Re: GNOME Desktop

[Mark H Weaver <mhw@netris.org>]

Hi Dexter,

"Dexter Morgan" <dextermorgan@asia.com> writes:
>    How can I use GNOME Core Applications
>    (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/GNOME_Core_Applications) that are
>    missing in Guix System? I am quite frusturated and disappointed with
>    the GNOME Desktop in Guix. I can't even use a music player or a
>    calendar.

I'm sorry to hear it.

FWIW, we have a large selection of music players in Guix.  Two that are
built on GNOME libraries include 'rhythmbox' and 'lollypop', but there
are many others, too many to list here.

For calendaring programs, we currently have 'gnome-calendar' and
'evolution', and possibly others.

>    I thought I do not have deal with additional applications if
>    I use a Desktop Environment, but it seems GNOME Desktop in Guix is
>    incomplete. :(. Are there any tricks to enable and use these missing
>    applications please?

Simply install your preferred applications to your user profile, or
alternatively you could add them to the 'packages' field of your system
profile.

It's possible that our GNOME desktop should include more programs by
default.  Can you tell us specifically which programs you think should
be added?

In the area of music players and calendars, I suspect that no matter
what choices we make here, a large percentage of our users will not want
our default choices.  Most people seem to have specific programs that
they prefer to use, and there's not much agreement in these areas.

Moreover, sadly, I get the impression that most of the younger
generation prefer to use web-based Services as a Software Substitute
(SaaSS)[1] for their music and calendaring needs.

So, if we add a default music player and calendar, I suspect that for
many (if not most) users, those defaults will merely be unwanted bloat.
Some users will ask how to remove the defaults, to avoid repeatedly
downloading substitutes for programs they don't want, which will be
awkward.

Given this, it seems a reasonable choice to let users explicitly install
their preferred programs.  Does that make sense?

What do you think?

    Regards,
      Mark

[1] https://www.gnu.org/philosophy/who-does-that-server-really-serve.en.html