March 2012 – GNOME Foundation

GNOME 3.4 Released

The GNOME Release Team has announced the availability of GNOME 3.4. This latest version comes six months after the last GNOME release and includes major new features, significant updates to a host of GNOME applications, and a huge number smaller fixes and refinements. Matthias Clasen, who oversaw the completion of the release, described it as “a great leap forward for GNOME 3”, adding “we hope that our users enjoy it.”

GNOME 3.4 introduces a range of new features. A new document search facility allows quick access to content stored both on your device and online. Smooth scrolling means that moving through content is slick and graceful. New application menus, which are located on the top bar, provide a useful way to access application options and actions.

The new release includes big enhancements to GNOME’s applications. The GNOME web browser, now known as Web, has been given a beautiful new interface for 3.4, as well as significant performance improvements. Documents and Contacts also sport updated interfaces and new features. These application enhancements are the result of a major development drive which is in the process of creating a new suite of modern and stylish GNOME 3 applications.

Polishing and refining GNOME 3 has been a big focus for this release. This effort has resulted in a multitude of bug fixes and many other minor improvements. There are updated interface components, a much more polished visual theme, better hardware support, and much more. These changes add up to a major step forward in the quality of the GNOME 3 user experience.

Full details of the changes found in GNOME 3.4 can be seen in the release notes.

The new release continues GNOME’s tradition of regular and predictable releases, and incorporates an amazing 41,000 contributions made by 1275 people. Planning has already begun for the next GNOME release. If you want to be a part of our community, you can join us. You can also support us by becoming a Friend of GNOME.

Those wanting to try GNOME 3.4 are advised to wait until it is made available through distributions. More information about how to get GNOME 3 can be found on our website.

Read the press release: GNOME 3.4 Released: a Big Leap Forward

GNOME 3.4 Released: a Big Leap Forward

Groton, MA, March 28 2012: The GNOME project is happy to announce the release of GNOME 3.4, the second update to GNOME 3.0, originally released in April 2011. This new version of GNOME 3 combines six months of development effort, resulting in major new features, updated applications, and a raft of subtle refinements. GNOME 3 has taken a major leap forward with this new release.

Matthias Clasen, who oversaw the completion of the release, said: “The GNOME Release Team is proud to present this latest release of GNOME 3. The GNOME project has been delivering major improvements with every release since 3.0, and our emphasis on feature-driven development is yielding excellent results. The new version includes some significant new features, as well as many smaller enhancements. In all, 3.4 is a great leap forward for GNOME 3 and we hope that our users enjoy it.”

New features being introduced in GNOME 3.4 include a new documents search facility, smooth scrolling, new application menus, video calling, and Windows Live online account integration.

GNOME’s applications have received significant updates for this release. The GNOME web browser, which is now known as Web, has a beautiful new interface for 3.4, as well as significant performance improvements. Documents and Contacts, both of which integrate with online accounts, have also received updated interfaces and new features. These application enhancements are the result of a major development drive which is in the process of creating a new suite of modern and stylish GNOME 3 applications.

3.4 takes the quality of GNOME 3 to a new level, and includes a huge number of smaller changes and refinements. There are updated interface components, a much more polished visual theme, better hardware support, a multitude of bug fixes and many other minor improvements. This all adds up to a major step forward in the quality of the GNOME 3 user experience. A new GNOME initiative, called “Every Detail Matters” has been instrumental in accelerating this enhancement drive.

You can find out more about the changes that are included in GNOME 3.4 in the release notes, which were made available today.

GNOME 3.4 has been already been greeted with enthusiasm. Jos Poortvliet, openSUSE community manager said, “openSUSE congratulates the GNOME community on another milestone in the 3.0 series. It is great to see how the innovative vision underlying GNOME 3 is showing more and more with each release. GNOME forms an important part of the openSUSE distribution and we look forward to shipping this as part of our next release!”

GNOME was started in 1997 by two then-university students, Miguel de Icaza and Federico Mena Quintero. Their aim: to produce a free (as in freedom) desktop environment. Since then, GNOME has grown into a hugely successful enterprise. Used by millions of people across the world, it is the most popular environment for GNU/Linux and UNIX-type operating systems. GNOME’s software has been utilised in successful, large-scale enterprise and public deployments, and the project’s developer technologies are utilised in a large number of popular mobile devices.

The GNOME community is made up of hundreds of contributors from all over the world, many of whom are volunteers. This community is supported by the GNOME Foundation, an independent non-profit organization that provides financial, organizational and legal assistance. The Foundation is a democratic institution that is directed by its members, who are all active GNOME contributors. GNOME and its Foundation works to promote software freedom through the creation of innovative, accessible, and beautiful user experiences.

Official screenshot packs of the release are available to download.

GNOME 3.4 Release Candidate Finalized

The GNOME Release Team’s Javier Jardón announced the availability of the 3.4 Release Candidate yesterday. This is the final development version of GNOME 3.4, and puts the next version of GNOME 3 on track for completion next week. GNOME 3.4 promises to deliver major new features, updated applications and wide-scale improvements to the GNOME 3 user experience.

The remaining time until the GNOME 3.4 release will be devoted to testing and essential bug fixing.

Members of the press who would like details about the release should contact gnome-press-contact@gnome.org.

GNOME to Participate in Google Summer of Code 2012

GNOME will be participating in Google Summer of Code (GSoC) once again this year. GSoC gives students from around the world the chance to work on free and open source software projects. Since its inception in 2005 more than 6000 students from 100+ countries have had a chance to learn from some of the best hackers in the world. The GNOME Project has enabled more than 160 students to take part in GSoC in the past, and this will be the 7th year in a row that the project has participated.

Google Summer of Code is a great opportunity for post-secondary students to contribute to free and open source software projects during their summer vacation, for which they receive financial support. This year’s GSoC will run between May 21 – August 24.

GNOME will once again be offering exciting and interesting projects to work on. You can see our list of suggested projects on the GNOME wiki. The deadline for applications is April 6. For more information see the GNOME Summer of Code page. You can also find information on the Google Summer of Code website.

Many thanks to Google for continuing to support free and open source software through this fantastic scheme.

The GNOME Foundation Continues to Grow

The GNOME Foundation Membership Committee is proud to announce our newly approved Foundation Members. Welcome, and thank you for your valuable contributions so far!

So here we go with our newly approved members:

Simon Schampijer (PyGobject patches, Bugzilla contributions, GNOME Hackfests)
Rūdolfs Mazurs (GNOME Latvian translator)
Peteris Krisjanis (GNOME Latvian translator)
Giovanni Campagna (GNOME Shell Developer)
Felipe Erias Morandeira (GNOME Design and UI development)
Erick Pérez Castellanos (GNOME Contacts App code contributions)
Daniel Mustieles Garcia (GNOME Spanish Translation Team Coordinator and Translator)
Debarshi Ray (Strong code contributions to many GNOME modules: Gnote, Tracker, Libchamplain, Solang, GNOME Fedora packager)
Luis Menina (GNOME French translator, GNOME-FR secretary, and contributor, Bugs triager)
Juan Suarez (contributions to Epiphany, Totem, Glib)

Information about the GNOME Foundation can be found on its webpages. If you would like to become a member, check out the membership page.