Rather than aiming to replace GNOME or ship a new desktop environment, the project treats GNOME as a platform and asks a narrower question: which behaviors and assumptions could be made optional or more cleanly abstracted without compromising a minimalist default experience?
The current focus is on research and documentation rather than implementation. Areas being examined include:
Architectural modularity versus extension-based customization,
Opt-in functionality for features that are disabled or removed upstream,
Preserving established Linux interaction patterns without expanding defaults,
Reducing unnecessary hard dependencies where practical, including systemd-specific assumptions,
The intent is not to “fix” GNOME or argue against upstream decisions, but to explore design tradeoffs around minimalism, flexibility, and long-term maintainability in modern Linux desktops.
At this stage, the project consists primarily of a concept site, documentation, and open design questions. Feedback on the framing, assumptions, and scope is very welcome.
Project site and repository: https://github.com/runleveltwo/GYESME
Thanks for taking a look.