Solaris 11.4 To Move From GNOME 2 Desktop To GNOME Shell

[phoronix]

Phoronix: Solaris 11.4 To Move From GNOME 2 Desktop To GNOME Shell

For those happening to use Oracle Solaris on desktops/workstations, Solaris 11.4 will finally be making the transition from GNOME 2 to the GNOME 3.24 Shell...

http://www.phoronix.com/scan.php?page=news_item&px=Solaris-11.4-GNOME-Shell

[dragon321]

I thought recent GNOME 3 needs systemd which is Linux only.

[oiaohm]

I thought recent GNOME 3 needs systemd which is Linux only.

Really never was 100 percent true. Gnome 3 depends on features systemd provides. But Gnome does not say those features only have to be provided by systemd. systemd-logind there is elogind. Basically Gnome 3 depends on parts in systemd not all of systemd and those parts can be implemented outside of systemd..

This is really no different to hald where different operating systems need their own platform particular implementations to work right. Reality this has been mountain out of mole hill. By making it out as a mountain a lot of developers did not look at what was really required and find out its quite a small mole hill of parts that have be reimplmented or ported.

[dragon321]

Really never was 100 percent true. Gnome 3 depends on features systemd provides. But Gnome does not say those features only have to be provided by systemd. systemd-logind there is elogind. Basically Gnome 3 depends on parts in systemd not all of systemd and those parts can be implemented outside of systemd..

This is really no different to hald where different operating systems need their own platform particular implementations to work right. Reality this has been mountain out of mole hill. By making it out as a mountain a lot of developers did not look at what was really required and find out its quite a small mole hill of parts that have be reimplmented or ported.

elogind works on nonLinux OS?

[rpcameron]

Well, considering GNOME 3 runs on OpenBSD, I'd say the systemd requirement is bunk. Also, there's LoginKit (https://github.com/dimkr/LoginKit) which is what Devuan uses as its logind, I believe.

[oiaohm]

elogind works on nonLinux OS?

http://bitcannon.net/post/gnome3-on-freebsd/

They have been getting it working one way or another. There was the systembsd at one point that implemented all the parts gnome 3 uses of systemd. The reality the interface issues. Nothing about the logind protocol of dbus says the OS has to be Linux on the other end.

So it really a case of just being stubborn. Systemd goes hey we are going to implement this stuff using Linux in Linux particular ways and the other platforms go hey since you will not implement for us we will attempt to reject those protocols.

Please note logind predates systemd it was up on freedesktop.org for a long time. You have to look at bsd developers complaining about hald being ended because this would mean they would have to implement a few new things. So there has been a problem where people want a platform then not willing to invest in that platforms core parts so developers can write platform neutral code.

If you go have a good read of the freedesktop mailing lists you will see a clear problem of BSD and Solaris developers not being engaged in anything other than saying don't change anything. At some point they will have to work out doing nothing does not work long term.

Same problem had been happen with sysvinit and all the parts required.... Long list of security issues.... At some point we have to grow up and accept maintaining platforms require development and cooperation.

[Delgarde]

If you go have a good read of the freedesktop mailing lists you will see a clear problem of BSD and Solaris developers not being engaged in anything other than saying don't change anything. At some point they will have to work out doing nothing does not work long term.

It's definitely a long term issue, going back a good fifteen years or more, but it's not just lack of engagement, though. A lot of the problem is simply that the BSD and Solaris communities are *tiny* compared to those on Linux... fewer developers, fewer resources. So when the Linux-based developers build a bunch of useful new infrastructure that everyone wants to make use of in projects like Gnome or KDE, the likes of BSD and Solaris just don't have the ability to keep up with what's happening in the Linux world.

[ElectricPrism]

Solaris 11.4 To Move From GNOME 2 Desktop To GNOME Shell

Why...

[Spooktra]

I don't see how gnome 2 looks "dated" and Gnome Shell is somehow an improvement. To me Gnome Shell looks like a Fisher-Price toy set, something for "special" people.

[garegin]

Solaris is almost used exclusely on server. The quality of the desktop is irrelevant. I have seen Solaris boxes in a datacenter and they don’t do anything special. It’s another grandpa OS like HP-UX and AIX.