News About Desktop Environments: Enlightenment, KDE, GNOME, and Others
- Dr. Roy Schestowitz
- 2014-04-02 10:13:07 UTC
- Modified: 2014-04-02 10:13:07 UTC
Enlightenment
With the latest Git development work for the Elementary tool-kit and library, applications can run directly from the DRM driver interface without any display server / compositor / window manager. Applications can be created to run in DRM and by setting the ELM_ENGINE=drm option the apps will run in a standalone mode without anything else underneath.
Current support work is being done to enable client-side applications (as opposed to making a Wayland compositor itself - that is a future plan). Currently EFL applications that use the lower-level Ecore-Evas and higher level Elementary API's will work and display correctly in Wayland, handle input, resizing and moving. Client-side frames are already provided. Both Shared-memory buffers AND EGL/OpenGL-ES2 buffers are supported. The Shared-memory buffers are purely CPU-rendered, meaning that they will work with or without OpenGL hardware acceleration support. They are fast and usable. The OpenGL-ES2 display is fully accelerated with all primitives being rendered by OpenGL (Hardware acceleration) and already work fully due to a long history of supporting this under X11 and other embedded EGL/OpenGL-ES2 environments.
KDE
April 1, 2014. Today KDE makes available the first beta of Frameworks 5. This release is part of a series of releases leading up to the final version planned for June 2014 following the previous alpha last month. This release marks the freeze of source incompatible changes and the introduction of the Frameworks 5 Porting Aids.
And KDE knows what happens when you alienate a group of users since the moment when the anger of some people over KDE 4 lead to the first prominent fork of KDE software, the Trinity Desktop Environment.
Today KDE released updates for its Applications and Development Platform, the fourth in a series of monthly stabilization updates to the 4.12 series. This release also includes an updated Plasma Workspaces 4.11.8. Both releases contain only bugfixes and translation updates, providing a safe and pleasant update for everyone.
Part of the KDE PIM group is meeting over this weekend in Barcelona in the spacious BlueSystems offices, hacking on all sorts of things. Me and David Edmundson took the oportunity to do some super huge changes to our KPeople library that are needed and as the library is in its dawn, it's better to do it sooner than later. These are all internal and boring changes, but one of the changes we've been working on here is really cool and worth mentioning.
The CD and DVD era is coming to an end and developers don't really bother to innovate when it comes to applications that deal with this media. There are quite a few apps that are capable of writing to DVDs available for the Linux platform, and K3B is one of the best.
The fourth beta of digiKam Software Collection 4.0 is now available for photographers interested in testing out this popular KDE software component.
digiKam team is proud to announce the fourth beta release of digiKam Software Collection 4.0.0.
Qt3D is the Qt component that adds 3D support to Qt Quick for easily integrating 3D functionality. Qt3D has been in development for some time and was going to be an "essential" module to Qt 5.0 before being moved to just an add-on as part of Nokia's Qt changes prior to selling it to Digia. Qt3D offers up a lot of potential for 3D user-interfaces and applications, but hasn't seen too much work recently -- the last time we got to mention it was when talking about OpenGL taking on a greater role within Qt in late 2012.
The KDE Project developers have just released the first Release Candidate of Applications and Platform 4.13, and it's all about fixes and improvements.
“KDE has released the release candidate of the 4.13 versions of Applications and Development Platform. With API, dependency and feature freezes in place, the focus is now on fixing bugs and further polishing,” said the KDE developers.
“The Calligra team has released version 2.8.1, the first of the bugfix releases of the Calligra Suite, and Calligra Active in the 2.8 series. This release contains a few important bug fixes to 2.8.0 and we recommend everybody to update,” reads the official announcement.
GNOME
Announcing her departure, Karen said: “Working as the GNOME Foundation Executive Director has been one of the highlights of my career.” She also spoke of the achievements during her time as Executive Director: “I’ve helped to recruit two new advisory board members… and we have run the last three years in the black. We’ve held some successful funding campaigns, particularly around privacy. We have a mind-blowingly fantastic Board of Directors, and the Engagement team is doing amazing work. The GNOME.Asia team is strong, and we’ve got an influx of people, more so than I’ve seen in some time.”
Zukitwo, a beautiful theme designed for GNOME 3.12 that makes use of the GTK2 engine Murrine and the GTK2 pixbuf engine, is now at version 2014.03.29.
The Zukitwo theme was updated shortly after the release of GNOME 3.12 and it’s probably the first theme to support the new version of GNOME. A lot of other themes will probably follow soon but, coincidentally, Zukitwo is also one of the best ones around.
Our dedication towards Wayland has pushed us to build a cleaner architecture overall. What used to be a proliferation of X-specific video and input drivers is mostly culminating in centralized, standardized code. For input, we have libinput, which we’re using from Weston, mutter, and Xorg as well. What used to be a collection of chipset-specific video plugins for doing accelerated rendering have now been replaced by glamor, a credible chipset-independent acceleration architecture. What used to be large monolithic components heavily tied to Xorg and the Xorg input and video architectures have now been split out into separate, easily-reusable libraries with separate, easily-maintainable codebases. New, experimental features can be prototyped faster than ever before.
One of the great things about Linux distributions is the customization. In contrast, an operating system like Windows 8 is rather limited. Sure, you can change some colors, wallpapers and sounds, but pretty much, it is what it is. What you see is what you get. That is probably fine for most people, however, Linux users are not most people.
Itching to get your hands on the latest goodies from Gnome? Look no further… If you’d like to see the project’s latest efforts, including getting the best look at the latest Gnome core apps (Music, Weather, Maps, Videos), Matthias Clasen has a special gift for you. He’s made a special live CD containing a complete Gnome 3.12 atop Fedora 20.
Review When the GNOME 3.x desktop arrived it was, frankly, unusable. It wasn't so much the radical departure from past desktop environments, as the fact that essential things did not work properly or, more frustratingly, had been deemed unnecessary.
THE GNOME PROJECT has released Gnome 3.12, the latest version of the heavyweight Linux desktop environment, which adds support for better displays and faster startup times.
Earlier today GNOME 3.12 has been released, bringing major new features, several redesigned programs and three new applications: Logs, Sound Recorder and Polari.
Misc.
Recent Techrights' Posts
- Microsoft Media Operatives and Bill Epsteingate-Funded Sites Said Microsoft Lays Off 9,000, But Other Sites Say More (Including 2,300 in Redmond Alone)
- We might never know the real number/s (Microsoft will keep the cards close to its chest) until there are leakers or unless there are whistleblowers with hard proof
- GNU/Linux Reaches All-Time High in the United States of America
- Windows is trending down
- Why the Microsoft People Who Started SLAPPs Against Techrights Could Very Well be Sent Back to Prison
- White-collar crime is also a crime
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- Links 02/07/2025: Deep Microsoft Cuts, Macron Speaks to Putin
- Links for the day
- Confirmed: Microsoft Shutdowns Today, Not Only Mass Layoffs
- "The Initiative is the only studio closure planned today, although some other teams have seen cuts of varying degrees."
- GNU/Linux is Replacing Microsoft Windows. But We Need to Eradicate Microsoft, It's a Hub of Crime.
- I have been writing about Microsoft since the 1990s when I was in school
- Microsoft Windows Nosedives in Switzerland While GNU/Linux Leaps Above 6%
- sooner or later they might have to make the move anyway
- Anxiety at Microsoft: Many Workers (Maybe Over 10,000) Still Don't Know They're Being Laid Off Just Before US Independence Day
- "Has anyone gotten the notification yet?"
- Microsoft "Declined to Say How Many People Would be Laid Off," According to Associated Press
- Some other prominent publications said they reached out for comment from Microsoft and received none
- The X War is Over and the "Wayland People" Lost
- People will gravitate towards what works for them
- 20 Years Since My Thesis
- It's still online
- GNU/Linux is Replacing Windows in Laptops/Desktops
- The world will move on while Windows and Microsoft shrink
- Now Comes the Expected Webspam, Framing Microsoft Layoffs as "Hey Hi" Success Story (False Marketing That's Piggybacking the Layoffs)
- falsely marketed as "intelligence"
- Hungary: Microsoft Windows Sinks to 17% "Market Share"
- In many nations in Europe it seems like the era of Windows is coming to an end
- Microsoft Layoffs in Spain, Portugal Record for GNU/Linux
- in Portugal we see GNU/Linux at record levels
- Yes, Microsoft is Again Using Its Favourite Liars (Stenographers) to Seed Fake Layoff Numbers, Much Lower Than What's Really Happening
- It is Jordan Novet again, just as we predicted
- Will Microsoft Once Again Choose Its Favourite Liar to Spread Lies About Today's Layoffs, Quickly to be Replicated and Spread by Slopfarms?
- What lies is Microsoft briefing its media moles to tell today?
- "OSS Fetishism" Wins After Ferenc Zsolt Szabó Ousted (Microsoft Mole From Capgemini)
- Many people said 2025 would be the "year of Linux on the desktop"
- There is Nothing That LLMs Can Offer Honest People
- LLMs are a passing fad; they're expensive and offer poor "value" for energy; they usually offer no value at all unless you are a cheater, spammer, and liar
- What statCounter Shows Today Helps Explain Microsoft's Helplessness, Mass Layoffs
- Since many US journalists are already away on holiday almost nobody will dare ask the difficult questions or give a voice to whistleblowers
- Microsoft Gets the Chop in South America
- The notion of digital sovereignty gained a lot of popularity
- Europe Has an 'Exit'
- Let's see what happens the rest of this year
- El Presidente Talks, Canada Walks (Away From Windows)
- GNU/Linux rising
- Cities in France and Germany Move to GNU/Linux and statCounter Detects Big Differences
- Will governments lead by example?
- Microsoft Lost Its Foothold in Africa
- How many of these are "old" Windows machines converted to GNU/Linux? Probably a lot.
- Led by Europe, GNU/Linux Makes Big Gains This Month
- statCounter started showing new/fresh stats
- Links 02/07/2025: Massive Microsoft Layoffs About to Commence, "Tesla's Robotaxi Program Is Failing"
- Links for the day
- The Company Run by Former (and Last Proper) Red Hat CEO, Promoting Microsoft Mono, Faces Shock as Senior Partner Jailed for 33 Sexual Offenses Including Pedophilia
- "As reported by The Oxford Mail in April 2025, the offenses include rape, sexual assault, engaging in non-penetrative activity with a child, and more."
- Microsoft Lost 29% of Windows Users, Based on Microsoft, Now Come Massive Layoffs
- Microsoft collapse is today
- Slopwatch: Google Serves to People Linux Slop and Linux FUD (Made by Bots)
- "Slopwatch" finds it difficult to ignore Google's role in encouraging LLM slop
- Over at Tux Machines...
- GNU/Linux news for the past day
- IRC Proceedings: Tuesday, July 01, 2025
- IRC logs for Tuesday, July 01, 2025
- "Wayland People" Behave Like the Googles and Microsofts of This World
- Published yesterday by Igor Ljubuncic
- Gemini Links 02/07/2025: Arch Linux and Fulfillment in Gemini
- Links for the day
- Links 01/07/2025: "Independence Day in Taiwan", Bounties on Software Patents
- Links for the day
- What Happens When Your Law Firm is Preoccupied With Harassing and Trying to Extort a Humble Couple in Manchester, Even on Behalf of Violent Microsoft Staff From Another Continent
- It's good to see that law firms which operate in bad faith are perishing
- Lawyer X, Law Firm X and Elon Musk's X: scandals linked by Old Xaverian
- Reprinted with permission from Daniel Pocock
- Gemini Links 01/07/2025: Distraction-Free Writing and Hytale Mismanagement
- Links for the day
- Links 01/07/2025: "Beauty of Blogging" and "Etiquette of Collapse"
- Links for the day
- Microsoft Uses LLM Slop to Defraud (or Rob) Shareholders
- Microsoft is basically defrauding its shareholders by LLM slop
- The Web is a Dead End
- We need to adopt alternatives
- When Words Lose Their Intended Meaning
- examples of words that, at least in the technical spheres, don't mean what they sound like
- People Who Disagree With You on Technical Matters May or May Not Agree With You on Political Things (But Usually They Do)
- What bothers me a great deal is seeing left-leaning people accusing other left-leaning people of being "nazis"
- "Too Much Choice" and "Too Many Programming Languages"
- What IBM and its apologists aim for was attempted in the 1930s and it failed
- Microsoft Lost 400,000,000 Windows Users, According to Microsoft
- more people adopt smaller computers and many people replace Windows with GNU/Linux, as they don't really need a new computer
- The "Davos Effect": Tarnishing the Reputation of Places Not by Overtourism But by Oligarch Infestation
- The last Venice needs is an affiliation with Venetian oligarchs
- Half a Year Gone, What's to Come Next
- In the second half of 2025 we expect to be done with the Microsoft SLAPPs
- Over at Tux Machines...
- GNU/Linux news for the past day
- IRC Proceedings: Monday, June 30, 2025
- IRC logs for Monday, June 30, 2025
- People at the Very Top of Microsoft Know How Bad Things Really Are
- There's no product that can replace the former profitability of Windows licensing and stuff that went on top of Windows
- Gemini Links 01/07/2025: Mid Year and a Tour of Old Languages
- Links for the day
- EPO Presentation Bemoans Misuse of Slop in Decision-Making on Patents and in Classification (Which is Likely Illegal Too)
- We habitually mention failed use cases of LLMs on the Web
- Mass Layoffs at Microsoft Confirmed, "XBox Hardware Is Dead"
- It's possible that over 20% of the staff will be laid off
- Links 30/06/2025: Kyrgyzstan vs Media Freedom, Dalai Lama Succession
- Links for the day
- Gemini Links 30/06/2025: Backend Programs in Gemini and Dynamic Content Without The Scripting
- Links for the day
- Links 30/06/2025: Zuckerberg’s Tax-Evading Scheme Harms Kids, US Copyright Office Lacks Leadership
- Links for the day
- Microsoft Isn't Laying Off Tens of Thousands to 'Invest' in Slop ('Hey Hi'), It's Laying Off Tens of Thousands Because It's Running Out of Money (and Willing Lenders)
- the layoffs are a sign of the business failing, not "hey hi" (whatever that is) replacing staff
- Intel Lays Off 20% of Its Workforce, Microsoft is Doing the Same This Year
- Like a yoyo, whatever goes up will come back down
- Microsoft XBox Layoffs: Almost 2,000 Layoffs Became "Over 2,000"? (Over 20% of the Staff)
- over 20% of staff will be let go, not counting staff that leaves voluntarily
- GNU/Linux Rises to New Highs in Angola, Africa in General is Abandoning Windows
- Western media barely covers Microsoft layoffs in Africa, but in recent years Microsoft culled the workforce and even shut down entire operations
- Summer Plans in Techrights and Elsewhere
- massive layoffs at Microsoft
- Destination Geminispace (in the Age of LLM Slop and Slop Images That Infest the Web and Social Control Media)
- Geminispace isn't vast, but at least it is - on average - a lot "cleaner"
- GNU/Linux Growing in Sierra Leone This Year
- Based on what statCounter is seeing, this year there are more and more people there who adopt GNU/Linux
- Serial Sloppers Gonna Slop
- More sites out there ought to call out the cheaters
- Quartz (qz.com) is Spam and a Slopfarm
- It used to be OK. Then they fired the staff.
- Links 30/06/2025: US Economic Woes, Extreme Heat
- Links for the day
- Over at Tux Machines...
- GNU/Linux news for the past day
- IRC Proceedings: Sunday, June 29, 2025
- IRC logs for Sunday, June 29, 2025
- Gemini Links 30/06/2025: "The AI Hype" and New AuraGem Ask
- Links for the day
