“The GNOME desktop and development platform is an environment
built on top of the X11 windowing system for an array of Unix-like
platforms. It provides a layer of abstraction from the underlying
system as a means of improving the system’s ease-of-use. Based on a
user interface standards document and a suite of applications,
GNOME attempts to be useful to a multitude of computer user
backgrounds and experience levels.“The GNOME project started in 1997 in the hopes that it could
equal, and perhaps surpass, the then-nascent KDE…”