Considering the vast configuration options it offers, you can guess why so many Linux users prefer Dash to Dock over others.

Do you know which is the most popular GNOME extension out there?

I don’t know for sure, but if I have to make a guess, I would say Dash to Dock is a good candidate for that title.

Why do I say that? Because at the time of writing this article, this extension has more than ten million downloads.

What is Dash to Dock?

In the clean GNOME layout, you don’t see any quick launcher. It’s just the wallpaper. You press the Super key (Windows key), a launcher appears at the side or on the bottom. This launcher is called Dash in GNOME. The Dash to Dock extension takes the “dash” from GNOME Activities Overview and “docks” it to make it visible on the desktop all the time.

  • Christopher@lemmy.grey.failEnglish
    222·
    17 days ago

    Yeah, most likely. The reason is simple: folks want a desktop that doesn’t fight them, has fast window switching, navigation, and task management… and then stays out of the way.

    GNOME knows best, though, right? pArAdIgM sHiFt ™! What is a desktop? Hide everything!

    For all it’s faults, KDE is much more usable. Xfce is great, too. They treat the desktop/laptop computer as exactly that – not some strange hybrid between traditional desktops, mobile UI, and kiosk GUIs.

    • Damage@feddit.it
      3·
      16 days ago

      I use KDE now but I’ve used GNOME for many years and I absolutely disagree with you. The default UI with the hidden dock makes complete sense, especially on laptops where screen space is valuable. Pressing the meta key to show all windows and the search field is way faster than moving your pointer to an icon on the dock or opening up a menu.

      What I didn’t like at the time was that the app launcher dumped all apps together with little logic, you couldn’t divide them in folders or categories.

    • Piatro@programming.devEnglish
      3·
      17 days ago

      I would always use KDE on a desktop/laptop, but as soon as I have touch hardware (eg an old surface laptop), GNOME does win unfortunately.

      • imecth@fedia.io
        4·
        17 days ago

        Why unfortunately? GNOME puts a lot of work in accessibility and being viable on every device.

          • BCsven@lemmy.ca
            3·
            17 days ago

            This. I like GNOME because of clean uncluttered single app use, but KDE gives you a ton of customization without learning GNOMES backend customization. Why we fight over which is better is a waste of time.

    • Maestro@fedia.io
      3·
      17 days ago

      It really depends on your workflow. I use a tiling extension and 9 fixed workspaces. I have no need for dash-to-dock. I reassign a bunch of hotkeys to make working with 9 workspaces easier, but the rest is all Gnome defaults and it works just fine for me.