing long before Gnome 2 went defunct.

Mate desktop and Cinnamon and XFCE desktop all were clinging hard to the gtk2 framework up until very recently. You see, each of these desktops is based on Gnome 2.
What you are enjoying about XFCE right now, on your edition of Zorin 12.4 with gtk 3.18 is Gnome 2. XFCE 4.12 uses the GTK2 framework. It is not gnome desktop, it just uses the frame of it.
Recently, XFCE 4.14 was released to great fanfare. It also transitions from gtk 2 to gtk3. In full. Now, XFCE is Gnome 3.
This is true for Mate and Cinnamon, as well.

We have lost our alternatives. Currently, you can use editions of the older desktops, but that will not last long.

You see, Gnome is in complete control, even over the rebels.

Which is why I had hopes pinned on QT. QT was specifically developed as a means of getting away from Gnome.
Now, QT5 employs the framework of ---Gnome 3.

Your enjoyment of XFCE will be shortlived. Eventually, you will have to "upgrade" (note the quotation marks) your system in order to keep apps working, to keep up with development and compatibility.
And when you do, all options will shove Microso... I mean Gnome 3 down your unwilling throat.

This is why I started "making themes" though not very well or very good ones -it is a resistance effort - to push back against the Gnome Standardization.
I also started a project in learning how to run systemd free and integrate that into an OS But now, I think I must backburner that and focus instead on how to make an alternative Desktop Environment.
I m probably doomed to fail, but gonna try my novice little hand at it anyway.

But with Microsoft getting git and releasing Linux systems now... I think we all now where this is going. You have two fronts:
--Microsoft deciding that if it cannot beat Linux by creating a better product, will engulf Linux while giving the (false) appearance of Supporting competition.
--Corporate developers like Gnome all too eager to join Microsoft philosophy to sell us out to improved profiteering and less Open Source Development.
What do we do? We show the time-honored Human Condition of
--Complacency: We will accept and settle for what we are given, no fuss
--Entitlement: We believe we should get things for free without putting in any work
--Security: We want to be taken care of instead of being responsible for ourselves.

They will win because most users want them to. Even on this forum, I have been very harsh in addressing posts made by Microsoft users that come over to Linux and then demand that they deserve a Free Upgrade or that Linux should look and act more like Microsoft... And of course, they would get upset and tell me how wrong I was.
Now, a year later and what do we see? Who was right?
Me.
Did anyone listen?
No.

Interesting potted history here and even I got part of it wrong! I always thought K in KDE stood for Konqueror!

https://unix.stackexchange.com/question ... -and-gnome

You also need to be aware that (I hate to even mention his name now) Stallman had no truck with Open Source as it is not Free Software (because it uses proprietary blobs).

Thanks for the great read, Swarf. Learning is the best way to move forward:D

When it comes to what Stallman the Impaler says or said... He was quite opinionated and we all have our own opinions about what Free means and what Open Source means.
Nothing is ever really free... and in FOSS, free is defined as "free to choose for yourself" more than "financially without cost."

Free Software never indicated no cost. It really meant free from Patents and proprietary blobs. When Proprietary blobs get embedded your personal freedom has gone but as George Carlin correct observed we have no rights (whichever country you live in) only temporary privileges which can be taken away at a moment's notice. Torvalds has failed to see how M$ is writing code for the Linux kernel that will remove your computer freedom in due course.

Swarfendor437 wrote:Free Software never indicated no cost. It really meant free from Patents and proprietary blobs. When Proprietary blobs get embedded your personal freedom has gone but as George Carlin correct observed we have no rights (whichever country you live in) only temporary privileges which can be taken away at a moment's notice.

Well said (and quoted) and very true...
How about another George? George Orwell.
"All... are equal. But some... are more equal than others."

Swarfendor437 wrote:Torvalds has failed to see how M$ is writing code for the Linux kernel that will remove your computer freedom in due course.

[/quote]
Linus Torvalds has repeatedly expressed a feeling of "Fed Up."
I wonder if that plays into it.

Your quote from George Orwell reminded me of the clever adult joke in 'The Simpsons the Movie' above the Supreme Court of Justice, cartoon style stating "Justice for some". I always believed that Orwell was a decryer of such systems as 1984 - he in fact endorsed it which I only found out recently - He could see nothing wrong in keeping the masses under control. So we should be thankful for news agencies such as The Washington Post and Al Jazeera.

Swarfendor437 wrote:Your quote from George Orwell reminded me of the clever adult joke in 'The Simpsons the Movie' above the Supreme Court of Justice, cartoon style stating "Justice for some". I always believed that Orwell was a decryer of such systems as 1984 - he in fact endorsed it which I only found out recently - He could see nothing wrong in keeping the masses under control. So we should be thankful for news agencies such as The Washington Post and Al Jazeera.

NOt sure about "nothing wrong..."
Orwell was a Democratic Socialist, politically. But he was staunchly opposed to Totalitarianism.
I know... it doesn't seem to make sense... Some folks never figure out that Socialism always leads to totalitarianism.

My dad always cracked the joke about Communism - "What is yours is mine ... and what's mine belongs to me!"

Actually I might have got my authors mixed up!

It was Aldous Huxley (Animal Farm) who didn't see any problems with it.

I am well versed in George Carlin's Philosophy, and I can confirm what SWARF said is right. Mr. Carlin always was able to see past the BS and see the truth for what it is. The government is not interested in your rights, we have no rights but temporary privileges which can be taken away, amen! There is only one thing government is interested in, and thats power, and keeping that power. Heck, even the Oracle in the Matrix explains this fact as well.

If the government was actually interested in making this country amazing, things would be a lot better then they are. And speaking of the Matrix, doesn't it feel like everybody is asleep in the Matrix? People need to wake the BEEP up! And for the record, that is what George Carlin was trying to do, to wake people up from this carefully orchestrated sedation that the government has put over the people.

star treker wrote:I am well versed in George Carlin's Philosophy, and I can confirm what SWARF said is right. Mr. Carlin always was able to see past the BS and see the truth for what it is. The government is not interested in your rights, we have no rights but temporary privileges which can be taken away, amen! There is only one thing government is interested in, and thats power, and keeping that power. Heck, even the Oracle in the Matrix explains this fact as well.

If the government was actually interested in making this country amazing, things would be a lot better then they are. And speaking of the Matrix, doesn't it feel like everybody is asleep in the Matrix? People need to wake the BEEP up! And for the record, that is what George Carlin was trying to do, to wake people up from this carefully orchestrated sedation that the government has put over the people.

George Carlin was a very smart man and like many comedians, able to see the absurdities of life. But there were things I certainly disagreed with him on, too.
I wouldn't say he was Always able to see past the B.S.
When people listened to Carlin, it was because they liked his message. Those who mayhave been reached to "wake" that didn't like the message- wouldn't listen, anyway.
And that's kind of the thing... I would not say that we have a Carefully Orchestrated Sedation.

That is giving the government way too much credit.

More like- the Government blundered into the fact that people WANT to be sedated and it tries to take advantage of that.
Which is on topic because that is what this thread is about. I pointed this out earlier: People WANT the burden of responsibility lifted. They want to sacrifice freedom for security. They WANT to have the machine think for them.
Here in the USA, the standard transmission in cars is "automatic." What does that tell you?
I only drive a manual transmission. If I cannot connect properly with the road, it's not a vehicle, it's a go-cart.

Well you do have two governments in the US anyway:

https://exopoliticsjournal.com/vol-1/1-4-Hellyer.htm

Swarfendor437 wrote:Well you do have two governments in the US anyway:

https://exopoliticsjournal.com/vol-1/1-4-Hellyer.htm

Swarf, that link contains too many conspiracy claims for my mind to assimilate in one sitting. From an Illuminati-like trilateral commission to UFO's.

Well Paul Tellyer did get to see things no ordinary pleb would get to see as Canada's Defence Minister. I intend to get hold of his Money Mafia Book one day.

Swarfendor437 wrote:Well Paul Tellyer did get to see things no ordinary pleb would get to see as Canada's Defence Minister. I intend to get hold of his Money Mafia Book one day.

Astronaut Edgar Mitchell certainly saw things that no ordinary person has seen. He also claimed to have seen aliens, in space. Mitchell maintains that Aliens crashed in Roswell New Mexico and that the government covered it up (any objective person that looks into the reports can plainly see that no aliens crashed in Roswell. The idea was highly sensationalist, tickling the dreams of the public, with no evidence whatsoever). Funny, since the very FIRST thing the government did was announce the finding of bacterial fossils on a Martian chondrite- only to have jumped the gun and announced before an analysis could really determine if there were truly Martian Fossils in that rock. From so reticent to so eager...
Statistically speaking, given a crowd of highly trained and educated individuals, a percentage of them will still give in to the fantastical. In a society where we deem "expert testimony" to be generally reliable, it gives the illusion of 'expertise' to 'wishful thinking.'
And politicians fare even less well as they are often not qualified experts, just folks that managed to convince a percentage of the population to elect them.

Extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence.

Such as, when I eat a big bowl of chilli, the evidence will be smelled in the room all night.

https://youtu.be/iEbbXcYAnis

Swarfendor437 wrote:https://youtu.be/iEbbXcYAnis

...







So, yeah...
Also worth looking into, though it needs further development (and Check The Security) is UKUI Desktop Environment.