FOSSPicks
FOSSPicks
Nate explores some top FOSS tools, including the latest Gnome desktop, a slick 3D model viewer, LibreQuake, and a neat currency converter.
Desktop environment
Gnome 47
On September 18, the Gnome Community released the latest version of the desktop, codenamed "Denver." The top-billed new "Accent Colors" feature is underwhelming to Ubuntu users, given the OS has supported this since 2022. Still, it's easy to access via Gnome settings and was the first change I made when testing Gnome 47 in a daily build of Ubuntu 24.10.
The Nautilus file manager has also been overhauled. Traditionally, bookmarks to Home folder locations such as Documents and Pictures couldn't be removed. This is now supported and I put it to good effect to remove the redundant Videos folder. I also noted that the Other Locations bookmark is no longer there. All internal drives are listed in the sidebar instead. The release notes also state that file searching has been improved in that users will see an info button if trying to search a location that isn't indexed or a remote folder. This provides more contextual information, though it doesn't speed up the search.
A number of other Gnome apps have also been updated. The Gnome Web browser, Epiphany, has a new bookmarks sidebar to make bookmarks easier to search and navigate, as well as an auto-fill feature for forms. Gnome Calendar also contains numerous bug fixes and an improved layout for displaying event details. Some new Gnome Circle apps have been added including the Mastodon client Tuba, which I reviewed last month, as well as the currency converter Valuta, which is covered in this issue.
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