"<program> is not responding" while debugging in gnome 3 (ubuntu 17.10)

Solution 1:

This bug was fixed. A backport was released for Ubuntu 18 as gnome-shell 3.28.4 on 2019-6-6. See How To Disable the "Window not responding" Dialog

The underlying cause is the gnome API for interactive programs. Once this API is activated, gnome expects the application to collect events and respond in a timely way, and the application sends a sort of heartbeat to prove it is responding. When the application stops sending the heartbeat, gnome brings up this dialog.