There's hotkeys for workspace navigation, I use them all the time: Super+Alt+Left/Right will navigate to the next/previous workspace (Super+PageDown/Up also works). If you go in Settings -> Keyboard shortcuts -> Navigation you'll find more, notably to move windows between workspaces.

As for the fullscreen by default, there's extensions for that I guess, though personally it doesn't bother me since after the window is maximized once it should restore its maximized state the next time it's opened. With Super+Arrow keys to position the window, I personally barely use the mouse for window management.

1) To launch apps: Super key, type in name of app, hit enter. That's it.

2) Window Management: good writeup from that team: blogs.gnome.org/tbernard/2023/…
Quick cheat sheet for relevant keys there as well: thedroidguy.com/gnome-desktop-…

Rethinking Window Management

Window management is one of those areas I'm fascinated with because even after 50 years, nobody's fully cracked it yet. Ever since the dawn of time we've relied on the window metaphor as the...

^{Tobias Bernard (Space and Meaning)}

I have a fairly vanilla Gnome and a WIP Sway for testing. Gnome is a much easier workflow, and the customization just takes a little reading (much less than Sway or similar, you just have to use the GUI not manpages and dotfiles).

Application launcher shortcuts by default are bound to Super+numbers according to the order of the bar in the overlay. So if your terminal was application 3 in that bar just hit Super+3 (I just bound the launch command to Super+Return in the custom shortcuts). Shift+Super+PageDown or Shift+alt+Super+right will shift an app to a workspace to the right. Super+Up will make it fullscreen. My workflow is changed mostly due to a lack of a PageUp/Down on my laptop.

If you assume that the workspaces don't need to be numbered, Super+Tab just to jump to another app is handy, or Super+PageUp/Down. I use touchpad swipe controls a lot, or my user defined controls.

But for a two application workflow as described, Super+3 (or whatever to launch terminal), Super+up (To fullscreen), and then switch between them with Super+Tab, no extra workspaces required. That's three shortcuts, four if you move terminal to another workspace.

Gnome likes you to sit back and think about if what you are doing is really necessary (gnomey? gnome-like?), its quirky like that, but there are loads of options for user defined stuff in the settings, so the classic i3 bindings are really easy to put in or whatever.

According to help.gnome.org/users/gnome-hel… you should be able to use Shift + Super + Page Up/Down to move application windows between workspaces, seems to work for me.

So for your example start Terminal, then maximize it (Super + Up Key), then move the application window to another workspace (Shift + Super + Page Up/Down).

I hit the super-key, type terminal, hit enter

I harbor nostalgia for the old Windows 3 desktop icon grid, so I open a file manager window pointing to ~/Desktop and display the *.desktop shortcuts there as icons. This is done automatically when gdm starts. My file manager is PCManFM, which is a rip-off of nautilus. Double-clicking on an icon opens the shortcut — be it to a terminal or a graphical application. I have to alt-tab to the PCManFM window of course, so I need the keyboard. Then I have to double-click with the mouse. It's keeping both hemispheres of the brain active: subject/verb, left/right.

then I have a terminal which does not start maximized on workspace 1

I run devilspie in the background to catch windows of certain applications such as terminal and maximize them on the fly. For this reason, I must disable wayland.

Does the vanilla Gnome workflow expect you to use mouse and keyboard?

Yes, both, apparently.

It just seems like a lot of work/clicks/keys to achieve something simple.

Well, that's what you get for downplaying the role of icon grids.

If I have firefox in full screen then I can hit the super key and search for term, and open it. If I want to maximize the window, it's Super-up. If I want it to take up the right side of the screen, I use Super-right. Now I have the terminal on the right side of the screen, and the left screen has half of the full-screen firefox. If I want the windows side by side, then I can switch to firefox (S-Tab), get out of full screen (F11) and align the window to the left (S-left).

AFAIK there are no hotkeys specified by default to navigate directly to a workspace)…

alt-Super-right/left to switch space, and shift-alt-super-right/left to move the current window to the next workspace. So to go from fullscreen firefox in workspace 1 to fullscreen terminal in workspace 2, it's: S-alt-right, Then super, 'term', enter. Now terminal is open. You can maximize (S-up) or go fullscreen (F11)

Maybe it's a lot of keys, but gnome is pretty good about navigation/window management without a mouse

so why does it not open a new application on the next free workspace full screen by default?

Is that a default in other desktop environments? I usually stay in one work space and use S-tab and S-` to switch apps

... actually, now that I'm trying it, it is nice to have a terminal full screen in its own workspace

You can use a combination of shift, meta, pgup/pgdown and arrow keys to move between workspaces and to move applications between workspaces, and you can alt-tab to switch window focus within a workspace. window management and manipulation can be entirely keyboard-driven

edit: i just pulled out my laptop to find out how you do it. i only know from muscle memory.

super(windows) + pgup/pgdown to move between workspaces

shift + super + pgup/pgdown to move focused window between workspaces

and of course

super + left/right to tile

super + up to maximize

super + down to un-maximize

super + h to minimize

super + number to launch from the dash

Meta+arrow keys to manage windows: left or right to get a split, up to maximize.

Meta+pgup/pgdn to switch workspaces. Add shift to move the current window with you.

Those are the main ones I use all the time, but there's a full list (some that aren't bound by default) in the settings. I would probably remap pgup and pgdn to something closer to my fingers on a regular keyboard, but I use an ergo split 60% so I already have those keys on my home row.

Tbh GNOME feels best with a combo of mouse and keyboard, like Meta+mousewheel scrolling lets you switch workspaces very smoothly. And I think I had to map this myself, but I use right click drag + Meta to resize windows dynamically. But the above keys let me do 90% of what I want to with windows.

If you really want a fully keyboard-driven window management scheme you should probably check out a standalone window manager. I love sway personally.

The supposed gnome workflow is for keyboard users to go fuck themselves.

Don’t waste time learning the gnome way of doing things, it’s not gonna remain consistent long enough to let you reap any benefits from that knowledge.