Re: gnome 3 is a pleasure to work with, but...

[Simos Xenitellis <simos lists googlemail com>]

On Mon, Apr 25, 2011 at 2:24 PM, Alexander Volovics <a volovic upcmail nl> wrote:

Exploring Gnome 3 under Fedora 15 beta.

So far: very nice to work with, great usability, but it could do
with some more configurability options.
(I am making the following remarks under the proviso that
 I do not know if the standard (upstream) Gnome 3 is
 included in Fedora 15 beta and wat Fedora has contributed
 to the mix).

You can also try OpenSUSE with GNOME Shell to get a full view as to what is GNOME 3 and what is distribution additions. See
http://blog.crozat.net/2011/04/gnome-3-live-image-version-110-released.html
 

Are there any plans to increase desktop configurability in Gnome 3.

For example:

- I would like to be able to change the color of the top bar
 The lid of my laptop is a shiny black and the addition of the
 black colored top bar gives the desktop an even more funereal
 appearance (and makes it hard to see/read).

This is a theming issue, and each distribution uses their own theme.
GNOME has no much control for this.

- I would like to be able to REMOVE icons from applications
 overviews under 'Applications' in the 'Activities overview'.

  First I would like to remove ALL icons from the 'All' category.
  * This overview is not really necessary because because the same
    icons are included under the other categories 'System Tools',
    'Accessories', 'Graphics', etc.

You have the unfiltered view (show all) and the filtered view. The default is the unfiltered view.
 

  * Furthermore given the absurd and unhandy 16:9 laptop screens you
    have to scroll to see them all so having all icons available does
    not really save time/work.
  * Finding a particular icon among this plethora of icons is hardly
    easy.
  * Given the large size and the sometimes brash colors and
    non-uniform design of the icons makes this desktop full of
    large blobs not very aesthetically pleasing.

It's mostly a distribution issue.
 

  Second I would like to 'prune' the icons listed under the categories
  retaining only the icons of the apps I use regularly (possibly
  putting some of these 'pruned' icons in some 'Other' category).

Might be possible with the integration of Zeitgeist, which follows what things you use often.
Might be a good GNOME 3.2 feature.
Nevertheless, you can pin your favorite apps on the bar.
 

- I would like to change the 'top bar' to an 'under bar' and have the
 notifications pop up at the top (and why do pop ups and notifications
 need to have a black background).

The background issue is a theming / distribution issue. You can report to Fedora (they are still in Beta) or try out OpenSUSE if they got it right.

Whether the top bar can become a bottom bar is probably something that might be addressed in GNOME 3.2. It's up to the designers, though I feel a bottom bar should not be out of the question.
 

Personally I find these 'wishes' very reasonable and not detracting
from the design and usability of Gnome 3.


PS  Who designs/creates the icons/icon themes.
   I find the icons (too) big, brash, glaring and sometimes downright
   ugly with no consideration for the overall effect. (for example the
   'Games' icons).
   It would be much nicer if they were created with an overall effect
   in mind using compatible colors and forms (say a sleek blue/silver
   theme, uniformly applied).

It's the theming again. There might be some options for alternative themes as soon as the distributions are released. And you can select one that best suits you.
 

PS  If configuration options as specified above or comparable are
   planned for updates or Gnome 3.1 then I would be even more
   happy with Gnome 3. If not, is it possible to put forward things
   like the above as 'suggestions' for the design team and what is
   the best possible place for this.

The next version is GNOME 3.2. While it is developed, it will be called GNOME 3.1 (unreleased).
There is a thread for things to add in GNOME 3.2.
To edit settings and so on, GNOME 3 uses GSettings. I think there is a GUI tool, though it's best if you google for it.
 

NB  I can not and do not code myself.

That's alright. If you cannot get a perfect ready-made theme, you might have to perform minor editing, such as specifying the appropriate color. If you do not mind that task, it should be fine.

Simos