should gnome's user-customization strategy be overhauled

[Steve Schooler <sgschooler gmail com>]

I Apologize if this email is misdirected - I couldn't fathom where else to send it.  Please forward this email to "gnome software administrator's", if feasible.  This is a one-off message, so I have not subscribed to desktop-devel-list gnome org.  If you feel it is appropriate, please respond directly to sgschooler gmail com.

The sole purpose of this email is to ask "gnome software admin's" to CONSIDER WHETHER IS IT FEASIBLE AND ADVISABLE FOR GNOME TO ADOPT A LONG TERM STRATEGY OF OVERHAULING IT'S DEVELOPMENT OF USER-CUSTOMIZATION FEATURES.

The customization features offered by gnome have been steadily increasing, while (critically) gnome (or gnome-3) remains STABLE.  My understanding is that in general, linux-gnome users may customize their desktop in one of three ways:

1. gnome tweak took, as mentioned at https://wiki.gnome.org/action/show/Apps/Tweaks?action="">.

2. gnome layout manager, as mentioned at https://www.fossmint.com/gnome-layout-manager-make-gnome-into-unity-mac-windows/.

3. add a different desktop on top of gnome.  One example is cinnamon, which is discussed at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cinnamon_(software).

-------------------------------------------------------------

Please see my query at https://unix.stackexchange.com/questions/427785/manually-layout-gnome-to-cinnamon.

I can think of two separate (? mutually exclusive ?) long term strategies that gnome developers might consider:

a.  A variation of the (apparently extremely well documented) approach taken at https://www.gnome.org/get-involved/.  I'm a programmer with moderate "linux-bash" skills, and I merely want to be able to customize my own desktop.  For my skills and purpose, grappling with GTK+ and GObject feels onerous.

I would prefer a "higher-level-language", with perhaps the NARROWER capabilities that a user might want.  Analogies are assembler -> [cobol, c, or java] and (within latex) postcript -> pstricks.

Hopefully, this approach would drastically simplify (for example), the end user coding and customizing their own "bottom-of-the-screen" taskbar from within gnome.


b.  The approach taken by Firefox v. 58.  In this browser, specifying a url of about:config provides a long list of user-customizable parameters.  An analoguous approach in gnome might group the parameters into categories (e.g. desktop appearance, font sizes, power-mgmt+screensaver+monitor attributes, ...).  gnome could accompany this with (for example) a pdf or website-maintained documentation (i.e. manual) of these attributes, with a "user's guide" + examples included.

--------------------------------------------------------------------

I consider both gnome-tweak-took and gnome-layout-manager excellent SHORT TERM APPROACHES.  Long term, a high-level scripting language or voluminous set of user controlled attributes would allow (for example) gnome to RE-UNIFY WITH CINNAMON, WITHOUT JEOPARDIZING GNOME'S STABILITY.  If this approach succeeds, gnome might be "universally accepted" ACROSS LINUX DISTRIBUTIONS.

This approach could reduce "desktop crashes", eliminate redundant enhancements across different linux desktops, and (perhaps) better entice users away from microsoft windows.