Fedora 16 Alpha Released

AdamWill writes "Fedora 16 Alpha is released today, featuring GNOME 3.1.4 with a unified input indicator for keyboard layouts and input methods, KDE 4.7, GRUB 2 on new installations (with GPT disk labels) and several other major changes. You can download it now. Remember to read the important information in the release notes and common bugs page."

Re:Another bad Fedora release.

[supersloshy]

It's an alpha release. Expect it to not be stable and still have some kinks that need to be worked out before release. Just report everything you find (if it's not reported already) and hopefully they'll get fixed.

Really?

[neiras]

I upgraded to Fedora 15 (from 13) and was so horrified by Gnome 3 that I immediately installed Debian so I could use Gnome 2. Even the "classic Gnome" option is still unusable.

You do realize that GNOME 3 Classic Mode only has a few user facing differences from GNOME 2, right?

1. You have to hold ALT when right clicking the panels in order to customize them. No more by-mistake applet moves.
2. Panels now allow you to snap widgets to the center. New feature!
3. There are fewer available panel applets, because the API changed. No more CORBA.
4. The unified System Settings dialog replaces the System menu. I miss the old Preferences but can live with this.

I have a GNOME 3 desktop that is practically identical to my old GNOME 2 desktop. Having changed the GTK theme from the black Adwaita theme, it even looks like GNOME 2.

Fallback mode pretty much *is* GNOME 2. I really don't get what all the bitching is about. Surely a few missing panel applets and a unified settings dialog aren't reasons to discard a desktop environment.

Re:Really?

[fnj]

The following is styled as if I am speaking to the Gnome developers, not the parent poster. If any of the following have been repaired since 3.0, I apologize, because 3.0 was so AWFUL it made me throw it on the floor within 5 minutes, and I haven't been inclined to waste any more time on the thing since then until I hear that all of the deficiencies noted below have been repaired.

You do realize that GNOME 3 Classic Mode only has a few user facing differences from GNOME 2, right?

The differences are actually significant and in the direction of LOSS of functionality. I guess you're not using the Drawer, Mini Commander, Weather, System Monitor, and CPU Freq Scaling applets, and I guess you don't have a simple compact digital clock with seconds and date in the upper right corner. Making it IMPOSSIBLE to set it up that way, and with control over the geometry, is NOT ACCEPTABLE because it is a GRATUITOUS loss of flexibility.

1. You have to hold ALT when right clicking the panels in order to customize them. No more by-mistake applet moves.

A stupid and pointless replacing of an intuitive and DISCOVERABLE operation by a HIDDEN and awkward one.

2. Panels now allow you to snap widgets to the center. New feature!

Allow? FORCE! That's not a feature, it's a bug. Give me CONTROL, dammit.

3. There are fewer available panel applets, because the API changed. No more CORBA.

I'm not an apologist. I'm a USER. I DEPENDED on those applets. Don't bore me with details of why your stupid infrastructure changes have led you to drop them. Just bring them back. ALL of them!

4. The unified System Settings dialog replaces the System menu. I miss the old Preferences but can live with this.

It's a pointless and needless complication, but yeah, it's not the most egregious of the mistakes.

I have a GNOME 3 desktop that is practically identical to my old GNOME 2 desktop.

That's nice for you, but I found that Gnome3 WOULDN'T LET me make a desktop that was even remotely like my old one.

Fallback mode pretty much *is* GNOME 2.

No, no, NO. It is NOT, and repeating that it IS, does not make it so.

Re:Does it have a decent desktop?

[ReinoutS]

If you want to put items on your desktop, that's simple: use gnome-tweak-tool or set the org.gnome.desktop.background.show-desktop-icons property to true manually. The fact that this isn't enabled by default doesn't convey an arrogant attitude, but is a simple design decision that flows from the fact that Gnome3 doesn't implement a traditional desktop metaphor, and it wants to minimize visual distraction. For sure, this doesn't mean Gnome 3 is finished. It's only just taking off. There's a lot more in store in the area of 'finding and reminding' in upcoming releases, for instance. In the mean time you can try out some of the Gnome Shell Extensions [gnome.org] to tweak the environment to your liking.