Gnome Archive

The GNOME 2.6.2 Desktop and Developer Platform has been released: this point release from the stable branch of the GNOME Desktop and Developer Platform contains a lot of bugfixes and improvements over the previously released 2.6.1 version.

It's been already a week after GnomeFiles.org went live (my, time flies when you work on something night and day) and we have the first statistics in: so far, there are more than 150 applications submitted, more than 3,800 downloads and about 250,000 web pages served. That last number is actually better than I expected, as it seems that Gnomefiles.org is already able to do 15,000 page views per day the last few days without any major linkage from other sites (it went up to 60,000 for the day when Slashdot linked on Sunday). The prizes will be handed out soon to the winning developers so if you haven't submitted your app yet, do it before the end of the week to become eligible.

Is there a business model for a GNOME-based Linux desktop software ecosystem? Such a project could transform the entire desktop operating system scene before Microsoft's Longhorn version of Windows comes out. But can Linux developers be nimble enough when it comes to money? Read the editorial at NewsForge. On a related Gnome note, our new site Gnomefiles.org, has seen a visual update based on feedback, so make sure you check it out. Gnome developers, don't forget that by posting an app you are becoming elligible for prizes (to be given out next week).

Two months ago, Gnome took its software repository offline in order to bolster internal security, and since then there has not been a focal point on the internet for GNOME software. We're happy to announce Gnomefiles.org, a resource for Gnome/GTK+ developers and users to post and find software. Read for more info and the prizes we offer to the first devs that will submit an app.

The recently announced GNOME 2.6 has finally brought many features long awaited by the Linux desktop fans. GNOME 2.6 is all about ease of use, performance and unification and while it's unfortunately hard to say that the GNOME desktop feels fast, it certainly began to be really easy to use and it has consistent look and feel — and that consistency is what makes up for most of the quality of a graphical user environment. UPDATE: Scroll down the article to read some added commentary.

Arvind Narayanan wrote an essay outlining three proposals for simplifying GNOME file management.

The GNOME project just released 2.7.1 of the popular DE. More info and changelogs follow:

Here's a kind of an application that is sorely missing from a stock Gnome installation and not many Gnome users know about: Gnome-PPP, a front-end to the wvDial, a modem/ISDN dial-up software. Read more for some quick info on the app and a screenshot.

Much has been said, and been discussed about "spatial views" (found on Mac OS X's Finder and on BeOS' Tracker). Ever since the GNOME hackers decided that Nautilus, the file manager in GNOME, would sport a spatial way of working by default, the word "spatial" has became infamous. Colin Charles tries to clear up the waters and explain the advantages of using a spatial interface.

Gnome 2.6.1 was made available, a bugfix version which was pending release for about a week. Update: Michael Hall replies to Petreley's review of Gnome 2.6.

Continuing yesterday's Gnome story where we mentioned the webcam/voice project for Gaim, Tim Ringenbach wrote us in with more info and a preliminary screenshot from their project, gaim-vv.

Gnome 3.0 is a long way off still and I have already written a wishlist for Gnome, however this time around I thought I write some specific feature requests for the next major Gnome release (coming in more than a year from now). These are applications that I would like to see included by default on Gnome 3.0 for a more full and integrated experience.

API/ABI-stable bindings for the GNOME 2.6 Development Platform, for C++, Java, and Perl are now released. That means you can seriously consider those programming languages (and others) when developing GNOME-based applications, and you can be confident that your applications will not break when future versions of these bindings are released. OSNews hopes that the Python and GTK# bindings will become part of this great set in the near future too.

Red Hat, Ximian and Debian developers are discussing the future of Gnome and its place in the desktop marketplace at Planet Gnome (scroll to read all discussions taking place). In the meantime Dropline GNOME 2.6 became available for Slackware, while the Gnome bindings have reached RC status.