Testing the Gnome 2.30 Release Candidate
If Gnome developers are to be believed, the desktop of the future arrived last week when the release candidate for Gnome 2.30–which could become Gnome 3.0—was made available. My CPU needed a workout, so I recently compiled the new desktop and gave it a run. Here’s a look at the desktop environment that–like it or not–may soon be coming to a computer near you.
Although there’s no official word on when Gnome 3 will become the default desktop environment in Ubuntu, Mark Shuttleworth suggested last summer that the October 2010 release, or Ubuntu 10.10, would be a likely target.
Given my experience with the new Gnome, I’m not convinced that’s a good idea, unless a lot changes on Gnome’s end between now and the fall. But I’ll save my criticism for another post. Below, I’ll focus on what Gnome 2.30/3 actually does, and how it’s so different from its predecessors.
Gnome 3 will take a radically new approach to the desktop in two respects: in the way windows are managed, and in how applications and user data are organized.
Gnome Shell
On the window-management front, Gnome 3 employs Gnome Shell, which redefines the way users interact with their windows. Gnome Shell encourages heavy deployment of virtual desktops, and essentially does away with the taskbar-based approach to moving windows in and out of focus.
Gnome 3’s default desktop looks like this:
By clicking the “Activities” button in the upper-left corner (or pressing Alt-F1, or moving the mouse cursor into the upper-left corner), the user is presented with a side panel from which she can manage windows, create new desktops and launch files or applications:
Of course, words and screenshots can only say so much. To get a better idea of how Gnome Shell handles window management, check out the screencast we made last fall, or the numerous similar videos around the Internet.
Zeitgeist
Gnome 3’s second major innovation centers on making folders and directories a thing of the past. Rather than forcing users to open a file browser in order to access their data, or navigate through a hierarchy of menus to launch an application, Gnome 3’s Activities panel features a search box where users type what they’re looking for and are presented with corresponding launchers:
In my experience, this feature, called which is based on Zeitgeist, works surprisingly well compared to other real-time data indexers available on Linux–namely the disaster known as Tracker.
The search feature wasn’t perfect–in particular, it seemed not to index new files very quickly–but if it can be made 100% reliable, it would be a great alternative to the traditional directory hierarchies on which operating systems have relied for four decades–and which remain deeply inadequate for the needs of most users, judging by the cluttered desktops and misplaced files that most computers users struggle with constantly.
Will it Work?
In a nutshell, Gnome 3 is what you see above. It represents huge changes to the way most people interact with their computers, and it’s fair to expect its integration into Ubuntu to be accompanied by a bit of controversy, to say the least.
After using Gnome 3 for a few days, I have a lot of personal–and critical–thoughts regarding its viability as a desktop solution, at least for people like me. Stay tuned for those.
some people don’t get well with change, whether its good or not. you will see them disagreeing. anyway i don’t think that Ubuntu 10.10 will be running Gnome-Shell, and i bet on this.
I really doubt Gnome 3.0 will be ready for the 10,10 release of Ubuntu. They may be close to or ready to release a beta or even RC by that time, but the final version won’t be ready. Having used it myself, there is still a lot that needs to be done.
One thing that I noticed, if I don’t use the activity journal and opt to go through the menus, things are missing. I had Songbird installed at the time, and there was no launcher for it in the menu, but I could find it through the activity journal. Still needs some work.
I agree with Seif though, some people will complain just to complain, whether they can adapt to the change or not.
I’ve used Gnome Shell. It’s very obvious that it still need lots of work, and very important, Compiz integration, and dock integration, for those of us who like to use those. I’m not a big fan of how it’s going but I’m sure it won’t be ready for an October release.
I think we will see a faster development of Gnome 3.0 since 2.30 will be out this month and all the attention will be focused on 3.0. I wish the developers the best.
I’m pretty positive that Gnome 3 was pushed back to Gnome 2.32, not 2.30. 2.32 is going to be released in September I believe, and not in march. Gnome Shell is doing very well, but from my experience it is not “finished” yet. Waiting until september, like I’m sure they said they are going to do, is the best choice for everyone.
On the face of it this looks very different to how users currently use computers. However if we look at Ubuntu Netbook Remix and similar Linux distributions it’s not so far from those set-ups people would get lost in it. And from the look of some of the screen shots. the directory structures still exist.
I don’t think Gnome Shell should be implemented in 10.10. As much as I welcome and love the innovation it brings including it in 10.10 would create a huge disturbance in Ubuntu. If 10.04 and 10.10 look nothing alike then there is the perfect recipe for inconsistency across the Ubuntu universe. Also, delaying the implementation of Gnome Shell in Ubuntu would leave time for further improvements and bug fixes.
Gnome 3 is NOT what you see above. According to the release team (http://arstechnica.com/open-source/news/2009/11/gnome-roadmap-updated-version-3-to-arrive-in-2010.ars) Gnome 3 will be released in september. The version of Gnome Shell included in gnome 2.30 is an early preview and is disabled by default. Many features are still missing, including full integration with Gnome Activity Journal which is an early preview too.
Is any of the Ubuntu specific work that Canonical has introduced in the last couple of Ubuntu releases such as the “Me Menu” or the new notification daemon or the new libindicate framework make sense in the new Shell paradigm? Or is Canonical going to be put into a position where they are forced to throw away in-house engineering work to move to the new shell interface?
Even if Gnome Shell interface is ready and is usable a year from now as a replacement for the standard Gnome Desktop interface, Canonical might not have all their current customizations ported to support it.
-jef
You’ve got the gnome activity journal part al wrong. Gnome activity journal in its current form is not included in default gnome and can be found at launchpad
ural: thanks, I was confusing GAJ with Zeitgeist. My understanding is that Zeitgeist provides the backend for the indexing, while GAJ is a GTK+ frontend distinct from the Activities overlay. I updated the post to make this clearer.
“so I recently compiled the new desktop and gave it a run.”
What did you use exactly? JhBuild/Garnome?
Mr. X: I used jhbuild. It works so well!
[…] Testing the Gnome 3 Release Candidate Although there’s no official word on when Gnome 3 will become the default desktop environment in Ubuntu, Mark Shuttleworth suggested last summer that the October 2010 release, or Ubuntu 10.10, would be a likely target. […]
[…] http://www.workswithu.com/2010/03/18/testing-the-gnome-3-release-candidate/ […]
Hi, you need to apply a patch to the article :-).
GNOME 2.30 is out in April and it’s not 3.0, nor a release candidate for 3.0.
3.0 will be out (if all’s ok) in September, obviously it would be based on 2.30, but only as much as it will be based in 2.28, and 2.26. What I mean is that 2.30 is not specially “3.0-ish”. Although indeed you can try gnome-shell in 2.30 (and 2.28), that doesn’t mean it’s GNOME 3 or an RC.
Please correct the subject so people don’t get a wrong hope about April’s release.
Thanks!
after dissing and lauging at GnomeShell a few months ago, I actually love the Gnome-shell concept…Its a great original Idea and free’s up your desktop from clutter, meanwhile having access to EVERYTHING by simply moving your mouse in the top left corner of the screen.
Although They will need to add support for Plugin Effects similiar to compiz for the users who choose to have effects, and add functionality to the top panel similiar to what current gnome has… Also, to give GnomeShell a decent Theme and beauty added to it…
Well, I haven’t had a chance to use it yet, but I think it looks pretty good. Also, with the whole argument that users will have trouble getting used to it: I’ve always seen GNOME more of a “Desktop Environment made for developers by developers” and KDE more as a desktop environment for users. I truthfully don’t think ubuntu should be using GNOME at all. I think it’s more suited to more advanced users/developers. That being said, KDE has plenty of advanced features too. It just seems easier for new users to get used to.
You got your version numbers wrong.
GNOME 2.30 is not GNOME 3.0. It has been five days since you published this article. Could you please update the post?
It takes twice as much work to get anything done with this stupid shell. They have traded in functionality for stupid glitz.
When gnome-shell becomes the default, I will be switching to LXDE.
Sorry, but in my opinion, the Emperor has no clothes.
I have never understood the desire of some developers to replace directory hierarchies with a search box. The various search and indexing mechanisms found on many default installations are the first things I remove or disable. My drives (and I have over 3T of storage on my desktop machine) have a very strict, very precise layout, and I know where everything is. I have no need to search for anything and randomness is not an option.
Secondly, I don’t always deal with data files in the context of an application. In fact, I deal with files as … simple files … quite often. Give me my well-organized directory hierarchy, please, so I can work with those files as I choose.
While I admire innovation as much as the next fellow, so far, I’m finding this new Gnome to be something that will get in the way of my current work flow, and not assist it. And, as I’m quite happy with that workflow, I would rather lose Gnome than have to change it.
Petar: I tried to make it clear that this is the RC for Gnome 2.30. However, everything I’ve read indicates that Gnome 2.30 is going to be the basis for Gnome 3, and so I’ve taken the features in 2.30 as indicative of what 3 will look like.
The guy jumped the gun on Gnome 3.0. Doing that is very irresponsible of him because it could expose Gnome 3.0 to the same type of attacks KDE 4.x initially suffered from.
Having said that, The innovations Gnome 3.0 is about to bring to the desktop could be disastrous. Changing the interface so drastically and turning the mechanics up side down is not going to be accepted easily by the users.
We have to remember that the desktop is not used by the users to look for data/files only. Typically, PC are used to run application locally and remotely, surf the Internet, and store and retrieve data/files.
There is only a few applications a user runs on a desktop, there is no need to search for applications since a good hierarchical menu is more than sufficient.
Searching for information on the Internet does not need a local search utility or interface, Internet search is done on the Internet itself (Google, etc…)
Searching for information stored locally doesn’t need a new desktop interface. It only needs a background service to facilitate access using existing desktop applications in conjunction with current file managers. KDE 4.x developers are in the process of doing just that by utilizing the new service called Nepomuk. Nepomuk indexes meta amp; content data and has a generic API for applications to submit requests to search for and find information stored locally. I believe this is a more effective and appropriate approach without having to revamp the desktop interface.
This new Gnome approach could be disruptive to the normal ways the users are accustomed to and could negatively impact and detrimental to Gnome.
I tried GNOME Shell a few months ago. I was quite pleased. Zeitgeist wasn’t working at the time, but it was very cool. I thoroughly enjoyed using it. I found it not only very innovative, but very intuitive, as well. It’s great on my 12.1 inch laptop screen. Once all the bugs are worked out, it will show the innovation that open-source people are capable of in an obvious way, by having a big-time desktop environment that doesn’t look like a clone of something.
I tried gnome-shell out last fall and thought it was a good direction, but – I wish it was configurable and the search box really needs to work more like gnome-do. It didn’t really seem to do much.
[…] Testing the Gnome 2.30 Release Candidate If Gnome developers are to be believed, the desktop of the future arrived last week when the release candidate for Gnome 2.30–which could become Gnome 3.0–was made available. My CPU needed a workout, so I recently compiled the new desktop and gave it a run. Here’s a look at the desktop environment that–like it or not–may soon be coming to a computer near you. […]
I have never had a need for multiple desktops. Never.
And yet, GNOME Shell seems to take them as part of it’s design philosophy….
I hope it’s creators are proud. But I also hope they know there is a substantional portion of the user base like me, who find having to ‘zoom out’ just to get to the system controls is…worrying….
I like to know where my files are stored. So, after installing Linux I disable any program that try to index files.
[…] hecho, en WorksWithU han realizado un análisis de esta última edición de GNOME Shell, y la verdad es que el aspecto […]
I read this article from yesterday and very nice. I was search tutorial about gnome and I found here, great
What will get lost in the Gnome Shell is customizability (can’t modify the panel layout anymore) and direct access to the windowlist. The latter can be solved pretty easily by using a dock.
The customizability issue will not be solvable except by modifying and compiling the sourcecode yourself. The Gnome team seems to find a seamless desktop experience more important than a customizable one, leaving us with what desktop layout would be best for the average user.
Opposing this, the Gnome Shell provides some very nice stuff, I especially love their new implementation of the workspace idea. The activities menu provides all of the features I’ve gotten used to with MintMenu. One disturbing detail, however, is submenus responding to mouseclicks rather than mouseover events. But I’m sure they’re gonna fix that.
HaHa GNOME Shell is annoying. Imagining the DE is like an actual Office where you are the one in charge. If you need to turn on your CD player, you need to go to upper stair, look over the entire office, all the draw will open, than now you can finally open your CD player. Then you now can finally go back down and enjoy your music. If you want to turn on your computer, you need to do the same thing. Find a document? Same things. Doesn’t matter what you trying to do, you need to go to upper and over look everything you have in your office before you can do what you want. And for everything you do. You have an option to add or delete a Desk in your office. And you can add up to 1073 Desk in your office, and possibly more. What is the point of that? Most people can barely use more than 2 Desktops. If you are like me who did many many things at a time, you might need to up four, but that rarely happen. In other word, they are making something that is more like a good option to have into a huge deal, and make everything take twice of the time to get done. Not to mention it is graphically annoying. Imagine you are watching TV and every button you pass such as change channel or change volume, it zooms in and out. and what’s up with that dead center clock? It seem like someone who have no graphic design experience would do. It really makes no sense or serve any purpose.
Yes, you can call Shell a good idea. And most people see animated graphic in computer they will think it is cool. Just like my mom, think all the photograph that has flower beautiful, don’t matter how bad the focus, composition or colors are. I Think the philosophy behind shell is great, but the execution is doing something completely opposite
Gnome is going to commit suicide. Why not fix the issues with the panel. This “Menu” bit could have been done as a panel applet. This is truly pathetic that they would drop something as well thought-out and customizable for the rigid and un-customizable Gnome Shell. I don’t get it. I was drawn to Gnome and Linux in general BECAUSE of the customizability. I hope they loose +75% of their user fanbase. 🙁
gnome-shell is so cool 🙂
i love the simple handling and good looking design.
many thanks to all the programmers !!!
If I told people 40 years ago that I wanted to make a machine to send hand written notes instantly over telephone cables, I would have been told that I was crazy and that it was useless……
If you are not able to open your mind to innovation, then don’t upgrade….
People will whine and complain at first, developers will begin to tweak and hack and new ideas will emerge.
I honestly welcome a change to how things are done. We building upon (basically) the same concept ever since DOS Shell. Things have gotten much better since then but the idea is pretty much the same…
If this works out and Gnome 3 changes how desktop environments are designed and used, how many of the people that are complaining here are going to begin to flame WinDoze and OSX forums saying “That’s not innovation…..We’ve had it in Linux for years…I knew it was a good thing since Gnome 3.0!!!!”
Generally, very few people support change and big change is a big risk but the rewards can be huge! So, even if Gnome 3.0 fails, I applaud the development team for thinking outside the box and having the courage to push forward in new directions!
lt;gt;
No.
: If this works out and Gnome 3 changes how desktop environments are designed and used, how many of the people that are complaining here are going to begin to flame WinDoze and OSX forums saying “That’s not innovation…..We’ve had it in Linux for years…I knew it was a good thing since Gnome 3.0!!!!”
No.
Anything that removes users from the ability to see files and directories WILL lead to them losing data. Been there, seen that. it’s a computer. It has a file system. learn it (it’s simple)
Plus *I* decide where things live on my system – not some Joe Random developer in GNOME-land.
Ho hum, looks like GNOME are determined to reimplement OSX… badly.