I don't use a DE myself but I do package software that's meant to run on "normal" Linux distros and the lack of a desktop on modern Gnome is absolutely baffling. I make industrial software so these machines are really single-use so it makes sense to put shortcuts where they won't be missed by somebody who may not be super familiar with the Linux desktop (especially since said shortcut will often be used when something goes wrong and speed is of the essence).

I remember thinking "what on earth were they thinking" the first time I realized that none of the usual way of putting things on the desktop worked on modern Gnome. Absolutely baffling. Breaking such a well established convention is pure hubris in my book.

I'd be perfectly fine if this was a niche DE that you'd have to go out of your way to install but this is bloody Gnome, the de-facto standard DE for Linux. Absolute insanity.