The GNUstep Project
GNUstep screenshot showing various applications developed with the GNUstep libraries
Developer:	GNUstep Developers
Latest release:	make 2.0.1, base 1.14.0, gui & back 0.12.0 / April 15, 2007 (make May 25, 2007)
OS:	Cross-platform
Use:	Desktop environment
License:	GPL and LGPL
Website:	gnustep.org

GNUstep is a free software implementation of NeXT's OpenStep Objective-C libraries (called frameworks), widget toolkit, and application development tools not only for Unix-like operating systems, but also for Microsoft Windows. It is part of the GNU project. Image File history File links GNUstepGlow. ... Image File history File links Download high resolution version (960x768, 142 KB) File links The following pages link to this file: GNUstep ... Software development is the translation of a user need or marketing goal into a software product. ... A software release refers to the creation and availability of a new version of a computer software product. ... April 15 is the 105th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (106th in leap years). ... 2007 (MMVII) is the current year, a common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar and the CE era. ... May 25 is the 145th day of the year (146th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... 2007 (MMVII) is the current year, a common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar and the CE era. ... An operating system (OS) is a set of computer programs that manage the hardware and software resources of a computer. ... A cross-platform (or platform independent) programming language, software application or hardware device works on more than one system platform (e. ... It has been suggested that Desktop metaphor,Paper paradigm be merged into this article or section. ... A software license is a legal agreement which may take the form of a proprietary or gratuitous license as well as a memorandum of contract between a producer and a user of computer software. ... The GNU logo The GNU General Public License (GNU GPL or simply GPL) is a widely-used free software license, originally written by Richard Stallman for the GNU project. ... GNU logo The GNU Lesser General Public License (formerly the GNU Library General Public License) is a free software license published by the Free Software Foundation. ... A Web site (or colloquially, Website) is a collection of Web pages, images, videos and other digital assets that is hosted on a Web server, usually accessible via the Internet or a LAN. A Web page is a document, typically written in HTML, that is almost always accessible via HTTP... Clockwise from top: The logo of the GNU Project (the GNU head), the Linux kernel mascot Tux the Penguin, and the FreeBSD daemon Free software is a term coined by Richard Stallman and the Free Software Foundation[1] to refer to software that can be used, studied, and modified without... Look up Next in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... The OPENSTEP desktop. ... Objective-C, often referred to as ObjC or more seldomly as Objective C or Obj-C, is an object oriented programming language implemented as an extension to C. It is used primarily on Mac OS X and GNUstep, two environments based on the OpenStep standard, and is the primary language... In computer programming, widget toolkits (or GUI toolkits) are sets of basic building units for graphical user interfaces. ... Diagram of the relationships between several Unix-like systems A Unix-like operating system is one that behaves in a manner similar to a Unix system, while not necessarily conforming to or being certified to any version of the Single UNIX Specification. ... An operating system (OS) is a set of computer programs that manage the hardware and software resources of a computer. ... Microsoft Windows is the name of several families of proprietary software operating systems by Microsoft. ... GNU (pronounced ) is a computer operating system - consisting of a kernel, libraries, system utilities, compilers, and end-user application software - composed entirely of free software. ...

GNUstep features a cross-platform, object-oriented development environment based on and completely compatible with the OpenStep specification developed by NeXT (which has since been bought by Apple Inc.) Like Apple, GNUstep also has a Java interface to OpenStep, as well as Ruby ^[1] and Scheme ^[2] bindings. The GNUstep developers track some additions to Apple's Cocoa to remain compatible. The roots of the GNUstep application interface are same as the roots of Cocoa: NeXT and OpenStep. GNUstep predates Cocoa. Look up Next in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... Apple Inc. ... Java is an object-oriented applications programming language developed by Sun Microsystems in the early 1990s. ... The OPENSTEP desktop. ... Ruby is a reflective, object-oriented programming language. ... The Scheme programming language is a functional programming language and a dialect of Lisp. ... A Cocoa application being developed using Xcode. ...

History

GNUstep began when Paul Kunz and others at SLAC wanted to port HippoDraw from NeXTSTEP to another platform. Instead of rewriting HippoDraw from scratch and reusing only the application design, they decided to rewrite the NeXTSTEP object layer which the application depended on. This was the first version of libobjcX. It enabled them to port HippoDraw to Unix systems running the X Window System without changing a single line of their application source. After the OpenStep specification was released to the public in 1994, they decided to write a new objcX which would adhere to the new APIs. The software would become known as "GNUstep". Particle physicist and software developer Paul Kunz initiated the deployment of the first web server outside of Europe. ... The Stanford Linear Accelerator Center (SLAC) is a U.S. national laboratory operated by Stanford University for the U.S. Department of Energy. ... HippoDraw is a powerful object oriented statistical data analysis package written in C++, with user interaction via a Qt-based GUI and a Python scriptable interface. ... NEXTSTEP is the original object-oriented, multitasking operating system that NeXT Computer, Inc. ... Object-oriented programming (OOP) is a programming paradigm that uses objects to design applications and computer programs. ... KDE 3. ... 1994 (MCMXCIV) was a common year starting on Saturday of the Gregorian calendar, and was designated as the International Year of the Family and the International Year of the Sport and the Olympic Ideal by United Nations. ...

Paradigms

GNUstep is modeled somewhat on OPENSTEP, NeXT's implementation of the OpenStep API, and thus inherits some design principles proposed in OPENSTEP as well as the Objective-C language. The OPENSTEP desktop. ... Objective-C, often referred to as ObjC or more seldomly as Objective C or Obj-C, is an object oriented programming language implemented as an extension to C. It is used primarily on Mac OS X and GNUstep, two environments based on the OpenStep standard, and is the primary language...

• Model-view-controller paradigm
• Target-Action
• Drag and drop
• Delegation
• Message forwarding (through NSInvocation)

This article or section should include material from Model view controller triad Model-View-Controller (MVC) is a software architecture that separates an applications data model, user interface, and control logic into three distinct components so that modifications to the view component can be made with minimal impact to... The term Target-Action design paradigm refers to a kind of software architecture, where a computer program is divided up into objects which dynamically establish relationships by telling each other which object they should target and what action or message to send to that target when an event occurs. ... In computer graphical user interfaces, drag-and-drop is the action of (or support for the action of) clicking on a virtual object and dragging it to a different location or onto another virtual object. ... In object-oriented programming there are two notions of delegation. ... In computer science, message passing is a form of communication used in concurrent programming, parallel programming, object-oriented programming, and interprocess communication. ...

Class capabilities

Foundation Kit

• strings
• collections (arrays, sets, dictionaries) and enumerators
• file management
• object archiving
• advanced date manipulation
• distributed objects and inter-process communication
• URL handling
• notifications (and distributed notifications)
• easy multi-threading
• timers
• locks
• exception handling

The Foundation Kit, or just Foundation for short, is a framework specified under the OpenStep specification. ...

Application Kit

• user interface elements (table views, browsers, matrices, scroll views)
• graphics (WYSIWYG, postscript-like graphics, bezier paths, image handling with multiple representations, graphical contexts)
• color management (calibrated vs. device colors; CMYK, RGB, HSB, gray and named color representations; alpha transparency)
• text system features: rich text format, text attachements, layout manager, typesetter, rules, paragraph styles, font management, spelling
• document management
• printing features: print operations, print panel and page layout
• help manager
• pasteboard (aka clip board) services
• spell checker
• workspace bindings for applications
• drag and drop operations
• services sharing among applications

The Application Kit is called AppKit under OpenStep and provides all of the gui classes. ...

References

1. ^ http://www.gnustep.org/experience/RIGS.html
2. ^ http://gnustep.it/marko/GScheme

See also

Free software Portal

• Étoilé - GNUstep-based desktop environment
• Gorm - Graphical Object Relationship Manager (also UI builder)
• GNUstep Renaissance - framework for XML description of portable GNUstep/Mac OS X user interfaces
• StepTalk - Scripting framework
• Window Maker - a window manager designed to emulate the NeXT GUI as part of the wider GNUstep project
• Afterstep - a fork of the FVWM manager with a look based on that of NeXTStep.

Image File history File links Portal. ... Étoilé intends to be an innovative GNUstep based desktop environment built from the ground up on highly modular and light components with project and document orientation in mind, in order to allow users to create their own workflow by reshaping or recombining provided Services (aka Applications), Components, etc. ... Gorm is a graphical interface builder application. ... GNUstep Renaissance is a development framework that reads XML descriptions of graphical user interfaces from an application bundle and converts them into native widgets and connections at runtime under either GNUstep or Mac OS X. GNUstep Renaissance was written by Nicola Pero as an alternative to the NIB and gmodel... The user interface is the part of a system exposed to users. ... StepTalk is the official GNUstep scripting framework. ... Window Maker is a window manager for the X Window System, which allows graphical applications to be run on Unix-like operating-systems. ... On Microsoft Windows 95, 98, and ME you can enter the Windows device manager by clicking Start, Settings, Control Panel, System icon, and clicking on the Device Manager tab. ... In Unix computing, AfterStep is a window manager for the X Window System. ... In software, a project fork or branch happens when a developer (or a group of them) takes code from a project and starts to develop independently of the rest. ... FVWM with internationalization features and some additional modules. ...

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to:

GNUstep

• The GNUstep Project Homepage
• GNUstep Gorm (Interface Builder)
• GNUstep Project Center (Project Builder)
• GNUstep Applications and Developer Tutorials
• GNUstep Forum - hosted by Nabble, which archives GNUstep mailing lists into a searchable forum.
• The GNUstep Application Project
• GNUstep Live CD - a Linux distribution/live CD focused on implementing the GNUstep framework and applications.
• GNUstep presentations from FOSDEM 2006
• Emacs.app - an emacs port for GNUstep and OSX.