What do you hate the most about GNU/Linux software?

@Gerbilsoft
Oh wow. It shouldn't surprise me at all that GNOME are doing something like this. It makes me really angry. I fully expected GNOME3 to suck hard, and I'll probably switch to KDE or something soon.
It is a shame, GNOME2 was only half bad. With some good decisions and work, it could have been turned into something great.

 

I tried to switch to KDE but I just couldn't, it still feels really slow. How come something made from something so great (Qt) turns out to be so slow?

 

I don't know what y'all be talkin' 'bout. I have a five year old laptop, 1.7GHz Pentium 4 M, 2GB RAM (though it previously had 1.25GB), and Intel 915 GM. By all means, a horrible computer, but the latest version of Kubuntu runs silky smooth provided I turn of visual effects.

 

You should try running something more popular like Mint. Reply using it if you haven't thrown your laptop by then.

 

I'm more of an XFCE fan myself; I stumbled across it while looking for something lightweight for my MythTV frontend, and it and Ratpoison were the suggested desktop environments. I use the box for light internet browsing occasionally so ratpoison and it's "no mouse" thing were out leaving XFCE. I've since come to love it and wonder WHY anyone would want GNOME over it. KDE's not bad either, but I see no benefits in switching to it vs. sticking with my current desktop environment. I even switched to XFCE for the rather short amount of time I spent setting up my fileserver before removing the monitor and moving it into the closet.

 

My favorite right now is XFCE as well, but it has a few usability quirks here and there that bug me. I had it on my laptop via Arch Linux a few months ago (I had to get rid of it though because it made the processor speed scaling act strangely) and I was rather annoyed that customizing the programs menu is such a difficult task. There were a few interface inconsistencies as well. However I think it's the least problematic of all the DEs. Gnome seems to be losing features instead of gaining them (and I seem to be having more issues customizing now than when I dabbled with Ubuntu years ago) and I really, really hate how KDE is set up. I don't know why, but I just can't feel comfortable in it.

 

Talking about different GUIs, I used FVWM-Crystal for a week, boy it sure felt like ole'school linux, with the incredibly hard to use configuration documents and the lack of proper documentation. But I've seen some people do amazing things with it ie:

Found on the ubuntu forums.

 

There's something I don't get. What is slowing linux so much? Is it X? Is it GTK? What is it exactly¿

 

It can be a lot of different things — startup utiliites, complex configuration scripts for systems like X and GNOME, crappy drivers =P The only way to find out is to experiment, but be careful, here be dragons!

 

If the multiplatform programs are anything to go by, I'd say the code in general is extremely bloated. Either that or the programmers of some of those have no idea how to use the resources properly, so they end up with code that works but pathetically slow (some people turn "don't optimize prematurely" into "never optimize at all even if you need it", especially if it requires new algorithms).

 

Apt package management has long since resolved my primary complaint in regards to Linux in general. I have not seen much of the slowdown and fragmentation others have mentioned.

Then again, my set-up consists solely of plasma-desktop on top of Ubuntu-Server with a few user applications running on hardware built with Linux in mind.

As for more specific, I do find it lamentable that Linux lacks a really good 3D CAD program.

 

Are the people who are behind the effort to make Gnome "simpler" completely out of their fucking minds? Do they not have a single person who knows anything about usability?

It's three buttons that aren't in the way of anything ever, and they think that removing a button in favor of a function that's never described anywhere (Double-click title bar) is superior?

 

Wow that was a really bad assumption. If anything, Shuttleworth is doing a GOOD thing by moving away from GNOME. I would follow up on that but for whatever reason Ubuntu 11.04 alpha upgrade wants me to remove cmake... I'll ask why now.

I can understand why GNOME is taking the direction it is going in, but it seems a bit haphazard to chase after the next big thing and leave the old one in the dust. Also I do minimize, but I haven't really tried workspaces much, so :/

 

Actually, I think the decision to axe the window controls are from the GNOME team themselves. Now, if Canonical decides to follow suit and pull this shit with Unity, then that's another thing.

I decided to give XFCE 4.8 a try, and I don't think I'm going to go back to GNOME. Thunar has actually improved past Nautilus since the last time I used it, so that leaves little to no reason for me to even think about GNOME.

 

GNOME in Ubuntu 11.04 is going to be another extra distro like Kubuntu and Xubuntu. Unity will be used as the primary window system.

I prefer XFCE myself. Haven't tried 4.8 because I need to reinstall Arch Linux and I kind of need another computer nearby to get it done. Only problem: Both desktops are upstairs now.

 

I don't get it. Since when does Gnome do window borders (including the title bar)? Last I checked, those things were controlled by a window manager, which Gnome was everything but.