GNOME 3 Desktop Environment | Linux Starter Kit Ubuntu and GNOME 3 – from unity to divergence Guy Van Sanden NU/Linux is very different from most When Mark Shuttleworth started the Operating Systems out there. This Ubuntu distribution in 2004, it standardized Gdifference starts at the conceptual on the GNOME desktop as its interface and level where most common systems are a that choice is now defining the experience whole (a unique combination of drivers, users have with Ubuntu. kernel and graphical interface), GNU/Linux In this article, we’re going to look a bit is modular by design and therefore often more into the GNOME desktop, the recent compared to Lego building blocks. Because release of the long awaited GNOME 3 and of this, there is no “Linux Desktop”, as the how this affects Ubuntu (and the other way graphical interface (or Desktop) is just an around). Ubuntu 11.10 will be the first ver- optional and replaceable component. sion based on the new GNOME 3 technol- Over the years, two major desktop sys- ogy that will form the basis for the next LTS tems have clearly taken the lead and are (Long Term Support) release. now used by the majority of GNU/Linux us- ers: KDE and GNOME. A bit of history During the early years, when GNU/Linux was just unleashed on the world, its graph- ical interface was quite rudimentary com- pared to Windows or Mac OS. In fact, it con- sisted of some Window managers with an assortment of loosely knit tools that made up the first GUIs (Graphical User Interface) like Xfwm, gnustep or early versions of En- lightenment. In the late 90’s, the KDE desktop ap- peared and the first distributions to adopt it (like SUSE Linux) took a great leap in mak- ing Linux a viable option for common desk- top usage. KDE did more than just draw Windows and launch applications, it pro- vided an integrated set of tools to interact with your PC, ranging from a launcher and filemanager to a built-in browser and E-mail client. All these tools looked and behaved Figure 1. KDE 1.0 from wikipedia alike, which was a break with the past. 12 linux identity office GNOME 3 Desktop Environment | Linux Starter Kit KDE had one big problem mail client, but also to your chat GNOME desktop to something that though, the graphical toolkit used to client). is still founded on GNOME but looks build it in, QT, was not Free Software But the most visible change of and feels very different from the (something that was only corrected them all is the concept that the project’s default. There are many many years later). user interacts with the computer us- signs that this gap will continue to In a reaction, the GNOME ing a desktop shell. In GNOME 3, the widen over time as Ubuntu is push- (GNU Object Model Environment) default is GNOME Shell. GNOME ing more of its vision onto its very was started to provide a Free Shell encompasses much func- large user base (Ubuntu has big- (as in software freedom) alterna- tionality that used to be distributed gest share of desktop Linux users). tive to KDE. In 1999 GNOME 1.0 over many small subsystems like Despite the growing gap be- launched but it was hindered by launching applications, managing tween the projects, major chang- many technical problems and virtual desktops and a wide variety es in the GNOME desktop have a known for its instability. of applets. It even integrates an in- big impact on the look and feel of In 2002, GNOME matured into stant messenger (Empathy) right Ubuntu and that will be very visible the GNOME 2 desktop that started into the shell. in the recently released Ubuntu to look and feel like the desktop we The workflow in GNOME Shell is 11.10 as well as the upcoming LTS know today (featuring the two-panel therefore very different from earlier release in April. layout). GNOME 2 was a break with versions and other desktop environ- the past and focused on providing ments. So it requires some adjust- Project Ayatana, Ubuntu’s focus consistency and usability, adopting ments for both Linux users as those on usability strict Human Interface Guidelines converting from MS Windows for Ubuntu and Mr Shuttleworth per- (HIG) that were inspired by those example. sonally have set out with a very from Apple. clear goal in mind. To make the Li- GNOME 2 became the dominant Ubuntu’s relationship nux Desktop look and work better desktop, overtaking KDE in user with GNOME than the competition and they are base. It followed an evolutionary Ubuntu started out as one of the mainly competing with GUI pioneer development path where the basic flagship GNOME distributions out Apple and its Mac OS X. interaction with the user was un- there. But over the years, the rela- Initially, Ubuntu just added some changed in over a decade. tionship between both projects has polish and packet selections to the But as new research into use in- been very mixed and controversial default GNOME project. But after terfaces came out, combined with to say the least. a couple of years, it started imple- the possibilities new hardware of- Ubuntu maintains a very distinct menting alternatives or changes to fers, the time came for the GNOME vision on how the Linux desktop default GNOME components. project to redesign the way that us- should look and behave and over One of the first very visible ers interact with their computers. the years, that vision has led it to changes was the redesigned no- This redesign is more a revolution diverge slowly from the standard tification system that completely than the evolution that we had in the decade before. So after years of development, GNOME 3 became a reality. What’s new in GNOME 3 GNOME 3 is a combination of many changes. First there’s the shift to a new version of the graphical library that forms the bases for GNOME applications, GTK. This new version brings a new look and feel to appli- cations built on it and takes better advantage of the features of mod- ern graphic cards. GNOME 3 is also shifting to- wards a concept called the “se- mantic desktop”. This means that your desktop is built around your data instead of your applications and that data is shared between applications (for example your ad- dress book could be linked to your Figure 2. GNOME Shell in action (picture from gnome.org) www.linuxidentity.com/us/ 13 GNOME 3 Desktop Environment | Linux Starter Kit replaced GNOME’s default. As the tain features. And so the concept of window, but rather in a fixed loca- list of customizations grew bigger, application and system indicators tion (the top bar). Ubuntu grouped all these initia- came into existence. Unity has a combination launch- tives under the Ayatana umbrella. System indicators give access er and taskbar called the dash that Recently, the Ayatana project has to features, regardless of the appli- uses icons to the left of the screen, been renamed to Unity, the name of cation or applications behind them citing the common use of wide- Ubuntu’s own desktop shell. like sound and messaging. The most screen monitors as a reason to pre- prominent example is the message in- serve vertical screen real-estate. Notifications dicator that will light up when you re- Unity uses the GPU (Graphical It all started when Ubuntu made ceive an E-mail, IM, Dent, Tweet or any Processing Unit) on modern-day the controversial decision to imple- other notification that plugs in to it. graphics cards to speed up the in- ment it’s own notification system Application indicators relate to a terface and to provide advanced that worked quite different from the single application, but have consis- features like transparency without stock GNOME notifications. tent behavior. The little CD icon that affecting system performance. In The Ubuntu user interface-team the Brasero disc burner uses is one fact, Unity was designed as a pl- came up with a concept of how all such example. ugin to the 3D accelerated Compiz notifications should look and work The main thing that all of these window manager that introduced on Ubuntu. This did not fit with the have in common is that they show smooth graphic effects on Linux. stock system where some notifica- the same context menu when GNOME itself decided not to use tion bubbles are transient (disap- clicked, regardless of the right or Compiz, instead it wrote it’s own pear automatically), and some have left button. compositing window manager actions on it requiring user interven- (called mutter). tion. Ubuntu made the bold deci- Unity sion that all notifications would be Even before GNOME 3 was com- The future transient and that actions required pleted, Ubuntu already announced Looking into the future is always dif- a popup or other indication to draw and released versions of its distribu- ficult. But if you take a look at his- the users attention. There system tion that where based on Unity (and tory in technology, changes have was inspired by the very popular GNOME 2 initially). always been opposed for periods of growl addon for OS X. Unity is a desktop shell that re- time, but happened none the less. places GNOME Shell. Unity is the The question is not if the new Application & system indicators biggest move away from “stock” desktop paradigms will stay, the The next component to get atten- GNOME and it gives Ubuntu it’s question is rather which will become tion from the Ubuntu developers unique look and feel.