About GNOME

GNOME is a desktop environment and graphical user interface that runs on top of a computer operating system. It is composed entirely of free and open source software. It is an international project that includes creating software development frameworks, selecting application software for the desktop, and working on the programs that manage application launching, file handling, and window and task management. GNOME is part of the GNU Project and can be used with various Unix-like operating systems, most notably GNU/Linux and as part of OpenSolaris Desktop.

DESCRIPTION

The GNOME project provides two things: The GNOME desktop environment, a graphical user interface and core applications like Epiphany (web browser), and the GNOME development platform, an extensive framework for building applications that integrate into the rest of the desktop and mobile user interface.

The GNOME project puts heavy emphasis on simplicity, usability, and making things “just work” (see KISS principle). The other aims of the project are:

• Freedom — to create a desktop environment with readily-available source code for re-use under a free software license.
• Accessibility — to ensure the desktop can be used by anyone, regardless of technical skill or physical circumstances.
• Internationalization and localization — to make the desktop available in many languages. At the moment, GNOME is being translated to 175 languages.
• Developer-friendliness — to ensure ease of writing software that integrates smoothly with the desktop, and allow developers a free choice of programming language.
• Organization — to adhere to a regular release cycle and maintain a disciplined community structure.
• Support — to ensure backing from other institutions beyond the GNOME community.

As with most free software projects, the GNOME project is loosely-managed. Discussion chiefly occurs on a number of public mailing lists.Developers and users of GNOME gather at an annual meeting known as GUADEC to discuss the current state of the project and its future direction.

GNOME often incorporates standards from freedesktop.org to allow GNOME applications to better interoperate with other desktops, encouraging both cooperation and competition.

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