The original post: /r/linux by /u/Fishsven on 2025-02-21 09:33:37.

The rusty beginning: I started my Linux journey with Pop!_OS, and I hated the wasted space of the panel-like dock. It took me a while for me to return to GNOME as I was discovering KDE Plasma’s (5.24) customization potential. I loved it at first, but I noticed how the DE slowly became unstable after a lot of customising (Plasma has GREATLY improved by now, last time I tried 5.27 on Q4OS and it was blazing fast and rock solid). I was annoyed at how people took a liking to the hideous DE known as GNOME, and for me there was little difference between it and Windows 8, as they were basically tablet centric with GNOME and it’s wasted space.

The comparative period: I eventually got tired of Plasma, because it had way too many features that I didn´t wan´t to use. Tried XFCE, MATE and Budgie, and they felt too outdated for my liking; Budgie felt off. I decided to give GNOME a shot and installed Ubuntu 22.04. For once I was starting to like GNOME. It felt more unified and simple than KDE, but just more modern than the other desktops. However, this was NOT stock GNOME. I installed vanilla GNOME on the same OS and decided to give it a shot.

Not THAT bad…: Moving on from Ubuntu’s Yaru theme to Adwaita felt like a MASSIVE downgrade. Except the looks, GNOME’s true workflow actually started to make sense to me and it was more productive than any desktop I tried. Of course, I installed some extensions like Blur my Shell, but I can use GNOME without extensions nowadays. As I’m writing this, GNOME 48 would bring a new Adwaita font with Inter as it’s base, which will improve the looks of GNOME by a bit, IMO. Currently using Zorin OS, which has a GNOME theme that is MILES better compared to Libadwaita / Adwaita.

Conclusion: What I understood is GNOME is not all about looks, it makes the UI simpler and easier to understand, with ONLY the things you need, and it stays out of your way and focuses on your work. It might be dumbing down the desktop for some, but that’s exactly what GNOME’s for. A solid philosophy IMO- but definitely lagging in some important areas.