Links 25/01/2014: GNOME Desktop/Shell/Alternatives Roundup
- Dr. Roy Schestowitz
- 2014-01-25 20:51:32 UTC
- Modified: 2014-01-25 20:51:32 UTC
Summary: News about GNOME desktop and desktops that are derived from it
GNOME Desktop/Shell
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Most Linux distros bundle GNOME desktop environment (DE) with even minor version numbers (3.8.x, 3.10.x). Like Fedora was released with GNOME 3.10.3. The version 3.11.2 was available in November but it was not bundled .The reason behind it is that GNOME takes a different approach to their software releases. The odd minor versions (3.9, 3.11) of GNOME are development versions of the subsequent even versions (3.10, 3.12). So the .11 version is roughly an alpha version of the .12 branch.
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For a while it looked like Ubuntu 14.04 would stick to a GNOME 3.8 world, for the GNOME packages it ships in Ubuntu Linux as newer packages are partially held back by Ubuntu dependencies for their Unity desktop. Previously blocking the GNOME 3.10 update in Ubuntu was the GNOME Control Center, which ended up being forked by Canonical until their own Ubuntu System Settings can be developed.
Alternatives
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Surely users must be ready for a change from the default Gnome Shell theme by now. I have sampled some of the available Gnome Shell themes on Fedora 20 and now you can see them for yourself. A new shell theme will not change your entire desktop, but it will provide a new look for the activities overview window, and the Gnome indicator applet panel.
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I get a lot of queries regarding the difference(s) between the MATE and Cinnamon desktop environments. And of course such queries tend to come from those new to Linux and Free Software.
For the benefit of those class of users, this very brief article summarizes the key difference between these two desktop environments. Nothing technical, just basic stuff that will help those users to better understand what their options are. And because a picture is worth more than a thousand words, there are a couple of galleries to complete the picture.
Applications
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GNOME has finally updated the look and feel of their text editor, gedit. The app has been redesigned to match the newer GNOME 3 interface guidelines.
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The GNOME Project has also announced today that a new development release of the Epiphany 3.12 web browser for the upcoming GNOME 3.12 desktop environment is now available for download and testing.
Epiphany 3.11.3 adds HTTPS (secure HTTP) support for both the DuckDuckGo and Google search engines, improves the looks of the location bar and the downloads bar, improves filename suggestion for downloads, and cleans up the style of the about: pages.
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Dconf 0.19.3 introduces various improvements in the test coverage area, adds a proper DCONF_ERROR error domain, suppress the GLib deprecation warnings during the build process, correctly handles writability changes in GSettings, displays warnings about missing files only once per source, and it will link to -ldl only if it is required.
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The GNOME Project has released the fourth development release towards the Eye of GNOME 3.12 application, which will be the default image viewer for the highly anticipated GNOME 3.12 desktop environment.
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GVFS 1.19.4 introduces pull support for gPhoto2 and implements truncate and seek support for output streams for the DAV (Distributed Authoring and Versioning) protocol.
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The GNOME Project has announced a new development version towards GNOME PackageKit 3.12, a graphical user interface (GUI) for the powerful PackageKit software, which will be used in the upcoming GNOME 3.12 desktop environment.
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The GNOME development team behind the Glib project, a library used in the GNOME desktop environment, has announced the immediate availability for download of Glib 2.39.3, which introduces lots of fixes.
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Dubbed Spoilers, the third development version of the upcoming GNOME Documents 3.12 software, the main document viewer of the GNOME 3.12 desktop environment, has been made available for testing.
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The GNOME Project has announced that a second development release towards the upcoming GNOME Weather 3.12 application that will be available in the GNOME 3.12 desktop environment is available for testing.
Recent Techrights' Posts
- GNU/Linux at 4% "Market Share" (Even According to Steam Survey)
- Another milestone
- Ahead of Mass Layoffs Microsoft Tries to Rebrand or Redefine XBox (Because the XBox is Tentatively Dead)
- 2026 will be the last year of XBox in all likelihood
- Richard Stallman (RMS) Announces His Georgia Talk 2.5 Weeks in Advance
- A lot earlier than usual
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- Gemini Links 06/01/2026: Collective Responsibility, Pico2DVI, and TV Detox
- Links for the day
- Microsoft Loves Freedom, Democracy... and Linux? No, Microsoft Laying Off Because "Microsoft Loves Linux" Was Failed Posturing, Its Former Staff Moves to GNU/Linux
- "What are the running totals for IBM and Microsoft layoffs?"
- Mozilla's Assisted Suicide, Assisted by GNOME
- Firefox is meant to get better all the time, but instead it gets worse
- Links 06/01/2026: Neglect of the Elderly, Abandonment of International Laws
- Links for the day
- Links 06/01/2026: More Reports Point to Mass Layoffs at Microsoft (Later This Month), Greenland/Denmark Cautions the Dictator Who Illegally Invaded Venezuela
- Links for the day
- Internet Policy/Net Reality: You Must Never Ever Rely on Google (no "S.E.O." Either)
- Stack Overflow is dying
- Dr. Andy Farnell on Technology That Harms People (and Lack of Regulation Which is Needed to Address This Problem)
- Dr. Farnell's article is long but well worth reading
- GNU/Linux Rising to 5% in Cameroon and It's Hardly the Exception
- "AI" is just a smokescreen as losses pile up
- Rumours: Microsoft to Lay Off 12,500-25,000 Workers Soon (Tentatively Wednesday, 15 Days From Now)
- "Layoffs are coming third full week of Jan. Likely 21st but these things can move around a bit based on last minute developments."
- EPO People Power - Part XXVI - European Media Has Become Part of the Problem
- it is as clear as daylight that Cocainegate is real
- IBM 2026 "Organizational Change/s" Means Layoffs Resume Soon, Some Claim "Forever Layoffs."
- It's about "narrative control"
- Microsoft Layoffs in January 2026
- Get ready
- Google Still Boosting Slopfarms
- Slopfarms will probably all perish as soon as Google News quits sending them visitors
- Links 06/01/2026: Cryptocurrency Scam Emails and Greenland's Fear of Getting 'Venezuelad'
- Links for the day
- Links 06/01/2026: DIY Projects and Inertial Music
- Links for the day
- Over at Tux Machines...
- GNU/Linux news for the past day
- IRC Proceedings: Monday, January 05, 2026
- IRC logs for Monday, January 05, 2026
- To The Register MS, ARM Means Microsoft Windows (Follow the Money)
- the Free software community can campaign and run sites (like the one below), but it cannot afford to bribe so-called 'news' sites like Microsoft and its OEMs do
- IBM's CEO Makes No Sense
- "IBM CEO Aravind Krishna on what’s really driving tech layoffs"
- Links 05/01/2026: Tensions in Korea, Ukrainians See "Double Standard" in a US Russia-Style Invasion
- Links for the day
- Gemini Links 05/01/2026: Farewell to CBS Reality, Being On-Call, Digital Ad Spendings
- Links for the day
- Remember That Nobel Prizes Are All Named After the Inventor of Explosives (Even a "Nobel Prize for Peace")
- These rewards are only as valuable as the reputation they earn for themselves
- Baidu and Yandex Have Overtaken Microsoft in Asia
- how about all the Bing layoffs?
- Googlebombing for Bill Epsteingate
- Maybe the slopfarms too can help him cover up
- Of Course GNU/Linux Has Reached All-Time High in Africa in 2026
- Africa will, on average, gravitate towards Free software or whatever costs less
- From GNU/Linux Boosting to Slop-Boosting Career
- It is sad to see someone who devoted many years of his life producing GNU/Linux stories stooping down to this "AI" boot-licking
- IBM Buys, Then Disposes/Sacks, the Staff (That It Paid For)
- Any money gained is spent buying some more companies to add/join up their revenue, even if the debt surges and there's little integration going on (misfits absorbed)
- Time for Microsoft to Rebrand to Fit the Vapourware (Ponzi Scheme)
- something between Meta and Alphabet
- Links 05/01/2026: Slop Ruining Children's Minds, "Complicity of the Press in US Violence"
- Links for the day
- Microsoft's Windows Falls Below 20% in the UK
- After a lot of years of advocacy and hard work
- The Real GNU Anniversary (Not Manifesto or Announcement) is Today
- the development, not the manifesto
- GNU/Linux Usage Said to Have Doubled in Oceania
- it's hard to discount or dismiss Oceania as a bunch of "coconut islands"
- There's No Such Thing as "AI Godfather", Stop Repeating This Pure Nonsense!
- Infantile or corruptible media that plays along with slop or uses slop will perish
- Gemini Links 05/01/2026: "Poverty and Hunger", "Entrepreneurial Family", "Abandoning Obsidian for Logseq"
- Links for the day
- Links 05/01/2026: A Shrinking Canadian Economy, Brigitte Bardot's Environmentalism Recalled, Unredacted Epstein Files
- Links for the day
- Microsoft Allegedly Uses Performance Improvement Plans (PIPs) to Hide the Massive Scale of Company-Wide Layoffs
- Just like IBM; they meanwhile talk a bunch of nonsense about "AI" to distract from their commercial calamity
- Battles Are Won in the Court of Public Opinion
- Many "systems" rely on the mere perception or appearance of legitimacy
- No, Writing Isn't in Decline, Some of the Large and Centralised Platforms Are
- Slop isn't really competition, just a passing fad and pure noise
- GNU/Linux Share in Mongolia More Than Doubles
- they probably lack any genuine excitement for "hey hi PCs"
- Whistleblowing is About Understanding Boundaries and Risks
- The bottom line is, people typically find out the truth at the end
- EPO People Power - Part XXV - While EPO Managers Snort Cocaine the Staff Compiles 'Insurance Files' to Expose EPO Corruption
- In this increasingly authoritarian world we need more whistleblowers
- "The European Patent Reform" That Represents a Gross Violation of Laws, Constitutions, and Conventions (in Order to Make the Rich Even Richer, Mostly Outside Europe)
- How far and how long will EPO corruption go?
- The Reputation Issue Is Not Our Fault
- Trying to squash words (and people) merely diverts more attention to them
- GNU/Linux Distribution "Ultimate Edition" Fixes Its Web Site (Apparently Compromised Months Ago)
- they dealt with the issue before media shame and a catastrophe of trust
- Over at Tux Machines...
- GNU/Linux news for the past day
- IRC Proceedings: Sunday, January 04, 2026
- IRC logs for Sunday, January 04, 2026
- Gemini Links 04/01/2026: 64-bit Addressing and 39th Chaos Communication Congress
- Links for the day
- Windows Was Always the Punchline
- What did we count to calculate taxes?
- GNU/Linux Surges to About 4% in Peru This Year
- one of the poorest counties in America
- This Year Our Adoption of IRC Turns 18
- We have used IRC for this site since 2008
- The Doors Are Closing, Windows Closing Too
- Microsoft wants more vendor lock-in, but at risk that this desire will simply alienate and drive away many users
- The FSF's Program Manager, Dr. Miriam Sabrina Bastian, Left in October to Lead Climate School
- We are not sure why Miriam Bastian decided to leave the Free Software Foundation (FSF)
- Outline of Slop, LLMs, IBM, and Things to Come
- This coming week and weekend will be very productive irrespective of how much "news" gets published by other sites
- Links 04/01/2026: War Without Borders, "Large Hadron Collider Being Shut Down"
- Links for the day
- Links 04/01/2026: US Imperialism in Greenland and Venezuela, "Climate Protesters Face Greater Risk of Crackdown Amid Rising Authoritarianism"
- Links for the day
- 2026 Should be the Year We All Stop Saying "AI" and Call Things What They Really Are
- Don't give anyone the satisfaction of this misguided belief there's any intelligence there
- Ponzi Schemes Are Useful (to Corrupt CEOs)
- Pathetic, corruptible so-called 'media' is bagging bribes to perpetuate the lies about "AI" (slop)
- GNU/Linux at All-Time High in Algeria
- In 2026 it hit a new all-time high
- Online Mobbing (and Worse) Disguised as 'Free Speech'
- People who say they believe in "free speech" have been trying hard to silence RMS and squash the FSF
- A 'Cancer That Attaches Itself' to Bulgaria?
- "Cancer" is what Microsoft called GNU/Linux
- Over at Tux Machines...
- GNU/Linux news for the past day
- IRC Proceedings: Saturday, January 03, 2026
- IRC logs for Saturday, January 03, 2026
- Body-Shaming Using Fakes
- a lot of the people who casually claim "defamation" are themselves defaming loads of people every day
- GNU/Linux "Market Share" in Switzerland More Than Doubled Last Year, Based on statCounter
- GNU/Linux continues its considerable growth
- EPO People Power - Part XXIV - Today or Tomorrow You Should Write to National Representatives (Delegates) at the EPO in Your Country
- Keep up the pressure!
- Red Hat and IBM Layoffs, Staff Kept Quiet About it, WARN Act Skirted/WARN Notices Avoided
- What a terrible company to be in
- XBox Layoffs Imminent, More Appalling Sales Figures Published
- Expect many layoffs in the gaming division
