Comment 41 for bug 387957

I think I have found the solution:
Set org.gtk.Settings.FileChooser.LocationMode to "filename-entry" in dconf

Or in terminal: gsettings set org.gtk.Settings.FileChooser location-mode filename-entry

Alas, it seems that the devs do not want us to use it :-(
See: https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/meta-gnome3/+bug/1830979
https://gitlab.gnome.org/GNOME/gtk/-/issues/938

It works for me, but I have to redo it everytime I re-run the program using a save dialog.(*)

I guess we should lobby for gtk to obey org.gtk.Settings.FileChooser.LocationMode. The current default borders to insanity.

(*) I now have this simple script running in background:

#!/bin/bash
# org.gtk.Settings.FileChooser location-mode should be filename-entry
# but it is being reset to path-bar

gsettings set org.gtk.Settings.FileChooser location-mode filename-entry
d=$(date +%s)
while read line; do
    [[ $line =~ filename-entry ]] && continue
    gsettings set org.gtk.Settings.FileChooser location-mode filename-entry
    od="$d"
    d=$(date +%s)
    echo "location-mode reset at $(date +%Y-%m-%d.%T), after $((d - od)) s"
done < <(gsettings monitor org.gtk.Settings.FileChooser location-mode)