Distros still using Gnome 2?

[Black_Sector]

Im really looking forward to Mint 12. I tried the RC1 and it was a little buggy on my system, but its pretty cool looking. I like the look and feel of it. I cant say I am a fan of Gnome3 or Unity, but with the new panel at the bottom you can at least switch between tasks as opposed to apps. I need a traditional menu because I have more apps than I can memorize and I dont always know what I am looking for. I like my tabs and hate switching between apps when I am not using a smart phone. Mint 12 fixes that, so Im looking forward.

However, while I think Mint has done some great things for Gnome Shell, I dont fully accept that these changes were necessary. Nothing is really better than Gnome2. Not Windows, not OSX,not KDE, not Android.....this is opinion, but its not an uncommon one. Gnome was close to perfection.

Mint Debian has been a good alternative, but it will eventually move to gnome3 with the new mint panel...its not terrible. Little things like lack of Jockey, having to memorize commands without being able to copy them (because you are logged out of X) kind of sucks for the less geeky among us.

Fusion, based on Fedora, has forked Gnome2 and it looks awesome. It uses Compiz and has some neat features that I have never seen before. It looks awesome, its snappy and responsive, and there is a really great yet not overwhelming collection of default apps. Its more apps than average, but not excessive, pretty well thought out, and snappier than Ubuntu. Also, the software center got a major overhaul and works almost as well as synaptic. I still give the edge to synaptic, but by a smaller margin than before. Its a huge improvement in 14.1 compared to 14. Fusion has really stepped up their game, though its only in x32. PAE kernels are showing some good improvement though and allow you to use more ram. Its not a deal breaker for me as long as PEA can easily be installed.

I hear Arch has forked Gnome, and they call it MATE I think. Gnome is including MATE as an alternative to fallback mode. I guess it was necessary to fork it to resolve dependency issues. It sounds great to have both a better Gnome 3 as well as a genuine Gnome 2.

Ive also been playing with XFCE. I really like XFCE since 4.8 and I think its almost as good as Gnome2 and snappier.....only I think Xubuntu is a poor implenetation of XFCE as its on a gnome base and SLOOW. I tried it on mint debian, Sabayon, PCLOS, crunchbang, and its lightning fast and response, even when fully loaded.


Im probably going to put Fusion OS 14.1 on my older laptop (2008, so its not that old), Mint 12 on my newer computer, and either Crunchbang or Liquid Lemur or Macpup on my old old computer. Or maybe turn it into a server.


Im interested in knowing what other distros are still using Gnome2, or a fork of Gnome 2. Can anyone else add to the list?

[Dustintendo]

there is actually very little gnome in xubuntu, try to install any application that depends on gnome and you'll see what i mean

[3Miro]

The best Gnome 2 distro at the moment would be Debian 6. They will hand around for the longest time and Debian is well know for stability. Other than that, I know about Red Hat and CentOS, but I have limited experience with them.

I think Xubuntu's main problem at the moment is the indicator stuff that they are trying to copy from Ubuntu (along with the entire sound system). This isn't Gnome stuff exactly, it is better called Ubuntu stuff. I find Fedora XFCE to be a much better implementation. I am using Gentoo XFCE and I think Arch work pretty well too. The Slackware family is also known for liking XFCE and they don't include Gnome at all, which means that they have a very "clean" XFCE.

Mint 12 comes with Mate (you have to select it from the login screen). If you want latest up-to-date software with Gnome 2, this would be your best choice. (I am not sure about Mate in Arch, I haven't tried it)

[Merk42]

What will you do when the applications themselves start to be written in GTK+3 and won't work in GNOME 2?

[snowpine]

Red Hat (and its clones like CentOS and Scientific) will support Gnome 2 the longest, through roughly 2017 I believe. That's what I use on my work computer.

Ubuntu will support Gnome 2 through April 2013 with 10.04 LTS (and there's a chance they will extend this through 2015).

[3Miro]

What will you do when the applications themselves start to be written in GTK+3 and won't work in GNOME 2?

What do you mean, GTK3 apps work just fine under Gnome 2. You may have to do something extra for the GTK3 themes, but other than that there is no issue. Only system tools are written for a specific DE, the applications themselves are DE independent. (I am running GTK3 apps under XFCE with no issues)

[BrokenKingpin]

there is actually very little gnome in xubuntu, try to install any application that depends on gnome and you'll see what i mean
++

They have worked pretty hard to cut down the Gnome bloat, and I find it pretty snappy on my netbook even. Give Xubuntu 11.10 a try, it is very nice... and feels very comfortable coming from Gnome2.

If you do want a gnome 2 desktop I think the Mate desktop (Gnome2 fork) will be available as an option in the next mint release.

[Garthhh]

Im really looking forward to Mint 12. I tried the RC1 and it was a little buggy on my system, but its pretty cool looking. I like the look and feel of it. I cant say I am a fan of Gnome3 or Unity, but with the new panel at the bottom you can at least switch between tasks as opposed to apps. I need a traditional menu because I have more apps than I can memorize and I dont always know what I am looking for. I like my tabs and hate switching between apps when I am not using a smart phone. Mint 12 fixes that, so Im looking forward.

However, while I think Mint has done some great things for Gnome Shell, I dont fully accept that these changes were necessary. Nothing is really better than Gnome2. Not Windows, not OSX,not KDE, not Android.....this is opinion, but its not an uncommon one. Gnome was close to perfection.

Mint Debian has been a good alternative, but it will eventually move to gnome3 with the new mint panel...its not terrible. Little things like lack of Jockey, having to memorize commands without being able to copy them (because you are logged out of X) kind of sucks for the less geeky among us.

Fusion, based on Fedora, has forked Gnome2 and it looks awesome. It uses Compiz and has some neat features that I have never seen before. It looks awesome, its snappy and responsive, and there is a really great yet not overwhelming collection of default apps. Its more apps than average, but not excessive, pretty well thought out, and snappier than Ubuntu. Also, the software center got a major overhaul and works almost as well as synaptic. I still give the edge to synaptic, but by a smaller margin than before. Its a huge improvement in 14.1 compared to 14. Fusion has really stepped up their game, though its only in x32. PAE kernels are showing some good improvement though and allow you to use more ram. Its not a deal breaker for me as long as PEA can easily be installed.

I hear Arch has forked Gnome, and they call it MATE I think. Gnome is including MATE as an alternative to fallback mode. I guess it was necessary to fork it to resolve dependency issues. It sounds great to have both a better Gnome 3 as well as a genuine Gnome 2.

Ive also been playing with XFCE. I really like XFCE since 4.8 and I think its almost as good as Gnome2 and snappier.....only I think Xubuntu is a poor implenetation of XFCE as its on a gnome base and SLOOW. I tried it on mint debian, Sabayon, PCLOS, crunchbang, and its lightning fast and response, even when fully loaded.


Im probably going to put Fusion OS 14.1 on my older laptop (2008, so its not that old), Mint 12 on my newer computer, and either Crunchbang or Liquid Lemur or Macpup on my old old computer. Or maybe turn it into a server.


Im interested in knowing what other distros are still using Gnome2, or a fork of Gnome 2. Can anyone else add to the list?

http://www.mageia.org/en/

[SilFox]

http://www.mageia.org/en/

That is current version "Mageia 1";
However, if we look at the upcoming distribution version "Mageia 2 (https://wiki.mageia.org/en/Mageia_2_technical_specification#Graphical_environ ments)",
we can see that they are going to gnome 3 too :-(

I am currently exploring Foresight Linux, and they say:

Foresight Linux still runs Gnome 2

Many users really hate gnome 3, and start to look at other linux os that still runs Gnome 2. Foresight Linux is still one of those Linux OS.
So if you plan to change to a dist that still runs Gnome 2, give Foresight Linux (http://www.foresightlinux.org/) a try.

We will change to Gnome 3, but no date is set yet.


Seems like gnome 3 is unavoidable. Our hope is either MATE (or some other future gnome 2 fork) , or that someone redesign gnome 3 putting back all those beautiful gnome 2 features.
Unfortunately, old saying "There is only one way from the top (---> down)" is true.
Gnome 2 IS on the top. (imho)

[Plumtreed]

You should look at Fuduntu.....Gnome2 and a Rolling release.

[fuduntu]

Im really looking forward to Mint 12. I tried the RC1 and it was a little buggy on my system, but its pretty cool looking. I like the look and feel of it. I cant say I am a fan of Gnome3 or Unity, but with the new panel at the bottom you can at least switch between tasks as opposed to apps. I need a traditional menu because I have more apps than I can memorize and I dont always know what I am looking for. I like my tabs and hate switching between apps when I am not using a smart phone. Mint 12 fixes that, so Im looking forward.

However, while I think Mint has done some great things for Gnome Shell, I dont fully accept that these changes were necessary. Nothing is really better than Gnome2. Not Windows, not OSX,not KDE, not Android.....this is opinion, but its not an uncommon one. Gnome was close to perfection.

Mint Debian has been a good alternative, but it will eventually move to gnome3 with the new mint panel...its not terrible. Little things like lack of Jockey, having to memorize commands without being able to copy them (because you are logged out of X) kind of sucks for the less geeky among us.

Fusion, based on Fedora, has forked Gnome2 and it looks awesome. It uses Compiz and has some neat features that I have never seen before. It looks awesome, its snappy and responsive, and there is a really great yet not overwhelming collection of default apps. Its more apps than average, but not excessive, pretty well thought out, and snappier than Ubuntu. Also, the software center got a major overhaul and works almost as well as synaptic. I still give the edge to synaptic, but by a smaller margin than before. Its a huge improvement in 14.1 compared to 14. Fusion has really stepped up their game, though its only in x32. PAE kernels are showing some good improvement though and allow you to use more ram. Its not a deal breaker for me as long as PEA can easily be installed.

I hear Arch has forked Gnome, and they call it MATE I think. Gnome is including MATE as an alternative to fallback mode. I guess it was necessary to fork it to resolve dependency issues. It sounds great to have both a better Gnome 3 as well as a genuine Gnome 2.

Ive also been playing with XFCE. I really like XFCE since 4.8 and I think its almost as good as Gnome2 and snappier.....only I think Xubuntu is a poor implenetation of XFCE as its on a gnome base and SLOOW. I tried it on mint debian, Sabayon, PCLOS, crunchbang, and its lightning fast and response, even when fully loaded.


Im probably going to put Fusion OS 14.1 on my older laptop (2008, so its not that old), Mint 12 on my newer computer, and either Crunchbang or Liquid Lemur or Macpup on my old old computer. Or maybe turn it into a server.


Im interested in knowing what other distros are still using Gnome2, or a fork of Gnome 2. Can anyone else add to the list?

I think you confused Fusion with Fuduntu. ;)

[cariboo]

There is also the gnome classic option in Oneiric, you get the classic 2 panel interface, and one of our members is working on making it better, see this (http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=1873765) thread.

Depending on the version of gnome 3 we are using when Precise is released, it could be available for the life of the LTS version, which unless you've been living under a rock is 5 years.

[wolfen69]

What will you do when the applications themselves start to be written in GTK+3 and won't work in GNOME 2?

Quit using computers? Start a revolution? 1000 years from now, even though computers and OS's won't resemble anything we have now, people will still talk fondly about gnome 2 and the golden age of computing. Heck, there will probably even be a world-wide holiday to celebrate the the living legend known as gnome 2. World leaders will proclaim it was a sad day for humanity when gnome 2 died. <wipes a tear from his eye>

But, we can revive it and make it better than before! A desktop environment to live forever! And if we play our cards right, we can even spread the word about gnome 2 across the galaxy! The whole universe for that matter! Civilizations from around the cosmos will forever be indebted to earth for this "once in a millenium" desktop environment. Aliens from around the universe would flock to earth to experience this life altering phenomenon known as gnome 2! Are you with me?

[jjex22]

It does look as though if you want gnome 2, MATE is the way to go for the future - ofcourse for now at least, yes using debian / an ubuntu 10.04 based distro is best until we see how mate works in mint 12 final (it didn't at all for me in the RC) - take the stable option for now, then switch once mate's been bug fixed.

Chances are gnome 2 will disappear very quickly from all but the most specialist disttros (well it already has) now support's switched. It has caused me to switch to KDE (with the exception of mandriva one 2011 - KDE with a Unity style launcher, talk about loose-loose!)

The only worry for me is reading the release from mint I gotthe feeling that they're only supporting MATE to help users adjust to the gnome 3 switch... which I read to mean that they'll cut mate as soon as they can - I'm probably mistaken but it read to me a bit like they foresee mate as a sort of net with which to catch the rats fleeing the sinking ship of Ubuntu (metaphor NOT my view)Which would be a shame as I think linux is all about choice and I'd like to see MATE develop as it's own DE

[thatguruguy]

It does look as though if you want gnome 2, MATE is the way to go for the future - ofcourse for now at least, yes using debian / an ubuntu 10.04 based distro is best until we see how mate works in mint 12 final (it didn't at all for me in the RC)

You must be kidding. Mint is the perfect distro, created and maintained by the top experts in the field. It is impossible to believe that anything in Mint does not work the way it is supposed to. There is clearly something wrong either with your hardware, the way you tried to install it, or your expectations.

[3Miro]

My feeling is that Mate will go the way of Trinity. It will hang around for awhile and then it will go away.

Mint does come with Mate, but Mate is not the default option. The default is a modified version of Gnome-shell.

[jjex22]

You must be kidding. Mint is the perfect distro, created and maintained by the top experts in the field. It is impossible to believe that anything in Mint does not work the way it is supposed to. There is clearly something wrong either with your hardware, the way you tried to install it, or your expectations.

Mint is definitely my favourite distro, but I wouldn't describe it as perfect, but yes sorry I meant that the MATE desktop didn't work for me at all in the RC, which is true, it wouldn't load on my hardware, so I had to run it in vm to test. To be honest it was their take on gnome I was really interested in -very much looking forward to the final!

[wolfen69]

Mint is definitely my favourite distro, but I wouldn't describe it as perfect

Is your sarcasm detector broken?

[jjex22]

Is your sarcasm detector broken?

Nope :)