“A year or two from now, many Linux users will view the first
full release of Gnome as the seminal Linux event of 1999. Gnome
stands for GNU Network Object Model Environment, quite a mouthful
by any standard. The important thing to notice about the Gnome
acronym is the “GNU” right at the front. Because Gnome is an
official environment and X API of the Free Software Foundation’s
GNU Project, Gnome is the (politically) closest thing to an
“official” Linux desktop.”
“While the Gnome is unquestionably more romantic, the KDE seems
to be a much tighter, more stable platform for those who need to
work at their desks on projects not involving Linux specifically.
Perhaps in the future, Gnome will be more accessible, more stable,
and better integrated, but for the moment, I’d recommend Gnome 1.0
for developers and enthusiasts only.”