GCompris

GCompris
Original author(s)Bruno Coudoin
Developer(s)KDE, Timothée Giet and Johnny Jazeix (maintainers)
Initial release2000; 24 years ago (2000)
Stable release
4.2[1] Edit this on Wikidata / 20 September 2024
Repositoryinvent.kde.org/education/gcompris.git
Written in
Operating systemAndroid, BSD, Linux, macOS, Microsoft Windows
Platform
Available inmore than 50 languages
TypeEducational entertainment, Educational software
LicenseNew (Qt Quick):
Since 1.1: AGPL-3.0-only
0.1 to 1.0: GPL-3.0-or-later
Legacy (GTK):
8.5 to 15.10: GPL-3.0-or-later
0.2.4? to 8.3.1: GPL-2.0-or-later
Websitegcompris.net Edit this at Wikidata

GCompris is a software suite comprising educational entertainment software for children aged 2 to 10.[2] GCompris was originally written in C and Python using the GTK+ widget toolkit, but a rewrite in C++ and QML using the Qt widget toolkit has been undertaken since early 2014. GCompris is free and open-source software and the current version is subject to the requirements of the AGPL-3.0-only license. It has been part of the GNU project.[3]

The name GCompris is a pun, in the French language is pronounced the same as the phrase "I have understood", J'ai compris [ʒekɔ̃ˈpʁi].

It is available for Linux, BSD, macOS, Windows and Android. While binaries compiled for Microsoft Windows and macOS were initially distributed with a restricted number of activities and a small fee was required to unlock all the activities, since February 2020 the full version is entirely free for all platforms.[4]

Extent

In 2024 GCompris comprised 190 games,[5] called "activities". These are bundled into the following groups:

  • Computer discovery: keyboard, mouse, different mouse gestures
  • Numeracy: table memory, enumeration, double entry table, mirror images
  • Science: the canal lock, the water cycle, the submarine, electric simulations
  • Geography: place the country on the map
  • Games: chess, memory, connect 4, oware, sudoku
  • Reading: reading practice
  • Other: learn to tell time, puzzle of famous paintings, vector drawing, cartoon making

Development history

Timothée Giet, graphic artist and freelancer, currently in charge of the commercial support

The first version of the game was made in 2000 by Bruno Coudoin, a French software engineer. Since the first release it was distributed freely on the Internet and was protected by the GNU General Public License. The motivation behind the development was to provide native educational application for Linux. Since then, the software has seen continuous improvements, in terms of graphics and number of activities, thanks to the help of many developers and graphic artists joining the project over the years.

There are two branches of GCompris; with released versions in each. The first, older of which is the GTK+ branch that contains 140 activities is now considered to be a legacy branch in maintenance mode, with no new development.[6] The latest release of the GTK+ version is 15.10 of 18 October 2015.[7]

Screenshot of GCompris Administration

The newer branch of GCompris is completely rewritten using Qt Quick.[8] The current version is developed using JavaScript, QML and C++ languages.

References

  1. ^ "Release GCompris 4.2". 20 September 2024. Retrieved 25 September 2024.
  2. ^ "Why Free Software makes sense in education". Express Computer. 6 October 2003. Archived from the original on 8 August 2007. Retrieved 25 July 2007.
  3. ^ "GCompris - GNU Project - Free Software Foundation". lists.gnu.org. 20 September 2011.
  4. ^ Giet, Timothée. "GCompris is now Free to install everywhere". gcompris.net. Retrieved 29 April 2020.
  5. ^ "GCompris - Release GCompris 4.0". GCompris web site. Retrieved 21 February 2024.
  6. ^ "Developer's corner Gtk". GCompris wiki.
  7. ^ "GCompris Git repository". gnome.org.
  8. ^ "Developer's corner - GCompris". gcompris.net. Retrieved 15 April 2018.
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