Post #4110677

2026-07-26 11:19 UTC

I really despise what libadwaita has done to the GTK ecosystem. Unless you're okay with applications that look, feel, and behave entirely differently, the only GTK desktop still worth using is GNOME. For anything else, you're going to have to tolerate a massive schism on your desktop. Most people don't care. They are used to the web and iOS being inconsistent, confusing, unusable trashfires. It's the current normal in UI "design". I'm not blaming anyone either. The GNOME people built something they wanted and needed, and anyone claiming it hasn't been successful is a liar. Doesn't mean I wouldn't have preferred some coordination with the other GTK desktops so that they could all benefit from each other's work.

Replies (2)

@tragivictoria@mastodon.com.pl 2026-07-26 11:28

@thomholwerda@exquisite.social > Doesn't mean I wouldn't have preferred some coordination with the other GTK desktops so that they could all benefit from each other's work. Because for sure that wasn't tried in the past… And everyone complained that it made GTK a GNOME toolkit and that GNOME was forcing our HIG on others. Like even in GTK 3 days GNOME apps and e.g. apps for Xfce were different. Libadwaita didn't changed much in this aspect, it just properly moved out gnomisms out of GTK, to properly keep it neutral.

Open ##4110675
@thomholwerda@exquisite.social 2026-07-26 11:36

I mean, let's face it: Xfce, Cinnamon, and MATE are just worse ways to run GNOME applications. For me at least. If you're totally okay with an inconsistent desktop, none of this will matter to you.

Open ##4113698