Gnome Shell for Ubuntu 11.10 Beta 2 includes Gnome Classic

I guess that says it all.

 

I thought that it was Gnome 3 "fallback" mode which does not have the same features as Gnome 2.x?

 

Correct.

It includes GNOME 3, but also includes a mode that makes it sorta look a bit like GNOME 2 -- but that GNOME devs actively try to make work like GNOME 3, even when that means removing features.

 

Yes, correct. Someone at Google+ informed me that it was just the fallback mode. Ubuntu 11.10 beta 2 just calls it "Gnome Classic" and Gnome Classic (no effects)".

I guess it is a Gnome 2. But underneath that you do still have Gnome 3.

 

It's really not. It lacks a lot of the features. It uses a different set of libraries. It's not compatible with previous versions. It doesn't have an upgrade path (the GNOME devs goal is to keep it around only as... well... a fallback for people who can't run the normal interface on their hardware).

I actually like the ideas in GNOME 3. It's good to see someone taking a crack at a new UI -- that's something we can always do with more of. I just think that the GNOME team fumbled the execution on so many levels, and has shown such blatant disregard for their user base that I can't bring myself to defend them any more than saying that what they're doing is good only in principle.

 

I for one, really like Gnome 3, more than any other interface I have ever used. That being said, I know I belong to a small minority located somewhere between Unity and LXDE.

 

It's getting better, I'll give them that.

I like the ideas, I just think that the execution was rushed, handled quite immaturely, and with far, far too little user testing.

The fact that it's the GNOME team doing this sort of UI stuff is... well... it's like when a drug cartel spends money to build a school in an impoverished nation. It's something that is sorely needed, and we're glad that *somebody* is working on it, but people can't quite stop themselves from saying "uh... does it *have* to be them?!?"

 

That is a very interesting analogy.

 

Well it's not a completely apt one. (Jokes about "what were they smoking" aside...)

I was trying to get across that, while it's good that the work is being done, it's a little hard to be completely supportive of it, given who's doing it.

 

I saw the feature set of the newer 3.2 release - on paper it looks good compared to the original 3.0 - but I should still check it out and see if they disappoint me again or not.....

They're taking a crack at a new kind of UI - that is good but taking radical decisions such that gnome 3 lacks many of the features in gnome 2 is the major thing that bothers the user base....

I now need to hunt for extensions to get gnome3 to behave the way I want it - otherwise will spoil my day-to-day workflow