Shell – How are Gnome shell extensions supposed to be managed

gnomegnome-shellgnome3

I'm having trouble understanding the intended way of managing Gnome shell extensions.

I can't find any appropriate programs in the Dash for doing that. The only way I can actually manage extensions is via extensions.gnome.org.

It's impossible that this page is supposed to be the tool for managing extensions – it makes absolutely zero sense (it breaks UX, for one).

Please tell me that there is a plan for a native application aimed at managing these handy extensions.

Best Answer

It's impossible that this page is supposed to be the tool for managing extensions - it makes absolutely zero sense

Whether it makes sense or not is also a matter of opinion. But yes, that page is the main tool, read Owen Taylor's explanation.
As to managing the extensions already installed on your system, you can enable/disable them via gnome-tweak-tool (or dconf-editor - GUI, or gsettings - CLI).

edit:
In reply to your comment:

I was talking about keeping the UX consistent. When I type "exten" into the search bar, I should be able to get to some extension control point.

What version of gnome-shell are you using ? On gnome-3.8.2 that is the default behaviour, typing exten in the search bar brings up gnome-tweak-tool i.e. the "local control center" for extensions, see for yourself:

enter image description here

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Shell – How does GNOME Shell Extensions work

It is implemented using a browser plugin. "Gnome Shell Integration".

Try disabling it (firefox: addons -> plugins) and it no longer works.

Only the gnome website can use it.

Gnome Shell – How Running Software is Determined

So, apparently my second edit wasn't correct: the way it GNOME Shell determines application grouping isn't the one I described.

After asking on the IRC gnome-shell channel, user halfline provided me the policy for grouping applications into Dash icons:

_GTK_APPLICATION_ID property of the window matched to the desktop file id or WM_CLASS matched to the desktop file id or _NET_WM_PID matched to the desktop file started or StartupWMClass in the desktop file matched to WM_CLASS on the window

He also suggested that it may be possible to change firefox WM_CLASS, and he's right, as there is a --class flag for firefox that allows to change it.

Here's an example:

$ firefox &
$ xprop WM_CLASS
WM_CLASS(STRING) = "Navigator", "Firefox"

Using that flag I get

$ firefox --class "Trello" &
$ xprop WM_CLASS
WM_CLASS(STRING) = "Navigator", "Trello"

which it just have to match the desktop file ID. Now icons are correctly grouped.

Also, note that epiphany has the support to create desktop apps, handling correctly the links with the default browser, therefore for my original purpose it is even better than firefox.

Best Answer

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Shell – How does GNOME Shell Extensions work

Gnome Shell – How Running Software is Determined

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