GNOME Gets its Own Software Repository

PostThis writes "After the attack to the Gnome servers a few months back the Gnome Project was left without a third party software repository (which wasn't that usable anyway). The gap was filled in very recently by GnomeFiles.org. The site was built using BeBits as a model (BeOS users still swear by it) and they are looking into filling up their Gnome/GTK+ software database quickly; they are offering prizes to Gnome developers who will submit an app during the first week of the site's launch."

Comments

Glad the model has ben thouroughly tested...

[Anonymous Coward]

Both BeOS users swear by it...

Nice

[mfh]

Gnomefiles.org looks nice and intuitive. I like the RSS feed, the layout and the simple interface of the site. I've wanted to go in this direction for some time and I think I might just have to try gnome out now. Any suggestions for someone getting started with Gnome?

Re:Nice

[It'sYerMam]

An RSS feed - very neat. I already check the FootNotes feed, now I have more GNOME goodies in my RSS Panel :-)
As for trying out gnome, the easiest way is to grab Fedora which has GNOME 2.6 on the CDs.
It's possible, but slow, to trawl through the sources at ftp.gnome.org, downloading all the necessary files. However, if you can find binary packages for your distro of choice then I'd go for them.

gnome-look

[Gandalfar]

And don't forget gnome-look for eye candy

At least the old one had stuff in...

[It'sYerMam]

This set's looking rather sparse, at the moment. Still, it's good that they've got back their space, hopefully not to be hacked again.
I wonder whether I can submit all the miscellaneous lint I've acquired for the developers ;-)

It's a real pity when things like that get hacked - It's GNOME people who're the real hackers, after all. In addition, this is a free software group - it's not like they're a software giant *cough* who crushes small businesses *cough* and uses illegal business practises *cough* (Oh, sod this - MICROSOFT) We need more white-hats, to go and whoop Teh Script Kidde H4x0r'S arses...

List of prizes:

[rd4tech]

Four $25 Amazon.com gift certificates
- Ten OSNews subscriptions (allowing you to read a faster-loading OSNews without ads), a $20 value each.
- One copy of "Advanced UNIX Programming, Second Edition" by Mark Rochkind.
- Four blocks of $50 in free advertising to promote your application.

Nice!

Re:List of prizes:

[zephc]

"Ten OSNews subscriptions (allowing you to read a faster-loading OSNews without ads), a $20 value each."

It's called AdBlock in Firefox...
Oops, did I give it away? =D

Re:List of prizes:

[rd4tech]

It is, but sometimes it's just nice to see an ad, I'm serious. For example, you need something and you didn't knew about it until you saw the ad (herbal medicine excluded). Or you'll just have a faint smile seeing ads where windows beats linux in speed on the server side by nn times and think: "This is /., do they really thing people would go with it?"
But then people will click to see what the claim is, so i counts as a hit doesn't it?
Ads are somewhat good if they are unobtrusive and, of course, if you can turn them off.

Re:List of prizes:

[Stallmanite]

Four $25 Amazon.com gift certificates

- Gnome is part of the GNU project.
- The FSF asks us to boycott Amazon.com because of the one click patent.

Practice what you preach Gnome.

Re:List of prizes:

[Henrik S. Hansen]

The FSF asks us to boycott Amazon.com because of the one click patent.

This is not true. FSF has in fact ended the boycott.

I've submitted mine..

[agent dero]

Yeah, I submitted mine today...it's called......um....gImmeaprize

Did I win?

"Own"?

[twener]

"Own" is good when this is in fact a commercial third party site.

slashdot = osnews + 5 days

[dotslashconfig]

While some people really like GNOME's design, I have significant issues with the software available to it and the desktop environment itself. GNOME has a hard time separating out libraries that it's not using for a given applications. The environment tends to take a shotgun approach at loading up EVERYTHING and then just dismissing libraries it's not using. The memory footprint, however, ends up being much larger than KDE (I didn't think this was possible until I ran GNOME).

I just hope that with this new incentive to bring in GTK+ apps that people start more closely examining the underlying software support for the GNOME project. I think GNOME is still light-years behind KDE, not so much in interface, but in foundation and logic.

I'd like to see more developers optimize GTK apps to only load needed libraries. I think this is one of the reasons linux has come under fire recently for being "unusable" on older systems - it loads up too much junk with the standard desktop environments. I don't mean for this to be a flame towards the GNOME project, but it's just an unfortunate trend I'm noticing.

GTK apps need to be refined, such that they don't start following the Microsoft paradigm of, "since we have it, let's bring everything in and add it to the toolbar... woot woot".

Any thoughts on this?

Re:slashdot = osnews + 5 days

[arvindn]

Hi,

The GNOME devs are actively working on this issue.

See for example

http://mail.gnome.org/archives/desktop-devel-list/ 2004-May/msg00028.html

http://mail.gnome.org/archives/gtk-devel-list/2004 -April/msg00065.html

You should start seeing the improvements in 2.8.

Re:slashdot = osnews + 5 days

[IamTheRealMike]

Well, if you're going to be as scientific as that here's the ldd list for kmail:

libkmailprivate.so.0 => /opt/kde3.2.1/lib/libkmailprivate.so.0 (0x40017000)
libkhtml.so.4 => /opt/kde3.2.1/lib/libkhtml.so.4 (0x403b7000)
libjpeg.so.62 => /usr/lib/libjpeg.so.62 (0x406aa000)
libkjs.so.1 => /opt/kde3.2.1/lib/libkjs.so.1 (0x406c8000)
libpcreposix.so.0 => /usr/lib/libpcreposix.so.0 (0x40729000)
libpcre.so.0 => /lib/libpcre.so.0 (0x4072c000)
libkdeprint.so.4 => /opt/kde3.2.1/lib/libkdeprint.so.4 (0x4073d000)
libkparts.so.2 => /opt/kde3.2.1/lib/libkparts.so.2 (0x407fa000)
libkutils.so.1 => /opt/kde3.2.1/lib/libkutils.so.1 (0x4083d000)
libkwalletclient.so.1 => /opt/kde3.2.1/lib/libkwalletclient.so.1 (0x40891000)
libkdenetwork.so.2 => /opt/kde3.2.1/lib/libkdenetwork.so.2 (0x408a0000)
libkspell.so.4 => /opt/kde3.2.1/lib/libkspell.so.4 (0x40970000)
libkdepim.so.1 => /opt/kde3.2.1/lib/libkdepim.so.1 (0x40973000)
libmimelib.so.1 => /opt/kde3.2.1/lib/libmimelib.so.1 (0x409c9000)
libktnef.so.1 => /opt/kde3.2.1/lib/libktnef.so.1 (0x409fd000)
libksieve.so.0 => /opt/kde3.2.1/lib/libksieve.so.0 (0x40a13000)
libkcal.so.2 => /opt/kde3.2.1/lib/libkcal.so.2 (0x40a21000)
libkabc.so.1 => /opt/kde3.2.1/lib/libkabc.so.1 (0x40af7000)
libvcard.so.0 => /opt/kde3.2.1/lib/libvcard.so.0 (0x40b98000)
libkresources.so.1 => /opt/kde3.2.1/lib/libkresources.so.1 (0x40bba000)
libkio.so.4 => /opt/kde3.2.1/lib/libkio.so.4 (0x40bdf000)
libkdeui.so.4 => /opt/kde3.2.1/lib/libkdeui.so.4 (0x40ee0000)
libkdesu.so.4 => /opt/kde3.2.1/lib/libkdesu.so.4 (0x41159000)
libkdecore.so.4 => /opt/kde3.2.1/lib/libkdecore.so.4 (0x41173000)
libDCOP.so.4 => /opt/kde3.2.1/lib/libDCOP.so.4 (0x41353000)
libresolv.so.2 => /lib/libresolv.so.2 (0x41383000)
libart_lgpl_2.so.2 => /opt/kde3.2.1/lib/libart_lgpl_2.so.2 (0x41395000)
libkdefx.so.4 => /opt/kde3.2.1/lib/libkdefx.so.4 (0x413a9000)
libqt-mt.so.3 => /opt/kde3.2.1/lib/libqt-mt.so.3 (0x413d2000)
libGL.so.1 => /usr/lib/nvidia/tls/libGL.so.1 (0x41a0f000)
libXmu.so.6 => /usr/X11R6/lib/libXmu.so.6 (0x41a6d000)
libXrandr.so.2 => /usr/X11R6/lib/libXrandr.so.2 (0x41a83000)
libXcursor.so.1 => /usr/X11R6/lib/libXcursor.so.1 (0x41a87000)
libXft.so.2 => /usr/X11R6/lib/libXft.so.2 (0x41a90000)
libfreetype.so.6 => /usr/lib/libfreetype.so.6 (0x41aa2000)
libfontconfig.so.1 => /usr/lib/libfontconfig.so.1 (0x41af2000)
libdl.so.2 => /lib/libdl.so.2 (0x41b1a000)
libpng12.so.0 => /usr/lib/libpng12.so.0 (0x41b1d000)
libXext.so.6 => /usr/X11R6/lib/libXext.so.6 (0x41b40000)
libX11.so.6 => /usr/X11R6/lib/libX11.so.6 (0x41b4e000)
libSM.so.6 => /usr/X11R6/lib/libSM.so.6 (0x41c2c000)
libICE.so.6 => /usr/X11R6/lib/libICE.so.6 (0x41c34000)
libpthread.so.0 => /lib/tls/libpthread.so.0 (0x41c4c000)
libXrender.so.1 => /usr/X11R6/lib/libXrender.so.1 (0x41c5c000)
libutil.so.1 => /lib/libutil.so.1 (0x41c64000)
libz.so.1 => /usr/lib/libz.so.1 (0x41c67000)
libfam.so.0 => /usr/lib/libfam.so.0 (0x41c78000)
libstdc++.so.5 => /usr/lib/libstdc+

Re:slashdot = osnews + 5 days

[Captain Rotundo]

I couldn't disagree more. I recently got a chance to use WindowsXP for the first time... and it was terrible. I was shocked at how annoying it is to navigate the file system. I guess I have to chalk it up to being spoiled by GNOMEs delicious user-friendly goodness.

Re:slashdot = osnews + 5 days

[Rysc]

Compare apples and apples, please. Comparing Konq to GAIM is not right.

ldd `which nautilus`
libnautilus.so.2 => /usr/lib/libnautilus.so.2 (0x4003b000)
libnautilus-adapter.so.2 => /usr/lib/libnautilus-adapter.so.2 (0x4004d000)
libnautilus-private.so.2 => /usr/lib/libnautilus-private.so.2 (0x40051000)
libeel-2.so.2 => /usr/lib/libeel-2.so.2 (0x40105000)
libXrender.so.1 => /usr/lib/libXrender.so.1 (0x40198000)
libXext.so.6 => /usr/X11R6/lib/libXext.so.6 (0x401a0000)
libgailutil.so.17 => /usr/lib/libgailutil.so.17 (0x401ae000)
libglade-2.0.so.0 => /usr/lib/libglade-2.0.so.0 (0x401b5000)
librsvg-2.so.2 => /usr/lib/librsvg-2.so.2 (0x401ca000)
libgsf-1.so.1 => /usr/lib/libgsf-1.so.1 (0x401e2000)
libbz2.so.1.0 => /usr/lib/libbz2.so.1.0 (0x40202000)
libgnome-desktop-2.so.2 => /usr/lib/libgnome-desktop-2.so.2 (0x40212000)
libgnomeui-2.so.0 => /usr/lib/libgnomeui-2.so.0 (0x40228000)
libbonoboui-2.so.0 => /usr/lib/libbonoboui-2.so.0 (0x402b6000)
libgnomecanvas-2.so.0 => /usr/lib/libgnomecanvas-2.so.0 (0x40319000)
libgnome-2.so.0 => /usr/lib/libgnome-2.so.0 (0x40345000)
libesd.so.0 => /usr/lib/libesd.so.0 (0x40359000)
libaudiofile.so.0 => /usr/lib/libaudiofile.so.0 (0x40362000)
libart_lgpl_2.so.2 => /usr/lib/libart_lgpl_2.so.2 (0x40380000)
libpangoft2-1.0.so.0 => /usr/lib/libpangoft2-1.0.so.0 (0x40396000)
libgtk-x11-2.0.so.0 => /usr/lib/libgtk-x11-2.0.so.0 (0x403bc000)
libgdk-x11-2.0.so.0 => /usr/lib/libgdk-x11-2.0.so.0 (0x4068e000)
libatk-1.0.so.0 => /usr/lib/libatk-1.0.so.0 (0x406ff000)
libgdk_pixbuf-2.0.so.0 => /usr/lib/libgdk_pixbuf-2.0.so.0 (0x4071a000)
libpangoxft-1.0.so.0 => /usr/lib/libpangoxft-1.0.so.0 (0x4072f000)
libpangox-1.0.so.0 => /usr/lib/libpangox-1.0.so.0 (0x40734000)
libpango-1.0.so.0 => /usr/lib/libpango-1.0.so.0 (0x40741000)
libbonobo-2.so.0 => /usr/lib/libbonobo-2.so.0 (0x40776000)
libgnomevfs-2.so.0 => /usr/lib/libgnomevfs-2.so.0 (0x407d1000)
libgconf-2.so.4 => /usr/lib/libgconf-2.so.4 (0x4082e000)
libxml2.so.2 => /usr/lib/libxml2.so.2 (0x40857000)
libgnutls.so.7 => /usr/lib/libgnutls.so.7 (0x40951000)
libtasn1.so.0 => /usr/lib/libtasn1.so.0 (0x40989000)
libgcrypt.so.1 => /usr/lib/libgcrypt.so.1 (0x40997000)
libnsl.so.1 => /lib/tls/libnsl.so.1 (0x409cf000)
libz.so.1 => /usr/lib/libz.so.1 (0x409e4000)
librt.so.1 => /lib/tls/librt.so.1 (0x409f5000)
libbonobo-activation.so.4 => /usr/lib/libbonobo-activation.so.4 (0x409fb000)
libORBitCosNaming-2.so.0 => /usr/lib/libORBitCosNaming-2.so.0 (0x40a11000)
libORBit-2.so.0 => /usr/lib/libORBit-2.so.0 (0x40a16000)
libgobject-2.0.so.0 => /usr/lib/libgobject-2.0.so.0 (0x40a65000)
libgthread-2.0.so.0 => /usr/lib/libgthread-2.0.so.0 (0x40a9f000)
libpthread.so.0 => /lib/tls/libpthread.so.0 (0x40aa4000)
libm.so.6 => /lib/tls/libm.so.6 (0x40ab3000)
libgmodule-2.0.so.0 => /usr/lib/libgmodule-2

Now if only...

[Xpilot]

...it would get its icon on Slashdot updated.

First slashborg post

[scotch]

Congratulations, you have posted the first slashborg post! Keep up the good work. Your sig is particularly ironic, btw.

I see one big problem

[Anonymous Coward]

User X hears about Gnomefiles and see cool new verison .x of some app. He's currently running Fedora Core 2, Mandrake, or Suse(ie a top 3 distro) or something else that comes with Gome 2.6. Of course this new app requires GTK and glib .x which of course are newer than what he has on his system. User tries to get it working but either can't or ends up hosing his Gnome install. Now I'm sure this is when user of distro X pipes in a say "but my distro can do it!". Good for you. That doesn't change the fact that getting both the latest and oldest versions of Gnome apps running on the same system isn't a royal PITA for many users. Don't even get me stated on the latest apps which require Gstreamer.

Say what you want about Windows but if your running XP you can download and install pretty much any app from last 8 years and get it to work. There are of course exceptions to this rule but for the most part its possible with little to no effort. For most people Gnomefile.org is just going to be a painful reminder of what cool apps are out there but you can't run because you can't figure out how to install them without hosing your system. For the new generation of Linux Desktop users this continues to be a huge problem.

Re:I see one big problem

[donscarletti]

Gnome has remained ABI stable since 2.0 (two years ago). So basically any app less than 2 years old will run on a linux/gnome system. This is not nearly as good as XP, but it is still respectable. Gnome 2.8 will be released in september, and guess what it is ABI compatible with? Yes! 2.0, just like the version before was. And of cause one can install gnome 2.x libraries in parralel to gnome 1.x libraries, meaning that to upgrade one doesn't have to do anything like "hosing gnome"

Basically I think you are overstating the problem just a tad and being a little melodramatic. Yes, gnome isn't as ABI stable as Win32 but it is far from as bad as you make out. I know some very hard-core gnome core developers who are still using 2.0 because they have not been forced to upgrade and they can DEVELOP their components (for the 2.8 release) quite fine on their long-obsolete but still compatible systems.

Rushed Entries

[JonoPlop]

From the story:
they are offering prizes to Gnome developers who will submit an app during the first week of the site's launch.

1. People rush to make the date
2. The site is filled with hurried, poorly-made software after the first week
3. The crappy software gives the site a bad reputation
4. Developers of "good" software shun the site's collection
5. Users find that there is no good software in the repository, only poorly-made software (the programs submitted for the prize were made only for that purpose, and are not maintained due to lack of enthusiasm by the developers)
6. The site dies

Of course, this is only a possible scenario (and I'm in a pessimistic mood at the moment (or always)). I hope the site goes well, though!

Re:oh, please

[r_cerq]

Oh, so that thingy on the 8th row must be a delusion, then. And these articles don't exist.