Slashdot Mirror
Gnome 2.0 on Ximian Installations?
DavonZ asks: "Like many Linux users, I have installed Ximian's Gnome desktop. The biggest issue is that Ximian is still based on Gnome 1.4. With the release of Gnome 2.0, many users have looked into upgrading Ximian to Gnome 2.0, but there are different approaches to this. One, the 2.0 Developement Snapshot available in RedCarpet. Another, the Ximian RPM's that are available via the Gnome.org web pages. Has anyone used either approach? Which is the most stable? Which will allow RedCarpet to upgrade to Ximian's Gnome 2.0, when it becomes available?"
Why don't you just be patient, and wait for Ximian to do their own thing in their own time. Unlike the Gnome Foundation who offers their software 'as is', Ximian tests all of the software, to make sure that it runs as stated, and they also make sure that it is easy to install. This means they ship it with all required libraries, pre-compiled for your flavor of *nix.
If you are so impatient to try it out, why not try Garnome? Garnome is a relatively easy way to install the stock Gnome 2 distribution from the source files. Unfortunately, you do have to find some obscure libraries (sp? sgml-data? DocBook?) before it will install, and it will take several hours to compile.
If you want Ximian's version of Gnome, you are just going to have to be patient and wait for them to put their unique finishing touches on it. If 1.4 was any indication, we could be waiting a month or more. And if 1.2-->1.4 upgrade path was any indication, you will have to install fresh as red carpet will not be able to handle an upgrade of this sort.
I haven't lost my mind!
It is backed up on disk...somewhere...
I seem to remember a bit on the mailing list about Ximian releasing their stuff using Gnome2.0 "when it was ready", which isn't now. The 'unstable' Gnome2 channel is survivable, but I find stuff regularly doesn't work, at least when I was mucking with it around the initial 2.0 release.
You can also try Garnome (auto builds from sources) - which seems to be quite stable. It is actually quite easy to build, as it has only a few dependancies that it doesn't automagically resolve and download.
Or, you could wait for 2.0 to stabalize a bit (I don't use it on production machines). This is probably your best bet, as there are not many apps ported to the new APIs. Gnome2 is cool - but wait until the paint dries to put it into production ;-)
BTW - kudos to the Gnome2 team(s)!
mx
I'm currently running the Ximian GNOME2 snaps, and they are working fine and dandy. (Except for official Galeon2 support, but it'll come) But as far as I believe, the GNOME2 Ximian RPM's on the GNOME project homepage are the exact same as the ones through Red Carpet.
Still though, it's working fine, it's nice and snappy, and there's a lot less bugs than there were when I used Garnome for the GNOME 2.0 final, oddly enough.