Argument for Debian reverting to GNOME as a default desktop


- Accessibility: GNOME is the only free desktop environment that provides full a11y coverage, including login screen.

- Debian forced a big desktop change with the wheezy release (switching from the traditional GNOME 2.x to the new GNOME Shell environment. Switching again would mean more adaptation for uses when they've had two years to experience GNOME 3.4. Furthermore, GNOME 3.12 means two years of improvements and polishing to GNOME 3.4, which should help with some of the rough edges found in the GNOME release shipped with wheezy.

- The number of active members in the team taking care of GNOME in Debian is around 5-10 persons, while it is 1-2 in the case of Xfce. Being the default desktop draws a lot of attention (and bug reports) that only a bigger team might have the resources to handle.

- Upstream activity is a lot healthier for GNOME than Xfce, with releases every 6 months that keep it up to date with the latest APIs. In particular, systemd integration is complete in GNOME, taking advantage of logind features that help solving some oldstanding issues in a GNU/Linux desktop.

- Localization is more extensive and complete in GNOME. Xfce has 18 languages above 95% of coverage, and 4 at 100% (two of them being English and an English variant). GNOME has 28 languages above 95%, 9 of them being complete (excluding English).

- Documentation coverage is extensive in GNOME, with most of the core applications providing localized, up to date and complete manuals, available in an accessible format via the Help reader.

- GNOME Shell is very popular among new users, whether they are already familiar with computers or not. Statistically, people who don’t like this kind of approach are also more likely to be able to install an alternative by themselves.

- The level of integration between components is very high in GNOME. For example, instant messaging, agenda and accessibility components are an integral part of the desktop. GNOME is closely integrated to NetworkManager, PulseAudio, udisks and upower so that the user has access to all the plumbing in a single place.

- GNOME is more secure. There are no processes launched with root permissions on the user’s session. All everyday operations (package management, disk partitioning and formatting, date/time configuration…) are accomplished through PolicyKit wrappers.

- GNOME has much better developer documentation (if that counts for the default desktop discussion).

- Better Online account integration with popular services (OwnCloud, Google, MS Exchange, ...)

- GNOME is easy to administrate. All the default settings can be defined by administrators, and mandatory settings can be forced to users, which is required in some companies and administrations; Xfce cannot do that. The close integration with freedesktop components (systemd, NM, PulseAudio…) also gives access to specific and useful administration tools.

- One of the reasons to switch to Xfce was that it didn't depend on systemd. But now that systemd is the default, that shouldn't be a problem. Also given ConsoleKit is deprecated and dead upstream, KDE and Xfce are switching or are planning to switch to systemd/logind. [citation needed]