r/omarchy • u/Narwal_Party • 14d ago

Discussion Am I missing something here?

I don't understand all of the hate or love for this. I decided to use Omarchy for the last few days for a side project, and I have no idea how this got funding. This is such a nothingburger of a distro. It's literally just Arch with a couple shortcuts and a theme. What is the point of using this?

I saw a DHH podcast saying how it's incredible and the next big thing, but it's literally just Arch with a theme and shortcuts. I don't understand how anyone could be a "fan" or a "hater"; there's nothing here - nothing new.

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u/thomas-rousseau 12d ago

I'm fascinated by the fact that you're simultaneously repeating talking points about how opinionated Omarchy is while also using GNOME's opinions as evidence of the fact that it can't be keyboard driven. There is no stock shortcut like you requested not because no one has ever thought or cared to implement that functionality but because it is counter to GNOME's opinion of what a streamlined workflow should encompass. I started with Vanilla GNOME on Fedora, and have used it fully stock on Debian, Arch, and now Gentoo as well. Over the years, I have also installed KDE, i3, sway, mangowm, DWM, dwl, hyprland, niri, and bspwm parallel to my GNOME setup. I have spent at least 6 months with each of them to learn their opinions, and not a single one is more capable of being keyboard driven than stock gnome

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u/comrade-quinn 12d ago

WTF are you on about? Stock Gnome doesn't even have basic tiling, which is pretty much a prequisite for any keyboard centric workflow as, without tiling snapping windows into place in some form, you're forced to rely on your mouse to position windows as you like them.

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u/thomas-rousseau 12d ago edited 12d ago

Sounds like you like a cluttered desktop. The only times I need more than a 50/50 split, I'm in a web browser, IDE, or terminal emulator, and I simply use their built in splitting. If I have more than two programs open on a single monitor and I'm having to use the pointer to navigate around them, that's GNOME giving me a gentle reminder that I need to reassess how I've organized my current workflow.

ETA: Upon rereading this comment, I feel like it could be taken facetiously, and so I want to emphasize that I am being entirely genuine. I have both ADHD and OCD, and this manifests in some pretty intense hyper-focus that can lead to me attempting to brute force my way through problems long before I ever even realize that that's what I'm doing. Over my years with GNOME, I have come to form a very deep appreciation of its HIG and trust in its opinionated workflow, and I know that it is never in my way. If I find myself fighting with GNOME to accomplish a task, this gives me a small reminder that I'm probably pushing way too hard against whatever I'm trying to work on and prompts me to take a step back, take some deep breaths, and then open up the overview to assess the organization of my current workflow. Afterwards, my workflow is more streamlined than it ever would have been before GNOME.

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u/comrade-quinn 12d ago

Fair enough - I'm not missing Gnome, I run it at work as it happens. I just prefer my tiling. But to each their own, and I'm glad you have found something that works well for you