gnome-control-center layout problems w/o overlay-scrollbars

[Fabio Valentini]

I am using precise and up-to-date software packages plus the gnome3-team PPA packages.
As far as I know, in the appearance section of GNOME Control Center, 4 wallpapers should be displayed in a row.
But if you don't use overlay-scrollbars, the layout doesn't fit the width of four wallpaper icons anymore, and so a "line break" after three thumbnails is generated (which looks ugly gecause of the unused space between the third thumbnail and the scrollbar).
(I am using Adwaita from gnome-themes-standard 3.4.)

I added a screenshot to better explain what I mean :)

ProblemType: Bug
DistroRelease: Ubuntu 12.04
Package: gnome-control-center 1:3.4.0-0ubuntu4
Uname: Linux 3.3.1-ck1-bfs x86_64
ApportVersion: 2.0-0ubuntu4
Architecture: amd64
Date: Thu Apr 5 21:31:13 2012
InstallationMedia: Xubuntu 12.04 "Precise Pangolin" - Alpha amd64 (20120209)
SourcePackage: gnome-control-center
UpgradeStatus: No upgrade log present (probably fresh install)

[Sebastien Bacher (seb128)]

Thank you for your bug report, non default themes are non official supported though, we would welcome patches to make it work without adding padding for the default theme with overlay scrollbar though

[Fabio Valentini (fafatheone-deactivatedaccount)]

This is exactly the reason why I really start to dislike ubuntu ... it seems like "we want you to use overlay-scrollbars, and the Ambiance theme, otherwise you may get a broken desktop".

I want to have the choice, I want to choose which theme and which software I am using. But with each ubuntu release, the number of choices that _just work_ becomes smaller and smaller, as it seems to me.

I became very fond of ubuntu over the last few years. It provided the best user experience IMHO. Installation, package management and system administration was straightforward and I always had the choice to use the software and DE I wanted (GNOME Classic up to 2.32, GNOME-Shell from 3.0 on). But as soon as Unity, overlay-scrollbars and other "optimisations" came, more and more software was patched to work with these changes. Freedom of choice was left behind.

I understand why some of these choices were made. It was the aspiration to create a coherent DE and user experience.
But this is what happened: Using non-standard software became more and more difficult.

But I have to say I really appreciate the work that the GNOME packagers of ubuntu do, they do a great job; 3.4 was in the repositories hours after it was released. It's not their decision to stick with Totem 3.0, Evolution 3.2, ... They can't do anything about ubuntu-specific patches to GNOME packages. But they really affect my overall GNOME experience (which happened to be first-class when I came to ubuntu, -and I loved it- but things have changed. GNOME is now a second-class-citizen, no matter what people say about "Unity being based on GNOME").

So now I really am about to move to debian testing / Linux Mint Debian Edition, because they deliver a GNOME experience that is closer to as it was meant to be by the GNOME developers, not "crippled" by unity-specific patches.

And I am sorry if this comment seems unfriendly or emotional ... but I love GNOME, and I came to love ubuntu; there are things about it that really upset me, though.
Should I write to the ubuntu-desktop mailing list about this, maybe as a starting point for an open discussion about this issue?

[Sebastien Bacher (seb128)]

> This is exactly the reason why I really start to dislike ubuntu ... it seems like "we want you to use overlay-scrollbars, and the Ambiance theme, otherwise you may get a broken desktop".

Note that this specific issue is a GNOME one, see i.e https://bugzilla.gnome.org/show_bug.cgi?id=670268, GNOME forced a specific size so it works only with their theme and the default locale,font. What we do is just to adjust that to the default Ubuntu theme, we don't really create any issue there

> It's not their decision to stick with Totem 3.0, Evolution 3.2

it's because it's a lts cycle and those were problematic updates, they will get updated next cycle

> So now I really am about to move to debian testing / Linux Mint Debian Edition, because they deliver a GNOME experience that is closer to as it was meant to be by the GNOME developers, not "crippled" by unity-specific patches.

Good luck, those tweak their theme as well btw, and tend to have at least as many "is not up to date" issues than Ubuntu, note that Ubuntu has less and less patches to GNOME since the default desktop is Unity and not a patched GNOME

> Should I write to the ubuntu-desktop mailing list about this, maybe as a starting point for an open discussion about this issue?

No real point, what is lacking to maintain a "first class citizen" GNOME is contributors wanting to maintain GNOME, and extra emails which will to the "lack of resources" reason will not bring you any closer from that

[Launchpad Janitor (janitor)]

This bug was fixed in the package gnome-control-center - 1:3.6.3-0ubuntu6

---------------
gnome-control-center (1:3.6.3-0ubuntu6) raring; urgency=low

  * debian/patches/58_ubuntu_icon_views_redesign.patch:
    - Don't make the window wider in GNOME (LP: #974573)
  * debian/patches/git_set_a11y_wm_theme.patch:
    - Git patch to set/reset HighContrast window theme too
 -- Jeremy Bicha <email address hidden> Sat, 24 Nov 2012 14:01:28 -0500