What’s the reasoning behind not having a “system tray” in GNOME? You need to install an extension for that, and that is a weird process for newcomers/beginners.

But my question is why? Does GNOME really think you don’t need one? Why don’t they include it?

  • Petter1@lemm.ee
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    10 months ago

    I like that initial installation is reduced to the max ant then you can add what you need rather than removing what you don’t want. I guess thats a design philosophy where the alternative KDE interface tries to put everything in on initial installation I like as well that GNOME creates rails for app developer to achieve continuity in user experience throughout all apps

  • OsrsNeedsF2P@lemmy.ml
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    10 months ago

    Gnome spends a lot of time testing user designs that are simple and get the task done for the 99% marketshare they don’t have. They try not to be bound by our current approach to computers, and instead idealize what most of the world actually wants.

    I think it’s a noble goal but will never touch it. I’m surprised other people do. That said, I’ll always support them because of how much they upstream.

  • thayer@lemmy.ca
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    10 months ago

    The best and most official explanation I’ve read is the 2017 GNOME blog post, Status Icons and GNOME.

    Essentially, tray icons are a throwback to the days before designated notification and media playback APIs, and they now create some ambiguity for app developers, in addition to being ripe for abuse.

    It’s a worthwhile read and the writer makes several valid points, but doesn’t address as much as I’d like in terms of actual solutions for things like instant messengers.

    Personally, I would be happy if traditional tray apps could somehow be displayed in the dash, with status indicators, and started in a minimized state. And I still see the benefit of having some always-visible tray apps, such as VPN indicators.

    • beta_tester@lemmy.ml
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      10 months ago

      Nice read. I’d add that there’s also no mobile or tablet counterpart which becomes more and more important

  • bitterhalt@lemmy.world
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    9 months ago

    What is the problem? There are many other DE:s with tray. Gnome does not listen community much.

  • slembcke@lemmy.ml
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    10 months ago

    Well… they don’t like the design of a “system tray”. To be fair, it’s a very Windows centric idea, and the notion that they must provide one because Windows has one seems… similarly questionable to me too. Speaking personally I hate the idea, and always have. It’s a real dumpster fire because:

    • Lots of drivers (on Windows) assume you don’t know how to launch programs, and force a permanent launch shortcut on you.
    • Programs assume you don’t understand how to minimize or hide a window, and put themselves in the tray instead. (launchers, chat programs, etc)
    • Some programs seem to use them just to put their logo on the screen. You can’t really do anything with the tray icon.
    • Few icons match stylistically, and even on Windows, they don’t match the system style. (White icons on a white taskbar? FFS)
    • Programs often don’t provide an option to disable their tray icons, and it’s rare that I want them.

    I guess I found the lack of them to be a breath of fresh air when I first tried Gnome 3 a few years ago. The current iteration doesn’t quite work though… 99% of the time I just want an option to kill the damn things, but I’ve have had some programs that only provide functions through the system tray. It’s dumb, and I hate it, but it is what it is.