There is a much bigger problem with GNOME 3, it is fighting a battle that nobody cares about anymore. People using GNOME and KDE used to have this notion where they are trying to build a Windows replacement or a Mac replacement to get people to use FOSS.

Ubuntu showed that what needs to happen is to make a better UX overall and that has nothing to do with Mac or Windows.

What I mean by UX is stuff like drivers working, being able to install on a laptop or just buy it on a laptop and stuff "just works". People will pay money to support things that work. They will buy things that work.

Millions of people are using Android, which is Linux based, because it just works on their device. The experience is pretty great and it makes it easy to do what you need to do when you need to do it.

GNOME 3 didn't solve any user experience problem. It is new and shiny just because. It didn't make it better than Ubuntu, or Windows, or Mac, or Android.