You're trying to use Gnome the way you're used to using a desktop.

If you try and learn the Gnome way, you'll have a better time.

To be honest I had the same problem when I first went from Windows to OSX, I was struggling, trying to make OSX familiar, but when I decided to learn the Apple way, everything became easier.

I don't use a dock at all. My workflow is super+app-name and alt+tab.

But this is the same for me on Plasma or any other DE. I just don't need or use a dock.

Have you considered Pop OS from System76? Pop OS has a GNOME-like DE where the dock is fully displayed. It's very much like the macOS DE. The current stable release uses a GNOME-like DE, and the developers at System76 are working to make it into their own DE called Cosmic.

I have extensions that do small QOL things. I can still use GNOME just fine without a single one of them enabled.

How do you cope with the lack of a dock and system tray?

I don't cope with that. I don't really see a huge benefit to having a system tray. Before GNOME 44 added the background apps view to the quick settings menu I just put anything that was 'background' into a workspace. Even after 44 I still have this habit and rarely actually need the background view.

As for the dock argument I'm not sure what an always visible dock would provide that the current dash does not. I think I might even prefer the current dash over an always visible dock. Whenever I want to switch windows I just go to the overview and pick out whatever window I want. It's a lot easier to hit a huge window than to have to target a small icon at the bottom of the display.

I understand that some people might disagree but I actually love what GNOME does (most of the time).

I use it with a system tray but no dock. The overview when you press meta is enough for me.

I do, I don't even have Tweaks installed.

I used to be an avid customiser of software, but one day I realised that I spent a lot of time tweaking things and didn't get a great workflow anyway.

The thing about GNOME is it has a great in-built workflow and I work more efficiently now I just let it make the decisions for me.

I also kind of think that if you're the type to install a lot of extensions you'd probably be happier with KDE anyway.

I tried really hard for about a year to use gnome without extensions.

I'd say at best in the end it wasn't annoying me too much.

Recently tried dash to panel again and yeah. I'm not going back.

I do not understand how people manage multiple programs open without a tray. Do they just memorize in what workspace everything is at all times ?

That's me!

Keyboard centricity is a bonus to me. I don't like having visible UI elements that don't do anything for me (docks, task bars). I also dislike the trend of programs not closing when I close them (system trays).

In addition to these things, I value a degree of minimalism, and I'm a heavy user of virtual desktops.

I don't need to cope with any of these potential downsides, as they're not downsides to me in the first place. All of this said, the KDE community seems a lot more welcoming. I tend to suggest KDE Plasma for any people trying out Linux.

Hope this helps 👍

EDIT: I almost forgot to mention the most controversial one of them all. I love single click to open.

I use Debian + Gnome without custom extensions and like it.

I don't use too many programs, so in the overview I have Firefox in position 1, signal in position 2 and steam in 3. Then I use Win+1,2,3 to launch them.

For other programs, I hit Win and then start typing the name and hit enter.

For switching between windows, i use alt-tab or alt-(key above tab). If I have many windows or playing game in full screen, I hit Win-key once and choose the window i want.

I don't use workspaces, never found a good flow. And I rarely miss a taskbar.

I use blur my shell, but I don't really need it.

I started liking Gnome a lot more once I let go of trying to recreate the Win95 UX that pretty much everyone else uses.

It was such a pain at first, but then it just clicked and now I couldn't go back to that clunky workflow.

I know most people like it that way, but IMO Microsoft didn't create the perfect UX paradigm back in the early 90s

I don't use the dock or a system tray really.

• Each app is opened on its own workspace and it's always the same workspace. Slack on 1, Thunderbird on 2, Tilix on 3, IDE on 4, Firefox on 5, etc.
• Each workspace gets its own key mapping: Ctrl+F1 for 1, Ctrl+F5 for 5, etc. so switching is quick and easy with no mouse needed.
• To open a new program I just hit Win followed by the first 2 or 3 letters of the name and Enter.

I use the following extensions:

• Burn My Windows
• Pure Perfection
• Clipboard indicator (for clip history)
• System Monitor (to keep an eye on resource use)

Dash to dock. I just have to. I put it on the left Ubuntu style and I'm happy

I don’t really see any benefit to using pure gnome. Extensions aren’t a negative if they improve your workflow.

Not having a dock is one of my favorite things about gnome. I actually use an extension to hide the top bar too. There's just something so satisfying about having 100% usable space on screen. I get all the info back in the win-key overlay, so I don't really need that stuff on screen at all times.

Yeah pure gnome would be great if they:

1. provided desktop icons (like they used to);
2. had an option to disable the activity BS on startup and go straight to the desktop.

But oh well, the GNOME team is more occupied with censoring comments on their blog and trying to re-invent the desktop environment experience with animations and whatnot instead of focusing on what really delivers productivity.

I do. I miss the system tray, to be honest. My way to deal with it is to just push applications I need running all the time to the last workspace and leave this alone. Sometimes I close them unintendedly, oh well...

I use mostly pure GNOME on my PC. The missing system tray is very annoying, though I really don't care about the missing dock or desktop icons. I start programs by searching for them, not by clicking on a desktop icon or in a dock. That's my preferred method. And the alt+tab menu of GNOME is nice enough to find anything when I need it, together with having workspaces to organize everything.

I tried KDE, but it just felt more messy to me. For instance, I tried to move the bottom bar to the side of my screen, accidentally moved something on the bar itself, and then everything looked off and I couldn't figure out how to get it back. It all felt a bit janky and unrefined. On some systems I also use i3, but that's only for productivity. For daily use I prefer GNOME, where everything just seems to work.

The system tray is the one thing i need to see that/if email/steam/chat is running and if there's new messages. Otherwise gnome works great for me

To answer your question about lack of dock and system tray, I use the top left hot corner to snap windows in Activities often, and I launch mostly from the built in Applications menu. Don’t use the dock much. As for system tray, it’s a fairly minimal work computer so I boot it every day, run slack, browser, etc. and I know there’s nothing really on the background. Don’t need an icon for slack, it’s always on my screen. In my GNOME-based work environment it’s either running and I can see it or it’s closed.

The only extention I use is system tray, cause I rely on apps that use it. But everything else is Gnome-way and I love it

i onky use minor stuff, like a tray and rounded corners on legacy applications.

I used GNOME with no extensions for about 5 years. Recently I started using a window tiling extension but that's only for for convenience, I wouldn't say it's fixing anything that is broken.

The Windows style systray is redundant, I dont understand how you guys think you need it. Android style systray (system notifications) would be far better.

The only extensions I use are for things that will likely get added as native in the future: Light Style for the light shell theme and Caffeine (https://gitlab.gnome.org/GNOME/gnome-shell/-/merge_requests/2507)

I use both GNOME and KDE. I do have a system tray, but it's for a single program: fcitx-mozc. If I didn't need to build ibus-mozc from source, I would just use that. iBus IMEs get their own spot in the top right without needing appindicators. That being said, I don't need the system tray either as I can just switch between Japanese and English with CTRL+SPACE. But it's nice to have some kind of constant indication what IME I'm using.

On the subject of a dock, though, I love the way GNOME completely separates it from the workspace. It just takes up space and I don't have any utility for it. Windows and macOS only allow you to hide the dock; not remove it completely. I've accidentally opened the dock by moving my cursor to the corner of the screen way too many times and it is sooo annoying. This never happens on GNOME because it's just not possible.

Also I tend to think it’s been designed for people who are more comfortable using a keyboard. I’m mostly a mouse person.

That's absolutely true, but you can navigate GNOME completely with a mouse. If you're on a laptop, you can use the trackpad to flick between workspaces with three fingers. Every aspect of the GNOME desktop is navigable with the mouse, including the Activity Overview. GNOME's workflow changed the way I use computers.

One thing I miss from KDE is GNOME's tiling. KDE's is far more inconsistent. But there are a lot of things I like more about KDE too. I use it in basically the same way as GNOME.

I use dash to dock but I keep it hidden and make it the same size. It's just nice to be able to go down to click open apps sometimes. I still rarely use it but it's nice to have

I’m using pure GNOME with the exception of a single extension which tiles windows on my screen on a grid(gTile) because I have a massive screen and five windows. I also have an icon pack if you’re counting that. Rest of it is stock and I quite like it. It gets out of my way when I’m trying to work and the alt+tab and other features are always fast. Top left hot corner is a godsend.

I only use an extension for tray icons. I use it kind of like how I would use a tiling window manager with a keyboard based workflow and non tiling windows. I just hit the super key and type app names to launch stuff and drag windows around with the super key. Instead of alt-tabbing I hit the super key to see the overview and click on the window I want.

Pretty.much pure gnome. The only thing I use is the auto night mode extension to make it go dark at sunset.

I don't but i note increasing difficulty in upgrading/keeping prior extensions to the new version of gnome.

For example, "recent files" extensions for the top bar used to number in the threes I think. With the last gnome version there was only one which wasn't the most useful of the lot. I use it because it makes it easier beginning again the following day, rather than the extra step of opening the file mangler. I'll probably go with the majority and drop it once I upgrade to Fedora 39.

Looks like gnome is becoming more useful to people in basic guise, incorporating many of the extension functions within the main GUI, and so the once popular extensions are becoming unmaintained.

The only extension I really need is hot edge, I never liked the hot corner and I will never like it, especially since I have a super ultra wide.

Pure psychopaths and masochists.