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PayPalPop!_OS from Linux hardware vendor System76 is set to get a massive upgrade when Pop!_OS 21.04 releases, as they've announced COSMIC - their very own desktop environment.
"We’re providing a honed desktop user experience in Pop!_OS through our GNOME-based desktop environment: COSMIC. It’s a refined solution that makes the desktop easier to use, yet more powerful and efficient for our users through customization. The new designs are developed from extensive testing and user feedback since the Pop!_OS 20.04 release, and are currently being further refined in their testing phase."
Check out their animated mock-up (Credit - System76):
Much like Ubuntu do with their own adjustments to GNOME to add a proper dock, System76 will be adding one for COSMIC too. They say it will be adjustable to be available wherever you want it - be it at the bottom, the left or the right of your screen and you can have it stretch across if you want it to and auto-hide too. Traditional minimizing to the dock will also be a thing, which GNOME also lacks out of the box.
It will have the Activities Overview you get split into two special views of Workspaces and Applications. They say that "the Workspaces view will allow you to view your open windows and workspaces, while the Applications view will open an application picker". Why did they go with this design? The reason is simple according to the blog post as they "found that even GNOME veterans have a tendency to pause in their task after opening the Activities Overview" and that this split view allows "you to access the application picker in a single click, while the cleaner UI design prevents visual distraction".
Much like Pop already does, the team is focusing on letting users decide how to use it. There will be all the bells and whistles for both mouse-driven and keyboard-driven users. According to System76 CEO, Carl Richell, COSMIC will be based upon GNOME 3.38 for the 21.04 release then 40 for 21.10 (Twitter).
Since this is a big change, it's also going to delay the release of Pop!_OS 21.04 to June 2021 instead of April. Find out more in their blog post. Those interested in code can see it already on GitHub.
Very much looking forward to giving COSMIC a go when Pop!_OS 21.04 releases.
Article taken from GamingOnLinux.com.
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Gnome is designed by geeks to, well, geeks.
That's why so many extensions rapidly developed; to make it, well, normal. So that, well, normal people would be able to use it.
That's why so many Distros pick Xfce as their default DE like Manjaro, MX linux, Lite; because, well, it's a normal environment.
System 76 should have chosen an established Distro and tweak it here and there, instead of that washed down lollipop, so things would look, well, normal.
That's why so many extensions rapidly developed; to make it, well, normal. So that, well, normal people would be able to use it.
That's why so many Distros pick Xfce as their default DE like Manjaro, MX linux, Lite; because, well, it's a normal environment.
System 76 should have chosen an established Distro and tweak it here and there, instead of that washed down lollipop, so things would look, well, normal.
2 Likes, Who?
Interesting... I’m using Gnome 40 now and tbh see this as a step back or at best a sideways step. I’d definitely give it a shot if it’s released for Arch or Fedora... don’t see myself ever switching to an Ubuntu based distro...
0 Likes
Massinissa Apr 14, 2021
I just they don't end like Canonical who tried weird things with Mir and Unity. they do a good job, but don't get too greedy 
0 Likes
Luke_Nukem Apr 14, 2021
Yeah, what Linux needs is yet another desktop environment.
It's an extension.
What actually bugs me about all this is that it's thrown out there as "another DE" and "system76 innovate again" giving everyone the wrong idea rather than as it really is - an extension on Gnome.
Last edited by Luke_Nukem on 14 April 2021 at 12:22 am UTC
1 Likes, Who?
This is a great development for System 76 users in my opinion. It doesn't solve the Gnome control freak issue for anyone else, but it's good for S76.It does somewhat. By making it its own thing, with its own name, it makes it easier to be picked up by others if they want it, rather than "that set of patches that Pop has." Much like, say, Cinnamon or Mate did.
1 Likes, Who?
no_information_here Apr 14, 2021
I am a long-time KDE Plasma user, so somewhat biased. However, I don't mind the Gnome guts, even using stock Mint back in the Gnome 2 days. However, all the recent Gnome distros I have used feel like being in a straight-jacket and concrete shoes. Even MacOS is much more customizable.
If POP can make a more flexible Gnome-based system, colour me interested.
If POP can make a more flexible Gnome-based system, colour me interested.
5 Likes, Who?
Gnome is designed by geeks to, well, geeks.
That's why so many extensions rapidly developed; to make it, well, normal. So that, well, normal people would be able to use it.
That's why so many Distros pick Xfce as their default DE like Manjaro, MX linux, Lite; because, well, it's a normal environment.
System 76 should have chosen an established Distro and tweak it here and there, instead of that washed down lollipop, so things would look, well, normal.
I really dig Manjaro's theming and overall desktop customizations on top of all of its spins, though imho the rest of your sentence merely invalidates the other half of it.
Are you honestly going to make this argument mentioning a couple of virtually dead and otherwise obscure distros nobody's really into?
System76 did indeed choose the most established linux distro there is to build up on.
I don't use Ubuntu and have been quite skeptical of anything coming out of Canonical for a long while now, but there's no denying it's by far the most iconic linux distro there is, even historically at this point.
Gnome is plagued by highly controversial and opinionated workflows its devs consistently enforce on their users without ever considering user feedback or even providing any sort of out of the box configuration for, but it also shines in a lot of aspects.
Unless you happen to be one of the 4 persons that love vanilla Gnome then you're pretty much going to need to rely on third party extensions, themes and Tweaks before you can get a desktop that matches your preferences and complements your workflows, but at the very least you'll have a great experience in the end... until the next Gnome update anyway...
The real issue with Gnome is how they break almost every single extension on every freaking release so you can't ever relax and enjoy your finished setup for long. At best you'll be stuck without a few convenient extensions for a number of weeks, but more often than not you'll be losing an essential extension forever due to its dev being unable to maintain it any longer. Even if somebody else decides to fork and update it you'll still have to find out about it, manually look it up and reinstall, trusting yet another unaffiliated random person online for stuff you use locally on your personal computer.
5 Likes, Who?
And I don't know how to say this without insulting other DEsYou clearly don't!
, but to me only Gnome and KDE are robust enough to even consider.
1 Likes, Who?
I'm all for this in theory, but I gotta say when I watched the little video the first thing I thought was "Whoa, that is butt-ugly!" and the second was "What's going on, on this screen, anyway?"
Neither of those strike me as a good omen for me wanting to use that desktop environment. Think I'll stick to Mate.
Neither of those strike me as a good omen for me wanting to use that desktop environment. Think I'll stick to Mate.
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Great stuff! I like how System76 are bringing the tiling WM paradigm to the mainstream. I can't leave Arch because I have too much scripts / infrastructure tied to it, but I hope they or members of the community consider releasing COSMIC as an AUR package!
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While I'm glad they are including Gnome Tweaks by default (It should really be integrated to Gnome), I will probably disable their dock to use Plank instead.
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Outertoaster Apr 14, 2021
Oof, so that rumour I heard where they were working on a vertical layout extension for gnome 40 wasn't entirely correct.
Lol.
Seems pretty cool so far though!
Lol.
Seems pretty cool so far though!
0 Likes
Arehandoro Apr 14, 2021
I use Pop_OS Theme on my fedora 33 work laptop. Automatic tiling, and the launcher -with the ability to search for files there and run terminal commands- are very well-developed with sane/helpful defaults. It doesn't work on my home PC with fedora 34 due to Gnome 40, and was looking forward to having a working version for Gnome 40 soon.
The delay on 21.04, and potentially 21.10, is a long enough time for me to try make Gnome 40 behave like Pop_OS by changing/adding shortcuts. COSMIC will probably be great, etc but as @wvstolzing has mentioned their efforts should be focused on improving GNOME/GTK rather than dedicating the time into a "massive" extension for GNOME. Same reason I stopped using PaperWM, to be honest.
The delay on 21.04, and potentially 21.10, is a long enough time for me to try make Gnome 40 behave like Pop_OS by changing/adding shortcuts. COSMIC will probably be great, etc but as @wvstolzing has mentioned their efforts should be focused on improving GNOME/GTK rather than dedicating the time into a "massive" extension for GNOME. Same reason I stopped using PaperWM, to be honest.
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In the opposite to general opinions, I like they're making forks of GNOME because I usually like more the community tweaks/forks than vanilla GNOME/KDE/XFCE.
I'm still waiting for a Rust-based DE though.
Is COSMIC using Mutter as compositor too?
I'm still waiting for a Rust-based DE though.
Is COSMIC using Mutter as compositor too?
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Cyba.Cowboy Apr 14, 2021
Yeah, what Linux needs is yet another desktop environment.
At least they're supposedly listening to the feedback from their users... Which is pretty much the exact opposite of what both the GNOME Project and Canonical have done, ever.
And have you used Pop!_OS?
I haven't used it since the very first (stable) version and having just installed it on my Microsoft Surface GO the other day, I was pleasantly surprised... Next to "vanilla" Ubuntu (which I use on my "daily driver"), Pop!_OS is prettier, it seems to have slightly better performance and just seems to be a more "refined" Ubuntu in all the right ways.
The only reason I gave away Pop!_OS before was because it was basically just a "reskinned" Ubuntu - that doesn't seem to be the case anymore, and there's a good chance I'll make the change on my "daily driver" with the next LTS release... I plan to take it for a "proper" spin on a "spare computer tomorrow (my Surface GO is mostly for reading eBooks, eComics and eMagazines).
They should just switch to KDE and provide their own theme...
It's funny you say this, because I just watched a video on LBRY / Odysee about KDE, and the content producer spoke pretty highly of KDE... I haven't used KDE since back when Red Hat Linux was still a thing (outside of the corporate world) and I'd be willing to give it a whirl - but there doesn't seem to be a whole lot of "mainstream" distros using it (particularly in the Debian / Ubuntu-based world), and I'm too lazy to muck around with it too much.
I hate GNOME, but it "just works"... So I'll stick with it, for now. lol
Last edited by Cyba.Cowboy on 14 April 2021 at 9:10 pm UTC
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I'd be willing to give it a whirl - but there doesn't seem to be a whole lot of "mainstream" distros using it (particularly in the Debian / Ubuntu-based world), and I'm too lazy to muck around with it too much.I'm not sure what you mean by this. Kubuntu and KDE Neon are both prominent Ubuntu-based distros that use KDE. Kubuntu is one of the Ubuntu flavours, so it follows Ubuntu's release model, and KDE Neon is from the KDE project, putting the latest KDE release on an LTS Ubuntu base. It's easy enough to fire up a live USB of either to see if it's the kind of thing you might be interested in.
2 Likes, Who?
Cyba.Cowboy Apr 15, 2021
I'm not sure what you mean by this. Kubuntu and KDE Neon are both prominent Ubuntu-based distros that use KDE. Kubuntu is one of the Ubuntu flavours, so it follows Ubuntu's release model, and KDE Neon is from the KDE project, putting the latest KDE release on an LTS Ubuntu base. It's easy enough to fire up a live USB of either to see if it's the kind of thing you might be interested in.
I forgot about Kubuntu and with regards to the latter, I was confusing it with Plasma... #ThatGuy
I probably wouldn't make the jump on my "daily driver" until the next LTS release if I was impressed by it, but I'll definitely consider putting it on my Surface GO, because the video I watched reckons KDE is pretty customizable and despite what most people seem to think, GNOME is garbage on a touchscreen (at least in my opinion).
Last edited by Cyba.Cowboy on 15 April 2021 at 5:59 am UTC
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The real issue with Gnome is how they break almost every single extension on every freaking release so you can't ever relax and enjoy your finished setup for long
Amen!
This is precisely why I've just given up on Gnome --- a total lack of functional sophistication. It's all flash without finesse, a rhinestone covered brick.
Last edited by Nanobang on 15 April 2021 at 2:22 pm UTC
3 Likes, Who?
Nevertheless Apr 20, 2021
Not that I like KDE. But this cracks me up.They should just switch to KDE and provide their own theme...
K-Pop!_OS ?
Curious... why do people like Docks? Personally I use the default Gnome setup because I like that it isn't constantly on my screen by default. I come from a long line of systems that didn't have task bars, and quit frankly like it that way. Windows 95-XP had a nice minimanlistic one that didn't take up extra vertical space. Gnome 2 was odd because they had the smaller panels, but were top/bottom. The gnome dock being off to the left and set to autohide makes so much more sense to me.
1) it is closer to the activities hot corner. So in one fluid movement I can fling the .ouse to the upper left, then straight down to the dock to launch something without touching the keyboard. Or if I want to only use keyboard, meta key, then type, maybe some arrows, and enter. Boom launched application.
2) with the dock moved to the bottom of the screen (in both gnome 40 and Cosmic), you would have to go up, then down (assuming auto-hide is on, which for me it would be...)
3) now that screens are more commonly wide, ultrawide and super ultrawide... having a goant dock at the bittom with grey space around it looks REALLY hideous...
I like that you're talking detail. I think the classic Win95 style desktop has some big advantages!
1. Closing maximized windows by clicking in the top right corner without having to look.
2. Opening the system menu by clicking in the bottom left corner without having to look.
3. Favourite apps in the bottom panel. Why bothering to add an extra dock, dash, panel or whatever?
4. Workspace switcher in the panel.
5. Window list in the panel (no clicking, or using the keyboard).
I don't get what a top panel is good for. And even when I move it down in Gnome, the window close button is in a position that can not be reached with a click in the top right corner.
I absolutely love Cinnamon because of it!
1 Likes, Who?
I like that you're talking detail. I think the classic Win95 style desktop has some big advantages!
1. Closing maximized windows by clicking in the top right corner without having to look.
2. Opening the system menu by clicking in the bottom left corner without having to look.
3. Favourite apps in the bottom panel. Why bothering to add an extra dock, dash, panel or whatever?
4. Workspace switcher in the panel.
5. Window list in the panel (no clicking, or using the keyboard).
I don't get what a top panel is good for. And even when I move it down in Gnome, the window close button is in a position that can not be reached with a click in the top right corner.
I absolutely love Cinnamon because of it!
Frankly this is why I like XFCE so much. I prefer a "classic" method of panels on the bottom of each monitor, no more, no less. Each monitor shows it's own windows in their respective panels' window list. You can do plenty of fancy things if you really want to, but I don't want to; It's not broken, and more importantly, the "new fancy" is not better. I swear half the changes they make for newer things is just for the screenshots.
1 Likes, Who?
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