Manas T

It seems the way to get rid of icons in buttons in GNOME 2.26 has changed.

The line ‘gtk-button-images = 0′ in GTK themes does not work in GNOME 2.26 anymore.

There is now a new key in GNOME Configurator Editor. Below are the steps to disable buttons on icons in GNOME 2.26 and above.

• Press Alt + F2
• Type gconf-editor and hit Enter.
• Go to Desktop –> GNOME –> Interface
• Uncheck the key buttons_have_icons

The change will be immediate and there will no icons on buttons anymore.

This change will affect all GTK themes. Somehow this is more convenient as I need not edit GTK themes everytime.

After reading all the great reviews of KDE 4.2, I ended up installing KDE 4.2 Beta 2 on my Arch Linux. So how does it feel…

Some of the problems which were bugging me on KDE 4.1 were slow responsiveness and lack of features when compared to KDE 3.5. Also the graphics performance was not that good with my nVidia GPU. These were the first things I wanted to be fixed in KDE 4.2.

Thankfully, KDE 4.2 fixes most if not all the problems in KDE 4.1. And if you experience graphics problem be sure to install the latest beta of the nVidia driver. (180.18 is the version available in AUR). The driver makes things on KDE 4.2 a lot smoother.

You can read a pretty nice review of KDE 4.2 Beta here and here along with some delicious looking screenshots.

But in between all these improvements there are some  things which are bugging me in KDE 4.2 Beta.

1. Plasma seems to be taking shape well with Plasma add-ons working pretty good now. But still Plasma keeps crashing every now and then. And everytime I go offline in Kopete, Plasma crashes.
2. The new system tray is nice but it keeps flickering everytime I minimize or restore a window. I hope that is fixed before KDE 4.2 is released. Also the system tray icons seem a bit blurred at times.
3. This one is not really KDE related but I dont like Amarok’s new look and feel. Hope the developers give the UI a second thought.
4. I really hate KTorrent startup. It keeps on stacking notifications on top the system tray. Though the notifications are OK when I am copying or moving a file, KTorrent stacks at least 10 notifications when I open it.
5. KDE 4.2 reminds me of Vista. The taskbar is too similar to the one in Windows Vista. Though KDE has been using that kind of taskbar even before Vista.
6. Theming – KDE 4.2 appearance is not all that customizable.

These are not really negatives. May be I am just stuck with GNOME.

Hopefully I will try out KDE 4.2 final when it is out. For now I am back on GNOME 2.24 + Compiz Fusion.

Did you try KDE 4.2?

KDE 4.2 Beta 2 was released on 18th of December by the KDE community. As per the announcement 1665 new bugs have been opened, and 2243 bugs have been closed since the release of Beta 1.

If you are using ArchLinux you can grab the KDE 4.2 packages from the kde-unstable repository of Arch Linux. Though the repo is not announced yet, the KDE 4.2 Beta 2 packages (4.1.85) are available in all the mirrors.

Just add the following lines to your /etc/pacman.conf file.

[kde-unstable]
Include = /etc/pacman.d/mirrorlist

The lines have to be added above all the repositories core,extra and community. You will also need to enable the [testing] repository as the kde-unstable packages have been built on the packages from testing.

After adding the above lines to pacman.conf, give the command pacman -Sy as root.

Then give the command pacman -S kde to install the full KDE 4.2 Beta 2 packages or pacman -S kdebase-workspace to have a minimal KDE 4.2 environment.

I am installing KDE 4.2 Beta 2 now. I will write about my experience once I try it out.

Envied by your friends who use QuickSilver on OS X and Launchy on Windows. Key stroke program launchers can be a real time saver once you get the hang of it.

GNOME Do is a GNOME utility for fast launching of applications and files. It can easily be said to be the Linux equivalent of QuickSilver for Mac and Launchy for Windows. Using GNOME Do, you can easily launch your programs, files, Firefox bookmarks all from the comfort of your keyboard.

Installing GNOME Do on Ubuntu Gutsy Gibbon 7.10

You can install GNOME Do on your Ubuntu system just like any other application. All you need to add is the GNOME Do repository.

1. Fire up Terminal.
2. Type sudo gedit /etc/apt/sources.list
3. Add the following two lines at the end of the file :

deb http://ppa.launchpad.net/rharding/ubuntu gutsy main
deb-src http://ppa.launchpad.net/rharding/ubuntu gutsy main

4. Save the file, close it. Then in Terminal type sudo apt-get update
5. Finally install GNOME Do by typing sudo apt-get install gnome-do

Delicious Plugins

The plain install of GNOME Do gives you the ability to launch the applications that are installed on your system. But if that’s not enough for you, GNOME Do has plugin support too. Two of my favorite plugins are the Pidgin plugin and the Rhythmbox plugin.

Delicious Plugins !!!

For example you can install the Pidgin plugin, then launch Gnome Do, type the first few letters of the name of the contact and hit Enter. Voila, a Pidgin chat window will open to chat with that person. Same with Rhythmbox you can easily play specific albums or artists using the Rhythmbox plugin. All you need is to type few letters of the artist or album.

Thats not all. You can find the complete plugin list here.

So I downloaded and install KDE 4.0 stable on my Ubuntu Gutsy Gibbon install. Everything feels to be pretty new in the KDE desktop thanks to the spanking new Oxygen artwork. Plasma, the new desktop shell gives the desktop a clean look. All the KDE applications have gone in for a facelift.

Here are some screenshots of the new KDE release.

1. The start-up screen

The start-up screen of KDE 4.

2. The clean blue desktop – Plasma

The wallpaper is pretty but the KDE desktop could do with an option to reduce the size of the bottom panel. For me its a bit too large in height.

 3. The File Manager – Dolphin

Dolphin is the window manager included in KDE 4. Its pretty responsive and has all the functionality you will need.

4. Widgets in KDE 4

KDE 4 has widget support by default. Just click on the sign on the right hand of your desktop and it will give you an option to add widgets. Some widgets like Analog Clock, Digital Clock and Battery Monitor are available by default.

5. A tabbed Start Menu

Not sure how many will prefer a tabbed start menu but KDE 4 has it. Click on the different tabs like Computer, Applications and you have different menus displayed. The start menu also includes a search box like Vista which allows to type a few characers of the application you want to launch.

6. The Shutdown Screen

Finally the shutdown screen. The puzzling thing is even if I click Log Out in the Start menu, it will still aks what I want to do Shutdown, Restart or Log Out.

P.S. – I found KDE 4 to be a bit buggy on Ubuntu. But nevertheless its ready to try.

So did you try KDE 4 ?