Question is in the title: What is the supposed workflow for vanilla Gnome for keyboard users?
Is there any video/design documents which explain, how the workflow is supposed to be?
Assume, I have a full screen web browser on workspace 1. Now I want to have a terminal… I hit the super-key, type terminal, hit enter … and then I have a terminal which does not start maximized on workspace 1, so I can either maximize the terminal and switch between the applications, arrange them side by side… or I can navigate to workspace 2, start the terminal there (the terminal will not start maximized again on an empty workspace 2) … and switch between the two workspaces (AFAIK there are no hotkeys specified by default to navigate directly to a workspace)…
What I simply do not understand: Does the vanilla Gnome workflow expect you to use mouse and keyboard? Like hit super, use mouse to go to next workspace, type terminal, click to maximize terminal (or use super-up)?
It just seems like a lot of work/clicks/keys to achieve something simple. And to my understanding Gnome expects you to use basically every application with a full screen window anyway, so why does it not open a new application on the next free workspace full screen by default?
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.