Modules & Modulesets

This is draft documentation for the GNOME modulesets.

GNOME's software is managed as a set of "modules". Each module can be a library, system component, application, or set of data. Examples of GNOME modules include GLib, GTK+, gnome-shell, nautilus, adwaita-icon-theme, and gnome-user-docs.

1. Modulesets

Modules are organized into groups, called modulesets. It is these modulesets which define which modules are a part of GNOME's software. The modulesets are also used by the GNOME build system, called JHBuild, which is used by contributors to test and develop GNOME software.

gnome-suites-core	GNOME modules which form part of an official release.
gnome-suites-core-deps	External (ie. non-GNOME) libraries which are required by gnome-suites-core.
gnome-sysdeps	External (ie. non-GNOME) libraries which are required by gnome-suites-core. JHBuild requires these modules to be present in a base system.
gnome-apps	Official GNOME applications, which are built and maintained by the GNOME project, and which follow GNOME application and design guidelines, but which do not form part of the default experience.
gnome-world	modules which can be built using JHBuild, but which are not official GNOME modules. This moduleset is a loose collection of software which is affiliated with the GNOME project, and is of interest to GNOME contributors.

2. Core Module Categories

Modules in the gnome-suites-core moduleset fall into the following categories:

Core User Shell	The core GNOME 3 user environment, which includes GNOME Shell.
Core Dependencies	GNOME libraries which are required for the core user experience. The core dependencies also include required data, such as backgrounds, icons and documentation.
Core Utilities	These are the core GNOME applications. They are design to work as a set, are tightly integrated with the core shell, and (in contrast to apps in gnome-apps) have generic names.

3. What Goes Into a Release?

Each GNOME release is comprised of modules from gnome-suites-core. It depends on specific versions of the modules in gnome-suites-core-deps and gnome-sysdeps.