Extend the life of your CentOS 8 servers after it goes End Of Life: https://tuxcare.org/extended-lifecycle-support-centos8

Get your Linux desktop or laptop here: https://slimbook.es/en/

👏 SUPPORT THE CHANNEL:
Get access to an exclusive weekly podcast, vote on the next topics I cover, and get your name in the credits:

YOUTUBE: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC5UAwBUum7CPN5buc-_N1Fw/join

Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/thelinuxexperiment

Or, you can donate whatever you want: https://paypal.me/thelinuxexp?locale.x=fr_FR

🏆 FOLLOW ME ELSEWHERE:
I also do a Gaming Podcast: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCbRPZ11S1quJ4ESoj42A3ug

Join us on our new Discord server: https://discord.gg/xK7ukavWmQ

Twitter : http://twitter.com/thelinuxEXP

My Gaming on Linux Channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCaw_Lz7oifDb-PZCAcZ07kw

📷 GEAR I USE:
Sony Alpha A6600 Mirrorless Camera: https://amzn.to/30zKyn7
Sigma 56mm Fixed Prime Lens: https://amzn.to/3aRvK5l
Logitech MX Master 3 Mouse: https://amzn.to/3BVI0Od
Bluetooth Space Grey Mac Keyboard: https://amzn.to/3jcJETZ
Logitech Brio 4K Webcam: https://amzn.to/3jgeTh9
LG Curved Ultrawide Monitor: https://amzn.to/3pcTVDH
Logitech White Speakers: https://amzn.to/3n6wSb0
Xbox Controller: https://amzn.to/3BWmIA3
*Amazon Links are affiliate codes and generate small commissions to support the channel*


00:00 Intro
00:33 Sponsor: Extend the life of your CentOS8 servers
01:30 Why move from Manjaro KDE to Fedora GNOME?
02:35 My Experience with Vanilla GNOME
07:38 Switching to GNOME Apps
09:38 My Experience with Fedora
14:15 Will I stick to Fedora?


This GNOME here didn't come with any extensions. Coming from my "mac-like" layout with global menu and dock, it took me a very short time to adapt.

All it took to be proficient was re-wiring my brain to use the top left as a hot corner instead of the top right. I added an extension, the app indicators one. I also added a second extension, letting me switch from dark theme to light theme.
On GNOME, my apps don't have menubars, and so a global menu isn't needed.

Now, in terms of workflow, the workspaces, I now use a lot more, thanks to the easy access through the activities view. On KDE, I tended to only use one workspace, but 2 activities, one for work, and one for play.

Basically, I really like the simplicity of GNOME, and the default workflow suits me really well.

The default Adwaita look is really bland to me. It's all really, really grey, and the rare blue accents don't make it a less glacial experience. The icon theme is really nice, apart from files and folders. These manilla beige folders are not pretty, and the file mimetypes lack a lot of constrast.

The dark adwaita theme is much better.

Another issue, is the lack of integration of Nextcloud.

I also find the system menu pretty lackluster, especially for sound.

I moved from Kmail to Geary, which was a fantastic transition: just setting up an account is night and day. In Geary, it takes 2 minutes, in Kmail, I had to fumble through the enormous settings to even get my folders to show up.

GNOME Calendar is much simpler and nicer looking than Korganizer, although Kalendar, with a "K" seems like a more than worthy replacement, with its nextcloud tasks integration.

The GNOME software app blows Discover out of the water in the looks department, and in the legibility of the information it displays. It also handles updates better, in my opinion, with more detail and a nicer interface.

The rest of my app roster is mainly made out of elementary OS Apps, which,, unfortunately, don't look too good on GNOME: they don't use the elementary OS icon theme, or the elementary OS GTK theme, which makes them look quite ugly and weird.

The GNOME apps themselves, though, I really like. Some people might find them too limiting, and that's fine, but I don't have super complex needs in my graphical apps, and I prefer the simple look and feel combined with the features I need.

Now, let's talk about my experience with Fedora. The installer is still a horribly designed piece of software.

Sure, it does its job, but in terms of UX? It's bad. really bad.
I needed DNF once, to install my Nvidia drivers.

I also quite enjoyed the way Fedora handles updates: you install them from GNOME Software, and while app updates apply automatically, system updates will install at the next reboot.

Now, for the issues, because there were some.

First, Fedora 35 comes with Pipewire for audio, and while that system has a lot of promise, it has issues, especially with apps depending on ALSA.

I had no audio playback in Audacity, and Davinci resolve had super stuttery audio that made it unusable

The main, big unsolved issue, though, is bluetooth. I could NOT get it to work right on Fedora. I use an MX Master 3 and a bluetooth keyboard, and these keep going to sleep, even while in use, and sometimes fail to reconnect.