Gnome is better macOS than macOS

Original Article ↗ Hacker News Discussion ↗

GNOME vs. KDE and Other Desktops

  • Strong split: some find GNOME “so darn easy to use” and the best out-of-box Linux desktop; others say it’s “barely a desktop” that needs buggy extensions to restore basics.
  • KDE/Plasma praised for power, configurability, performance gains, and global search. Criticisms include visual “clutter,” inconsistent UI, buggy panel configuration, and heavier feel on low‑end hardware.
  • Several users prefer alternatives like Cinnamon, Xfce, MATE, i3, or Unity’s old UX.

Opinionated GNOME Design: Workspaces, Minimizing, Keyboard

  • GNOME is described as keyboard- and workspace-centric, de‑emphasizing minimize and traditional taskbar/start‑menu patterns.
  • Fans say this model is efficient once learned and liken workspaces to separate “desks” for different activities.
  • Detractors dislike relying on workspaces instead of minimize, find it conceptually messy, tablet‑like, or incompatible with their habits. Some call lack of minimize and need for Tweaks/Extensions a “glaring omission.”
  • Multi-monitor workspace behavior in GNOME (focus always on primary for some UI) is a repeated annoyance.

macOS Comparisons: Dock, App Lifecycle, Ecosystem

  • Confusion and debate over closing windows vs quitting apps: on macOS behavior depends on app type; on GNOME the app typically quits with the last window. Some like the macOS model, others find it unintuitive.
  • Question why GNOME imitates macOS’s dock instead of a Windows-style taskbar, noting the dock is jarring for Windows users and wastes vertical space; counterpoint: it can be auto‑hidden and is now a familiar pattern.
  • macOS is seen as strong on ecosystem (e.g., Universal Clipboard). KDE Connect is mentioned as a partial analogue; iPhone integration is “unclear”/fiddly.

Menus, File Managers, and Layout

  • Some miss macOS-style global menus and Finder’s Miller columns; lack of these in Nautilus is a dealbreaker for a few. Others strongly dislike global menus, especially with multi‑monitor setups.
  • Alternatives with Miller columns (Dolphin, elementary Files, Ranger, Yazi, Pantheon) are cited.
  • Old GNOME 2 “Applications–Places–System” menu is remembered very fondly.

Quality, Fonts, Funding, and Extensions

  • Complaints about HiDPI and font rendering in GTK/Asahi; one linked GNOME issue where a dev downplays “font sharpness” as a metric.
  • Disagreement on funding: one side calls GNOME underfunded with long‑lived bugs; another says it’s the most funded DE and blames priorities (redesigns over fixes).
  • Repeated gripes: extensions break across releases, printing is unreliable, tray icons not first‑class, and too much relies on JavaScript-based extension APIs.

Broader Reflections and Article Reception

  • Some agree Linux desktops (GNOME/KDE) have surpassed Windows/macOS UX; others see this as the same old “Year of the Linux Desktop” narrative.
  • Several find the article’s claim that macOS is the “most confusing software” to be hyperbolic and mostly about missing power‑user features GNOME provides.