Each time a new GNOME version is released, users point to the Ubuntu GNOME devs and blame them for not integrating the latest packages in the distribution. Also, each time, the Ubuntu GNOME developers have to explain why this is impossible.

A new GNOME version has been made available, 3.14, and naturally, Ubuntu GNOME users have already started to ask why this is not landing in their favorite distro, given the fact that the next release of Ubuntu will take place on October 23.

As you can imagine, the Ubuntu GNOME developers have to answer questions about this issue on a constant basis. Unfortunately, not all Ubuntu and Linux users know the reasoning behind this decision, so it's time for another update from the devs.

Ubuntu GNOME and the struggle with the latest version

One of the issues often mentioned about Ubuntu GNOME is that the distro doesn't integrate all the new packages that are being released. You would think that a Linux distribution that has GNOME in its name will be able to do that, but things are not as simple as they seem.

For one, Ubuntu GNOME is an official flavor in the Ubuntu ecosystem and that means that the devs have to abide to a strict release schedule. There are a number of steps that have to be followed, and one of the most important is called Feature Freeze. As the name suggests, this is a point in the cycle where all new features and major changes for the system stop and the developers start focusing on the bug fixes.

Ubuntu GNOME is well past that point and GNOME 3.14 was just released. It would be almost impossible to get such a complex piece of software over the Feature Freeze point and the team could not test everything for bugs.

"That said, if you do the simple calculation on the calender, and if you're around for few months or you have been using Ubuntu or any flavor (official) for sometime, you will understand - without a question - that it is nearly impossible or to be more accurate, extremely hard to include the latest GNOME into Ubuntu GNOME."

"If you take a look at it, and know the fact that within one month, we can't test Ubuntu GNOME 14.10 with the latest GNOME (3.14) and then release it, etc etc ... For all that, simply, and shortly, we can NOT include the latest GNOME with the latest stable release of Ubuntu GNOME," says amjjawad, one of the developers of Ubuntu GNOME.

Users of this operating system will be able to get the latest GNOME 3.14 packages from a PPA, after the official release of the distro.

Ubuntu GNOME 14.10 (Utopic Unicorn) will arrive on October 23.