For work reasons, I've had to switch to Debian for several months now (which I've always loved, but I was using OpenSUSE). I had some free time and decided to install it with GNOME. Obviously, I've always been critical of GNOME Shell , Unity , Cinnamon , and all the controversy surrounding GNOME itself.
What I harshly criticized about Gnome was always its design, I did not doubt that as the versions of it progressed it would improve its stability and performance, for me that was out of the question. So what was left was that kind of "tabletop" style that I didn't like because I thought it was a huge leap from how we think of traditional desktops, and because, let's be honest, there were a lot of mistakes from the Gnome team.
My feeling after several months using Debian with Gnome is that the combination is very good, so much so that at least on my computer, the experience is unbeatable. Of course, there are many things to continue working on in the performance area, which has surely improved with the new versions.
So why do I say that Debian 7 has helped Gnome Shell? Because I believe that the fact that Gnome Shell is in a stable version of Debian gives us a sense of confidence that everything will be alright; however, this is also due to the distribution's own idiosyncrasies, which prioritize stability over novelty.
Another thing I've noticed is that Debian 7 has been a successful release; I'd even venture to say it will be the best release of the year , with all due respect, of course, to the other distributions. But at this point, Gnome Shell is performing spectacularly well. And, for the record, I went to a Free Software conference, and the reviews from everyone using Debian + Gnome were similar: "Excellent, innovative, robust, fluid, etc." and other adjectives of this kind were what you heard there. I felt relieved because I knew I couldn't be the only one.
I think that the work of the Debian team has been so good that it has helped Gnome so that people at least are not so scared of it, and even, so that some people change their opinion about the environment.
I do not know, each computer is a world, I do not pretend to say that it is the best because that is relative, but I must say that Debian + Gnome has been a great surprise for the better, to such an extent that many of us who doubted the potential of Gnome Shell we had to think twice before giving our opinion again. In all this that I expose it is noted that the idiosyncrasy of the distro has made it possible to obtain a beautiful, stable environment and above all in line with these times.
Do you think the same? Or otherwise? Cheers….