----- Original Message -----
I think to get this discussion back on track I think we all need to remind ourselves that we are not shipping GNOME, nor are we shipping any of the thousand other pieces of software that we have rpms for. We are shipping the Fedora Workstation, that is our product here. So there are of course a lot of components in there which have new versions since the last release, but for our users that is an implementation detail at the end of the day.
So what we want to do here is decide on how to build the identity and brand of the Fedora Workstation, and we need to start with defining what our goals with that effort is. Once we have those goals we can look into which pieces of software needs to change to accommodate those goals and those pieces might come from a long range of upstream projects be that bash, plymouth, GNOME, grub and so on and so forth.
I realize that it is hard to completely decouple the principle discussion with the implementation details, which is why so many times in the past we managed to derail ourselves into endless flamewars about where to put a logo and how big it should be, but if we want to fix this and avoid revisiting this topic again and again while growing more and more frustrated, we need to agree on the overall goals here first and then work our way down the stack.
So to try to make a start I think what we want on a general level is things that makes someone looking at a Fedora Workstation screen or screenshot instantly recognize it as that. The goal of that being develop a distinct Fedora Workstation identity and to ensure that every Fedora user becomes a Fedora ambassador.
At https://wiki.gnome.org/Design/OS/DownstreamBranding you'll find the start of lists for downstream branding possibilities. If you know of other branding used in distributions, or new ideas, please feel free to add those (or mail me privately if you don't have a GNOME Wiki account).
Cheers