January 4, 2026
Gel vs Flat: Button Wars
Gershwin-desktop: OS X-like Desktop Environment based on GNUStep
Mac nostalgia rides again: fans swoon, design cops pounce
TLDR: Gershwin is a tiny, early‑Mac‑style desktop that installs fast and aims to be simple and self‑contained. The community is split between excited nostalgics and design sticklers debating mixed UI styles, while veterans wonder if this will finally deliver the long‑promised GNUstep app scene.
A new desktop called Gershwin just dropped, and the comment section is already split between misty-eyed nostalgia and pixel-precise nitpicking. Built on GNUstep (an open-source reimagining of the old NeXT tech behind early Macs), it aims for that pre-brushed-metal Mac OS X vibe, builds in minutes, and takes under 50MB. That tiny size had folks joking it’s “smaller than a single Chrome tab,” while power users cheered that apps can be installed without admin passwords and even run on other systems. The vibe: “Finally, a Mac-like desktop without the Apple leash.”
Then the design cops arrived. One crowd wants the exact early-2000s look; another insists the mix of flat scrollbars and shiny “traffic light” buttons is a crime of fashion. A veteran watcher called it the most exciting GNUstep news since the long-lost Étoilé project, immediately triggering a history lesson and a round of “will it vanish like that one?” Meanwhile, old-school fans grinned at a nod to Apple’s Rhapsody era. The drama’s delicious: nostalgia lovers vs. UI purists, with hopefuls dreaming of a new app ecosystem at last. Curious? The devs point newcomers to GNUstep resources and say testing is painless via quick installers and live images. The real question: will this retro-flavored comeback actually stick, or just be another beautiful ghost?
Key Points
- •Gershwin is a GNUstep-based desktop environment providing an early Mac OS X-like user experience.
- •Features include Workspace, Terminal, TextEdit, System Preferences, a native X11 window manager, and a Global Menu server.
- •It builds from source in minutes using Clang/LLVM and the entire system uses under 50MB of storage.
- •Users can install application bundles without root, core libraries can co-exist for long-term ABI stability, and apps can run cross-platform including on Windows.
- •Installation/testing options include gershwin-build, a GhostBSD package, and live ISOs for Debian, Arch, and GhostBSD Community Preview.