GNOME and KDE are the most popular desktop environments in Linux, so the open-source community eagerly anticipates each new release. With just over three weeks until GNOME 44, scheduled to be released on March 22, the race to hype its new features has continued.
One of them, however, caught our attention: the new Background Apps functionality. So first, letโs briefly explain what it is all about.
What Are GNOME Background Apps?
Let me be honest: I was sure hell had begun to freeze over when this new feature appeared onย GNOME GitLabย a few weeks ago with the first sample screen.
Why? Because, too naively, at first, I thought GNOME was bringing back the thing that all GNOME fans had been praying for โ the removed system tray functionality. However, after a few minutes, I realized how naive I was. So hereโs what it is all about.
GNOME Background Apps is a new feature that will debut in GNOME 44, representing the ability to stop desktop applications running in the background via Quick Settings.
In other words, you canโt open the app by clicking on its name, which would imply system tray functionality. No, that would be too nice. So instead, you only have an โXโ button that immediately terminates the app running in the background. So now, letโs ponder this โawesomeโ new GNOME feature.
The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly
The good โ there is none. I couldnโt make sense of the option that GNOME developers gave me to instantly terminate my desktop applications running in the background, such as Discord, Skype, Telegram, Dropbox, mail client, torrent client, and so on.
At the same time, imagine how one of the first extensions every GNOME user installs, one to restore system tray functionality to get things back to normal, shows a list of applications that GNOME suggests you terminate a little further down. Isn’t it an odd situation?
Moreover, what is the difference in the result between the two approaches shown in the image below if I want to stop the application running in the background?
Let me tell you โ none. But, of course, it is still quite another to show these apps like a wall of shame in a prominent place with only one option for them โ stop it.
I almost forgot to mention GNOME developersโ great humor in picking the icon for this functionality โ ghost. There couldnโt be a more positive comparison.
Iโm trying to say that GNOME isnโt offering us another “amazing” feature; instead, it shows its open intolerance of us having applications running in the background and indirectly recommends we stop them. And GNOME goes too far in this crusade.
So, for those desperate dreamers like me who believe that common sense will prevail and the day will come when the native system tray functionality will be brought back to GNOME – only in our dreams.
Running desktop apps in the background is one of the few concepts that has been a cornerstone of every desktop operating system for the past two decades. They are a constant, a must-have component for a complete user experience, the lack of which is unthinkable for virtually every computer user.
Companies such as Microsoft and Apple are heavily investing in departments of highly skilled professionals who study and deal with UI interfaces and user behaviors.
In addition, KDE, MATE, Cinnamon, Budgie, or every other free desktop environment, rely on desktop applications running in the background and displaying them in the system tray.
GNOME, however, despite everything and everyone, thinks differently. But while another company, betting on the same, emphasizes the โthink,โ GNOME instead relies on โdifferently.โ Sadly, without the first word, the result is unacceptable, to say the least.
Conclusion
GNOME Background Apps is a feature that can be met with mixed feelings. It duplicates things that can be done via System Monitor for a long time.
At the same time, it demonstrates GNOME developersโ strong intolerance to the desktop applications running in the background โ a foundational functionality in all desktop environments and operating systems for the last 20+ years. We leave it to our readers to decide which points of view are right here.
At the same time, GNOME is a full-fledged desktop environment in every meaning of the word. You can clearly see the developers’ attention and focus in every detail, as well as the enormous amount of work they put into it.
The paradox is that it is only a few changes away to transform the vanilla GNOME experience from hard-to-use to the best. But, unfortunately, its developers continue to dig in the wrong direction, with little regard for user expectations and needs. So, go, GNOME, go!
