Did you know that the GNOME desktop comes with a hidden easter egg?
Oh yes! Even the developers behind the most popular open source desktop environment in the world aren’t averse to injecting a little levity to their wares.
And since discovering the neat novelty via Reddit I can’t stop playing with it. In fact, I could go as far as to call this unexpected treat the Greatest of All Time — or GOAT, as the kids say.
Alas, that pun won’t make sense until you’ve seen the Easter egg in action for yourself:
You can try the Easter egg out on your computer. All you need is a recent ish GNOME desktop, the GNOME Control Centre (aka Ubuntu’s default Settings app), and a working mouse.
- Open System Settings > Mouse & Touchpad
- Hit the ‘Test Your Settings’ button
- Repeatedly click the circle area five times
The text underneath the click target changes from “try clicking, double-clicking, scrolling” to “give clicks, GEGL time!”, and when you scroll up the kite held by the silhouette turns from a logical diamond shape to a groovy goat shape!
This five-legged goat is, as some of you will no-doubt know, the GEGL mascot. The GEGL mascot is no stranger to causing a giggle having featured in many GNOME desktop easter eggs over the years, including a starring roll in a secret Space Invaders clone — wish they’d bring that one back!
h/t Andy