GNOME 50.alpha released
The GNOME 50 development series officially kicked off with the latest alpha build. This early-stage software requires testing and refinement before becoming stable.
Among its features for this initial phase is gst-thumbnailers, which helps create video previews, and gweather-locations adds support for weather services integrated into applications.
GNOME developers have also chosen to remove one component: gspell. Perhaps it's part of a feature freeze or deemed unnecessary at this point.
The existing software building blocks within GNOME are seeing updates too. For instance, at-spi2-core has moved from version 2.58.0 to 2.59.0, and Baobab is now at version 49.1. Other packages like evolution-data-server and gnome-shell have been updated as well.
More modules get the attention of developers this week: calls (upgraded to 49.1.1), folks (now 0.15.12), gjs (as 1.87.1), glycin (2.1.alpha), gnome-builder (50.alpha), and gtk (4.21.4). The list actually encompasses a total of seventy-three packages.
However, this release cycle's changes did not affect fifteen modules.
If you want to compile GNOME 50 from source yourself, likely for testing or hacking around, developers suggest using the official BuildStream snapshot. Alternatively, if you're keen on getting a taste of what the full experience might be like right now, there’s also a GNOME OS install image available.
Remember that this snapshot is still very much pre-release; it's meant primarily to test features and find bugs, not for general use. The team keeps an eye on the official schedule page if you want details about release timing, component lists, or upcoming plans.
