Category: News

GNOME’s 2014 Fiscal Year Annual Report Published

Annual Report 2014

Today marks the beginning of a new financial year, and the GNOME Foundation is pleased to announce the release of its latest annual report, which covers the outgoing 2014 financial year. The Report reviews all the events and activities in the GNOME project during the 2014 financial year, including hackfests, conferences, our releases, outreach activities and more.

Jean-François Fortin Tam, president of the GNOME Foundation for 2014-2015, states in the introduction letter: “2014 is on record as one of the most challenging years in the Foundation’s history. It is also the year that has given us the most demonstrative and passionate display of support—from our members, our contributors, and the Free Software community—that we have ever experienced.”

We want to take this opportunity to thank the Friends of GNOME and our Advisory Board members for their support of the Foundation and its operations.

GNOME 3.18 Released: Brings Big Improvements

https://youtube.com/watch?v=xu0VSKvfNEI%3Frel%3D0%26showinfo%3D0

The GNOME project is proud to announce the release of GNOME 3.18. The new version is the result of six months’ hard work by the GNOME community, and includes 25,112 changes by 772 contributors.

3.18 has been named “Gothenburg” in recognition of this year’s GUADEC organising team. GUADEC is GNOME’s main annual conference, and is only possible due to the hard work of local volunteers. In 2015, it was held in Gothenburg, Sweden.

Speaking on behalf of the Release Team, Matthias Clasen said: “This release brings significant improvements to many of our core applications, from better Google Drive integration in Files to a list view in Boxes to firmware updates in Software, and several entirely new applications.” He went on to thank everyone who made the release possible.

Major new features in GNOME 3.18 include:

  • Google Drive integration in Files
  • Firmware updates through Software
  • Automatic screen brightness
  • Touchpad gestures
  • Several new applications: Calendar and Characters
  • Significant improvements to Files, Boxes and Polari
  • And, as always, there are many other smaller changes and bug fixes!

GNOME 3.18 has plenty to offer developers, too. In particular, this release marks a major milestone for Builder, GNOME’s new integrated development environment. The new version also includes improvements to GTK+, WebKitGTK+, Clutter, as well as the Human Interface Guidelines. And major progress has been made on Wayland support and application sandboxing, both of which are available to try out.

More information about all these improvements – and more – can be found in the release notes.

Press

Press queries can be directed to gnome-press-contact@gnome.org. A screenshot pack is also available to download.

GNOME Foundation endorses User Data Manifesto

We are pleased to announce that the GNOME Foundation as one of several prominent FOSS projects endorses the User Data Manifesto version 2.0

Announced on 29 August at the ownCloud Contributor Conference in Berlin the User Data Manifesto version 2.0 is a more concise and clarified version of the original User Data Manifesto. It defines a basic right to privacy in the digital age and details three important user rights: control over user data, accessibility to knowledge about the data’s location and the freedom in choosing a platform.

“GNOME is proud to support the User Data Manifesto, and hopes other projects will do the same. As a free software project, GNOME has worked hard to ensure that all people have access to a platform that gives them control over their computers and their data. As more and more of our personal information is stored in the cloud, it’s increasingly important that users know where their information is and can access it using free and open source software.” – GNOME Foundation president Shaun McCance.

 

Boston Summit 2015 to be held 10-12 October

Boston Summit is GNOME’s annual event in North America. It is held every year on the Columbus Day weekend, and is an informal opportunity for contributors, enthusiasts and newcomers to get together. Previous summits have included planning meetings, tutorials for newcomers, hacking sessions, hardware testing, and more. There is also typically a social event in the evening.

This year’s Boston Summit will be held between 10-12 October, at the MIT Tang Center.

More details about the event programme will be posted in the future. If you are interested in attending, please sign up on the wiki. We hope to see you there!

Photograph by Nelson48 at English Wikipedia (own work, public domain), via Wikimedia Commons.

Thanks, Gothenburg!

GUADEC is the GNOME project’s primary annual event, held every year in a different European city. This year, it was the turn of Gothenburg, Sweden. The conference brought together contributors, enthusiasts and partners from around the world for three days of talks, followed by three days of workshops (called “Birds of a Feather” sessions). It ran between the 6th and 12th of August.

Presentations covered significant developments in GNOME technologies, such as xdg-app, Builder, and new GTK+ features. There were also talks by GNOME’s partners, including SUSE, ownCloud, LibreOffice, and Endless. Recordings of these talks can be viewed on videos.guadec.org. As always, the conference was also an opportunity for contributors from around the world to meet, make plans, and have fun.

GUADEC couldn’t happen without the work of local volunteers who organize each conference, nor without the support of our sponsors. We would like to take this opportunity to thank everyone who helped to make this year’s conference such a success.

In order to recognise the achievements of this year’s GUADEC organizers, the GNOME Release Team has decided to adopt “Gothenburg” as the code name for the upcoming GNOME release, version 3.18!

GNOME is still looking for a venue for next year’s GUADEC. Check out the wiki if you would like to bring the GNOME project to your city!

Photograph by http://www.flickr.com/people/rob-sinclair/ (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0), via Wikimedia Commons.

Happy 18th Birthday, GNOME!

Today, GNOME turns 18.

On Friday, August 15, 1997, GNOME was founded by two then-university students, Miguel de Icaza and Federico Mena Quintero. Their aim: to produce a free (as in freedom) desktop environment that is beautiful and simple to use. In September, we will welcome the release of GNOME 3.18 which continues to embody those founding principles.

Join us in celebrating GNOME’s birthday! Some ideas: wear your GNOME gear, grab drinks with GNOME friends, thank a contributor, or simply take a moment to reflect upon the significance of this day. How has GNOME impacted your life? We’d love to hear. Tweet us (@gnome), or tell us on Facebook (/GNOMEDesktop).

Spread the word and show how vibrant the GNOME community is! Please use these hashtags in your social media posts: #HappyBirthdayGNOME .

federico_mena_guadec_2015

Federico Mena Quintero at GUADEC 2015.

Photo Credit: Garrett LeSage

Happy birthday, GNOME! Now go get some drinks and cake.

GNOME Turns 18 this Saturday

Join us in celebrating GNOME’s birthday this Saturday, August 15th.

This is a great chance to tell the world why you love GNOME, inspire others to give it a try, give back to the community, and just wish GNOME a happy birthday.

Here are some ways that we encourage you to participate in GNOME’s birthday:

Post on social media

i-am-gnome

Thank a GNOME contributor

If you know someone who contributes to GNOME, send them a thank you. It’s always nice to know you’re appreciated.

You can also adopt a hacker or become a friend of GNOME.

Show your GNOME gear

Wear or show your favorite SWAG, and see if you can get someone to ask you about GNOME. Post a selfie wearing your gear and use the hashtags above so people can see faces from our community.

Say hi to others wearing the gear, and meet other GNOMEies!

Let’s show the world how we rally, and that we’re a great community to be part of.

Happy early birthday, GNOME!

GNOME Announces Search for Executive Director

For Immediate Release – August 8, 2015 The GNOME Foundation is looking for qualified candidates for the position of Executive Director of the GNOME Foundation. The Executive Director is critical for the Foundation, the public face of GNOME, the liaison to the GNOME Advisory Board, and the primary fundraiser for the Foundation. It is expected that the Executive Director will execute the daily business of the Foundation, and work with the Directors of the GNOME Foundation on a regular basis.

GNOME is a Free Software project that provides a libre desktop platform to users around the world. It is an influential social and technical contributor to the Free Software and Open Source software stack that continues to leave its mark on every piece of hardware that runs GNU/Linux across all technical market segments.

The GNOME community consists of translators, documentation writers, developers of all stripes, and systems administrators representing a unique and wide range of skills and talents that sets itself apart from other Free Software and Open Source projects.

The GNOME Executive Director will be an integral part of this community, with opportunities to be in a position of influence in the Free Software and Open Source eco-system.

If you are interested in this position, please apply at http://www.gnome.org/executive-director-position

Call for GNOME.Asia Summit 2016 Host Proposals

The GNOME.Asia Committee is inviting interested parties to submit proposals for hosting GNOME.Asia Summit during the 2nd quarter of 2016.

GNOME.Asia Summit is the annual GNOME Conference in Asia. The event focuses primarily on the GNOME desktop, but also covers applications and the development platform tools. It brings together the GNOME community in Asia to provide a forum for users, developers, foundation leaders, governments and businesses to discuss the present technology and future developments.

GNOME.Asia Summits have been held in Beijing, Ho-Chi-Minh City, Taipei, Bangalore, Hong Kong, Seoul, Beijing, Depok respectively over the last eight years.

The Committees’s preference is to find a new location each year in order to spread GNOME throughout Asia and we are looking for local organizers to rise to the challenge of organizing an excellent GNOME event. The GNOME.Asia committee will assist in the process, but there is a definitive need for individuals to be actively involved and committed to the planning and execution of the event.

You can learn more about GNOME.Asia Summit at our website: http://www.gnome.asia

Interested parties are hereby invited to submit a formal proposal to the GNOME Asia Committee.  The deadline for the proposals is September 11, 2015. Please email your proposal to gnome-asia-committee-list<at>gnome<dot> org. We might invite you to present your proposal in more details over our regular IRC meetings or send you additional questions and requests. Results will be announced by the first week of October 2015.

The conference will require availability of facilities for 3-5 days, including a weekend, during the 2nd quarter of 2016 (between March and June).  Key points which each proposals should consider and which will be taken into account when deciding among candidates, are:

    • Local community support for hosting the conference.
    • Venue details. Information about infrastructure and facilities to hold the conference should be provided.
    • Preliminary schedule with main program & different activities.
    • Information about how Internet connectivity will be managed.
    • Lodging choices ranging from affordable housing to nicer hotels, and information about distances between the venue and lodging options.
    • The availability of restaurants or the organization of catering on-site, cost of food/soft drinks/beer.
    • The availability and cost of travel from major Asian and European cities.
    • Local industries, universities and government support.

Please provide a reasonably detailed budget (sponsorships, expenses, etc).

  • Plans for local sponsorship’s

Please refer to the GNOME.Asia website. Please also check the GNOME.Asia Summit check list, howtos and the winning proposal for 2012 when putting together a proposal.

You are welcome to contact gnome-asia-committee-list AT gnome org if you have any questions.

Please help to spread the word and we are looking forward to hearing from you soon!
GNOME.Asia Committee

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