GNOME, I have opinions about it!
After the dread which was kicked up about KDE and AI. I kinda…Had a slightly panicked exit to GNOME because the post made by KDE and AI, and me had some language which glazes AI, despite trying to allay the legitmate fears of the community. It left me feeling deeply uncomfortable and that could not stand. Before you say it, I do know that GNOME doesn't have a uniform anti-AI ban, some projects within it do use it a bit or not at all, that is something which should change. But...I wasn't ready to fully leave a desktop environment. GNOME is a place where I have settled temporarily until I can decide if returning to Garuda Sway would be the best final move for me.
Fast forward a few hours, I downloaded a copy of Garuda GNOME backed up my data, and wrote the ISO to a USB after verifying the sha256sum. Never skip the verification process as that helps the devs in case there is something wrong with that particular ISO.
It was a very quick and easy process to get the thing installed because honestly, Garuda Linux is very much a version of Arch which batteries included.
Anyway, I thought that GNOME would be very hostile to my daily usage of my computer because GNOME is simple in comparison to KDE. However, I found that GNOME didn't have a significant impact on my daily interactions with my computer. GNOME is pretty much fine in terms of daily driving. I do miss app indicators, which are a basic QOL for desktop environments. I am befuddled by the lack of them, none of the explanations by any GNOME devs make sense. It seems more like a personal preference on their part, rather than a justifiable omission. Not a huge deal, but it does make quitting apps more annoying than it should be. As apps still run in the background if the window is closed, so built-in app indicators for closed apps should be part of base GNOME.
The lack of deep configuration is kind of refreshing as I don't have an urge to tinker too much with my system and distract myself with the act of doing so. But GNOME is a bit too minimalist, at the same time I feel that GNOME doesn't also need to be maximalist either on that front. As programs for the most part just do their job out of the box, but I do long for a few extras to toggle to make my experience a bit more optimized. Still, not a big deal per se as long as my software and laptop continue working correctly!
I do think there needs to be a bit more built-in theming/customization options, as extensions commonly break (a problem as old as time with GNOME). It doesn't have to be extravagant by any means, just enough to move/alter some basic details of the DE. That would allow users to make GNOME fit their use case better, as a personal computer should feel personal (I know, I know use anything BUT GNOME). While not introducing significant edge cases that volunteers couldn't test for…
However, despite some of these small quibbles, I am still able to use my computer mostly to my satisfaction. I am still undecided if staying on GNOME is going to be the move because they have yet to have a cohesieve, blanket ban on AI in their development. A policy that would be humanist in nature, nurturing the skills of programmers over clankers and slop simps. Hopefully one day, the GNOME Project does that, because while the Genie might be out of the bottle...It doesn't mean you have to ask it to grant you any wishes!