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
- If GNU/Linux Rising is Just "Bots" (It's Not, Many Surveys Show the Same), Why Does Microsoft Rush to Lie About System Requirements of Vista 11?
- The real reason is, GNU/Linux is rising
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- Red Hat is in Need of a 'Jolla', as an IBM-Controlled Red Hat is Becoming Like the Microsoft-Infiltrated Nokia
- Dying fast, partly by design
- Gemini Links 08/08/2026: Gigs, Poems, SREs, and Shared Passion
- Links for the day
- Kompromat Tactics in GNU and Linux
- Kompromat as a concept was covered here in the past in relation to Microsoft
- SLAPP Censorship - Part 143 Out of 200: After Nearly 10 Attempts to Settle With Us and Over a Million Pounds Spent on Lawyers and Barristers
- We are in no particular hurry
- 20 Years and 43 Years
- GNU/Linux is not just code, it's a philosophy, licence (copyleft), and community
- GNU/Linux Turns 43 Next Month, Many Distros Actively Maintained
- A lot of Debian-based distros are still actively maintained (we talk about this in IRC this evening), so the stability of the Debian Project is important
- Links 08/08/2026: GAFAM Colonialism "Paved Over Protected Wetlands", Slop Companies Hoard Software Patents as Debt Soars to Trillions
- Links for the day
- Links 08/08/2026: "Palantir Paid No Federal Income Tax" and "Who's Responsible for This Mess?"
- Links for the day
- Retained: The Time IBM's Red Hat Tried to Hijack or Take Offline Site of Critics, Failed on All Grounds (Meritless Action Intended to Harass Critics)
- Replicated from adrforum.com
- IBM's 'Final Solution': Censor Sites Not Controlled by IBM, Sites Where Dissent is Expressed
- IBM has no culture of free speech
- More Mass Layoffs Coming IBM's Way (Ones IBM Cannot Hide, Cannot Convince Enough People to Leave or Unjustifiably PIP Them When They Say No)
- The company that was like a "father of modern computing" is now stingy when it comes to travel. Not a good sign.
- What Will it Take for Mainstream Media to Report Silent or Secret Layoffs at IBM?
- "Silent" or "secret" sometimes because the media won't cover them
- Is the Future of IBM Red Hat Temporary Staff, Contractors?
- They want cheap, obedient lemmings
- Gemini Links 08/08/2026: Tribute to Lloyd Center, Radio Amateurism, Homeworlds
- Links for the day
- Over at Tux Machines...
- GNU/Linux news for the past day
- IRC Proceedings: Friday, August 07, 2026
- IRC logs for Friday, August 07, 2026
- Microsoft Uses Slop to Find Defects and Then Uses Slop to Replace Code, What Could Go Wrong?
- Botspam is the problem, it's not a constructive approach in any shape or form
- analytics.usa.gov: GNU/Linux Up Some More This Week
- Days ago it said 6.4%, now it's up to 6.8%
- RA-pocalypse: IBM Tells Workers "Taking a Hike" is Their "Next Step" ('Voluntary' Layoffs), Now It Prepares to Sack Lots of Contractors
- There definitely is something going on
- Legal Attacks on Techrights Have Made Techrights More Popular and More Widely Read
- The misogynists will have plenty of work to do this summer
- Kai Stephens (Barkley Walsh) & British Democrats in Clacton by-election hustings
- Reprinted with permission from Daniel Pocock
- Daniel Pocock 'Punching' Nazis in the UK
- The so-called "cult" of so-called "Debianism" was left with nothing but massive legal bills
- SLAPP Censorship - Part 142 Out of 200: GemText is Not a Webpage, Gemini Protocol is Not the Web, and Capsules Are Not Websites
- our intention to appeal (escalate to the Court of Appeal)
- Microsoft: Our August 2026 Layoffs Are Not Layoffs Because... Reasons
- That's like IBM making "spin-offs", then pretending that no layoffs are happening
- Links 07/08/2026: UMG and Anthropic in Trouble Over Copyright Infringements Sold as "Training" (Slop)
- Links for the day
- Links 07/08/2026: "BMW Is Showing Commercials On Their Car's Dash Screens And They Want You To Think It's A Treat", Software Patents on Drones
- Links for the day
- What We Said About Red Hat's Fate Under IBM Turned Out to be Right on the Money (That IBM Lacks)
- There are no layoffs at IBM
- IRC Networks Show No Signs of Going Away, IRC Enters Its 39th Year
- That IRC daemons are still actively developed and patched in summer of 2026 (over 38 years after IRC was born) says a lot about IRC's importance
- Social [Control] Media Needs to Die
- I am a bit shocked to recall that I wasted a lot of time on it
- Some Malware is Legal Because It's Made and Distributed by Politically-Connected GAFAM
- In reality, the security non-experts 'championed' (and salaried) by GAFAM are anti-security people who advocate back doors
- The GNU/Linux Anniversary is Next Month, Not This Month
- It'll turn 43
- At Clacton by-election Hustings Event Daniel Pocock Says "Social [Control] Media Has Contributed to Some of the Anti Social Behaviour."
- No doubt many problems in society are caused or at least amplified/accentuated by this horrible phenomenon
- IBM Insiders Explain Why IBM is in Very Serious Trouble
- Will IBM last long enough for any "quantum" deliverables to become a reality?
- The Register MS Took Money From Broadcom to Publish Fake 'News' With "AI" Mentioned 35 Times
- not legitimate or authentic journalism.
- GNU/Linux Approaching 20% in Georgia (the Country)
- Usage of GNU/Linux was near 0%, as measured by statCounter, several years ago
- Over at Tux Machines...
- GNU/Linux news for the past day
- IRC Proceedings: Thursday, August 06, 2026
- IRC logs for Thursday, August 06, 2026
- Gemini Links 07/08/2026: Radio Amateurism, Summer Updates, and Programming "Taste"
- Links for the day
- Links 06/08/2026: Billboard Chart Contaminated by Slop Plagiarists, Sheinbaum Blasts Social Control Media
- Links for the day
- A Long Break and What's Coming Next Year
- Some time next year we definitely plan to show how the EFF failed women, failed bloggers, and basically prioritised GAFAM
- Daniel Pocock on a "metre-long ballot paper"
- The Debian "cult" (as he calls them collectively) is simply jealous of him
- Links 06/08/2026: Disney and Fentanylware (TikTok) Deal, "Hearing Aids Shenanigans"
- Links for the day
- IBM Mass Layoffs Began Yesterday, They're Sold as "Voluntary", the "Offer" Runs for Two Weeks (Last Day August 19th 2026)
- IBM will self-detonate while using contractual agreements to force people to smile
- Start of September 2026 'Voluntary' Mass Layoffs at IBM, Start of October Red Hat Employees Forced Into the 'Bloodbath' (After Collapse of IBM's Shares)
- Red Hat is in trouble
- Many GNU/Linux PCs Are Not Connected to the Net or Don't Use the Web
- Saying GNU/Linux user-agents are just "bots" (Microsoft Lunduke and other Microsofters say this) is like asserting that the Twin Towers fell not because of two giant planes but because of explosives
- They Call Occupations "Professions" Because the "Pro" Means Something
- If you want to find tech news online
- New Conference Paper (Science of Cyber Security) Credits RMS With Delaying Passwords
- When it comes to passwords, RMS was "right"
- Removing Gender Barriers in Computer Science
- It is not that "women aren't good at maths"
- In Brunei, GNU/Linux Approaches International Average of 8.5%
- a sharp rise from 0% to about 7.5% happened in a few years
- 15% of IBM Staff Marked for Layoffs ("RAs"), the Workers' Objective is to Find Another Employer and Leave
- "That's not a workforce, that's a waiting room."
- Maintenance to be Completed Tonight (IPv6)
- Notice how, after 25+ years, we're still not fully adopting IPv6, we're only about 50% there
- A Data Centres Hub Puts Everyone at Risk, Especially People Who Live Near Them at Times of War/s
- Spoiler: Datacentres are military targets, they attract missiles, some with nuclear warheads
- GAFAM Mass Layoffs and Mountains (Trillions of Dollars in 'Secret' or 'Off-the-Ledger') Debt
- GAFAM is having layoffs this month
- August 2026 Microsoft Layoffs Confirmed by Staff This Week
- It's hard to assess how many are impacted but signed an NDA, preventing them from speaking about what really happened
- analytics.usa.gov Says 7% of Sessions Come From GNU/Linux and ChromeOS. If ~40% (Mobile) Get Omitted, It's More Like 11%.
- In desktops and in laptops GNU/Linux has become a big player
- IBM Cannot Survive for Much Longer, There Are Limits to RAs and Offshoring, IBM Now Asks Workers to Quit
- IBM is in very serious trouble
- SLAPP Censorship - Part 141 Out of 200: Brett Wilson LLP Failed to Learn From the Mistakes of the European Patent Office (EPO)
- my solicitor, David Allen Green, put them in their place
- Texts of the Claims From Balabhadra (Alex) Graveley and Matthew J. Garrett Almost Identical, I am Suing for Abuse of Process
- Half a decade ago Balabhadra (Alex) Graveley from Microsoft and GNOME was arrested for strangulation in Texas
- Gemini Links 06/08/2026: "Eat That Frog", Mutt Terminal Email Guide, and BASICODE
- Links for the day
- Over at Tux Machines...
- GNU/Linux news for the past day
- IRC Proceedings: Wednesday, August 05, 2026
- IRC logs for Wednesday, August 05, 2026
