One of the main reasons I chose Linux over Mac OS (7.6.1 at the time) and Windows (98 at the time) was because it gave me more control. Initially I didn't necessarily know what to do with that control, but I was at least aware of it. I've stuck with that choice for years now; even modern alternatives like Mac OS X manage to piss me off precisely because I feel the balance of control and simplicity is not shifted in my favor.
I've come to terms with the fact that using Linux takes effort. It's worth it, though, because Linux shifts the balance in my favor: If I don't like one component, there's probably another that works better. Linux as a whole is not tightly coupled.
GNOME, though, is trending in that direction. With each major released of the GNOME desktop, components are becoming more integrated. Sensible defaults are one thing; coupling unpolished components and calling it a cohesive desktop is another. The balance is no longer in my favor.
I've ranted before about such components of the GNOME desktop that support common workflows like chatting online or playing a video. Granted, Gossip is an optional component of the GNOME desktop AFAIK, but gnome_url_show is not. Totem is part of GNOME proper and from an end-user standpoint failed. If I want my mom to run Linux on the desktop, This Is Not Acceptable.
Take screensavers as another example. All I want my screensaver to do is blank my screen, require a password to return to the desktop, and turn off my monitor after an hour or so. No flashy RSS readers or particle trails for me.
XScreenSaver achieves all of these things quite well and even manages to disable itself when I'm playing a video. (Well, to be completely accurate, mplayer et al disable XScreenSaver.)
So what's the reason for ranting? gnome-screensaver was recently forced onto my desktop as part of GNOME 2.16. It "replaces" XScreenSaver but only superficially. None of my preferred video players know how to disable gnome-screensaver yet (perhaps because gnome-screensaver uses DBus, and not everyone wants to use DBus?). This Is Not Acceptable.
Perhaps most amazing is the fact that this problem has existed for at least a year (as evidenced by an Ubuntu feature request for an "unbroken screensaver"). The issue was reported nearly nine months ago as GNOME bug 335149. Various patches exist for mplayer; none seem to have been applied to the mainline yet.
If you're going to make it hard for me change one component for another on my desktop, the new component damn well better behave very similarly to the previous one. Like, say, maintaining the XScreenSaver API until DBus becomes more commonplace.
At what point did car manufacturers decide to add a backup warning beep to minivans?
Are soccer moms really that worried about running over kids?
And are kids really stupid enough not to know when to get out of the way?
Making your minivan sound like a fucking bulldozer will not solve these problems. In fact, it will only serve to piss off your neighbors.