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Gnome 2.22 Released

Posted by samzenpus on from the latest-and-greatest dept.

kie writes "The latest version of the Gnome Desktop is being released today. New features in 2.22 include Cheese (an application for webcam photos and videos), window compositing, PolicyKit integration and much more. The full details are in the Release Notes."

97 comments

  1. Well now we know by garett_spencley · · Score: 1, Funny

    It was Gnome who cut the Cheese.

    Sorry.

  2. Window Compositing? by calebt3 · · Score: 0

    What is that? Something that allows 3d effects in normal file browsing and such?

    1. Re:Window Compositing? by calebt3 · · Score: 1, Informative

      Nevermind - Drop shadows and transparency, for now.

    2. Re:Window Compositing? by petermgreen · · Score: 4, Informative

      the traditional way to do a windowed gui was to limit each apps drawing area so that it could only draw within it's own window and force the app to redraw stuff when it's visibility changed. This system has the advantage of being light on ram and being low on CPU when windows aren't moving. However moving windows is a relatively expensive process both because of the need to ask apps to redraw and the need to actually move data arround in the screen buffer (this is why many older systems use a dotted box drawn with XOR to indicate window moving and only move the window when the user has chosen the final location). Also it is virtually impossible to support any kind of partial transparency or rotozooming under this system and even non rectangular windows are a pain.

      3D games work in a totally different way. They work with a (large) set of textures and the scene is redrawn every frame building up from the back to the front and rotozooming everything into place. This makes transparency, drop shadows etc fairly easy and of course rotozooming is a fundamental requirement of a 3D game.

      A compositing window system (afaict under X this requires support from both X itself and the window manager) draws each window into it's own buffer and then treats that as a texture. Then a frame for the screen is built up in much the same way a 3D game builds up a frame. This enables all sorts of effects from simple stuff like drop shadows and inverted colors to advanced stuff like a window selector that shows a thumbnail of each window or a desktop selector that puts the different desktops on the surface of a cube. Different window managers will obviously choose to use theese capabilities to different extents and in different ways.

      --
      note: i'm known as plugwash most places but i screwd up registering that here somehow in the past and now can't register
    3. Re:Window Compositing? by AvitarX · · Score: 1

      The biggest thing (from a basic user perspective) is that when you drag one window over another you don't get a nasty dragging/bluring problem. It will pave the way for more advanced stuff later on (semi-transparent window dragging for example).

      I imagine metacity will be lighter weight than compiz too.

      --
      Wow, sent an e-mail as suggested when clicking on "use classic" banner, and got a fast response that addressed my msg
  3. That explains it. by pushing-robot · · Score: 4, Funny

    Gnome 2.22 Released
    I was wondering where it came from.
    --
    How can I believe you when you tell me what I don't want to hear?
    1. Re:That explains it. by wanderingknight · · Score: 1

      LOLOLOLOL! That's old news, buddy! The "green midget", as it was called by the sensationalistic local press, hasn't been talked about here since 2000 or so.

  4. At least it's a real release! *cough* KDE4 *cough* by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0, Interesting

    Pardon my flaming, but at least Gnome release actual releases rather than the "this is the final release, but it's not actually the final final release, this is just for developers mostly."

    The marketing doublespeak that the KDE developers employed in the KDE4 release really soured me on their desktop environment (oh it's, KDE4, but not KDE 4.0, and really you should wait until KDE 4.1). Hooray for choices! Thanks Gnome developers, it looks great!

  5. Evolution actually working? by BlackCreek · · Score: 2, Informative

    BTW, does Gnome now allows switching the spelling language of an application during the use of it?

    Like switching the spell checker of a chat session during the chat session? Or the assumption is still that everybody only ever uses one language at a time.

    Seriously. I'm not flaming, I mean to ask the question. One of the reasons I stopped using Gnome, after many years using it, was that in order to use a Dutch spell checker in Gaim, I had to restart Gaim using a dutch locale environment (and be stuck with a Dutch spell checker for the rest of that Gaim instance).

    1. Re:Evolution actually working? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Informative

      Evolution can switch spelling on-the-fly, and even do multiple language spelling.

      pidgin however still has the problems you describe, the FAQ/help has the following to say about that
      ----
      How do I change the language for the Highlight Misspelled words option?

      Pidgin currently only supports spell checking in your locale language. This is because gtkspell 2 does not offer a good way for us to know which dictionaries are available or to switch between them. This functionality has long been promised for gtkspell version 3, which has been delayed somewhat indefinitely. See gtkspell.sf.net.

      There is, however a simple plugin called switchspell that can change the spell check language on a per-buddy basis.
      ----
      http://developer.pidgin.im/wiki/Using%20Pidgin

    2. Re:Evolution actually working? by erroneus · · Score: 2, Interesting

      Another responder has posted the same response I was about to offer.

      You can use a variety of methods, but often I just open a terminal, type "export LANG=en_US.UTF-8" or whatever locale you want to switch to and then run the program from there by typing the program's name.

      If only there were a property to allow setting the locale in the shortcut/launcher thing...

      I too find it annoying that only one language may be used at a time, but you know it's worse with Apple and MacOS X... I recently set up a Mac Mini with OS X.5. I selected Japanese as the language and when it came to registering the product, it would not let me enter a U.S. address for my home! Apple, for whatever reason, assumes that since I want to use Japanese as the language interface that I must live in Japan. What a preposterous assumption?!

    3. Re:Evolution actually working? by JanneM · · Score: 4, Informative

      BTW, does Gnome now allows switching the spelling language of an application during the use of it? I don't think spellchecking functionality is a desktop-wide feature by itself; I think it will depend on the application how exactly it is implemented. I do know that Gedit, the standard editor, does allow you to set the language on a per-document basis at runtime. No idea on Gaim.
      --
      Trust the Computer. The Computer is your friend.
    4. Re:Evolution actually working? by Elrond,+Duke+of+URL · · Score: 4, Informative

      If only there were a property to allow setting the locale in the shortcut/launcher thing...

      You should be able to do this with a tiny script. Not quite as simple as the launcher GUI, but not bad. Simply create in your home directory (or wherever you like):

      #!/bin/sh

      LANG=en_US.UTF-8 pidgin

      And call it "pidgin-en_US". Make it executable and set the launcher to use that script to launch pidgin and you should be good to go.

      Better still, if the launcher config lets you give arguments to the program you tell it to execute (I think you can), you can make just one script:

      #!/bin/sh

      LANG=$1 pidgin

      Call it "pidgin-lang" and in the launcher, set it to execute "/home/foo/pidgin-lang en_US.UTF-8" or whatever other language you want.

      --
      Elrond, Duke of URL
      "This is the most fun I've had without being drenched in the blood of my enemies!"-Sam&Max
    5. Re:Evolution actually working? by qwer_tea · · Score: 2, Informative

      Pidgin (formerly known as Gaim) uses your locale language for spell checking.

      There is, however, a third-party plugin called switchspell that allows you to switch the spell checking language on a contact-by-contact basis.

    6. Re:Evolution actually working? by Daengbo · · Score: 2, Informative

      Not trying to flame here, but Pidgin/GAIM is not a Gnome app, so the question you asked can't really be answered. In fact, Empathy (based on the Telepathy framework) was set to be the default chat client for 2.22, but it didn't make the final cut. It's still slated for 2.24. When that happens, we'll have well-integrated text, voice, and video chat. Yipee!!

      --
      Put identity in the browser.
    7. Re:Evolution actually working? by BlackCreek · · Score: 2

      Not trying to flame here, but Pidgin/GAIM is not a Gnome app, so the question you asked can't really be answered. In fact, Empathy (based on the Telepathy framework) was set to be the default chat client for 2.22, but it didn't make the final cut. It's still slated for 2.24. When that happens, we'll have well-integrated text, voice, and video chat. Yipee!!

      And my question probably got marked "off-topic" by some Gnome zealot because of that.

      I understand your point that Gaim/Pidgin is not a official Gnome app, but you should reckon that for years, what everyone (using Gnome) had for IM was Gaim/Pidgin. As you mention yourself, Empathy still doesn't exist (from the perspective of a user). I mean which IM client do I get if I install the most popular Gnome distribution (Ubuntu), I get Pidgin. Is there any major distribution, installing a IM client with Gnome, which is not installing Pidgin?

      So honestly, I think that asking about the state of what in practice is what people get for IM client when using Gnome, to be pretty "on-topic". Otherwise the honest answer would be along the lines of "We expect to have a great IM client on Gnome 2.24 but, for various reasons, Gnome 2.22 doesn't even have a IM client" (Or there is a default IM client set on 2.22, and nobody is telling me?)

    8. Re:Evolution actually working? by erroneus · · Score: 2

      Awesome. I didn't know you could do that from such a line. I have always thought in terms of one line, one command or function. The idea that it would move on to execute whatever came behind it would have never occurred to me. I went ahead to create a short launch script rather like your second example, but rather than set the LANG variable, I specified the locale and use $* as the argument so I can specify the program and parameters to run. Now I can just modify any and every launcher I wish to run in an alternate language by pre-pending the launcher script name. Sweet.

      Love learning new useful stuff like that.

    9. Re:Evolution actually working? by petermgreen · · Score: 1

      you could but with many protocols you can't use the same account from multiple clients at once and even with protocols where you can getting duplicates of every message would get annoying rather quickly.

      --
      note: i'm known as plugwash most places but i screwd up registering that here somehow in the past and now can't register
    10. Re:Evolution actually working? by Constantine+XVI · · Score: 1

      On the topic of Evolution, does it have IMAP-IDLE push support yet? If it does, I'm moving to Hardy this instant, regardless of driver breakage

      --
      "I think an etch-a-sketch with an ethernet port would beat IE7 in web standards compliance."
    11. Re:Evolution actually working? by pizzach · · Score: 1

      I personally realized that was possible when I saw the Gentoo example of 'USE="-esd" emerge gnome'. But still this is a hack to a larger problem. What is the point of having your local in a different language if you have to change it back to get the appropriate dictionaries?

      --
      Once you start despising the jerks, you become one.
    12. Re:Evolution actually working? by Just+Some+Guy · · Score: 1

      I don't think spellchecking functionality is a desktop-wide feature by itself; I think it will depend on the application how exactly it is implemented.

      That isn't right, is it? Please tell me that's not right. KDE has Kspell (KDE3) and Sonnet (KDE4) for implementing system-wide spellchecking in every app that cares to link it. OS X has system-wide spellchecking. I'm reasonably sure that Windows has system-wide spellchecking. Surely Gnome has also managed this, hasn't it?

      --
      Dewey, what part of this looks like authorities should be involved?
    13. Re:Evolution actually working? by MSG · · Score: 2, Informative

      Or you can set up a launcher that executes:

      "env LANG=en_US.UTF-8 pidgin" ...and skip the ridiculous shell script entirely.

    14. Re:Evolution actually working? by psmears · · Score: 2, Informative
      Better still, can't you just have something like:

      /bin/env LANG=en_US.UTF-8 pidgin
      as the command to launch, and not use a shell script at all?
      --
      Need to type accents and special characters in Windows? Use FrKeys
    15. Re:Evolution actually working? by immcintosh · · Score: 1

      Why would it need to when there are perfectly good, widely used, third party spell checkers available (aspell)? Tell me, exactly, what the point would be in integrating it with a desktop environment, where this functionality is clearly not specific to that environment (many console programs use spell checking as well), other than to bloat that environment.

    16. Re:Evolution actually working? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Gedit, the standard editor
      Um, no. The standard editor is ed, as any fule kno.
    17. Re:Evolution actually working? by Just+Some+Guy · · Score: 1

      Tell me, exactly, what the point would be in integrating it with a desktop environment, where this functionality is clearly not specific to that environment (many console programs use spell checking as well), other than to bloat that environment.

      The point would be to avoid bloat. Why should 20 programs have 20 different wrappers around aspell instead of having one common wrapper that each of the programs call? In OS X, a program installs itself as a service, and you can run that service on any highlighted text in any program on the system. Each program gets speech synthesis, language translation, formatting, and other goodies "for free" without any additional overhead or programming. In what way is that not a worthy ideal?

      --
      Dewey, what part of this looks like authorities should be involved?
    18. Re:Evolution actually working? by RAMMS+EIN · · Score: 1

      ``BTW, does Gnome now allows switching the spelling language of an application during the use of it?''

      WTF?! You mean that this has not been working? I'm amazed...

      --
      Please correct me if I got my facts wrong.
    19. Re:Evolution actually working? by immcintosh · · Score: 1

      I'm not really sure what you mean by "wrapper" in this context. To use aspell, all an application needs to do is link to libaspell.so, which provides spell checking services and already is the one common wrapper that every application calls. Beyond that, I guess you could automatically spell check common GTK widgets (check out the gtk-spell package for that), but any custom built text interfaces will have to have some kind of custom wrapper around whatever library they use anyway.

    20. Re:Evolution actually working? by ta+bu+shi+da+yu · · Score: 1

      Um, no. The standard editor is ed, as any fule kno.


      Evidently uses the default editor.
      --
      XML is like violence. If it doesn't solve the problem, use more.
  6. Not faster... by calebt3 · · Score: 0, Troll

    There seems to be no mention of it being faster. Looks like I might be deciding on KDE 4 after all...

    1. Re:Not faster... by baadger · · Score: 4, Informative

      GNOME (Or more accurately GTK+, glib, Cairo and X) has got faster steadily since the GNOME 2.12 days. GTK+s UI's are just as snappy for me as Qt equivalents. I noticed significant improvements after several video/X driver updates and updates to Cairo 1.4.x (from 1.2.x).

  7. Yeah, but... by iknownuttin · · Score: 2, Funny

    does it run Linux? Oh, wait, ummmm, shit! I really suck at karma whoring....

    --
    I prefer Flambe as apposed flamebait.
    1. Re:Yeah, but... by BlackCreek · · Score: 0, Redundant

      does it run Linux? Oh, wait, ummmm, shit! I really suck at karma whoring.... I have to agree. You do suck at karma whoring.
    2. Re:Yeah, but... by PC+and+Sony+Fanboy · · Score: 2, Funny

      you both suck at karma whoring... wait ... why am I karma whoring too?

    3. Re:Yeah, but... by cptnapalm · · Score: 1, Funny

      ...and I for one welcome our new karma whoring overlords!

      Will there be ponies?

    4. Re:Yeah, but... by RuBLed · · Score: 1

      Yes... and cakes.

    5. Re:Yeah, but... by LingNoi · · Score: 3, Funny

      The cake was a lie you insensitive clod!

    6. Re:Yeah, but... by bigstrat2003 · · Score: 0, Redundant

      The cake is a lie!

      --
      "16MB (fuck off, MiB fascists)" - The Mighty Buzzard
    7. Re:Yeah, but... by joaommp · · Score: 1

      In soviet russia, lies cake you.

      --
      Onda Technology Institute
  8. KISS by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Funny

    Fitting with GNOME's "keeping it simple" policy

    I'm not sure whether to laugh or cry.
    1. Re:KISS by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Now THAT is friggin' funny. On so many levels.

    2. Re:KISS by ceeam · · Score: 0, Flamebait

      "Keeping it retarded" is more like it.

      (Need _yet another_ example? File dialogs. What you mean I cannot have a preview when selecting an image to attach?!)

    3. Re:KISS by ReinoutS · · Score: 2, Informative

      What you mean I cannot have a preview when selecting an image to attach?!) You can, but it's up to the app to enable this. As a matter of fact, Epiphany 2.22 just gained an image preview in the file chooser.
  9. Try this: by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Funny

    Aw, but I just got done compiling Gnome 2.20!

    love, a Gentoo user

  10. Gnome & KDE by RiotingPacifist · · Score: 1

    suxxors, wind... i cant do this anymore...*bang*

    --
    IranAir Flight 655 never forget!
    1. Re:Gnome & KDE by fireman+sam · · Score: 2, Funny

      One down, now if only we can get the "vi versus emacs" folks to do the same.

      --
      it is only after a long journey that you know the strength of the horse.
    2. Re:Gnome & KDE by jcast · · Score: 3, Funny

      Maybe we should shoot for more realistic goals. Like acceptance of Emacs' superiority.

      --
      There are reasons why democracy does not work nearly as well as capitalism.
      -- David D. Friedman
    3. Re:Gnome & KDE by Mad+Merlin · · Score: 2, Funny

      Maybe we should shoot for more realistic goals. Like acceptance of Emacs' superiority.

      Well, Emacs is a nice OS and all, but what it really needs is a good text editor.

      --
      Game! - Where the stick is mightier than the sword!
    4. Re:Gnome & KDE by Constantine+XVI · · Score: 2, Funny

      I hear viper-mode's coming along nicely. Haven't checked recently since I don't dual-boot much.

      --
      "I think an etch-a-sketch with an ethernet port would beat IE7 in web standards compliance."
    5. Re:Gnome & KDE by jcast · · Score: 1

      Emacs is the only OS more systematically mis-used than Linux. I think if most VI users tried using Emacs properly, they'd be surprised; in VIM, you end up hitting ESC every time you'd hit Ctrl in Emacs.

      --
      There are reasons why democracy does not work nearly as well as capitalism.
      -- David D. Friedman
    6. Re:Gnome & KDE by Archwyrm · · Score: 1

      When I am using vi(m), I press ctrl+[ which produces the same key code as escape. =)

      --
      Fascism should more properly be called corporatism because it is the merger of state and corporate power. -- Mussolini
    7. Re:Gnome & KDE by jcast · · Score: 1

      Sure, I have a co-worker who does that. I still don't see how C-[ j i is easier than C-n, though.

      --
      There are reasons why democracy does not work nearly as well as capitalism.
      -- David D. Friedman
  11. Gnome 2 for 22 by ross.w · · Score: 2, Funny

    Also known as the Richie Benaud release

    --
    If my call is important, why am I talking to a recording?
  12. Re:At least it's a real release! *cough* KDE4 *cou by Erik+Hensema · · Score: 1

    Yes, we all know gnome 2.0 was a marvel of engineering.

    --

    This is your sig. There are thousands more, but this one is yours.

  13. Huzzah! by IBBoard · · Score: 2, Insightful

    Now to wait for Fedora 9 so I can more easily update :) I tried pointing Smart at the Development repos for the Gnome RC but there isn't a way to say "upgrade all Gnome" - no meta package or anything that I saw - so I didn't feel like doing it package by package.

    I've yet to see the point of Cheese as a 'main Gnome' app, though.

    1. Re:Huzzah! by RAMMS+EIN · · Score: 1

      ``I tried pointing Smart at the Development repos for the Gnome RC but there isn't a way to say "upgrade all Gnome" - no meta package or anything that I saw - so I didn't feel like doing it package by package.''

      Maybe you should file a feature request for that. On Debian, I have "gnome" and "gnome-desktop-environment". I suppose installing either one of those would give me a complete Gnome installation.

      --
      Please correct me if I got my facts wrong.
    2. Re:Huzzah! by IBBoard · · Score: 1

      Yum has the option to do it by package group like that, so it is possible, just not from Smart. Unfortunately the Fedora team have set the dependencies up in such a way that you can't just get the new Gnome from Fedora 9 dev and install it on Fedora 8, it ends up updating a huge swathe of other stuff as well that effectively leaves you with a Fedora 9 install.

  14. Re:At least it's a real release! *cough* KDE4 *cou by MrHanky · · Score: 2, Insightful

    At least it was feature complete.

  15. Growing to like it by free+space · · Score: 4, Insightful

    In general, I agree with the camp that hates making GUI's too simple and limited. Yet I'm using Gnome now because it's the default in Ubuntu and because of I work with Mono which uses Gtk, and spending some time with Gnome made me gradually like it.

    It could be because I was lucky enough to find the features I want in place so that I wasn't bitten by the "too much minimalism" problem. I don't have much need for sound, printing or the like and 90% of my time are spent in either firefox, monodevelop or a text editor.

    Also, the Tomboy note taker rules. I wish something like it was in Windows. This must be a milestone where a user begins to dislike working on Windows and prefers Linux because of an application.

    1. Re:Growing to like it by LWATCDR · · Score: 1

      I used to be a KDE fan but I too have really grown to like Gimp on Ubuntu.
      It really is getting to the mythical Apple "Just works". So far the things that tick me off have all be legal and not technical. The stupid command line step that you have to do to get Decss working so you can watch DVDs is the big one.
      I really like FSpot and hope that they get it to be a little more stable soon. I am thinking about adding a feature to it when I have some spare time.
      The one application that keeps me going back to Windows right now is Microsoft Flight Simulator.
      I can honestly say that Ubuntu seems to be very usable for most people right now. The only issues are with stupid leagal foulup and a lack in some software categories. I would love TurboCad or Solidworks for Linux as well as FSX. OpenOffice is good enough for what I do and Quicken on-line has solved one of the road blocks for my wife..

      --
      See my blog http://ilovecookes.blogspot.com/ for light hearted technical information.
    2. Re:Growing to like it by mechsoph · · Score: 1

      I would love TurboCad or Solidworks for Linux as well as FSX.

      Pro/E supports Linux

    3. Re:Growing to like it by LWATCDR · · Score: 1

      That is great.
      Hope they do well. Now if I could just get a version for under $200 for home use I would be all set :)

      --
      See my blog http://ilovecookes.blogspot.com/ for light hearted technical information.
    4. Re:Growing to like it by RAMMS+EIN · · Score: 1

      I don't hate Gnome anymore. The beauty of unices is that you can choose the GUI that best suits you. It seems that more developers realize that, too, and don't require you to install large parts of Gnome just to run a simple GUI. I don't know if Gnome is still as much of a resource hog as it used to be, but I don't care anymore: my applications work without it, so I don't have to use it. It's there for those who want it, and those who don't want it can do without it. It doesn't get any better than that.

      I also think Gnome developers are doing a lot of cool things.

      --
      Please correct me if I got my facts wrong.
    5. Re:Growing to like it by RAMMS+EIN · · Score: 1

      ``I can honestly say that Ubuntu seems to be very usable for most people right now. The only issues are with stupid leagal foulup''

      Perhaps there should be a "free world" edition of Ubuntu, aimed at parts of the world where the legal restrictions on the "existing, but not provided by default for legal reasons" pieces do not apply.

      So that, say, people outside the USA can play MP3s out of the box.

      --
      Please correct me if I got my facts wrong.
  16. Re:At least it's a real release! *cough* KDE4 *cou by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Funny

    Well, for 'remove everything in the name of usability' values of feature complete, anyway. :P

  17. Black screen by TheCRAIGGERS · · Score: 1

    Hmmm, this would explain why I just got a black screen with a mouse pointer when I logged in this morning. :/

  18. Latest GNOME by marco75 · · Score: 1, Redundant

    Will there finally be a way to give my user account admin privileges? I mean, like in Windows XP, so I don't have to type in the fucking password every time I do anything? This is easily the most aggravating feature of Linux, since the first month I spent on an new distro I am doing nothing but config stuff. On a related note, what's the point of the keyring applet -- it stores your passwords... but every time it is used, it makes you type in yet another password. What's the point of that?

    1. Re:Latest GNOME by niteice · · Score: 1

      I mean, like in Windows XP, so I don't have to type in the fucking password every time I do anything?

      Now explain to me why Windows is the biggest malware target.
      --
      ROMANES EUNT DOMUS
    2. Re:Latest GNOME by BrianGKUAC · · Score: 1

      I'm having a hard time telling if you're joking. If not, get back to me, and I'll answer anything you like.

      --
      Menus: Linux=function, Windows=vendor, OS X=as little as possible. Makes a statement, don't you think?
    3. Re:Latest GNOME by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Just run as root.

      Sure, it's a stupid idea, but it'd solve your problem.

    4. Re:Latest GNOME by F-3582 · · Score: 1

      There you go. But as already mentioned, be warned. Working as root all day is a thing most distros prevent you from for a reason.

    5. Re:Latest GNOME by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      If you think gksudo makes you type in your password a lot, try Microsoft's equivalent (running Vista under a limited account with UAC enabled). In Vista, if you want to do something as simple as delete two icons from the desktop, you have to enter your password twice! At least gksudo remembers your credentials for a little while, something that was apparently beyond Microsoft's capabilities.

    6. Re:Latest GNOME by RAMMS+EIN · · Score: 1

      ``Will there finally be a way to give my user account admin privileges? I mean, like in Windows XP, so I don't have to type in the fucking password every time I do anything?''

      You have to type your password every time? I use sudo, which asks for my password once, and then allows me to either get a root shell (with the -s option) or doesn't ask my password again for the next 5 minutes or so. But that's from the command line. Still, I would think Gnome would use that functionality, so that you get the same behavior in the GUI. Perhaps that was naive of me, though.

      --
      Please correct me if I got my facts wrong.
    7. Re:Latest GNOME by marco75 · · Score: 1

      I know about sudo bash, but this is GNOME we are talking about. It's a graphical environment, you know, the kind that was invented at Xerox PARC in the 80's. Yes, there are plenty of Linux users who prefer the command line and think anyone who uses a GUI is a drooling moron. I used to have a friend like that, but we don't speak much anymore.

    8. Re:Latest GNOME by marco75 · · Score: 1

      No, that's not what I wanted. Isn't there some middle ground between A "user account that has to ask the almighty OS for permission to go to the bathroom" and B "root account with total power to wreck everything"? I just want to enter the password once, on the login screen, and then be able to use the GUI tools to configure my system, like device drivers, software packages, mount partitions, network shares. The GUI tools should be designed with some competence so I am protected from making stupid mistakes like erasing the system partition or leaving my system without a video driver.

    9. Re:Latest GNOME by marco75 · · Score: 1

      I am not joking.

      I want to enter exactly one password to use my computer. ONCE. PER. SESSION.

      Currently the Linux security offers me the choice between A and B:

      A "user account that has to ask the almighty OS for permission to go to the bathroom" and

      B "root account with total power to wreck everything"

      I would like my account (type: "admin") to occupy a sensible middle ground between A and B.
      I would use GUI tools to configure my system, like device drivers, software packages, mount partitions, network shares. The GUI tools should be designed with some competence so I am protected from making stupid mistakes like erasing critical system files or leaving my system without a working /etc/X11/xorg.conf.

      Scoff all you want about GUI tools -- Xerox PARC invented them in the 80's. There is really no justification to force the command line on anyone in this day and age, unless you are determined to make your system unpopular and inelegant.

      My question is: Is it possible to make GNOME stop asking for my password whenever I click on a System Config tool?

    10. Re:Latest GNOME by F-3582 · · Score: 1

      It depends on where you work. If an operation only affects your home directory (GConf or all those ~/.something folders and files), you won't have to enter your password, anyway. However, all the things you describe modify your OS on a low-level basis by modifying, adding and removing files from your root directory and sub-directories which can break your installation and might be hard to fix while most GConf-related things are pretty easy to revert. It is the way Unix-like OSes work. Even Mac users have to enter passwords for such tasks.

      But: Look forward to the next release of Ubuntu (and/or Gnome 2.22) which finally integrates the PolicyKit. There you can set how you want to authenticate certain tasks.

    11. Re:Latest GNOME by marco75 · · Score: 1

      Windows is the biggest malware target because it is the most popular OS used by the majority of computer users.

      From the point of view of a virus coder or cracker, Linux doesn't have much appeal; There are so many different versions used by -- comparatively -- few people that going to all the trouble of writing an exploit for, say, Ubuntu 7.04, is hardly worth the time.

      Interestingly, it's the same reason little commercial software exists for Linux -- small return on investment -- and too many OS variations to support. Why bother?

      That's why platform-independent solutions, like Web-based apps, are so popular in the industry, since they don't require clients with Windows... the compatibility issue is offloaded to the browser. This is done despite the enormous speed loss associated with Web-based apps.

    12. Re:Latest GNOME by marco75 · · Score: 2

      > all the things you describe modify your OS on a low-level basis by modifying, adding and removing files from your root directory and sub-directories which can break your installation

      I don't see how annoying me with a password prompt PREVENTS me from breaking my installation. It could only DELAY the breaking. (It also prevents someone else from walking to my computer and breaking it, but for that situation, there's a "ask for password on resume" option in the Screensaver.)

      What does effectively prevent breakage of the system are utilities that are well-designed and work correctly. And in that department, Ubuntu 7.10 does its job well. I could set up dual screen and 3D acceleration without reading a manual or editing config files.

      > It is the way Unix-like OSes work

      'The way it has always worked' is the number 1 excuse for continuing bad interaction design, to the detriment of computer users the world over. What goes on behind the scenes (the engineering domain) and what happens between the human and the keyboard/screen/mouse are two different things, and there is no reason the latter has to accommodate the former. In fact, since computers are supposed to make our lives easier, shouldn't it be the other way around?

      PolicyKit? That's the answer I was looking for! Now I've got something to look forward to in the next release!

    13. Re:Latest GNOME by ta+bu+shi+da+yu · · Score: 1

      Interestingly, Microsoft changed their user interface to prompt users when they try to do something that gains elevated privileges. Seems to me that they have done this because of fundamental problems with security. Pity they did it in such a brain dead fashion!

      --
      XML is like violence. If it doesn't solve the problem, use more.
    14. Re:Latest GNOME by ta+bu+shi+da+yu · · Score: 1

      I think it would be useful to have a graphical app that dealt with setting up gksudo.

      However, I thought that PolicyKit was meant to deal with this sort of shenanigans?

      --
      XML is like violence. If it doesn't solve the problem, use more.
  19. New! Cheesier! by Kelson · · Score: 1

    It's been a standard joke in my family to describe anything "new and improved" as "with extra cheese!"

    Odd that it's actually appropriate in this case.

  20. Nice job by ceswiedler · · Score: 4, Insightful

    I have to admit I like Gnome a lot. But even if I were a KDE user I would have to give Gnome credit for their release schedule and process. They come out with a good set of reasonably stable features every 6 months, reliably enough that Ubuntu (and Fedora?) base their distro releases on the Gnome schedule. They've guaranteed core ABI compatibility through the 2.x series, which has been out for 5+ years by my count. They're conservative in what they add and take away. And every release has a nice set of release notes which tells me exactly what to look for in terms of new features.

    Software development ain't easy, especially not in the decentralized volunteer world of free software, but the Gnome guys seem to have it down pretty well. Kudos to them.

  21. GNOME FTW!stop trolling u kde boys! by deepclutch · · Score: 0, Flamebait

    thanks for the Gnome developers for this release among critisicms and bashing from kde fanboys and Linus like prominent ppl in Linux community. kudos to Gnome! I am enjoying Gnome. kde-Gnome users are normally calmer,civilized unlike trolls which,most of the kde fans are!see the 2nd post itself :x!he is calling crap?what?can he able to produce a community powered Desktop Environment which millions of Linux/BSD/*NIX users admire and use? what is the need of kde boys to troll on every Gnome thread? I will say, kde boy's this attitude sucks big time.get a life,stop bashing FOSS projects and RMS too. FOSS Zindabad,M$ murdabad!

    --
    move to FOSS,save ur nation's resources.
  22. Re:At least it's a real release! *cough* KDE4 *cou by deepclutch · · Score: 1

    well said buddy! :-O still I am a Gnome user(debian sid fyi) most of the times.just tried archlinux with kdemod (kde-3.5.9) which is modular kde which rocks without the full kde bloat installed! kudos to Gnome developers and community for this release!guess I will try GARNOME or jhbuild to compile Gnome sometimes soon.

    --
    move to FOSS,save ur nation's resources.
  23. Re:At least it's a real release! *cough* KDE4 *cou by ta+bu+shi+da+yu · · Score: 1

    GNOME 2.0? Isn't this ancient history?

    --
    XML is like violence. If it doesn't solve the problem, use more.