Who is Behind Gnome?
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Fast answer first. Then use the tabs or video for more detail.
- Watch the video explanation below for a faster overview.
- Game mechanics may change with updates or patches.
- Use this block to get the short answer without scrolling the whole page.
- Read the FAQ section if the article has one.
- Use the table of contents to jump straight to the detailed section you need.
- Watch the video first, then skim the article for specifics.
The GNOME project was started on August 15, 1997, by Miguel de Icaza and Federico Mena as a free software project to develop a desktop environment and applications for it. The GNOME project is led by the GNOME Foundation, a non-profit organization that oversees the development and maintenance of the GNOME desktop environment, which is a graphical user interface (GUI) and set of computer desktop applications for users of the Linux operating system.
Frequently Asked Questions
1. What does GNOME stand for?
GNOME stands for GNU Network Object Model Environment, pronounced gah-NOHM, and is a graphical user interface (GUI) and set of computer desktop applications for users of the Linux operating system.
2. Why is GNOME the default desktop environment in many Linux distributions?
GNOME was created partly because, in the 90s, Qt (the toolkit KDE relies on) had a proprietary license, making GNOME a more ideologically preferable choice, and it is also an official GNU project.
3. Why is GNOME considered heavy?
GNOME depends on several different background services that all take up some CPU and RAM, and its single-threaded architecture means that it’s easy for the shell itself to stutter, especially when using extensions.
4. What is the difference between GNOME and Apple’s MacOS?
MacOS provides topic-specific system tray menus with greater functionality and links to further settings, while GNOME has a combined menu that is limited in functionality and has only a generic link to settings.
5. How do I know if I am using GNOME?
You can determine the version of GNOME that is running on your system by going to the About panel in Settings, opening the Activities overview, and starting to type About.
6. Did GNOME copy MacOS or Unity?
GNOME did not copy Apple nor Unity, as Apple’s first GUI was in 1984 and copied Xerox Parc, and X windows started about 1983.
7. Is Cinnamon better than GNOME?
The performance of Cinnamon is better than GNOME, but it is still not the best out of many other desktop environments that are available, as standard desktop environments like GNOME and KDE are likely to use a lot of memory and hence the CPU load starts increasing quickly.
8. Does GNOME use a lot of memory?
Yes, GNOME can use a significant amount of memory, with gnome-shell taking as much as 12GB of memory, which is not limited to gaming.
9. What makes gnomes unique in mythology?
In mythology, gnomes are small humanoids, standing 3–3.5 feet tall, and are often skilled with illusion magic or engineering, and are closely related to dwarves but are smaller and more tolerant of other races, nature, and of magic.
10. Can I remove GNOME from my Linux distribution?
Yes, to uninstall the desktop environment, you need to log in as root, open a terminal window, and run the command /usr/sbin/remove-gnome.
11. Why is KDE not as popular as GNOME?
KDE had a reputation for being heavyweight, but the Plasma version is much lighter, taking half the RAM of Cinnamon or GNOME.
12. Where are GNOME settings stored?
GNOME settings, which are stored in the DConf database, can also be configured using the dconf-editor(1) or the gsettings command-line tool.
13. Is having a gnome considered good or bad luck?
Gnomes are known as a symbol of good luck, and are still used today to watch over crops and livestock, often tucked into the rafters of a barn or placed in the garden.
14. What is the myth of the gnome?
According to legend, gnomes live underground, where they guard the nearby plant life and their personal stashes of buried treasure, and supposedly, rays of sunshine could turn a gnome to stone.
15. What programming language is GNOME written in?
The GNOME platform libraries are primarily written in C, and provide a machine-readable description of their API and ABI through GObject-Introspection.