The Future of Gnome

Neil Patel of Canonical recently posted an outline of the new user interface concepts that Gnome developers envisioned during the “Gnome User Experience” conference in Boston a couple of weeks ago. But are the concepts a good move?

While the specifics of the proposal and the roadmap for implementing it remain vague, it seems clear that the interface described by Mr. Patel would represent a major departure from the current Gnome that so many Ubuntu users know and love.

Perhaps the most obvious change is a heavy reliance on multidimensional menus. The main Gnome menu, for example, would be replaced by an “Activities” button that, when clicked, would open a sidepane bearing some resemblance to the Vista start menu, in that it dominates the screen when open and is intended to be used for much more than just launching applications. The objectives behind this feature seem to be easier control of multiple desktops and a more centralized command-center for tasks.

Another fundamental change is the apparent absence of a bottom panel. Personally, I always get rid of the bottom panel anyway because it wastes a valuable 24 vertical pixels, but I suppose there are some people who like it, especially those adjusting from Windows interfaces. Moreover, it’s unclear whether users would have the choice of relocating the main panel to other areas of the screen, as they currently can.

Too Much Change?

These revisions of the Gnome desktop seem nice, and I’m all for a face-lift for the interface, which hasn’t seen substantial changes since my first experiences with it several years ago. On the other hand, part of the beauty of Gnome—and the chief reason that I use it instead of KDE or another alternative—is that I can always count on it to be simple and intuitive.

Under the default configuration, I can do what I need in as few clicks and with as little thinking as possible. I’m a bit worried that this new design, in contrast, will compromise the simplicity of the Ubuntu desktop, especially for non-technical users who aren’t accustomed to rapid assimilation to new interfaces.

As Gnome exists now, even users who have never seen Linux before should have little trouble figuring out how to perform basic tasks, like launch a web browser or modify system preferences. But if the launchers for such actions become buried under more layers of menus, things may become quite a bit more difficult.

The restrictions on customization that are included in the new plan are also troubling. According to Mr. Patel, “The panel won’t allow adding additional icons or application launchers [in order] to encourage use of the overlay mode and standardize the look.” As Linus Torvalds declared during his infamous flame war against Gnome fans a few years back, “Gnome seems to be developed by interface nazis, where consistently the excuse for not doing something is not ‘it’s too complicated to do’, but ‘it would confuse users’.”

Few Linux users are going to be comfortable sacrificing their freedom to put launchers and applets wherever they please for the sake of “standardizing the look” of Gnome. If I wanted to be forced to make my taskbar conform to someone else’s vision without the option of customizing it to any significant extent, I would be use Windows or OS X.

Some aspects of these proposals are good, but if the Gnome developers neglect simplicity and customizability in the interests of standardization and sophistication, they will leave themselves and their users in a very unfortunate position.  On the other hand, I should emphasize that these changes are merely proposals at this point, and that there’s still plenty of time to revise them before they ever make it into Gnome.