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New Release of the Trinity Desktop Environment
mescobal writes: A new release of the Trinity Desktop Environment (TDE) is out. TDE is "a computer desktop environment for Unix-like operating systems with a primary goal of retaining the function and form of traditional desktop computers" which translates into a fully functional KDE 3 style Desktop. Something is missing in the new generation of desktop environments, since some people (perhaps more than "some") feel at home with Gnome 2 or KDE i3. They have repositories for Debian and Ubuntu-based distros. I'm now using it on Ubuntu 15.04, amazed about how well-planned things were in the previous generation of DE. We may have gained some things with Gnome 3 and Plasma 5, but we lost a lot of good features too. TDE brings them back.
The real issue with UI lately is the 'mobilization' of the desktop, to its detriment. Windows, osx, and linux all suffer from it now. At least the latter allows the user to run alternatives.
Unfortunately, even if you install a real desktop, you still suffer from the 'mobilization' of the web.
So many websites have now been redesigned for touchscreens to the point where they're utter crap on a desktop machine.
I really can't wait until this 'mobile' fad is over, and the 'UX designers' find some other fad to chase after.
That's what I was thinking... they gave me a Mac Mini at work about 4 years ago. I gave it a real try - several months, but couldn't get over the UI, and couldn't understand why people claimed to like it so much. So I powered it down and worked on my old Linux box. Then Ubuntu switched to Unity, and I was like "this again? I went back to Linux to get AWAY from this."
I think anyone can get accustomed to just about any UI, and I think we're mostly hung up on how things worked before, but unless those new "paradigms" actually prove advantageous to work, then it's not just a fear of something new or disliking a learning curve - why should I learn something new when it gains me nothing?
Stupid sexy Flanders.
There was a time when people thought Linux would become a contender on the desktop. That basically hasn't happened, and it's not going to happen in a big way. Thus linux users are starved for good native apps (kinda a chicken and egg thing going on too).
Now if you ditched KDE and Gnome and simply went with a full on clone of OS X, suddenly a whole ton of apps would come to Linux, whether it be running OS X apps as-is or whether you convince developers to do a simple recompile for Linux. Whether you like OS X or don't like it, the reality is this would boost Linux, bring apps, and give a shoe in for a possible desktop future for Linux.
And the reality is, OS X is actually quite good. Apple developers have always quite liked developing for the platform, users apparently like it, so nobody would be terribly upset.
Or you can keep running with the failed KDE/Gnome wars.
Why should I have to fight with package dependencies and fiddling with config files every time some clique of nerds decides one DE is better than another? It soon became tiresome. Now that I've been on OS X for 3+ years I've never looked back. Its DE doesn't throw the baby out with the bath water every 12 to 18 months.
OS X doesn't suffer from the 'mobilization' of the desktop. I use OS X on a daily basis and not one thing that's going on in iOS-land has adversely (or even noticeably!) affected my existence. Perhaps you could elaborate on what you mean?
How in the world will "mobile" go away? .... people are not going to return to physical keyboards anytime soon
Yes they are, or they have never abandoned them. Typing (as opposed to just looking and reading) is just awful on a touchscreen. Also, the fad for smallness is going away already. The marketing droids will represent keyboards to the next generation as a "new idea", as they did analog watches.
of Gnome 2 or the older standard desktops.... without being particularly slick and pretty. Xfce has the most customizable desktop because you can easily create launchers for apps, files, and urls. And you can define panels and dock those launchers into the panels..... something that Gnome never really offered.
Cinnamon is prettier and Unity is more "space-age" in its appearance. But when it comes to functionality, Xfce gives me what I need.
"He took a duck in the face at 250 knots." -- William Gibson, Pattern Recognition
Its DE doesn't throw the baby out with the bath water every 12 to 18 months.
You only say that because you have only been using OS X for 3+ years (assuming the 3+ means less than 4). It's possible you haven't noticed because after only 3+ years, you aren't familiar enough with the Mac to notice when something goes missing.
Workspaces arbitrarily changed from a useful grid to mandatory linear layout. Ditching a working file search for Spotlight that only allowed results to be sorted based on name, kind or "last opened". Dropping features during a crusade to eliminate features requiring filesystem metadata then turning around and going full metadata without reimplementing the lost features. Replacing mDNSresponder with discoveryd for no good reason since discoveryd didn't work, the proof being that they switched it back a few updates later. All of a sudden refusing to display users' custom icons is another one.
If you stay on the Mac, you will find Apple is constantly throwing out the baby with the bathwater, replacing what works with what isn't ready and leaving users with no recourse because Apple only supports the most recent couple of OS X versions with security updates.