Unity 2D Gets A Workspace Switcher Too

The default Unity ("Unity 3D") has a cool workspace switcher that wasn't available in Unity 2D (Qt) until last night's updates. Check out the video below to see it in action:

The Unity2D workspace switcher works a bit differently then in Unity3D (as you can see in the video) and further more, I wasn't able to move a window from one workspace to another from the workspace overview so I had to right click the window titlebar and select "Move to workspace..." to move the windows to different workspaces. These will probably change soon though.

If you're running Unity 2D, the workspace switcher won't work if you use Compiz so to get it to work, run: "metacity --replace".

If you want to install Unity 2D in Ubuntu 10.10 or 11.04, check out this post: How To Install Unity 2D (Qt) In Ubuntu From A PPA. Oh, and if you want to achieve something similar without Unity, you can easily do it with Compiz Expo Plugin and xautomation.

Qt Goes To School - Free Training Course Material For Teachers

Nokia's Qt team has unveiled a new initiative - namely to build awareness about Qt - the library that is the building block of KDE - among students and academia.

Choosing an appropriate library for your software is a significant first step to developing your product.

And Qt is a good choice for the simple reason that it is a cross-platform application and UI framework for developing once, and deploying across Windows, Mac, Linux/X11, embedded Linux, Windows CE, Symbian and Maemo without rewriting the source code.
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Ubuntu Might Ship With Qt Libraries

In future iterations of Ubuntu (Natty and onwards), Ubuntu CD might ship with Qt libraries - Mark Shuttleworth noted in one of his blog post.

The basic premise behind this announcement is that it is the quality and usability of the application (to be included) that is important; the choice of toolkit should be irrelevant.
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Qt Applications To Be Evaluated For Inclusion On The Ubuntu CD Starting With Natty+1

Mark Shuttleworth announced on his blog today that starting with Natty+1 (the Ubuntu release after Natty), Qt applications will be evaluated for inclusion on the Ubuntu CD.

Until now Qt applications, even if they were "best-in-class", were not considered for inclusion in Ubuntu because they didn't fully integrated with the GNOME desktop. But that's about to change!

Mark Shuttleworth writes:

We should evaluate apps on the basis of how well they meet the requirement, not prejudice them on the basis of technical choices made by the developer. [...]

Canonical is driving the development of dconf bindings for Qt, so that it is possible to write a Qt app that uses the same settings framework as everything else in Ubuntu.

But remember: "Qt" is not "KDE" so Mark explains that this doesn't mean Amarok might replace Banshee or anything like that. Unless of course "KDE apps learn to talk dconf in addition to the standard KDE mechanisms" in which case any KDE application "would be a candidate for the Ubuntu default install". But this depends on the KDE community.

So is Ubuntu driving even further away from GNOME? Sure, "To be evaluated for inclusion" doesn't mean we'll see a bunch of new Qt applications by default in Natty+1 but there are a few very good ones which have a pretty good chance! VLC anyone?

[via Mark Shuttleworth]

Clementine 0.6 Stable Has Been Released

We've already covered all the new features in Clementine 0.6 (release candidate at the time) so this post is just a small update to let you know that Clementine 0.6 stable has been released. There are no new features since the RC, only bug fixes.

You can download Clementine binaries (.deb, .rpm, .exe and .dmg) via its Google Code page.

You can also add the Clementine stable PPA (which doesn't include Clementine 0.6 yet) to stay up to date with future versions:

sudo add-apt-repository ppa:me-davidsansome/clementine
sudo apt-get update

YaRock 0.0.35 Adds Automatic Cover Art Fetching, Playlists Support

YaRock is a new Qt4 music player designed to provide a nice overview of your music by allowing you to browse your music collection based on the album cover art. And this isn't just about the visuals because YaRock allows you to browse your music in such a way (multiple ways actually) that you won't need to use the search feature anymore (though it has that too).

A new YaRock version (0.0.35) has been released, adding some of the features I was suggesting it should add in our previous YaRock post, like automatic cover art fetching, support to load/save playlist (m3u, pls, xspf) and a new playlist browser as well as other features such as:

• option to get cover from file directory
• simple systray support
• Now playing cover art display simplification

And of course, some bugs in the previous version have been fixed (such as the status bar bug, although the statusbar still doesn't look 100% right).

But there are still a few glitches: make sure you add the extension when saving the playlist or else it won't work. Also, I didn't find an option to load a playlist other than drag and drop or loading playlists from my collection (I had to rescan the collection for that).

What's still missing in YaRock? For me, it's Last.fm/Libre.fm scrobbling and better playlist management. What would you like to see in YaRock?

Download YaRock 0.0.35

LFFL provides Ubuntu .debs for YaRock as usual. Download YaRock 0.0.35:

- Ubuntu 10.10 Maverick Meerkat:

• 32bit
• 64bit

- Ubuntu 10.04 Lucid Lynx:

• 32bit
• 64bit

Or download the YaRock source files @ Qt-Apps.

Thanks as usual to Roberto @ LFFL for the YaRock .deb files.

Autodesk Maya 2011 depends on Qt

Nokia announced and Autodesk Inc., the Programme of Maya 2011 will be based on multi-platform Qt library, which was bought by Nokia recently.

Qt library is a library that is basic programming of KDE desktop, which is largest free product depends on library Qt.

And Maya is a program of popular programs in the world of 3D design, and is not Avatar latest movies that relied on Autodesk Maya

C++ GUI Programming with Qt4 - Book Review

Qt is a cross platform application development framework which is widely used for the development of GUI and non-GUI programs. Some of the most visible products which have been developed using Qt are KDE, Opera web browser, Google Earth, Skype and Photoshop Elements just to name a few. Some of the pertinent reasons for using Qt are -

One: Qt library is released under a dual licensing business model which means you can develop open source or closed source applications. If you are developing the former, then you do not have to pay any money for using the library.

Two: It is truly cross platform - which filters down to the fact that you can write the code for your application in one platform - say Linux, and then copy the code to Windows and recompile the code without making any changes and your application is guaranteed to run on Windows.

Three: Cellphone behemoth Nokia's recent acquisition of Trolltech has definitely infused fresh breadth and energy into the future of Qt. The latest version of Qt namely version 4.3 has a lot of enhancements which make developing GUI applications using this library a joy for most C++ programmers.

"C++ GUI Programming with Qt4" authored by Jasmin Blanchette and Mark Summerfield; published under the Prentice Hall Open source software development series is well into its second edition. This book is touted as the "Official book on Qt from Trolltech".

The main goal of this book is to teach how to write GUI programs using Qt4 and is targeted at the entry level to intermediate and advanced C++ programmer. So it starts off on a shallow curve, hand holding the reader from the first rudimentary steps in writing a simple C++ GUI program using Qt4. And over the chapters, gradually builds up steam and introduces the reader to complex scenarios such as creating plugins, 3D graphics, application scripting and more. Going through the book, I didn't feel like I was studying a programming framework rather I found the language used in explaining things quite lucid, clear and interesting all the same.

The book is divided into three parts. A new programmer in Qt will find the first part really useful because it covers the fundamental concepts and practices required for programming in Qt. The second and third part of this book comprising of 12 and 7 chapters respectively deal with specialized topics and can be read in any order. For example, if I want to build a GUI program which needs to connect to a database at the back end, then I can straight away read the 13th chapter namely "Databases", of this book provided I am conversant with Part I of this book which covers the foundation of programming in Qt 4.

The second edition of this book builds up on the first edition and contains numerous changes. For one, a couple of additional chapters have been included such as "Look and Feel Customization" and "Application Scripting". The book has been thoroughly revised to include changes incorporated in Qt 4.2 and Qt 4.3. The original "Graphics" chapter has been split into 2D and 3D graphics chapters respectively. The tiny chapter on Embedded Programming has been expanded to include programming in Qtopia, thus making it not tiny anymore.

What I really like about this book is the realistic examples which are used to introduce each Qt control or concept. There are plenty of images scattered within, which impart visual appeal to the book. More over, these images hopefully give the reader an idea about the correct way of designing their software.

Going through this book, I find that the authors have explained different scenarios of developing programs in Qt 4 exhaustively without overwhelming the reader. Each program is split into digestible chunks of code with detailed explanation succeeding them. This makes it quite easy to understand what each line of code accomplishes.

The appendixes contain a new section namely "Introduction to Qt Jambi". Qt Jambi is the Java edition of the Qt application development framework. Apart from that, there are of course the other sections in the appendix namely installing Qt, building Qt applications and also a concise section listing the main nuances of programming in C++ for Java and C# programmers.

One thing I noticed is that the hard bound book I received did not have a companion CD containing the Qt library and the IDE used to design your applications. Then again, one can always visit the Trolltech site and get the Qt 4.3 library and applications which is available as a free download. Even better, if you are developing your Qt applications in Linux then it is very simple to install all the necessary libraries depending upon the Linux distribution you are using.

All in all, this is a great book not just for any neophyte in Qt but also for the accomplished Qt programmer to use as a ready reference.

Book Specifications
Name : C++ GUI Programming with Qt4 - Second edition
ISBN No : 0-13-235416-0
Authors : Jasmin Blanchette & Mark Summerfield
No of pages : 720
Publisher : Prentice Hall
Price : $ 59.99 (US), $ 65.99 (Canada)
Rating : 9/10

Nokia cell phone giant acquires Trolltech

Here is news which will be interesting for all Linux users. Nokia the cellular giant headquartered at Finland has acquired Trolltech the Norwegian company which is developing the Qt library. The deal is believed to be worth around US $153 million. While many of us relate to Trolltech via the ever popular Desktop environment KDE which is built using the Qt library, a lesser known fact is that Trolltech's product is also used by other popular software such as Skype, Google Earth and Adobe's Photoshop Elements just to name a few.

What does that mean for us Linux enthusiasts ? Well, in the future we can look forward to better cell phones and devices from Nokia with a slick user interface powered by the Qt library. Nokia is a big supporter of Open Source. For example, it has released the N770 and N800 Internet tablet in the past which is powered by Linux. Trolltech has also released an open cell phone dubbed the Greenphone.

So in all respects, this acquisition bodes well for the Open source and Free software community at large.

You can read the Official press release at the Trolltech website as well as a joint statement (PDF) by Nokia and Trolltech CEOs to the KDE and Open source community.

Trolltech is to release Qt library under GPLv3 license

Qt is a high-performance, cross-platform application development framework. It includes a C++ class library and tools for cross-platform development and internationalization. More importantly, Qt is the foundation on which KDE is built. From its inception till now, Qt has been released under a variety of licenses such as Qt Public License, GPL v2, and even a commercial license for developing for Windows platform (More here).

Yesterday, Trolltech's CEO Haavard Nord warmed the hearts of millions of Free software enthusiasts when he announced at the KDE developer conference that Qt will henceforth be released under a GPLv3 license (even for Windows platform), over and above the QPL/GPLv2 license it holds now.

Here is what Richard M Stallman the president of Free Software Foundation had to say about this news (and I quote) :

I am very pleased that Trolltech has decided to make Qt available under GPL v3. This will allow parts of KDE to adopt GPL v3, too. Even better, Trolltech has made provisions for a smooth migration to future GPL versions if it approves of them."

You can download the GPLv3 licensed packages of Qt3 at the following location.

Another reason to love KDE even more....

Create a Linux Desktop application In 14 minutes flat using QDevelop and Qt

Who said creating gui applications for Linux were difficult, tedious and mind numbing ? Ok, perhaps this was true 10 years back or so. But now Linux has a plethora of tools which make it possible to create GUI applications - I dare say as easily as programming in Visual Basic for Windows.

You can literally drag'n'drop, move and resize all the widgets such as buttons, text areas, radio buttons and so on and design a very good GUI in minutes. And in the forefront of ease of use is QDevelop which acts as a visual integrated development environment (IDE) for developing Qt applications for Linux.

Clive a 54 year old programmer who has over 25 years of developing experience walks one through the nuts and bolts of creating a GUI application from scratch. What is really interesting is that he uses QDevelop to design the application and also walks one through the steps involved in installing Qt & QDevelop, the different layouts in Qt as well as the final finished product. A very informative tutorial targeted at beginners.