Why not reusing more GNOME components?

[Sébastien Wilmet]

On Fri, Aug 29, 2014 at 11:40:50AM +0200, Liviu Andronic wrote:
> That's for the user to decide, really.
> 
> One of teh main points of Xfce is that it provides a simple, usable
> environment for the user. Another fundamental part is flexibility.
> Don't like xfwm4? No probs: kill it and bring up any
> standard-compliant WM, even Gnome's. And for any missing gaps in
> functionality or else, users can simply cherry pick Gnome apps and
> plug them into their Xfce workflow. God knows I use file-roller,
> evince and brasero when in need, and I do so without an official stamp
> of approval from Xfce.
> 
> And that's the point, really. Xfce provides a simple, intuitive and
> usable environment for end users. The core apps are very few and, some
> would argue, with minimalistic underpinnings. All else, be it Goodies
> or unofficially related Xfce apps are community provided, and Xfce
> itself doesn't bother very much with those: all are welcome. And if
> users care to supplement missing features with "external" apps,
> they're more than welcome to do so. Don't like Mousepad? Fine, go grab
> Gedit or Geany. Don't care for Midori (and are enraged with the brand
> new Opera), go grab Chromium or Otter Browser. Choose whichever makes
> you happier..

Ok, but it requires more configuration. There is no Linux distro that
can be installed directly with the Xfce desktop but with GNOME
applications. And for the Xfce desktop, it is not directly possible to
have all the GNOME stack, but with the Xfce panel.

Would it be difficult to create a "Gfce" package for a distribution?
That is, take GNOME, remove gnome-shell and add the Xfce panel. Does the
Xfce panel depends on other Xfce modules? Would Gfce be well integrated?
I imagine it would require some modifications to the Xfce panel. But it
would be a good alternative for users that liked GNOME 2 and don't like
gnome-shell (like me, as you can guess ;).

--
Sébastien