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GNOME Open Source Operating Systems

GNOME 46 Released (9to5linux.com) 49

prisoninmate shares a report from 9to5Linux: Dubbed "Kathmandu" after the host city of the GNOME.Asia 2023 conference in Kathmandu, Nepal, the GNOME 46 desktop environment is here to introduce major new features like headless remote desktop support that lets you connect to your GNOME system remotely without there being an existing session. While experimental, Variable Refresh Rate (VRR) support is another major new feature in GNOME 46, which will allow you to change the variable refresh rate of your monitor from the GNOME Settings app in the Displays section. Talking about GNOME Settings, the GNOME 46 release brings a new System panel that incorporates the Region, Language, Date, Time, Users, Remote Desktop, and About panels, as well as new Secure Shell settings. Check out the release notes and the official release video here.

GNOME 46 will be available shortly in many distributions, such as Fedora 40 and Ubuntu 24.04. You can try it today by looking for a beta release here.
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GNOME 46 Released

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  • by dbu ( 256902 ) on Thursday March 21, 2024 @06:48AM (#64332949)

    I assume you need Gnome 46 on the client - any clue as to what you need on the server side?

    From the release notes : https://release.gnome.org/46/ [gnome.org]

    GNOME’s remote desktop experience has been significantly enhanced for version 46, with the introduction of a new dedicated remote login option. This allows remotely connecting to a GNOME system which is not already in use. Connecting in this way means that the system’s display can be configured from the remote side, resulting in a better experience for the remote user.

    The new remote login feature means that GNOME systems can be used as fully fledged remote resources. It can be found in the Remote Desktop settings, which provide information on how to connect.

    • by Entrope ( 68843 )

      To me, the description sounds like GNOME 46 is on the server side, and the client side is whatever RDP client one might already be using.

      Sometimes, RDP gives a much better user experience than "ssh -X".

      • To me, the description sounds like GNOME 46 is on the server side, and the client side is whatever RDP client one might already be using.

        Sometimes, RDP gives a much better user experience than "ssh -X".

        This would make the most sense. RDP clients are connecting to default TCP ports, so perhaps the easiest test to validate is to see if the server enabled for Remote Desktop has RDP TCP ports open. Unless they are using custom ports. Documentation shows screenshots using 3389 so probably generic RDP.

      • To me, the description sounds like GNOME 46 is on the server side, and the client side is whatever RDP client one might already be using.

        Sometimes, RDP gives a much better user experience than "ssh -X".

        It pretty much always gives better experience than ssh -X, except it's much more of a PITA to set up if you need just one-off quick thing, especially in settings with firewalls, port forwarding and so on.

        • ssh -L 3389:127.0.0.1:3389 ,

          then RDP to localhost. Yes, as you said, 2 more steps...
          I use ssh port forwarding extensively, sometimes I go full crazy with tun interfaces or with -D (SOCKS).

    • I know it may not as easy as vnc or RDP, but x forwarding over ssh has been around for ages... Cygwin if you are on windows, if you allready have an Xserver locally then nothing is needed.
    • by jmccue ( 834797 ) on Thursday March 21, 2024 @09:15AM (#64333237) Homepage

      Remote Login with RDP

      Yet another step to the "microsoftization" of Linux. Network transparency was always much better than RDP, but over the last couple of decades, the youngsters did not understand it and started moving to a M/S Windows model. So here we are with RDP and we already have binary logs and a kind of windows registry.

      • That is all https://nosystemd.org/ [slashdot.org]>systemd
      • Likewise on KDE there's activities alongside multiple virtual desktops, where no one has been able to explain why activities are needed or what they solve that virtual desktops didn't, but hey, new and shiny. And full of bugs for the first few years. Oh, and different background images per virtual desktop aren't coming back...
        • KDE's activities make it possible to group applications such that they are started and stopped together, much like desktop session, except you can have more than one at the same terminal in parallel and switch quickly between them.

          It is confusing that Gnome calls their virtual desktops "activities" when they are really just virtual desktops.

          • Re kde activities: could you please elaborate on how that would be useful? Would it be like starting Audacity, Digikam, Handbrake, Gwenview and KDEnlive all at the same time if I go back to my video editing activity? Will it not start those programs if I don't go to that activity? I'm not sure I see a real advantage over virtual desktops, but some may consider it such...
            • You can start and stop activities. Switching to a different activity does not automatically stop the previous one, you can have more than one running at the same time.

              The applications and widgets associated with an activity will be started and stopped with that activity. And they can be associated with more than one activity each.

              The basic idea is to have different activities for different workflows requiring different tools (and associated files and directories). If you have virtual screens, you have th

              • Thank you, finally someone who explains the features in a way where the use is clear. So, whatever my workflow, if I rarely restart my machine, I may just put all my programs as I want them and leave them open, to always suspend. No need for these activities in my case. However, if I would have complex configurations, it would be useful. I'd venture to guess that most people would be happy with just virtual desktops (with all the features that should come with those, the cube, different backgrounds for each
                • Restarting is almost certainly a lot faster than waking up from suspend-to-disk hibernation. The session manager should save and restore the state, except with LXDE where the default is to restore a standard session and not save the session on shutdown. All others store the session on shutdown and restore it on login by default, but that is configurable, even in Gnome.

                  Activities are not sessions per se. They are activities. A session stores the state of all activities. Switching between active activiti

                  • Thanks, good clarification. Note: I use only suspend to RAM since its the fastest and I couldn't get suspend to disk to work (it would hang on a way my wife couldn't get out of) on my hardware.
  • And still... (Score:3, Informative)

    by Samare ( 2779329 ) on Thursday March 21, 2024 @07:07AM (#64332975)

    ...no way to close a window by clicking on the top right corner of the screen because the close button doesn't extend to the top-right pixel when maximized.
    https://gitlab.gnome.org/GNOME... [gnome.org]

    • ...no way to close a window by clicking on the top right corner of the screen because the close button doesn't extend to the top-right pixel when maximized. https://gitlab.gnome.org/GNOME... [gnome.org]

      Quite incredible the complaints about this particular problem go back 4-5 years in that thread, including this comment:

      ”This is one of the things I dislike about Linux. Why hasn't this been fixed by now?”

      Pretty sure charging actual money for a Linux OS is considered a crime in at least 137 countries, which probably answers that question best.

      • Re:And still... (Score:5, Insightful)

        by vbdasc ( 146051 ) on Thursday March 21, 2024 @08:56AM (#64333195)

        Please don't conflate Gnome with Linux. Most active and well-funded open source projects, including Linux itself, don't allow an easily-fixable bug to persist for such long time. Gnome is a special case, in the sense that its developers always know better than the users what is best for the user. Plus many more things, but that's a topic for another (long) essay.

        • GNOME is the default desktop for a bunch of major distros. From a typical user's point of view, it is Linux. But this kind of "fuck usability" attitude is pretty much pervasive in desktop Linux. In my experience, Linux as a graphical desktop was OK in about 2005, but has just gone downhill ever since. Stuff constantly changes, stuff that worked previously broke, things are done in a user-hostile way. GNOME is the worst, but KDE isn't getting better in my experience, either. Saying "it's a GNOME proble

          • Try XFCE. Not fashionable, but it's no nonsense, fast, doesn't get in the way, reasonably configurable and over all a good desktop. I don't even like desktops (I like FVWM) and I don't mind XFCE.

          • Give Trinity Desktop https://www.trinitydesktop.org/ [trinitydesktop.org] a try if you want a return to a usable UI that is also immensely customizeable. You may notice that it is based on KDE3.

          • by Samare ( 2779329 )

            And it affects all desktops environments (albeit less than GNOME) since many apps use GTK's Client Side Decoration (close button drawn by the app instead of the window manager).
            So a GTK app using CSD in KDE, MATE, Cinnamon, XFCE, etc. will have the same problem.

        • From the actual thread I was referring to:

          ” So are the other 1154 issues currently open on the tracker; remember: GTK is volunteer driven, and if you want to make something happen you have the choice to either do it yourself, or fund somebody to work on it.

          Please don’t assume, since I didn’t. If that’s a “well-funded” project, then someone’s abusing the funds.

    • As important as closing windows has been to people over the years, I'm surprised no one has asked for the close button to also extend to the bottom left corner of the window.

  • F Gnome (Score:2, Flamebait)

    It should die in a fire.
    • Re:F Gnome (Score:5, Insightful)

      by TractorBarry ( 788340 ) on Thursday March 21, 2024 @07:31AM (#64333007) Homepage

      That would be a disaster. It could mean the gnome developers start contributing to other projects !

      Far better to keep them all where they are.

    • >"It should die in a fire."

      I would much rather use ANY other desktop environment than Gnome. ANYTHING. Gnome is the worst of them all and has been for a loooong time; it ceased to exist for me many years ago.

      Ones I use every day now include: Cinnamon, IceWM, XFCE. Ones I use occasionally include: KDE/Plasma, LXDE.

  • by jcdr ( 178250 ) on Thursday March 21, 2024 @07:54AM (#64333055)

    I have give up with Gnome since Gnome 3, even if I try it time to time. But the completely wrong usability concept seem to be immutable is this project.

    I use Xfce instead with a quick configuration that "focus follow mouse without delay", "no auto raise window or on click", a 8x8 virtual desktop grid, a lot of useful information on the top bar, and a lot of tabs and launchers on the bottom bar. Very simple, fast and productive.

    I use the right Ctrl + arrows keyboard shortcut to navigate the desktop gride (add right shift to move the active window). This allow to do most of the navigate actions with just one hand. Once you try this, you can't go back to the shortcut that require two hands to navigate. Peoples are usually puzzle when looking at how fast I can switch between a lot of well organized desktops.

    • by serviscope_minor ( 664417 ) on Thursday March 21, 2024 @08:27AM (#64333141) Journal

      I use Xfce instead with a quick configuration that "focus follow mouse without delay", "no auto raise window or on click",

      That's not how Apple or a hypothetical Apple like phone/tablet environment using GNOME would work, so you don't want it. Signed, the GNOME team.

      a 8x8 virtual desktop grid, a lot of useful information on the top bar, and a lot of tabs and launchers on the bottom bar. Very simple, fast and productive.

      I keep telling you THAT'S NOT HOW APPLE DO IT. You DO NOT want that. Please try and understand this time. Signed, the GNOME team.

      I use the right Ctrl + arrows keyboard shortcut to navigate the desktop gride (add right shift to move the active window).

      There's really no hope for you, is there?

      • by jcdr ( 178250 )

        I understand the satire, LOL! Is the Gnome team really so over intoxicated by Apple?

        What's nice with Xfce is that even if the default configuration is not what I want, I can quickly and easily adjust the configuration to fulfill all my expectations, without imposing anything to the others Xfce users. The whole usability concept of Xfce is far greater than many others desktop, including proprietary. I recommend Xfce to better hint the users on how flexible it is to implement personal preferences.

        • by serviscope_minor ( 664417 ) on Thursday March 21, 2024 @10:27AM (#64333447) Journal

          I understand the satire, LOL! Is the Gnome team really so over intoxicated by Apple?

          I think what the GNOME team want is to be "the desktop", and they see Apple as the one with all the mindshare and Windows as the one with all the market share, and Linux as something to be despised because it's so far behind. They tried to kill middle click paste because Windows and Apple don't have it (they called it an easter egg). Though of course those two systems do have a bit of it now in somewhat limited and inconsistent ways (because it's really good) since it's not builtin and there's no history of it.

          The GNOME team are not good at objectively identifying what works on Linux and what's just there on other systems, IMO.

          They also appear to think they have all the ideas and answers, like Apple, so configuration is basically evil.

          What's nice with Xfce is that even if the default configuration is not what I want, I can quickly and easily adjust the configuration to fulfill all my expectations, without imposing anything to the others Xfce users. The whole usability concept of Xfce is far greater than many others desktop, including proprietary. I recommend Xfce to better hint the users on how flexible it is to implement personal preferences.

          FVWM myself, but I've used XFCE a fair bit and I like it. The thing I haven't found so far is toggling maximize/un-maximize for a partial (i.e. vertical only) maximization. It works for complete maximize.

          But that's a nit. It's pretty no nonsense, and if I sit down at an XFCE desktop, I certainly don't hate it. I also use the XFCE notification system in FVWM, since it's good.

          XFCE strikes a very nice balance between working really well out of the box (an accusation you cannot level at FVWM), being configurable in a bunch of useful and important ways and providing the features you want without getting in the way by being opinionated.

          • by jcdr ( 178250 )

            Fully agree. I used FVWM too, after Gnome 2 was not usable anymore. I discovered Xfce later when is started to be the alternative of Gnome 3 on the Debian installer configuration. This make Xfce fairly well maintained and documented, easy to install, dans safe to recommend to others.

            Look like you are not alone with the idea of extending Xfce window variable tiling:
            https://www.tumfatig.net/2023/... [tumfatig.net]
            Hopefully this will be accepted in a near future.

            In the meantime there are deep hack like this (no tested myself

          • They tried to kill middle click paste because Windows and Apple don't have it (they called it an easter egg).

            My first reaction: you have got to be kidding me!

            Upon second thought: well, that actually explains a lot...

            • https://wiki.gnome.org/Initiat... [gnome.org]

              There you go.

              Added bonus passive aggressive dig at long term X users.

              These guys basically hate Unix and it's conventions, and appear to despise people who like them.

              • Oh wow, ...

                Additionally, reasons against keeping it:

                the middle click is a hard-to-discover easter egg
                there are few middle mouse buttons in the world

                The second point made me laugh in a sad way. What if they find out that every single scroll mouse hides a middle button click option when pressing down on the scroll wheel..? Aside that all pure 2 button mice have had middle click by both buttons (I know, it's not the mice, it's the system interpretation), and most have a wheel, so there's very few

                • Right? All scroll wheels click and touch pads all have multi-touch for buttons other than 1. I've not encountered a two button mouse in decades.

                  • It's only because RedHat and Ubuntu standardised on Gnome that anyone still listens to what those guys think...
    • And you know what? That is great. I am glad you have something that works for you. Gnome works well for a ton of people too so basically, let's all just enjoy what we want eh?
      • by jcdr ( 178250 )

        Most peoples I know dislike Gnome 3 and use alternative desktop, especially at work.
        A small group of over powered and rigid guys still impose Gnome 3 as the default for the wrong reasons.
        https://fossforce.com/2023/02/... [fossforce.com]
        I think Gnome 3 will quickly be falling once it's not the default anymore.

  • This is a very good release it seems. Lot of nice improvements in nautilus and elsewhere. Kudos to the devs.
  • MATE is awesome desktop. Much better than MacOS or Windows.
    It is customisable. It does not have a lot of silly useless crap that only gets in the way. Everything is easy to find. MATE developers do not seem to believe in change for the sake of change.

    Again: JMHO.

    • Seriously:

      Why do people make posts like this? They're already piling up. They are no more edgy than last year, or five years ago, or ten years ago. How did GNOME get so in your head? GNOME's design has changed approximately once per decade for twenty five years, the idea that they're the "change for the sake of change" guys is just silly. That's a slogan at best. GNOME seems to engender this need to be contrarian, but it's not like they're Windows, they've got maybe 1% of PC desktops at best.

      I mean, if ther

  • Something every desktop/device/thing needs to do:

    In 46, GNOME has removed the embedded browser from their Online Accounts setup. So if you want to sign into your Google account, it will open your default browser. No need to punch your password into a system that may not support your password manager, no need to fumble with backup 2FA because your Fido key or something isn't supported by the embedded browser, no need to login at all if you're already logged in via the browser.

    It's one of those small changes

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