A fifteenth chance for GNOME

by Nicholas Petreley

Okay, I don't really know how many chances I've given GNOME, but I've tried to switch to GNOME as my default desktop many times. I always ended up switching back to KDE (to be fair, I use other window managers, too, such as Fluxbox, which is one of my favorites). Thanks to the rumors that Xgl/Compiz/cgwd worked best on GNOME, I gave GNOME another shot. As it turns out, the rumors are false. These 3D desktop enhancements work fine under KDE. But I've really been enjoying my GNOME experience despite the fact that there are still things about GNOME that I dislike. Granted, I can credit Ubuntu's default settings for GNOME as some reasons why I'm enjoying it more. But it's still a better desktop than I recall from the last time I used it.

I haven't changed my mind about many of the complaints I have about GNOME. I won't twist the knife in GNOME fans by reiterating them here. If you're truly interested in specific complaints, post a comment and I'll be glad to discuss them. Otherwise, let's just say that those things I don't like about GNOME are tolerable enough that I can overlook them.

Here are a couple questions for GNOME fans. I redefined the key bindings for various programs to mimic the KDE defaults, including the key bindings for the GNOME terminal. It isn't that I can't get used to new key bindings. I simply find it easier to type Shift->Right than Control-PageDown to switch tabs in a multi-tabbed terminal.

Here's one question: Is there a simple way to get the default terminal emulator to remember the way I've resized the window? Also, I would love to get it to stop asking me if I'm sure I want to close all open tabs when I'm done using it. Again, this all falls under the category "tolerable". These minor quibbles aren't enough to give up on GNOME (I could simply use another terminal program in this case, anyway). But if you know the answers, please share.

The point is that I'm using GNOME as my default desktop now, and I intend to continue using it until I've reached a point where I have either decided to stick with it, or I feel I've given it a fair enough chance that I'm satisfied that I have good reason to prefer KDE.

But as I consider myself a "new" GNOME user, since it's been a long time since I've used it at length, here's your chance to tell me all the great things about GNOME that I should discover while I'm giving it this chance. GNOME fans, unite, and clue me in!

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