Features/Gnome3.4

GNOME 3.4

Summary

Update GNOME to the latest upstream release

Owner

• Name: Matthias Clasen
• Email: mclasen@redhat.com

Current status

• Targeted release: Fedora 17
• Last updated: 2011-12-13
• Percentage of completion: 25

Most GNOME modules have been updated to 3.3.2 versions in rawhide.

Detailed Description

GNOME 3.4 refines the GNOME 3 user experience in a number of areas, from improved search in the shell overview, to theme improvements, to application menus. In the control-center, the network panel will see major work, and Wacom tablet support will be improved. A new application, gnome-boxes, will provide easy access to VMs.

For a list of features that are being worked on for GNOME 3.4, see https://live.gnome.org/ThreePointThree/Features

Benefit to Fedora

Fedora stays in sync with upstream.

Scope

• Keep existing GNOME packages updated
• Package newly independent submodules of gnome-utils
  • baobab
  • gnome-search-tool
  • gnome-font-viewer
  • gnome-dictionary
  • gnome-screenshot
• Package new applications and new dependencies of existing GNOME packages
  • libwacom (control-center)
  • gnome-boxes (new application)
  • libvirt-glib (gnome-boxes)
  • libosinfo (gnome-boxes)
  • gcr (gnome-keyring)
  • seahorse-sharing
  • seahorse-nautilus

How To Test

Generic 'desktop testing' is always appropriate for a major new desktop version.

Specific testing for new features: TBD

User Experience

Overall experience should be largely unchanged from F16. Noticeable changes in the details:

* Applications can have an app menu containing more than just 'Quit'. We expect at least some of the new apps (gnome-documents, gnome-contacts, gnome-boxes) to make use of this
* Maximized windows can gain more screen real estate by hiding their title bar. We expect some of the new apps to use this option
* Unfocused windows will have an 'attenuated' appearance 

Dependencies

* Features/Gnome_shell_software_rendering will be nice to have to get the GNOME 3 user experience on more platforms, but not a hard requirement

Contingency Plan

* If GNOME 3.4 does not happen in time for Fedora 17, ship a release candidate like 3.3.92. Upstream will also look at dropping individual features if they are not ready in time 

Documentation

* [3.4 planned features]
* [3.4 schedule]
* [3.4 release notes] (will appear at a later point)

Release Notes

• Fedora 17 includes the latest version of the GNOME desktop, 3.4. For more information about what is new in GNOME, see the Gnome 3.4 [notes].

Comments and Discussion

• See Talk:Features/YourFeatureName