Gnome removed solid-color backgrounds based on what developer's friends use | Hacker News Reader

Gnome removed solid-color backgrounds based on what developer's friends use

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67 pointstorstenvl37 comments

GNOME, 2020:

> The entire backgrounds panel was rewritten from scratch, so technically every single feature that it had was momentarily removed and then most were subsequently re-added as entirely new implementations.

jwz, 2003:

> I report bugs; they go unread for a year, sometimes two; and then (surprise!) that module is rewritten from scratch -- and the new maintainer can't be bothered to check whether his new version has actually solved any of the known problems that existed in the previous version. [...] It hardly seems worth even having a bug system if the frequency of from-scratch rewrites always outstrips the pace of bug fixing.

Reading the thread, including the parent post the OP omitted, it looks like they rewrote the background picker. And decided that this wasn't worth the time to reimplement.

Well it's not as if people are paying for GNOME.

Is there something on the issue tracker to add it back?

Rather than creating some drama or calling out a GNOME developer, why not see if you can implement the feature?

The odds are they'd welcome the contribution.

Edit:

Looks like it's not part of the "design vision" of GNOME.

However gotta say there seems to be a lot of hostility generated.

https://gitlab.gnome.org/GNOME/gnome-control-center/-/issues...

The ability to change the background is apparently still available via cli:

$ gsettings set org.gnome.desktop.background picture-uri ''

$ gsettings set org.gnome.desktop.background primary-color '#123456'

Wow... discussion locked by the same dev who made the initial call...

So weird

I’m glad to see they locked it so rapidly once the pile-on began. I don’t agree with their position, but the comments over the past couple weeks have all the hallmarks of Internet mob behavior: “It’s been months since you made your decision and I’ve decided to stir up controversy about it again”. I’m not sure where this was posted about three weeks ago, but that led to the pile-on beginning here:

https://gitlab.gnome.org/GNOME/gnome-control-center/-/issues...

And now we’re here having a dramatic outrage over it too. It’s not a great decision, but linking to this Reddit post was far less effective than linking to a blog post about this controversy would have been.

I wish we could have read a proper written story posted to HN about this, rather than being expected to sort through a haphazard pile of user comments without context. Is this only interesting because it’s disagreeable? Is the survey methodology the focus? Why did this matter to whoever posted it? Tell us a better story next time, OP.

Yeah, that is really why one uses a desktop environment, more reasons to have to deal with the CLI. /s

Sometimes I question myself how could I have been so much into Linux 20 years ago.

Normal users don’t necessarily know how to use the commandline.

Those that do almost certainly do not know the commands to bypass the UI. What you’re saying is no different from saying users should know what registry entries to change in windows.

Saying “it’s free” is an argument to use paid software like windows and OS X because usable software is something you have to pay for.

Seriously, if the project is not intended for developers using the “make the patch yourself” argument is absolutely unreasonable.

> Rather than creating some drama or calling out a GNOME developer, why not see if you can implement the feature?

That's not how it works anymore. If you don't give me the free thing in exactly the way _I_ want it, you are oppressing me and you should be destroyed.

On Linux using cli is the most user friendly way, so glad that GNOME sticks to that approach /s

> why not see if you can implement the feature?

honestly I've offered multiple times to implement features/fix bugs. they never respond. that argument doesn't hold weight anymore when dealing with gnome.

> Looks like it's not part of the "design vision" of GNOME.

I personally think GNOME "design vision" jumped the shark a long time ago when they mandated enormous title bar wasting everyone a lot of space so it could be used with touch control, a feature asked by basically no one. Also apparently they still don't have a proper dock.

Then again, it's their vision. They can do as they please. I just avoid using it as much as I can. Elementary is really nice. I don't mind the obvious OSX inspiration.

Why is Gnome forgetting that Gnome is being used by many newcomers.

It has lot of defaults non-appealing to many(no minimize, maximum window buttons, trackpad defaults to MacOS style controls, etc.). Also bar on left is non intuitive to many. Due to these reasons,bany extensions are necessary.

That's the reason why i think that Mate and KDE Plasma are better alternative DEs for beginners.

Well, this is how Gnome works, their way or highway. It's funny when they emphasize community importance, but most of the time few people are calling the shots.

I tried to find it today! I ended up making a solid blackish image instead. Reidiculous.

I think I had to do that with my phone one time. Did feel silly.

Years ago, on my Android phone, I took a photo of my finger covering the lens, so I could have a black wallpaper. That way, I could save battery, and easily see all my icons.

I learned of it when my desktops broke moving from F31 to F32 a few weeks ago.

While backgrounds are functional to me, wallpapers are non-essential, personal, and take time I don't care to spend to pick out, so I use plain colors to quickly indicate the purpose of the desktop I'm operating out of.

It's something I've been able to implement across every distro, every WM, and every DE for... as long as I've used virtual desktops.

So now I have to take something simple and make it complicated with a package or a plug-in because someone thought a half century-old concept could be abandoned on a whim.

It's nice to read stuff like this. I'd hate to think I moved to Mac a decade ago only for Linux's most popular GUI to get it's head out of it's ass afterwards.

Gnome being Gnome gives me a deep sense of a decision well made.

Yeah Apple never removes popular basic features from their devices...

This is why people call it open sores. You have no idea what feature you need will be removed tomorrow. Software perfection is not achieved with constant churn, so I'm not really sure what they are aiming for. Fresh code? Rat wheel. Good thing mate exists and is maintained.

Doesn’t Gtk provide a color picker component they could just shove on a tab and use?

https://developer.gnome.org/libgnomeui/stable/GnomeColorPick...

I don't use Gnome because of this kind of attitude they take toward its development (XFCE and Cinnamon are my jam). But for people who do use Gnome, do you expect these kinds of changes and welcome them? Or do you stick to a particular version?

Gnome devs don’t really like solid background colours. the cli is so much more practical, user friendly, and follows headless ui system guidelines.

Also you can call to your inner geekness when discovering this easter egg. All fun!

I'm really not sure if you're being sarcastic or genuine.

Obviously, if you're being genuine, you shouldn't ever wonder why no one uses Gnome.

And if you're being sarcastic, well then... carry on! :)

Thanks, I’m afraid my Sarcastic level was on extra-high mode :/

I loved gnome, but since moved on to xfce.

Edit: I still love gnome, just bring the goddamn solid background colours back

Missing /s?

Add that to the great idea of using JavaScript everywhere because it is more "welcoming" for new developer members.

And this is why I ended up using XFCE instead.

I've had my backgroumd as pure black on every machine I've ever used... Even my phones.

Dark gray for me.

Save memory too.

This decision seems dab to me, as the feature had to pretty simple to keep in.

> This decision seems dab to me

What does that mean?

Crazy autocorrect issue. I typed “dumb”. Weird.

Autocorrect is always ducking amazing :D

It's simply a huge memory regression, thus a bug. Low memory devices cannot use gnome then. Maybe they do care about low memory devices, but I doubt so.

Does xsetroot not work? I just set my background in my .xinitrc file with:

xsetroot -solid grey25

But in general, unless you're a novice user, I've never understood the need for the heavyweight DEs like gnome or kde. A terminal and a window manager with no border decorations is a lot more pleasant.

... yes, because everyone should know how to do that? That’s obviously a core part of learning to use a windowing system.

Ah, the science of UX.

Setting solid background is... Super niche. Good idea to just not bother.

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