googled "open source mac dock replacement" and the first result was a r*ddit thread looking for exactly my needs.
top comment: bro mac os is just ~different~ go back to windows if you can't adapt :}
OP: I don't have that choice
negative three karma.
sidenote does anyone know of a replacement for the mac os dock, or a way of making the mac os dock a bit less shit without disabling system integrity protection or paying money
@maffsie what's your issue with the dock?
@noiob i hate having wasted space on either side of it + i don't like the "floating", which takes up more space. i'd rather just have something akin to the menubar that occupies a solid area of the screen. i'd simply have the dock hidden, but i often don't see notifications so being able to glance over to app icons to see if someone's messaging me on slack is important :(
@maffsie I like putting it on the side of the screen so it wastes less "valuable" space. You can also scale it up and if it still exists, adjust/disable the zoom effect.
@maffsie also the "bounce" effect apps can use to get your attention will work even while the dock is hidden, but I don't think you can make Slack do that (and it'd be a bit annoying)
@maffsie there used to be a lot of hidden options to make the dock better but apple removed them and refuses to put them back, even with many developers opening bug reports requesting their return for accessibility reasons. Really maddening, as someone who IS a Mac user most of the time (and has been for over 20 years) but frustrated at changes that aren’t user-centric :(
@maffsie the big one that continues to frustrate me: you used to be able to pin it to the corner of the screen, NeXT-style. Now you can’t, it’s always centered.
@maffsie also the way it handles multiple screens is asinine now, and lately it seems to forget about auto-hiding and you can no longer toggle it from the keyboard.
@fluffy "frustrated at changes that aren't user-centric" basically describes my entire experience with software the last few years :c
@maffsie last I needed to change the dock (6-7 years ago) there was a utility called Onyx. It's still around. You can change it to a minimal simple dock, but not much else you can do.
note: i'm not a stingy git, but i'm also not paying money to correct usability issues in an OS i didn't choose to use. i don't use mac os outside of work x: