Debian Switching Back To GNOME As the Default Desktop

jeremy · 09-24-2014, 01:50 PM

From Debian tasksel:

Quote:

switch default desktop to Gnome
Based on prelimary results from
https://wiki.debian.org/DebianDeskto...ication/Jessie

Some desired data is not yet available, but at this point I'm around 80% sure that gnome is coming out ahead in the process. This is particularly based on accessibility and to some extent systemd integration.

Accessibility: Gnome and Mate are ahead by a large margin. Some of the other desktops have had their accessability integration in Debian improved, partly driven by this process, but still need significant upstream work.

Systemd/etc integration: Xfce, Mate, etc are stuck paying catch-up to ongoing changes in this area. There will be time to hopefully iron these issues out during the freeze once the tech stack stops changing out from under them, so this is not a complete blocker for those desktops, but going by the current status, Gnome is ahead.

The only single factor that I think could outweigh the above is media size, if there was a strong desire by Debian to see a single CD with a standalone usable desktop. However, the Debian live team doesn't care about fitting on a traditional CD; and while the Debian CD team hasn't made a statement, my impression as a member is that this is not something we care enough about any more to make it a hard blocker on the default desktop.

Other less tangible things that influenced this decision slightly include:

The Debian gnome team made a passionate case for Gnome having a bigger community, etc.
Gnome 3 seems to have improved quite a lot since the last Debian release.
The Debian XFCE team is ambivilant about whether it should be the default at all. They have not seen much added contributions from it being the default in testing for the past ~9 months and remain a small team.
The Debian Mate team is making a pretty good case for Mate, but OTOH it's new in Debian, without much testing or many users. While at the same time being basically gnome 2.0. I am uncomfortable with Debian regressing, despite that being a fine desktop environment.
Tasksel allows picking other desktops from a list, so this is really just the default, which can be easily changed.

Any thoughts on this potential change?

--jeremy

frankbell · 09-24-2014, 08:44 PM

I really don't care what a distro chooses as its default. That's a political decision, and I mean that in a positive way: it's either the choice of the maintainer in a distro like Crunchbang or, in case of a distro like Debian, the result of a process of negotiation and consensus building in a community. Either way, I'm going to use E17 or Fluxbox.

As for users, they should use the desktops/window managers they prefer.

Eireannach · 09-30-2014, 07:02 PM

Its fairly straightforward anyway to select an alternative desktop xfce,lxde or kde when installing ( select advanced options at the very start of the install).

Also much as I don't want to like Gnome3, given all the publicity I read about it , I find myself drawn to it after using it for a bit on Debian Wheezy( nicest default font rendering - only other distro I have tried with clean font rendering is crunchbang ( opposite end of the spectrum to Gnome3 ). The tweak tool restores a lot of the "missing" functionality and using Superkey+type first few letters of desired application is very simple and quick - only downside for me is that it is somewhat heavier than XFCE (my usual DE up to now at least)

evo2 · 09-30-2014, 07:24 PM

Hi,

perhaps I'm missing something but in what sense is Debian "switching back to GNOME"? As far as I recall if you choose "Desktop Environment" in the wheezy installer by default you get GNOME. Anyone care to enlighten me?

Evo2.

evo2 · 09-30-2014, 07:29 PM

Hi,

Quote:

Originally Posted by frankbell

Either way, I'm going to use E17 or Fluxbox.

you might want to take a look at http://www.lucas-nussbaum.net/blog/?p=837 regrading e17 in Jessie.

Evo2.

k3lt01 · 09-30-2014, 08:36 PM

@evo2, Debian made a decision about 6 months ago to default to XFCE (I think) and see how the user base took to it. Debian's intent was to keep the iso as small as possible and still have the functionality that Gnome offered. After testing it for sometime the decision was made to revert back to Gnome based on various aspects such as accessibility, tools, user base, and also the number of people within the Debian packaging community who were working on the various DEs. Apparently MATE come a close second and from what I can tell was possibly not given the nod purely because a couple of people still feel MATE is old school and Debian is trying to move to newer things.

evo2 · 09-30-2014, 09:02 PM

Hi,

thanks k3lt01, that helps.

Turns out the information is in the "tasksel" link in Jermey's post... oops.

So "Debian Switching Back To GNOME As the Default Desktop" is a somewhat misleading title. Replace "Debian" with "Debian Jessie" and things make sense.

Cheers,

Evo2.