Up until a few years ago Ubuntu Linux used the GNOME desktop environment which provided the basic look and feel to the desktop and toolbar as well as a series of default apps.

But starting with Ubuntu 11.04, GNOME was replaced with the Unity user interface which was built by the Ubuntu developers. Users who prefer GNOME can still install it manually, but starting later this year it might be possible to download a pre-built version of Ubuntu with GNOME again.

GNOME Shell

Developer Jeremy Bicha notes that a goal for the Ubuntu 12.10 release in December is GNOME Flavor.

This isn’t a done deal yet. And a GNOME Flavor wouldn’t mean the end of Unity. It would simply be an option for users that don’t like Unity (and there are an awful lot of those users), much like Kubuntu (which is based on KDE), Lubuntu (based on LXDE), or Xubuntu (based on Xfce).

But GNOME also isn’t what is used to be. Starting with GNOME 3 the developers behind the desktop environment moved away from a traditional desktop and introduced a GNOME Shell design with an app dock, window picker, and a focus on activities.

via Muktware

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11 replies on “Ubuntu 12.10 may get GNOME Flavoring (along with Unity, KDE, etc)”

  1. I’ve been using Ubuntu for a long time. Loved gnome 2. Costumized it however I want. After unity, I tried mint and lubuntu but at the end I went back to debian 6 with my old computer. On the other hand, i gave gnome 3 a chance with my new computer and with gnome extension I have started to like it. I can easily and efficiently use my new gnome 3 Ubuntu.

  2. Unity and Gnome 3 remind me of the “virus” afflicting MS Windows. Changes that gets everybody lost for no gain in productivity or useful functionality.

  3. Rearranging the windows on a sinking ship.
    Ubuntu makes releases for the sake of increasing the version number and regressing the functionality. How many LTS version do they have cocurrently supported now again?
    Lots and lots of people jumped ship to LinuxMint or back to Debian/Debianbased distros with other desktops than Gnome3. Anything to avoid the whole “tablet interface on my desktop screen” with unity and standard Gnome3.
    LinuxMint has both MATE which is the Gnome2 desktop ported to Gnome3 with branding stripped away and the standard Mint desktop which is a customization over Gnome 3 to make it back into a regular desktop.

  4. Meh they should just get rid of both Unity and GNOME 3. They are both just crap. They are so bad that I’ve switched my distribution (to Chakra) and desktop (to KDE) for the first time since I started using Linux as my main OS. And I’m happier then ever.

  5. Haters gonna hate while Ubuntu innovates. Lubuntu is no longer a lite distro; it is larded with stuff that makes installs take forever. If you need a lite distro, better to use Slitaz.

  6. I’m trying to remember the last time I switched desktop environments because I wanted to, rather than because my current one became a steaming pile of unusability.  I think it was kde 1.3

  7. Lubuntu could replace the Gnome desktop, and users would be better of with it.   Depends on the user’s preferences, so by pushing our Gnome, when folks liked Gnome, then folks might get upset (especially commercial/business users who have staffs using Gnome as the corporate desktop).   Wise to bring it back.  GUI folks at Ubuntu strike again.  They love changing the GUI, maybe their are not kernel programmers, but we do know that to justify their jobs, they love to change the GUI (frequently, too frequently for many business users to support with a low Total Cost of Ownership -TCO).   Business should look to Lubuntu and LXDE for a fast desktop, can use lower power PCs, and not have to buy new computers a often (in a poor economy, best to keep people hired with what income you have, vs buying new computers).

    1.  changing main gui features like desktop, menu structures and so on is like changing the living room of people. almost every it company in the past that started messing around with such things – notably against the will of its customer base – went sooner or later into oblivion and disappeared from the markets. seems a lesson they will never  learn. digital suide

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