Hi Stormy!

Good questions. It is always hard to balance having a vision and goals that
are abstract enough to elicit open discussion and having the type of highly
specific details that engineers prefer. I think we're finally starting to
converge on the latter.

My view hasn't changed significantly since I presented the idea at GUADEC
2010 in my talk and presentation to the advisory board (
http://blogs.gnome.org/mccann/2010/08/01/shell-yes/). My understanding was
that it was then approved to be part of the GNOME roadmap but I'm not sure
what happened with that.

Allan had a great description already in this thread so I'll just try to
condense:

I'm using the term operating system to mean an intended user and
application developer experience. The design of which drives the technical
choices - rather than the other way around. A complete system that can be
thoroughly tested to validate the design and implementation to ensure
peerless and enduring quality.

GNOME OS is an effort to create a beautiful, efficient, and powerful client
operating system in accordance with the values held by GNOME.

 * Built sustainably, cooperatively, purposefully.
 * Using only free software and a transparent and open process.
 * Supporting a rich diversity of applications.
 * Sustaining an ecosystem where anyone has a fair chance to succeed.

I hope it may be new way of looking at participation and collaboration in
free software. But also a codification of our existing principles and
practice.

When we start to look at breaking that down into action items we get things
like:

 * Make sure we can test our changes (the Testable initiative)
 * Ensure we get feedback from failures (the Problem Reporting initiative)
 * Design the application developer experience (there is a hackfest planned)
 * Figure out how to implement separate and secure applications
(sandboxing, install, etc)
 * Reach out to new partners who see value in such a level playing field
 * And much more

Jon



On Wed, Nov 21, 2012 at 11:08 AM, Stormy Peters <[email protected]> wrote:

> Thanks, Allan.
>
> I think we need to be able to get a lot crisper on what we are trying to
> do. From your description, it sounds like we aren't trying to do GNOME OS,
> that's just an internal code name for an initiative to improve GNOME and
> the development process.
>
> So what are we trying to do with GNOME? Are we saying that we are focusing
> on GNOME as a desktop? As opposed to GNOME as a bunch of technologies that
> people can fit into their own products? Is our audience developers or
> users? What are we trying to deliver to them?
>
> Stormy
>
>
> On Wed, Nov 21, 2012 at 2:35 AM, Allan Day <[email protected]> wrote:
>
>> Bastien Nocera <[email protected]> wrote:
>> > On Tue, 2012-11-20 at 08:50 -0700, Stormy Peters wrote:
>> >> I wasn't at the discussion at GUADEC, but I've been involved in
>> >> several GNOME OS discussions and I have to say, I still don't know
>> >> know what GNOME OS is.
>> >
>> > It's pretty gobsmacking both that it wasn't explained to you properly
>> > and that you didn't ask for clarification.
>>
>> GNOME OS is an initiative rather than a product, and it encompasses a
>> variety of prexisting goals, covering areas such as:
>>
>>  * testing (both automated and continuous, and within the community)
>>  * application development and deployment
>>  * application sandboxing
>>  * hardware compatibility (particularly with regards to touch screens)
>>  * core user experience
>>
>> What these things have in common is the aim to produce a more cohesive
>> and robust system. They require looking beyond GNOME itself to how we
>> integrate with the other parts of the stack. The goal, as is always
>> the case, is to improve the GNOME user and developer experience, with:
>>
>>  * system integration and testing
>>  * a clear set of application developer APIs and guaranteed API stability
>>  * a robust and performant core system, with a security model that
>> protects users' data
>>  * a broad range of supported devices
>>  * a small set of integrated core applications
>>
>> (To many, that is the definition of an operating system.)
>>
>> What we are trying to do is take GNOME the next step of the way. We
>> are trying to turn it into a product.
>>
>> Allan
>>
>
>
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