← Back to team overview

ubuntu-gnome team mailing list archive

GNOME3 PPAs for Raring

 

The GNOME3 PPA has been a valuable service since the release of GNOME
3.0 four Ubuntu releases ago and I wanted to update you on what we're
doing with the PPA this cycle.

For the Ubuntu 13.04 "Raring" cycle, the Ubuntu Desktop team has
decided to stick with GNOME 3.6. GNOME developers are moving quickly
to shape and optimize a modern GNOME desktop and there simply isn't
enough time for Ubuntu developers to deal with all those changes in
the short time between the GNOME Freeze and Ubuntu's freezes. Ubuntu
is building its own desktop on top of GNOME and non-GNOME technologies
and it's easier for Ubuntu developers to maintain their quality
standards if they build a Ubuntu release on a stable GNOME release
instead of an unstable release as they have done in previous release
cycles.

Ubuntu 13.04 is still in the Alpha phase of the release cycle, but if
you are running Ubuntu 13.04, you can try many of the components of
GNOME 3.8 Beta (3.7.90) in the GNOME 3 PPA as in previous Ubuntu
releases. Additionally, the Ubuntu GNOME team has added a second PPA
this cycle with most of the remaining pieces that still need work or
have known regressions. You shouldn't use either of these PPAs unless
you are familiar with ppa-purge and know how to repair a broken Ubuntu
install, but that is even more true for the GNOME3 Staging PPA as our
normal quality standards do not apply there. The Staging PPA adds to
the GNOME 3 PPA so make sure you have both enabled if you decide to
try the Staging PPA.

You can discuss issues with the PPAs in #ubuntu-gnome on
Freenode/Ubuntu IRC and I believe it's ok to use Launchpad to report
bugs as our work is the foundation for next cycle's packaging.

While there are many improvements and tweaks in GNOME 3.8, there is
one feature in particular I wanted to mention. To try the new GNOME
Classic mode, install gnome-shell-extensions and choose GNOME Classic
from the Sessions list on the login screen.

https://launchpad.net/~gnome3-team/+archive/gnome3/
https://launchpad.net/~gnome3-team/+archive/gnome3-staging/

Jeremy