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I was wondering the same thing. Development of Gnome is going too slow, each release only has some minor changes, not to mention Metacity and Nautilus that are basicaly the same for last 2 or 3 years. I don't like KDE (too glossy, even after changing icons, most software for KDE has glossy icons anyway), but looking at the development going on there I really wonder what's up with Gnome? Is there ever going to be some real step forward, meaning it'll include big new/cool features and finally more options to everything (meaning: not making me the feel Gnome is made for dumb secretaries)?

Just my 5 cents.

Edited 2007-05-17 15:29

Not sure if I'm a dumb secretary.

But as a developper and system administrator who use/tried Windows, Mac OS since OS8, Xfce, KDE and Gnome (since 1.2). I feel far more productive and confortable in OSX or gnome(main desktop). Simplicity gives me a fast and clear navigation for my need. Both give all the option necessary to make it feel like I want.

Maybe there's such dumb secretary or maybe there's different solution for different people. You know, there's choices.

metacity has reached the feature-complete status for the intended design (and audience): a minimalistic, themable window manager that doesn't do anything more than what its name implies. having said that, the theming engine has been revamped and it has support for native compositing (even though it's a bit broken). you want bling? please, go and play with compiz.

nautilus has had changes in the last two years - the search folders, for instance; what's changing now it's the underlying VFS library (gnome-vfs) which is now being completely rewritten (gvfs) and moved even lower in the stack so that gtk+ can use it natively.

so: the applications have reached maturity (bugs notwithstanding) and the platform is now getting attention for the next changes. being the platform, and as the developers community doesn't want another 1.x/2.x-like transition, it requires more time to do it. it's happening nonetheless, and it's the important thing.

http://live.gnome.org/ThreePointZero

Go look at planet gnome, alot of work is being done under the hood, gnomeVFS is looking to be dropped and login speed, nautilus speed is being worked on.

I think people only want GNOME 3.0 because of KDE4, lets not get carried away with the hype.

You are so right. All the time I read someone asking for GNOME 3.0, it seems it is only for the new major number. Hardly anyone gives a reason why he wants GNOME to go for 3.0. And even if a reason is given, the feature can easily be done in the 2.x series. (like speed optimizations mentioned above)

But KDE4 has a new generation toolkit QT 4. Therefore it's quite natural to call it a major release. For Gnome 3 to arrive, gtk must get a revamp.

I think the issue at play isn't necessarily the need for GNOME 3.0 but more correctly a better focus on fixing bugs, reducing bloat and actually bringing features which end users want. For me, gstreamer needs a major overhaul; its mp3mux is completely and utterly broken - its so bad I've actually thrown in the towel and now using Grip + cdparanoia + lame's own id3v2 tagging. If it isn't the mp4 tagging corrupting files, its the mp3 tagging in gstreamer which corrupts information such as bitrate.

For me, all I see is 'release, release, release' without any justification - what are we going to deliver in this release; what user visible enhancements do we need to add to improve the over all user experience; there needs to be someone in charge of GNOME who make decisions and direct the project in a direction which sets down the projects focus for each release - "this is where we are, this is where we should be in 6months time" and set down a schedule.

Edited 2007-05-18 02:26