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Core Developers Discuss The Future Of GNOME

Posted by timothy on from the sitting-in-gardens dept.

Jon writes: "George Lebl and Maciej Stachowiak, GNOME core developers, recently attended the Australia Linux Hacker's conference, Linux.conf.au. Check out the article LinuxWorld Australia is running based on their talk at the conference. It looks at the future of GNOME and other interesting tidbits. Also, check out this link to see summaries of other talks - including Alan Cox's ' Classified Progress Report and Briefing.'" The GNOME folks indicate that Nautilus could be the default file manager as soon as next month :)

6 of 118 comments (clear)

  1. Gnome:forever two years behind by Ars-Fartsica · · Score: 4
    Gnome is currently providing Win95 levels of functionality - actually, a more accurate statement would be somewhere between Win3.1 and Win95 - there are still critical features regarding drag and drop that Windows users have enjoyed for nearly five years that Gnome still does not support.

    Now the issue is multimedia support - once again, Gnome will come up to speed somewhere in the two year lag range. Its interesting that I note that most uber-smart unix geeks I know are just throwing in the towel and running an SSH client from windows into their BSD boxes. Why? Because they're tired of seeing "plugin not suported" when they try to do anything interesting on the web.

  2. The Biggest Problem with Gnome and KDE by Nailer · · Score: 5

    Isn't that the filemanagers have some way to go, or that silly apps tell me KPACKAGE NEEDS TO BE RUN AS ROOT! rather than asking me for the password, or that one is more or less favoured by closed source developers, that Ximian installer force installs all its packages, or that one is more or less free than the other.

    Its that they both ignore each other. Half my apps don't work properly. The standardized drag and drop doesn't work across in any distribution with the latest GNOME and KDE, dragging from Konqueror to the GNOME desktop doesn't work. Neither does any other cross app drag and drop.

    * Drag and drop is broken
    * I have 2 sets of mime types
    * My KDE panel applets won't launch in the GNOME panel, and vice versa
    * When I add an application the the kpanel, it doesn't appear on the foot menu, and vice versa
    * KDE and GNOME don't even include apps from each other on their panels
    * Childish KDE developers write a GNOME theme importer which calls GNOME `legacy' and childish Eazel developers make Eazel services showcase any app for any toolkit, as long as it isn't KDE and QT.
    * QT and GTK are themed using different engines, with no reason why.

    Thisn isn't competition. This is insanity, artifically partitioning all my apps. Neither desktop will win. No OS uses a single partition.

    Imagine a Windows user clicking Start to reveal `MFC applications' `VCL applications' etc. End users don't give a fuck about toolkits and never have. Why is the KDE team writing KPhotoSuite? Why shouldn't KWord work really well with the GIMP?

    Windows uses more than one toolkit. It just does it well. For God's sake, stop partitioning my desktop. Write a combined style guide for GTK and QT based apps. Make sure both toolkits use the same theming engine, and have a similar range of widgets aviable.

    And for God's sake, stop using your brilliant minds to hurt each other and combine them to actually make Linux a useable desktop.

    I'll have hope the first time a Linux developer actually writes a software installer and doesn't call it `gnorpm'.

  3. how often do we need to know gnome's future? by snowshovelboy · · Score: 5

    every month? or every 6 months?

  4. When will it end? by Daemosthenes · · Score: 4

    Just what I needed...

    A file manager that plays mp3's, browses the web, zooms in, displays the actual text of files within the icon, contains the nuclear launch codes, has support for themes, is very configurable....

    HEY!!! Did that just say what I think I said? Yup, I guess these open source blokes have finaly gone a bit too far with this "World Domination" thing.


    47.5% Slashdot Pure(52.5% Corrupt)

  5. Re:how about a total rewrite.. by frantzdb · · Score: 4
    Gnome is object oriented. It is not done in an ``object oriented programing language''. The two are not mutually exclusive.

    --Ben

  6. In the Slashdot Trenches - Funny by augustz · · Score: 4
    Pan to the geek compound:

    Narrator: "In their ongoing battle to slashdot sites out of existance, CmdrTaco and his minions, Jamie and Timothy find themselves in a dire predicament."

    CT: "That linux.com.au site seems to be holding up very well. Any ideas men?" Jamie: "This business is getting harder and harder. How can we see our power manifested unless we can slashdot some sites. Don't they know who they are dealing with?"

    CT: "Obviously not. Our only solution is to post the link again." Timothy: "Wait commander, won't the hordes of lemmings who read the page more than once a day realize that you posted the same story twice? They won't beleive it."

    CT: "You're right, a bit too obvious. Why don't YOU post the story."

    Jamie: "Excellent idea, then, when they are slashdoted, I can post a story claiming they were CENSORED."

    Narrator: "Meanwhile, far from the geek compound in homes and NOC's across the world, geeks and wannabe geeks experience a strong sense of deja-vu, and wonder at the effects gallons of Jolt has injested while sitting a climate controlled room. The ones who realize what is going on on the other hand are a bit quicker in the future to minimize slashdot when their PHB's walk by."

    I guess if the good discussion has already happened, we should just have some fun.