Why does Fedora use Gnome?

[DupermanDave]

I must get this out first off. I do not want to start any flame wars. I have absolutely nothing against the GNOME project. But with all of the backlash from the Linux community and the market share of Linux desktops using Gnome 3, why does Fedora still insist on making it the default desktop? From what I see on forums and comments all over tech news websites, it seems everyone is in love with KDE 4.9, XFCE, or LXDE. XFCE is my default and it has pretty much become what Gnome 2.x was. KDE 4 was great last I used it, but it wasn't snappy enough for me on my machine. But I have nothing against it. LXDE is too simplistic for me.

But anyway, back to the question. Is there some special relationship between the Fedora and Gnome developers that keep the two inseparable? Why does Fedora choose Gnome?

[secipolla]

For Fedora 18, AFAIK, there won't be a default desktop. Both GNOME and KDE are being treated with the same priority.
I don't know about internal relations between Redhat and other projects but I think that if a DE has enough people to support it well in Fedora it will be considered. About the past, I know nothing.

[DupermanDave]

Originally Posted by secipolla

For Fedora 18, AFAIK, there won't be a default desktop. Both GNOME and KDE are being treated with the same priority.
I don't know about internal relations between Redhat and other projects but I think that if a DE has enough people to support it well in Fedora it will be considered. About the past, I know nothing.

That's good information to know. Thanks. I like KDE more, but personally I think the lesser DEs like XFCE are not getting the development attention they deserve. For example, I'm using the XFCE spin on this machine and it's just fine, but on my media server netbook I'm using Xubuntu and it seems to be super polished. It's nice, shiny, and responsive.

[Dan]

A great number of Gnome developers are also employed by Redhat. Beyond that, fedora is known for and strives to be a cutting edge distro, and for all its detractors, Gnome3 is indeed on the cutting edge. As to the question of how much blood will be drawn by that dual-edged blade ... is a matter for a different conversation.

There has been a long and reasonably happy relationship between Gnome and fedora. Fedora has always been a Gnome-centric distro. Not much reason to change now. ... ... Until (and unless) the economics of the debate/DE controversy effect the financial circumstances of Redhat ... things will be as they are.

[DBelton]

What is going to be interesting, and a deciding factor in this ongoing debate/dispute is when RHEL 7 is released.

When the money starts talking, it will be interesting to see who does the walking..

[John the train]

Personally I've got Gnome 3 as i like it, using a couple of plug-ins, but when you're setting up perhaps 50 workstations the time factor could be a deal-breaker.

[ElderSnake]

An often overlooked DE, I feel, is E17 (Enlightenment).

Those guys are starting to release snapshots even faster now though and quickly heading towards an official stable release so hopefully it receives some notice.

It's odd and seemingly over-blingy, at first, but give it a decent try, configure the panel to be more traditional (full-width, taskbar etc) if that helps and you may be surprised.

[YeOK]

Originally Posted by John the train

Personally I've got Gnome 3 as i like it, using a couple of plug-ins, but when you're setting up perhaps 50 workstations the time factor could be a deal-breaker.

Extensions can be packaged, so the reality is you set up one desktop, and copy it across to as many as you like. I'm sure easy management of desktops is one of Red Hat enterprise linux selling points.

Personally, I like Gnome-Shell. However, Fedora spins solved this issue didn't they?

http://fedoraproject.org/en/get-fedora-options

[Dan]

Originally Posted by ElderSnake

An often overlooked DE, I feel, is E17 (Enlightenment).

Those guys are starting to release snapshots even faster now though and quickly heading towards an official stable release so hopefully it receives some notice.

It's odd and seemingly over-blingy, at first, but give it a decent try, configure the panel to be more traditional (full-width, taskbar etc) if that helps and you may be surprised.

Agreed. It's a remarkably functional and tightly integrated -- yet fully customizable -- DE, and I dare say their radically experimental test releases are a damn sight more stable than the ones the Gnome folks consider "golden".

[Z00XX]

Hello to you all. New member here. My first Linux distro was Fedora 9. Then long period of searching (ubuntu, mint, debian OpenSUSE, Sabayon) and now I'm back on Fedora 17.

After end of life of Gnome 2 I was searching for good alternative. I tried Mate - but it was "old looking" - everybody is moving in new direction (Gnome 3, Unity...) so I tried Cinnamon - it just don't work for me. I can't explain. It doesn't have that good feel. I like Unity but it is a bit buggy but i like direction they are heading. But my absolute favourite is Gnome 3 Shell.

It's Zen simple and very intuitive and it just works for me. Fedora 17 with Gnome 3 is incredible fast and responsive. Only change I've made is installing Faenza icons - that's it.

I like simple stuff that just work, I'm not big fan of big customizing and tweaking and for now I'm sticking with Gnome3.

[DupermanDave]

Originally Posted by Z00XX

Hello to you all. New member here. My first Linux distro was Fedora 9. Then long period of searching (ubuntu, mint, debian OpenSUSE, Sabayon) and now I'm back on Fedora 17.

After end of life of Gnome 2 I was searching for good alternative. I tried Mate - but it was "old looking" - everybody is moving in new direction (Gnome 3, Unity...) so I tried Cinnamon - it just don't work for me. I can't explain. It doesn't have that good feel. I like Unity but it is a bit buggy but i like direction they are heading. But my absolute favourite is Gnome 3 Shell.

It's Zen simple and very intuitive and it just works for me. Fedora 17 with Gnome 3 is incredible fast and responsive. Only change I've made is installing Faenza icons - that's it.

I like simple stuff that just work, I'm not big fan of big customizing and tweaking and for now I'm sticking with Gnome3.

I don't hate Gnome 3, but I don't like the way it operates. I feel that the current way the Gnome 3 interface works I can get the same usability from XFCE. Gnome 3 seems to add extra flare and gloss to it which take up too many resources. I only tried MATE on a small media server I have and I was not impressed with the fact that it relied on python and there were constantly new python threads being run taking up more resources than needed. Its all about the resources to me. Resources vs usability.

-edit-
Who is in charge of the Fedora spins? I hate to sound like a whiner, "oh, XFCE spin gets the shaft and looks horrible," without trying to contribute. I'd like to see if I can help out the XFCE spin. I'm not a coder or anything, but I'd like to see what needs help.

[agreenwo]

Originally Posted by DBelton

What is going to be interesting, and a deciding factor in this ongoing debate/dispute is when RHEL 7 is released.

When the money starts talking, it will be interesting to see who does the walking..

You could say that the only vote that really counts is that of those paying the bills. I doubt gnome 3 will be the desktop of choice for mission critical systems but you never know. As long as there are other choices for a desktop enviorment then no one should have issues with gnome 3. You don't use it. I think the more critical test RHEL 7 will be if the enterprise computing community accepts systemd.

[Thetargos]

While RHEL 7 is a product yet to materialize based on what works and what does not in Fedora, and the desktop may be a critical part of it, I think that if early test builds with XFCE and Gnome are provided, Red Hat wouldn't have to make too many changes being both based on GTK+, and the managing tools as well.

As for systemd, I like it, sure it is at first glance more cumbersome (complex?) than sysVinit, but in the end it works pretty much the same with some additional advantages, mainly from what I gather its policy Kit integration, winch in the long run will be of more interest to the enterprise, while I'm sure current users are more familiar with sysVinit.

Enviado desde mi GT-I9100 usando Tapatalk 2

[smr54]

Originally Posted by agreenwo

You could say that the only vote that really counts is that of those paying the bills. I doubt gnome 3 will be the desktop of choice for mission critical systems but you never know. As long as there are other choices for a desktop enviorment then no one should have issues with gnome 3. You don't use it. I think the more critical test RHEL 7 will be if the enterprise computing community accepts systemd.

So, what are they going to use instead? This is the problem, many places, whether using RH, CentOS, Oracle, or ScientificLinux are locked in, to a certain point. A vendor may only support RH or its clones, or there are so many servers already running it that it becomes impractical to change. RH is in a similar position to MS, people might hate what they are doing, but moving away from it will cause more problems than keeping up with the all the decisions made to help out the user with a laptop who just wants a change from Windows.

My own, very limited anecdotal evidence is from various lists, friends, and acquaintances. A lot of people were caught off guard when RH 6 crippled the text install, but again--no one was so disgusted that they're going to scrap all their RH (or clone) stuff and go to Debian.


So, even those who do pay will probably keep using it for a long time, even if it does several things they hate.

[Dan]

... RH is in a similar position to MS ...

And herein, I fear, also lies one possible eventual fate of the company.

... people might hate what they are doing, but moving away from it will cause more problems ...

And eventually ... it gets a lot simpler ... and cheaper (all factors considered) to simply stick with Windows.



Take away lesson:

When you overtly try to shove something down your customer's throat, it's not reasonable to expect them to stand there and gag out a, "thank you." Don't be surprised if they raise one eyebrow, put their wallet back in their pocket, and decide they'd rather go somewhere else, and do something different. That's how they got there (to linux) in the first place. They will remember where the door was, eventually.