Google Summer of Code 2023 - Final Report | GNOME Settings

Project Title : Create a New “System” panel in GNOME Settings
Mentor : Felipe Borges
Contributor : Gotam Gorabh

Overview

GSoC 2023 has come to an end, and it’s time to wrap up. I have spent 12 weeks dedicating my time to contributing to projects that are utilized by people all over the world, which gives me an incredible sense of accomplishment. This GSoC period is full of growth, learning, collaboration, and pushing my limits. I’ve had the privilege of working with talented mentors and peers who have guided me through challenges and celebrated successes. From writing code and solving problems to engaging in discussions, I’ve gained valuable experiences that will undoubtedly shape my journey as a developer. As I reflect on this journey, I’m filled with gratitude for the opportunity and excitement for the future projects and contributions that lie ahead.

Project Summary

In this season of GSoC, I worked on creating a new ‘System’ panel in GNOME Settings. GNOME Settings (also known as gnome-control-center) is a graphical user interface tool used in GNOME-based Linux distributions to manage system settings and preferences. The reason for this GSoC project was to reduce the number of top-level settings panels, which were crowded and less organized. Additionally, the goal was to move ‘Region & Language,’ ‘Date & Time,’ ‘Users,’ and ‘About’ into a new System panel.

Contribution (Merge Requests)

Following my Proposal, I initiated work on gathering information related to the system panel. Subsequently, I began addressing Issue(#2241) by implementing the provided mockup within the project.

In order to accomplish this objective, I initiated a series of Merge Requests, including the following ones:

• Create initial base structure for the new “System” panel [!1800]
• system: Add title to system panel [!1815]
• Update new “System” panel with AdwNavigationView [!1863]
• system: Add ‘Remote Desktop’ page into the system panel [!1842]
• system: Adding region & language page to the system panel [!1836]
• system: Add ‘Info Overview’ panel to system panel [!1888]
• system: Add ‘Date Time’ panel to system panel [!1889]

Future Plan

Though the GSoC period is coming to an end, but the project development is still not finished. There is User Panel left to be implemented into the new system panel and many other improvements and updated are required. I would love to continue the development of the platform and keep contributing to GNOME!

Mentor

Special thanks to my mentors Felipe Borges for their guidance throughout the process. Their expertise and encouragement have been invaluable assets on this journey. I’m looking forward to staying active in the GNOME community and guiding new contributors as they get engaged in.

GUADEC 2023

I had an amazing experience presenting my work during GUADEC, it gave me great confidence and was an awesome experience. Thanks, GNOME for providing me the opportunity. You can watch me present at - GUADEC Youtube

After GSoC

Overall it was a great experience during the last 12 weeks. I learned a lot about the GNOME community and the GNOME development process. I’m thankful to the GNOME community for their support and feedback. I’m looking forward to contributing more to the GNOME community in the future.