It seems like Linux Mint has decided not to follow Ubuntu in adopting the Unity interface and is planning a long-term switch to Gnome 3 instead.

Though Linux Mint is itself an Ubuntu derivative, there’s still no sign that the project has any plans to adopt Unity — no doubt to the relief of many. What it has decided to embrace, however, is GNOME 3, which is currently the other big controversial desktop contender. Specifically, while the upcoming Linux Mint 12 “Lisa” will be released next month with continued default support for GNOME 2, the Mint team is also now working on a GNOME 3 edition of its popular Linux distribution as well.

“The radical changes introduced by the GNOME project split the community,” wrote Clement Lefebvre, Linux Mint founder and project leader, in a blog post last week. “At the time of releasing Linux Mint 11 we decided it was too early to adopt GNOME 3.” GNOME 3.2, however, “is more mature, and we can see the potential of this new desktop and use it to implement something that can look and behave better than anything based on GNOME 2.” Development will likely span across multiple releases, Lefebvre added. In the meantime, a separate edition will continue with a focus on GNOME 2.32, he said.

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It seems like Linux Mint has decided not to follow Ubuntu in adopting the Unity interface and is planning a long-term switch to Gnome 3 instead. Though Linux Mint is itself an Ubuntu derivative, there's still no sign that the project has any plans to adopt Unity — no doubt to the relief of many. What it ...