Hello, GNOME community!
My main GNU/Linux distro is Ubuntu 12.04.3 LTS. It has GNOME 3.4.2.
I have other distros installed for testing too, they are: Ubuntu 13.10 (GNOME 3.6+3.8), Ubuntu 14.04 beta (GNOME 3.6+3.8), Mageia 4 beta (GNOME 3.10), OpenSuSe 13.1 (GNOME 3.10), Alt Linux p7 (GNOME 3.8), Sabayon (GNOME 3.10), Arch (GNOME 3.10), Debian 7 (GNOME 3.4.2), Fedora 20 beta (GNOME 3.10), Gentoo (GNOME 2.32), CentOS 6.5 (GNOME 2.28).
I compared modern versions of GNOME and I found that they have reduced functionality on configuration and usability (compared 2.32 and 3.4.2 to newer versions).
There are examples below:
1. GNOME Control Center keyboard settings.
In GNOME 2.32 (as in Gentoo) and GNOME 3.4.2 (as in Ubuntu 12.04) I am able to set many Keyboard Layout Options in gnome-control-center keyboard, but in GNOME >3.4 they are missed. There are bugreports about these problems:
1.1. Keyboard Layout Options window is missed in gnome-control-center keyboard (see
https://bugzilla.gnome.org/show_bug.cgi?id=712165,
https://bugs.launchpad.net/bugs/1245064 with 34 affected users at Launchpad)
1.2. Unable to set the physical keyboard LED to show an alternative layout (see
https://bugzilla.gnome.org/show_bug.cgi?id=711429,
https://bugs.launchpad.net/bugs/1245188 with 12 affected users)
1.3. Missed Miscellaneous compatibility options (see
https://bugzilla.gnome.org/show_bug.cgi?id=711426,
https://bugs.launchpad.net/bugs/1245199 with 6 affected users)
1.4. Binding ctrl+shift, alt+shift, etc for switching keyboard layout makes shortcuts with ctrl+shift, etc not working in any program (see
https://bugzilla.gnome.org/show_bug.cgi?id=712667,
https://bugs.launchpad.net/bugs/1245473 with 23 affected users).
For example if I set keyboard layout switching to Ctrl+Shift in GNOME 3.4.2 I can copy and paste text in gnome-terminal with Ctrl+Shift+C/V and navigate text in text editors with Ctrl+Shift+arrows. In modern versions of GNOME I can’t do it.
1.5. Hotkeys are non-functional on non-latin layout (see
https://bugzilla.gnome.org/show_bug.cgi?id=712669,
https://bugs.launchpad.net/bugs/1226962 with 197 affected users). For example, if I have defined Ctrl+Alt+T (T is english capital T) for launching terminal it launches if I press Ctrl+Alt+T on english layout or if I press Ctrl+Alt+Е (Е is russian Е) on russian layout (tested in Gnome 3.4.2). But in newer versions of GNOME non-latin shortcuts are broken.
1.6. Gnome-control-center keyboard no longer has way to modify caps lock key behavior (see
https://bugzilla.gnome.org/show_bug.cgi?id=703967,
https://bugs.launchpad.net/bugs/1224575 with 35 affected users)
2. Nautilus
2.1 in GNOME 3.4.2 I am able to use Extra Pane in nautilus, in GNOME >=3.6 it is missed (see
https://bugzilla.gnome.org/show_bug.cgi?id=696880,
https://bugs.launchpad.net/bugs/1196066 with 3 affected users).
2.2. in GNOME 2.32 I am able to navigate to parent folder with mouse click on a button, but in modern versions of Nautilus I can’t (see
https://bugzilla.gnome.org/show_bug.cgi?id=662243,
https://bugs.launchpad.net/bugs/885592 with 48 affected users). But I can navigate to parent folder with Alt+Up.
3. USB-mass storage devices safe removal in Nautilus, Gnome Disks and udisks
3.1. in GNOME 3.4.2 I am able to do safely remove (power off) of USB-flash or USB-HDD from Nautilus. If I press it - LED on USB-flash goes off, USB-HDD will stop (spin-down). So Nautilus 3.4.2 have an option “Safely remove drive”, but in modern Nautilus this option is missed (Eject does not do the same). There are bugs about Nautilus (
https://bugzilla.gnome.org/show_bug.cgi?id=693946,
https://bugzilla.gnome.org/show_bug.cgi?id=676321,
https://bugs.launchpad.net/bugs/626335 with 3 affected users,
https://bugs.launchpad.net/bugs/1067876 with 106 affected users) and udisks (
https://bugzilla.gnome.org/show_bug.cgi?id=695281). Safely remove functionality is still missed. After Eject USB-HDD is rotating, USB-flash has its LED on.
3.2. in GNOME 3.4.2 I am able to do safely remove (power off) of USB-flash or USB-HDD from Gnome Disks 3.0.2. But in modern Gnome Disks USB-HDD does not spin-down. There are bugreports for this (
https://bugzilla.gnome.org/show_bug.cgi?id=693944,
https://bugzilla.gnome.org/show_bug.cgi?id=675542,
https://bugs.freedesktop.org/show_bug.cgi?id=71802,
https://bugs.launchpad.net/bugs/1077342 with 4 affected users,
https://bugs.launchpad.net/bugs/1239087 with 1 affected user).
As a conclusion I think the following:
1. Keyboard layout switching functionality is used very often, so I can’t understand why Keyboard Layout Options (and its nested items) are moved to not-preinstalled gnome-tweak-tool. This functionality was is gnome-control-center for years, but now it’s removed. I think that there are very small amount of one-language-users, so keyboard layout switching and compatibility options are extremely important.
2. Nautilus apperance changes are not critical, I think. I can substitute Extra Pane functionality by opening another window or use of Krusader and navigate to parent folder from keyboard (with Alt+Up).
3. I understand that usb-mass storage devices may be safely detached from computer after unmount (and sync) and that USB-HDD with SATA interface are hot-pluggable and hot-swappable. But why safely remove functionality is removed in the newest versions of udisks (and Nautilus, Gnome Disks)? For me it’s more comfortable to detach USB-flash with swithed off LED and spinned-down USB-HDD. The only one working method for safe detaching of USB-device is to call “udisks --deatch /dev/sdXN”, but it does not user-friendly.
It seems that outdated (but stable) GNOME 2.32 is more configurable than new shiny GNOME 3.x. May be my list is not complete and there are other missed things. For me the last usable and configurable GNOME version is 3.4.2.
So my main questions are:
* what is the reason for removing useful functionality from GNOME?
* why GNOME developers do not ask GNOME users about planned changes?
* what GNOME users and developers think about aforementioned bugs (at least 472 users are affected)?
