Apology and a "gesture of good faith" - please read on.

[jordan <triplesquarednine gmail com>]

Hi there,

About a week, maybe 2 ago - i got into a fairly heated argument with the gnome-shell developers over some design choices, etc .... we don't need to go into it, as i am not interested (and i am sure no one else on the list is interested) into getting into some flame war over differences of opinion.

Moving on.... i have been using Gnome 3 one one of my production machines for a week or so now.
i am not reallly into the Gnome-shell experience (we don't need to kick that dead-horse) - But, I did make mistakes in how I approached this list and also gnome-developers...   I also could have been more constructive about how I approached my concerns in general, and should've "detatched" the developers from the new UI, and voiced my concerns more politely. I realize you have all been working very hard on Gnome-Shell, so i should have been more sensitive...for this i am truly sorry.

As a small gesture, that i hope you all take on good faith - I have fixed the gnome-Tweak-Tool "welcome logo" found here in the linux file-system: 

/usr/share/gnome-tweak-tool/welcome.png

The original image had been created on a white background. but we live in a world of transparency, and so do our DEs. Not only that - but what initially brought this to my attention, was when i switched to a darker GTK3 theme. It became painfully obvious - so i fixed it, and am sharing it. 

It looks far more professional, and now should match all global bg_colors, in your gtk3 theme (gtk.css).

i've attached the file, but also am posting a link to my original post in the Archlinux forums - as it has images to better show you all (if you didn't know already) how badly using the current logo looks, when not using the default Adwaita theme. here's my post;

https://bbs.archlinux.org/viewtopic.php?id=118490

I hope this in some small way, is appreciated by someone that i may have offended.  I would also like to take this time to tell you some things i love about gnome 3;

1. gsettings, dconf.  we don't need to get into their specifications - but let me just say, wonderful technology. Reminds me of the windows registry a little (being binary and all), but powerful and well suited. love the lack of conxect-switching (unlike gconf) great idea  :)

2. I love all of the system tools GUIs, whether we are talking about system-settings, gnome-tweak-tool or gnome-color-manager - they all look polished, and are easy to navigate. very usable and professional.

3. I love GTK3 - CSS is great for themes, and easy to modify, whether it be your gtk-widget.css - easy to find the various sections for each type of widget....and all that one requires for modifying color-schemes in gtk.css is "gpick" and gedit. it'll be great when there is a GUI to modify themes, but until then - it's still pretty straight forware to do.

4. Systemd - a great way to boot up, and manage services. I was already using Systemd before the G3 update, but it's worth mentioning.

5. ICC profile management  - seems much more integrated in Gnome 3. And i can access my profiles and anything i might want to change from system-settings, similar to how i would access most system settings in MacOSX - which i like.  (i know gnome-color-manager isn't installed by default, and that it was around b4 gnome3, but it feels more integrated).

****  I have one point of advice from a long time gnome-user, to the gnome developers;

1. Re-brand "fallback-mode" as "gnome-lite", gnome-minimal" or maybe "gnome-agnostic". Do not drop support for it, in the near future, if ever.  

- it would put many concerned users at ease, and prevent a lot of complaints, flamewars, etc.

- you would get to keep your user base who likely who may not adopt Gnome-shell, but have always preferred the tools and generally the experience that gnome has always provided. 

-I am one of these people, and I know many more. I don't expect work to be done to make fallback like Gnome2 or as feature packed Gnome-shell - but I don't need too either - there are a ton of desktop-agnostic applications/tools that can provide that, in a seamless way.

-Fallback or Agnostic, as i call it - is a solid gnome 3 base to build upon as an alternative to Gnome-Shell for those who either; 

A) have a particular need or desire for it, like an extremely lite-but fully functioning gnome-DE, would prefer to use Compiz, applications don't run well with GS, etc 

or B) wish to integrate tools different than what Gnome-Shell itself provides - while still getting to keep the Gnome Desktop, and all of the wonderful software and tools that come with it.

I think it is really important to acknowledge these users, even if we are only a small percentage.
Some People are going to love Gnome-Shell, but for the ones for whatever reason, whether it be of personal taste, or more practical reasons - who do not wish to adopt it - Lets not marginalize them,
but instead embrace them...

As it turns out, the stock tools provided with Gnome3 are very powerful, and after a little hacking - i was able to fully remove gnome-panel, GDM, asstistive technologies and Pulseaudio from my desktop. (no errors in log files, no bugginess). I have a slim Gnome3 Desktop running just the way that me, as the person who is using it -  wants it.. :)

anyway, i hope this message is received warmly, and i am truly sorry for any disturbance, stress ,etc that i may have caused anyone on this list, or any of the gnome-developers themselves.  I hope you do consider this recommendation - both the fixed-image and embracing the idea of re-branding gnome-fallback and keeping it as a viable option for your users.


thank you and take care,

Jordan

Attachment: welcomefixed.png
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