diff --git a/pkgs/desktops/gnustep/back/default.nix b/pkgs/desktops/gnustep/back/default.nix
index 18986400c008..03ef891d7102 100644
--- a/pkgs/desktops/gnustep/back/default.nix
+++ b/pkgs/desktops/gnustep/back/default.nix
@@ -1,21 +1,22 @@
 { gsmakeDerivation
 , cairo
-, fetchurl
+, fetchzip
 , base, gui
 , xlibsWrapper
 , freetype
 , pkg-config
 , libXmu
 }:
-let
+
+gsmakeDerivation rec {
+  pname = "gnustep-back";
   version = "0.28.0";
-in
-gsmakeDerivation {
-  name = "gnustep-back-${version}";
-  src = fetchurl {
-    url = "ftp://ftp.gnustep.org/pub/gnustep/core/gnustep-back-${version}.tar.gz";
-    sha256 = "1ynd27zwga17mp2qlym90k2xsypdvz24w6gyy2rfvmv0gkvlgrjr";
+
+  src = fetchzip {
+    url = "ftp://ftp.gnustep.org/pub/gnustep/core/${pname}-${version}.tar.gz";
+    sha256 = "1nkmk7qli2ld6gw9h4kqa199i8q2m9x9d46idxh1k0rb41kf3i2c";
   };
+
   nativeBuildInputs = [ pkg-config ];
   buildInputs = [ cairo base gui freetype xlibsWrapper libXmu ];
   meta = {
diff --git a/pkgs/desktops/gnustep/base/default.nix b/pkgs/desktops/gnustep/base/default.nix
index e661dae90990..4fe005c3749e 100644
--- a/pkgs/desktops/gnustep/base/default.nix
+++ b/pkgs/desktops/gnustep/base/default.nix
@@ -1,7 +1,7 @@
 { aspell, audiofile
 , gsmakeDerivation
 , cups
-, fetchurl, fetchpatch
+, fetchzip
 , gmp, gnutls
 , libffi, binutils-unwrapped
 , libjpeg, libtiff, libpng, giflib
@@ -11,14 +11,12 @@
 , pkg-config, portaudio
 , libiberty
 }:
-let
-  version = "1.27.0";
-in
-gsmakeDerivation {
-  name = "gnustep-base-${version}";
-  src = fetchurl {
-    url = "ftp://ftp.gnustep.org/pub/gnustep/core/gnustep-base-${version}.tar.gz";
-    sha256 = "10xjrv5d443wzll6lf9y65p6v9kvx7xxklhsm1j05y93vwgzl0w8";
+gsmakeDerivation rec {
+  pname = "gnustep-base";
+  version = "1.28.0";
+  src = fetchzip {
+    url = "ftp://ftp.gnustep.org/pub/gnustep/core/${pname}-${version}.tar.gz";
+    sha256 = "05vjz19v1w7yb7hm8qrc41bqh6xd8in7sgg2p0h1vldyyaa5sh90";
   };
   nativeBuildInputs = [ pkg-config ];
   propagatedBuildInputs = [
@@ -35,13 +33,10 @@ gsmakeDerivation {
   ];
   patches = [
     ./fixup-paths.patch
-    (fetchpatch {  # for icu68 compatibility, remove with next update(?)
-      url = "https://github.com/gnustep/libs-base/commit/06fa7792a51cb970e5d010a393cb88eb127830d7.patch";
-      sha256 = "150n1sa34av9ywc04j36jvj7ic9x6pgr123rbn2mx5fj76q23852";
-    })
   ];
 
   meta = {
     description = "An implementation of AppKit and Foundation libraries of OPENSTEP and Cocoa";
+    changelog = "https://github.com/gnustep/libs-base/releases/tag/base-${builtins.replaceStrings [ "." ] [ "_" ] version}";
   };
 }
diff --git a/pkgs/desktops/gnustep/gorm/default.nix b/pkgs/desktops/gnustep/gorm/default.nix
index 3817edad36bd..6320d0d2ff28 100644
--- a/pkgs/desktops/gnustep/gorm/default.nix
+++ b/pkgs/desktops/gnustep/gorm/default.nix
@@ -1,13 +1,11 @@
-{ fetchurl, base, back, gsmakeDerivation, gui }:
-let
-  version = "1.2.26";
-in
-gsmakeDerivation {
-  name = "gorm-${version}";
+{ fetchzip, base, back, gsmakeDerivation, gui }:
+gsmakeDerivation rec {
+  pname = "gorm";
+  version = "1.2.28";
 
-  src = fetchurl {
+  src = fetchzip {
     url = "ftp://ftp.gnustep.org/pub/gnustep/dev-apps/gorm-${version}.tar.gz";
-    sha256 = "063f8rlz8py931hfrh95jxvr68bzs33bvckfigzbagp73n892jnw";
+    sha256 = "0n92xr16w0wnwfzh7i9xhsly61pyz9l9f615dp324a6r3444hn0z";
   };
   buildInputs = [ base back gui ];
 
diff --git a/pkgs/desktops/gnustep/gui/default.nix b/pkgs/desktops/gnustep/gui/default.nix
index 8356a608c833..e8c3ea27fa4d 100644
--- a/pkgs/desktops/gnustep/gui/default.nix
+++ b/pkgs/desktops/gnustep/gui/default.nix
@@ -1,22 +1,19 @@
-{ gsmakeDerivation, fetchurl, fetchpatch, base }:
-let
-  version = "0.28.0";
-in
-gsmakeDerivation {
-  name = "gnustep-gui-${version}";
-  src = fetchurl {
-    url = "ftp://ftp.gnustep.org/pub/gnustep/core/gnustep-gui-${version}.tar.gz";
-    sha256 = "05wk8kbl75qj0jgawgyv9sp98wsgz5vl1s0d51sads0p0kk2sv8z";
+{ gsmakeDerivation, fetchzip, base }:
+
+gsmakeDerivation rec {
+  version = "0.29.0";
+  pname = "gnustep-gui";
+
+  src = fetchzip {
+    url = "ftp://ftp.gnustep.org/pub/gnustep/core/${pname}-${version}.tar.gz";
+    sha256 = "0x6n48p178r4zd8f4sqjfqd6rp49w00wr59w19lpwlmrdv7bn538";
   };
   buildInputs = [ base ];
   patches = [
     ./fixup-all.patch
-    (fetchpatch {  # for icu68 compatibility, remove with next update(?)
-      url = "https://github.com/gnustep/libs-gui/commit/05572b2d01713f5caf07f334f17ab639be8a1cff.patch";
-      sha256 = "04z287dk8jf3hdwzk8bpnv49qai2dcdlh824yc9bczq291pjy2xc";
-    })
   ];
   meta = {
     description = "A GUI class library of GNUstep";
+    changelog = "https://github.com/gnustep/libs-gui/releases/tag/gui-${builtins.replaceStrings [ "." ] [ "_" ] version}";
   };
 }
diff --git a/pkgs/desktops/gnustep/make/default.nix b/pkgs/desktops/gnustep/make/default.nix
index f96eb7388b3d..ce2c1f2f144b 100644
--- a/pkgs/desktops/gnustep/make/default.nix
+++ b/pkgs/desktops/gnustep/make/default.nix
@@ -1,12 +1,8 @@
 { lib, stdenv, fetchurl, clang, which, libobjc }:
 
-let
-  version = "2.9.0";
-in
-
-stdenv.mkDerivation {
+stdenv.mkDerivation rec {
   pname = "gnustep-make";
-  inherit version;
+  version = "2.9.0";
 
   src = fetchurl {
     url = "ftp://ftp.gnustep.org/pub/gnustep/core/gnustep-make-${version}.tar.gz";
@@ -32,6 +28,7 @@ stdenv.mkDerivation {
   meta = {
     description = "A build manager for GNUstep";
     homepage = "http://gnustep.org/";
+    changelog = "https://github.com/gnustep/tools-make/releases/tag/make-${builtins.replaceStrings [ "." ] [ "_" ] version}";
     license = lib.licenses.lgpl2Plus;
     maintainers = with lib.maintainers; [ ashalkhakov matthewbauer ];
     platforms = lib.platforms.unix;