Gnome 3.0 was revolutionary in many ways. It rewrote the entire desktop metaphor without being (or even look like) a cheap windows or Mac rip off. This is the first time any Linux system became truly innovative in that sense. But at the same time there were some stupid mistakes done by the gnome team and there were numerous customers outcry for options and changes. The suspend on user menu (hidden shutdown/restart), lack of an application list readily available on the desktop etc, were some of the issues that many users got frustrated about the otherwise awesome desktop.
On of the biggest complaints about the gnome 3.0 was that (for laptop users) when the laptop lid was closed, the desktop went to suspend mode. The worst part was that it was not even possible to remove or change that option from the default settings screen. The only way around the problem was to install the gnome tweak tool (which is awesome by the way and a must-have for the gnome users) and change it from that application.
Not anymore. The new Gnome 3.2 version started to add back features into the desktop and (looks like) started to listen to the complaints of the desktop users. The default behavior is still the suspend (They still have the suspend fever). But in the the power settings screen of the git versions (which will be eventually the Gnome 3.2), there is an added option to change the default behavior on laptop lid close.
The options allow users to suspend, hibernate or do nothing on laptop lid close. There should ideally be a ‘blank screen’ option as well, and hopefully they will add it soon.
Justin Stories 
Most retarded decision ever. GNOME Developers, what were you smoking?
Nothing to do with GNOME. Ubuntu developers patch their version of GNOME like with the control centre.
“It rewrote the entire desktop metaphor without being (or even look like) a cheap windows or Mac rip off. This is the first time any Linux system became truly innovative in that sense.”
You sir are a troll. What about the plasma desktop? What about Ubuntu Unity?
Enlightenment DR16. Case closed.
It’d supposed to suspend, you dumb fucks… It’s a god-damn laptop. I use it on my laptop all the time. Keeps my battery from shitting itself.
good for you….i like choices…when i hook up to a large external monitor to look at movies or play games, i prefer to have my laptop lid closed without it being suspended…It is a choice…
Some laptops have problem with suspend. (Intel video on older kernels come to mind, and I have a laptop where the USB ports are dead after resume (they don’t even turn on) or will give an “IRQ xxx: nobody cared” error when something is plugged in).
When power management works flawlessly, we can talk about this feature again.
That’s some great “Oh, there’s only one way to do things, MY way” way of thinking. Anyone who could possibly ever have any other way of doing things must absolutely be a dumb fuck.
“It rewrote the entire desktop metaphor without being (or even look like) a cheap windows or Mac rip off. This is the first time any Linux system became truly innovative in that sense.”
Ever heard of blackbox, fluxbox, or enlightenment?
These are Linux desktops that look nothing like Windows or Mac!
On my laptop, suspend on lid close was a default behavior in Windows and it made perfectly sense to me.
I always thought it didn’t work on Linux due to a lack of drivers, but the opposite being true and still having people demand for this feature NOT to be enables puzzles me…
And what about the Kernel. They drive away, all laptop user, less battery time for every new kernel version.
This is not the upstream UI, this is Ubuntu’s version. Please check your facts first.
no that’s gnome-shell, you can tell because it has the clock in the middle up top and the menu says Activities, I think he’s just using the ubuntu icons, hence the ubuntu 1 symbol and the big-ubuntu-button. But thats def gnome-shell
I’m saying that Ubuntu patched that dialogue not upstream GNOME devs.
gnome-control-center (1:3.1.91-0ubuntu8) oneiric; urgency=low
* Add 11_power-configure_lid_action.patch: Add back configuration for lid action. (LP: #792636, GNOME#659045)
Interesting, talking about gnome 3 but the screenshot at the top is NOT Gnome. It is Ubuntu’s Unity. In my opinion Gnome 3 is superior to Unity
It is gnome shell, but the launcher/dock on the left-hand side is unity-2d launcher.
I agree with the blank screen option. I watch a lot of stuff over VGA out or HDMI on my LCD TV, it’s much nicer to close the screen, and less distracting when I want to watch things on the TV.
This is *not* in Gnome3, but only in Ubuntu! They patched Gnome so that this option would be available (which Gnome3 devs don’t seem like…)
as someone already posted (quoting the ubuntu package changelog):
gnome-control-center (1:3.1.91-0ubuntu8) oneiric; urgency=low
* Add 11_power-configure_lid_action.patch: Add back configuration for lid action. (LP: #792636, GNOME#659045)
Please, you really need to check your facts… geez…
Still incomplete. It needs to regain the ability to configure different actions based on power source. If I’m plugged in I don’t want to go though a suspend/resume cycle just because I set the laptop aside for a few minutes. You lose ssh connections and such along with the time and risk of suspending. On the other hand, if I’m on battery power I do want it to suspend. And if I yank the plug while the lid is closed it should suspend. GNOME 2.x could do this.
You all do realize that if you edit your configs with text files you can set this to do whatever you want? Here’s the files you’d edit: /etc/acpi/actions/lm_lid.sh or to the button/lid section /etc/acpi/handler.sh
You make a good point. One of the beauties of Linux was text configuration but now we act lost if there is no GUI.
dconf-editor -> org.gnome.settings-daemon.plugins.power -> lid-close-[ac|battery]-action -> (choose the action of your favour here)