GNOME

GNOME is a free and open-source desktop environment designed for Linux and other Unix-like operating systems. It provides the graphical interface that users see and interact with when they turn on their computers. Many popular Linux distributions, such as Debian, Fedora Linux, Ubuntu, Red Hat Enterprise Linux, and SUSE Linux Enterprise, come with GNOME pre-installed, making it a common choice for many computer users.

The GNOME Project develops GNOME, bringing together volunteers and paid contributors from around the world. Red Hat is the largest corporate supporter of the project. GNOME focuses on creating tools for software development, building applications, and ensuring that these tools work well for people speaking different languages and with varying needs.

In recent years, GNOME has received significant support from external funding. In both 2023 and 2024, it was awarded €1,000,000 from Germany's Sovereign Tech Fund. This funding helps continue the improvement and expansion of GNOME, ensuring it remains a strong and reliable option for users worldwide.

Interface design

Main article: Adwaita (design language)

See also: Worse is better, KISS principle, and Principles of user interface design

Since GNOME 2, making things easy to use has been very important for GNOME. To help with this, the GNOME Human Interface Guidelines (HIG) were made. These guidelines help all GNOME programs look and work in a similar way. They are based on ideas from how people think and feel when using computers. By following these guidelines, developers can create programs that are easy and pleasant to use.

When GNOME 2 was being made, many extra settings were taken out because they were not needed by most people. A developer named Havoc Pennington explained that it’s better to make software work well right away, instead of adding many settings that most people don’t use. He believed that too many options can make software harder to use.

Features

GNOME works to make its desktop easy for everyone to use, including people with disabilities. It uses special tools to help with different ways of controlling the computer, like voice commands and screen reading.

GNOME supports many languages around the world, currently offering options in 197 different languages, though some may not be fully translated yet.

Session types

See also: Phosh and Libadwaita

GNOME Shell is the main part of GNOME. It has a top bar with a clock and a menu for system settings. You can click the Activities button or press a special key to see an overview of all your open windows and programs.

GNOME Classic is another way to use GNOME. It has a menu for programs and a list of open windows at the bottom of the screen, making it easier to switch between programs.

GNOME Flashback is a lighter version of GNOME that uses less computer power. It has a traditional taskbar and many useful tools built-in.

GNOME Mobile is a version of GNOME designed for mobile phones and touch screens. It uses special tools to make sure programs look good and work well on smaller screens.

Applications

GNOME offers many programs designed to work together smoothly. These programs follow GNOME's design rules and connect well with GNOME's system, like file management and online accounts. Some programs are updated versions of older ones, while others are brand new.

GNOME also provides tools to help people create new programs for the GNOME system. These include special programs for building software, designing user interfaces, and checking for problems during development. There are also libraries and frameworks that make it easier to build apps that fit with GNOME's style.

History

GNOME began on August 15, 1997, created by Miguel de Icaza and Federico Mena as a free software project. They wanted to build a desktop environment and applications without relying on proprietary software. Instead of using Qt, which had a proprietary license at the time, they chose GTK, a toolkit licensed under the GNU Lesser General Public License. This allowed GNOME to remain free and open-source.

GNOME 2, released in June 2002, looked like traditional desktops with windows, icons, and files. It included features like a menu for programs, a taskbar for open windows, and a notification area for background programs. GNOME 3, released in 2011, changed things up with a new design focused on simplicity. It introduced an overview screen for switching tasks and hidden buttons for minimizing and maximizing windows. Over time, GNOME has continued to evolve, adding new features and improving its design. Recent versions, like GNOME 40 and beyond, have brought changes such as new gestures, updated applications, and better performance.

Releases

GNOME releases its software on a regular schedule, about every six months. Before version 40, GNOME used a special numbering system to show different types of updates. Now, each release gets a new number, making it easier to track.

People can download GNOME’s source code and use special tools to build it themselves, but most users get pre-made packages from their computer’s software library. This way, GNOME can be easily installed and updated on many different computers.

Development

GNOME is developed by the GNOME Project. The project is managed in a relaxed way, with discussions happening on a Discourse forum since 2019, moving away from older mailing lists. Every year, developers and users meet at GUADEC to talk about GNOME's present and future. GNOME works well with other desktop systems because it uses standards from freedesktop.org.

GNOME is mostly written in several programming languages including C, XML, C++, C#, HTML, Vala, Python, JavaScript, and CSS. It uses many tools and libraries to help it work, such as GLib, GObject, GTK, and Adwaita. These tools help with things like organizing data, creating designs, and managing windows.

GNOME OS

GNOME OS is an operating system designed to provide a clean and consistent platform for developing GNOME software. Unlike many Linux distributions, GNOME OS is built from the ground up using tools like BuildStream and the Freedesktop SDK, ensuring a tailored environment for GNOME development.

The idea for GNOME OS started around 2010, inspired by platforms like Android and WebOS. In 2012, key GNOME community members met at the GUADEC conference to plan its future. Over the years, GNOME OS evolved, with important milestones such as integrating with Flatpak in 2016 for better application compatibility. By 2020, GNOME OS became publicly available for testing, and it continues to develop with new initiatives to improve everyday use and hardware testing.