The first beta version of the upcoming GNOME 3.18 desktop has been released

GUADEC is now over, we had a great time in Gothenburg (special thanks
to the local organizers!) and got home in time to polish patches and
merge branches, to publish the first beta of this cycle, GNOME 3.17.90.

First beta means we have now entered The Freeze:

- API/ABI Freeze (No API or ABI changes should be made in the
platform libraries),

- Feature Freeze (No new features can be added anymore, let's focus
on stability and give the documentation team time to document the
new things),

- UI Freeze (same idea).

We are also now in String Change Announcement Period, string changes
can still be made (e.g. for typo fixes or translatability
improvements) but all string changes must be announced to both
gnome-i18n@ and gnome-doc-list

Details are available on the wiki:
https://wiki.gnome.org/ReleasePlanning/Freezes#The_Freeze
https://wiki.gnome.org/ReleasePlanning/RequestingFreezeBreaks


To compile GNOME 3.17.90, you can use the jhbuild modulesets published
by the release team (which use the exact tarball versions from the
official release):

https://developer.gnome.org/jhbuild/stable/
http://download.gnome.org/teams/releng/3.17.90/


The release notes that describe the changes between 3.17.4 and 3.17.90
are available. Go read them to learn what's new in this release:

core - https://download.gnome.org/core/3.17/3.17.90/NEWS
apps - https://download.gnome.org/apps/3.17/3.17.90/NEWS

The GNOME 3.17.90 release itself is available here:

core sources - https://download.gnome.org/core/3.17/3.17.90
apps sources - https://download.gnome.org/apps/3.17/3.17.90


WARNING! WARNING! WARNING!
--------------------------

This release is a snapshot of development code. Although it is
buildable and usable, it is primarily intended for testing and hacking
purposes. GNOME uses odd minor version numbers to indicate
development status.

For more information about 3.17, the full schedule, the official
module lists and the proposed module lists, please see our colorful
3.17 page:

https://www.gnome.org/start/unstable

  GNOME 3.17.90 (aka 3.18 Beta) released