Who says we don't have a desktop? ;)
Look at the screenshot. NSWorkspace now identifies the Desktop as a special folder and associates it with an icon. The icon is new too.
Also the Music folder is now recognized as a special folder and has its cool new icon too.
Maybe that wasn't a blog post you all expected about a complete GNUstep desktop :)
With this last additions, the addition of special folders to NSWorkspace is quite complete. Images, Documents, Downloads, Music and Desktop are recognized as special folders in the user home. The user home itself had already a special icon since a long time. Regarding system-wide folders, the "System" and the "Library" folder have its icons, if they applicable for the used file system layout.
These icons are all theme-able too, each Theme can customize them.