[Ace] GNOME 3 on RHEL 7

[Anthony Cuffe]

With the deployment of RHEL 7 systems in the control room, I wanted to share a few tips about GNOME 3.  It can be a bit spartan/annoying at first but with a few tweaks it becomes quite usable.

As more Tips and Tricks arise, I will update the wiki:

https://accwiki.acc.jlab.org/do/view/UserSupport/Gnome3Tips

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Gnome 3 vs Gnome Classic
========================

The default Window Manager in RHEL 7 is Gnome Classic.

When you are logging in, you can change the window manager by selecting
the cog after you have entered your user name.  The default is "Gnome Classic"
but many people prefer the normal "Gnome 3" setup.

To switch from GNOME Classic to GNOME from within the user session,
run the following command:

    gnome-shell --mode=user -r &

To switch back to GNOME Classic from within the same user session,
run the following command:
    gnome-shell --mode=classic -r &

You can read more about Gnome Classic here:
https://help.gnome.org/users/gnome-help/stable/gnome-classic.html

===============
Finding Things:
===============

Search Box:
The windows key will bring up a search box.  This will allow you
to type a partal name and find what you are looking for.

Applications Menu:
If you are using "Gnome Classic,"  the Applications Menu will be there
by default.  In order to get the applications menu in Gnome 3 (not classic),
you must enable it in the Tweak Tool:

Tweaks (Windows Key and type "Tweaks") >> Extensions >> Enable Applications Menu.

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Tweak Tool:
===========

The Tweak Tool is where you will customize almost everything about your
desktop.  To launch it, you Press the "Windows Key" and type "Tweaks"

The following are very useful Extensions you will want to Enable or
at least Investigate:

Tweaks >> Extensions
- Applications Menu
- Dash to Dock
- No Topleft hot corner (this really annoyed me)
- Window List

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Add Items to Favorites:
========================
If you right click on an item and add it to favorites, it will appear
in the applications menu and the dock making it easier to find in the
future.


===========
Annoyances:
===========

Dash to Dock is great but it has an annoying default.  When you click
on an item multiple times, it does not launch multiple windows, it
cycles through the open windows.  This is kinda confusing.  You can
make it launch a new instance by:
    Tweaks>>Extensions >> Dash to Doc >> Behaviour >>Click action >> Launch New Instance

The file browser does not show the address bar by default and there is
no way in the menus to get it to appear from preferences.  You can do
Ctrl-L but this is temporary.  To get it to stick, modify gconf:

In a Terminal window, execute:
    gsettings set org.gnome.nautilus.preferences always-use-location-entry true

The file browser mixes directories and files in the sort order.  This did
not bother me but Paul hated it and shared this tweak:

In a Terminal window, execute:
    gsettings org.gtk.Settings.FileChooser sort-directories-first true

-- 
+-------------------------+
| Anthony Cuffe           |
| voice  : 757 269-6213   |
| e-mail : cuffe at jlab.org |
+-------------------------+