Moving away from GTK 4. Future of Gnome on Solus

benji88i

Hi there,

I have read quite a few blogs on the disappointment in the direction and lack of user and development feedback and support that the Gnome Project is doing. I think it is ruining there brand and their future. I was hoping that it may be possible to retain the old gnome 3.XX versions somehow to keep the shell alive in that form.

How difficult a job would it be to maintain Gnome 3.38 without Gnome. ? I really do love the old Gnome 3 look. as Gnome 40 has removed a simple and beautiful functionality that it once had, its a real shame.

My question is would there be a way for us to rebuild or support Solus Gnome on 3.38 as it was really great for many users I know.

JoshStrobl

My question is would there be a way for us to rebuild or support Solus Gnome on 3.38 as it was really great for many users I know.

If you're asking if I'm willing to revert our GNOME Shell to GNOME 3.38, no. The GNOME 40 ship sailed long ago, just as the 41 did. Maintaining a desktop environment I don't care about when I already have one I do (Budgie) wouldn't be worth of time, especially given I'd rather spend all that time on improving Budgie and making it so Budgie 11 will do everything Budgie 10 can do, GNOME Shell can do, and more.

Nothing is stopping you from forking gnome-shell 3.38.x though, bringing it up to new GJS, ensuring it works against new GDM and Mutter changes, etc. but I think you are underestimating the work.

benji88i

JoshStrobl

Hi Josh,

No I definitely wasn't asking if you could do that. That was definitely no my intention sorry if that's how it sounded. That would be a silly question since you and everyone kindly donate your time and energy.

What I wanted to know is, is it possible? , and if it is how could one get started. I could try to get some help from students who know code.

Although gnome seems not very popular anymore. Any idea the userbase of gnome users on Solus?

I know that gnome is not everyone's cup of tea but some people really love it.

riffer

benji88i I'm in the camp of people who love gnome. It's going to be a hard decision for me to stay with Solus when it is gone. That being said, I support their decision. They have to focus their energy on their flagship and from an intellectual perspective I am more interested in seeing what they come up with for Budgie 11. I can always get bog-standard gnome on Fedora or a pretty version on Zorin.

benji88i

riffer

Yes I do agree, focusing resources on the flagship environment is without question a better use of resources. I know that that Gnome is not popular here now, plus from a marketing perspective less choices is more powerful for the brand.

Don't really feel that welcome here to gain more insights into the issues as Gnome seems to be a bit of a Pepsi vs Coke debate and that was not my intention.

Gnome has made things hard for app developers too, which I know from experience from working on an OTP authenticator app,

Without any reason Gnome seems to have moved the shell around without any considerations for the app developers. User space has been changed amd that's a big suprise. will gnome still be available on Solus moving forward? I would be gutted if it's taken off.

JoshStrobl

Yes, eventually GNOME Shell will be deprecated entirely, but that won't be until I can confidently say Budgie is a viable drop-in replacement. My goal is for that to be in the Budgie 11 series but we shall see as things evolve over time.