… a wise someone once muttered while walking on a beach, as they picked up a shell lying on the sand. Indeed, every shell began somewhere, crossed a unique path with different goals and driven by different motivations. Some shells were created to optimize for mobility; some, for lightness; some, for speed; some were created to just fit whoever is using it and do their jobs efficiently. It’s statistically close to impossible to not find a suitable shell, one could argue.

So, is this a blog about muttered shell wisdom?

In some way, it actually is. It is, indeed, about Shell, and about Mutter. And even though “wisdom” is perhaps a bit of an overstatement, it is expected that whoever reads this blog doesn’t leave it less wise, so the word applies to a certain degree. Evidently, the Shell in question is composed of bits and bytes; its protection is more about the complexities of a kernel and command lines than sea predators, and the Mutter is actually more about compositing the desktop than barely audible uttering.

What Now?

For a long time, the development of Mutter and GNOME Shell was surrounded by silence. This blog is a humble attempt to bring those two critical components of the GNOME desktop to the spotlight, even if only a tiny bit more.

It would be naive to say that posts will be published in a consistent frequency, but the initial goal is monthly development reports and eventual one-shot deep dives into various bits and pieces of these two components.

So fasten your seatbelts, and enjoy the ride.