Gnome3 vs Unity

[Mazate]

What is the easiest way to install the Gnome 3 desktop environment so that I can alternate between it and Unity?

[typhoon_tip]

I suppose you are running 11.10 :)

Open a terminal, then:

sudo apt-get install gnome-shell

Then you logoff, and click the "gear" icon, choose "GNOME" and then login, it will start with Gnome 3.

Note: if you have an ATI card, and you installed the proprietary driver, it will not work (well, it will be buggy, screen messed up). This is a known bug so, if you want to try it, you have to do so with stock ATI drivers with basic openGL 2D/3D capability, altough it may not work on newest cards.

[markbl]

Also, due to a ubuntu bug some of the unity global menu stuff disrupts gnome shell but you can fix this by typing the following command:



echo '[ "$DESKTOP_SESSION" != "ubuntu" ] && unset UBUNTU_MENUPROXY' | sudo tee /etc/X11/Xsession.d/81ubuntu-menu-proxy


This will have no affect on Unity. Also add the webupd8team ppa to get the gnome-shell-extensions for gnome-tweak tool to customise your gnome-shell. See http://www.webupd8.org/2011/10/official-gnome-shell-extensions.html.

[weyland42]

Also, due to a ubuntu bug some of the unity global menu stuff disrupts gnome shell but you can fix this by typing the following command:



echo '[ "$DESKTOP_SESSION" != "ubuntu" ] && unset UBUNTU_MENUPROXY' | sudo tee /etc/X11/Xsession.d/81ubuntu-menu-proxy
This will have no affect on Unity. Also add the webupd8team ppa to get the gnome-shell-extensions for gnome-tweak tool to customise your gnome-shell. See http://www.webupd8.org/2011/10/official-gnome-shell-extensions.html.
Since I upgraded to 11.10 the desktop environment experience seems to have descended into chaos. I find Unity unusable, and both Gnome and KDE have become unpredictable and unstable, not to mention extremely difficult / impossible to customise as before with 11.04.

So I looked at the link above, which looks like it might help. But it says "Important: an user has reported that using the Alternative Status Menu extension without having a profile picture crashes GNOME Shell. So set a picture (under User Accounts) before installing this extension."

I'm using what 11.10 calls Gnome Classic now, and I can't find how to get at User Accounts. How do I set a picture?

[weyland42]

I've now installed all the stuff mentioned in the link except the Alternative Menu potential problem. The result is worse than ever. Like a cross between Unity, Android, and some computer game for masochists. Can't even navigate between windows without clicking Activities.

How can I get back to a nice clean and simple stable UI with all navigation, task bars, and workspace selectors at the bottom and nothing at the top?

If I can't, I'll just have to reinstall 11.04 (or some other Linux distro).

[nilarimogard]

Since I upgraded to 11.10 the desktop environment experience seems to have descended into chaos. I find Unity unusable, and both Gnome and KDE have become unpredictable and unstable, not to mention extremely difficult / impossible to customise as before with 11.04.

So I looked at the link above, which looks like it might help. But it says "Important: an user has reported that using the Alternative Status Menu extension without having a profile picture crashes GNOME Shell. So set a picture (under User Accounts) before installing this extension."

I'm using what 11.10 calls Gnome Classic now, and I can't find how to get at User Accounts. How do I set a picture?

Actually I've fixed that bug by adding a delay before starting the extension. But it's better to be safe so if you want to set a profile picture, go to System Settings > User Accounts, click the "Unlock" button on the top right corner of the window and then you can set a picture for your account.

[weyland42]

Actually I've fixed that bug by adding a delay before starting the extension. But it's better to be safe so if you want to set a profile picture, go to System Settings > User Accounts, click the "Unlock" button on the top right corner of the window and then you can set a picture for your account.
Thanks, Nila, but I still can't see a way to set a picture . . .

http://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-siUxM7NC_OI/Tqq4oCNJlII/AAAAAAAAICY/gk7T9DhGFYM/s912/_snapshot1.png

[Mazate]

Well, I hate to be a stick in the mud but Gnome 3 works fine for me. I added it as per instructed and it works like a charm. Yeah, it does have some limitations but I used to use it with Fedora and got used to it and grew to like it actually. Seems to work fine on Ubuntu.

[cbowman57]

Click here >>> 205673