What’s the reasoning behind not having a “system tray” in GNOME? You need to install an extension for that, and that is a weird process for newcomers/beginners.

But my question is why? Does GNOME really think you don’t need one? Why don’t they include it?

  • thayer@lemmy.caEnglish
    17·
    10 months ago

    The best and most official explanation I’ve read is the 2017 GNOME blog post, Status Icons and GNOME.

    Essentially, tray icons are a throwback to the days before designated notification and media playback APIs, and they now create some ambiguity for app developers, in addition to being ripe for abuse.

    It’s a worthwhile read and the writer makes several valid points, but doesn’t address as much as I’d like in terms of actual solutions for things like instant messengers.

    Personally, I would be happy if most traditional tray apps could be displayed in the dash, with status indicators, and started in a minimized state, but I still see the benefit of having some always-visible panel icons, such as instant messengers and VPN indicators.