An Acronym for GNU Network Object Model Environment.

The GNOME project (pronounced with a hard "G") is a collaborative software project building a complete, user-friendly DesktopEnvironment entirely from FreeSoftware components. Its most apparent distinction is that it's built on the GimpToolKit, which is licensed under LGPL (more business-friendly than KDE's Qt, which is available under either GPL or as commercial payware). Components of GNOME include GConf, Nautilus, a virtual FileSystem layer (gnome-vfs), and more.

GNOME is the DesktopEnvironment of choice for business Linux, adopted by the likes of IBM and SunMicrosystems. Much commercial software was developed for it by Ximian, a company founded by GNOME initiator MiguelDeIcaza and later purchased by Novell. Novell have set Free most of Ximian's code, and the Ximian crew are now Novell's team for LinuxOnTheDesktop.

See also:

• KDE
• GnomeNotes