Gnome3 in Archlinux

On April 30 I checked the official website of Archlinux (and usually do), to find out the latest news from the distro I use, finding myself with the pleasant surprise that Gnome3 had been added to the official repositories [Extra].

I've always used Gnome, but I tried other WM (almost) always come back to it for comfort. So when I read the news I did not think twice and installed

Reactivate the key "Delete" to delete files and folders in GNOME 3

Many of the changes in functionality in new versions of software are often entirely intentional, with the premise that "is best", but later have to go back by popular demand. It is difficult to ensure that this is the case of GNOME 3, but we will reactivate the function key (Delete) for deleting files and folders.

You have to follow four simple steps:

The first is to install "dconf-editor" (

Install GNOME 3 (GNOME Shell Or Classic) GTK / Mutter / Metacity Themes

In the latest GNOME 3, changing the theme isn't as easy as you're used to. Using Gnome Tweak Tool you can change the GTK theme but how about the titlebar (Mutter/Metacity theme)? Read on!

How to install GNOME3 GTK themes

To change the GTK theme in GNOME 3 (with or without GNOME Shell), you can use Gnome Tweak Tool which is available in the GNOME 3 Ubuntu PPA, Fedora 15 official repositories, etc. If you're using Ubuntu 11.04 and the GNOME 3 PPA, run the following command to install it:

sudo apt-get install gnome-tweak-tool

To be able to use a GTK theme, make sure it's installed in /usr/share/themes/ and not in ~/.themes/ as Gnome Tweak Tool doesn't display the themes found in ~/.themes.

Then, to change the GNOME3 GTK theme, open Gnome Tweak tool and select the theme you want to use on the "Interface tab":

On the same tab in Gnome Tweak Tool you can also change the icon theme. But please note that the top panel icons in GNOME Shell will not change when chaging the icon theme (however, if you're using the classic GNONE 3 panels, the icons will change everywhere).

How to install Mutter (titlebar) GNOME Shell theme

To be able to change the GNOME 3 Mutter theme (I hope that's how it's called now) - that's the titlebar theme in GNOME Shell -, you need to install the theme under the ~/.themes folder. Yes it's weird, but that's how it works right now, hopefully this will change in future GNOME 3 releases.

Then, to change the GNOME Shell titlebar theme you need to edit some gconf settings so press ALT + F2 and enter: "gconf-editor" (if not installed, search for gconf-editor in your Linux distribution repositories) and navigate to desktop > shell > windows and change the "theme" value with the name of the theme you want to use:

The changes don't take effect immediately so you'll have to logout for the changes to take effect, or press ALT + F2 and enter: "r".

Important: for the "theme" value, enter the folder name of the theme you've copied to your ~/.themes folder. So if you've installed the Elementary theme under ~/.themes/egtk folder, use "egtk" for the "themes" key value.

How to change The Metacity theme in GNOME 3 (classic)

If you use the classic GNOME3 desktop, changing the titlebar (Metacity) theme is different then changing it for GNOME Shell. First of all, you don't have to copy the theme under ~/.themes/, it will work with /usr/share/themes/ too.

To change the Metacity theme in the GNOME 3 classic desktop (with GNOME panels), press ALT + F2, enter "gconf-editor", navigate to apps > metacity > general and change the "theme" value to the name of the theme you want to use:

Update: for switching GNOME Shell themes easily (not GTK themes - GNOME Shell themes are different), see: ThemeSelector: GNOME Shell Extension To Change Themes (With Previews)

The instructions in this post were tested on Fedora 15 beta (with GNOME Shell), GNOME Shell built using jhbuild in Ubuntu 11.04 and the classic GNOME3 session in VirtualBox.

Install GNOME 3 (GNOME Shell Or Classic) GTK / Mutter / Metacity Themes

In the latest GNOME 3, changing the theme isn't as easy as you're used to. Using Gnome Tweak Tool you can change the GTK theme but how about the titlebar (Mutter/Metacity theme)? Read on!

How to install GNOME3 GTK themes

To change the GTK theme in GNOME 3 (with or without GNOME Shell), you can use Gnome Tweak Tool which is available in the GNOME 3 Ubuntu PPA, Fedora 15 official repositories, etc. If you're using Ubuntu 11.04 and the GNOME 3 PPA, run the following command to install it:

sudo apt-get install gnome-tweak-tool

To be able to use a GTK theme, make sure it's installed in /usr/share/themes/ and not in ~/.themes/ as Gnome Tweak Tool doesn't display the themes found in ~/.themes.

Then, to change the GNOME3 GTK theme, open Gnome Tweak tool and select the theme you want to use on the "Interface tab":

On the same tab in Gnome Tweak Tool you can also change the icon theme. But please note that the top panel icons in GNOME Shell will not change when chaging the icon theme (however, if you're using the classic GNONE 3 panels, the icons will change everywhere).

How to install Mutter (titlebar) GNOME Shell theme

To be able to change the GNOME 3 Mutter theme (I hope that's how it's called now) - that's the titlebar theme in GNOME Shell -, you need to install the theme under the ~/.themes folder. Yes it's weird, but that's how it works right now, hopefully this will change in future GNOME 3 releases.

Then, to change the GNOME Shell titlebar theme you need to edit some gconf settings so press ALT + F2 and enter: "gconf-editor" (if not installed, search for gconf-editor in your Linux distribution repositories) and navigate to desktop > shell > windows and change the "theme" value with the name of the theme you want to use:

The changes don't take effect immediately so you'll have to logout for the changes to take effect, or press ALT + F2 and enter: "r".

Important: for the "theme" value, enter the folder name of the theme you've copied to your ~/.themes folder. So if you've installed the Elementary theme under ~/.themes/egtk folder, use "egtk" for the "themes" key value.

How to change The Metacity theme in GNOME 3 (classic)

If you use the classic GNOME3 desktop, changing the titlebar (Metacity) theme is different then changing it for GNOME Shell. First of all, you don't have to copy the theme under ~/.themes/, it will work with /usr/share/themes/ too.

To change the Metacity theme in the GNOME 3 classic desktop (with GNOME panels), press ALT + F2, enter "gconf-editor", navigate to apps > metacity > general and change the "theme" value to the name of the theme you want to use:

Update: for switching GNOME Shell themes easily (not GTK themes - GNOME Shell themes are different), see: ThemeSelector: GNOME Shell Extension To Change Themes (With Previews)

The instructions in this post were tested on Fedora 15 beta (with GNOME Shell), GNOME Shell built using jhbuild in Ubuntu 11.04 and the classic GNOME3 session in VirtualBox.

GNOME Shell Atolm - Another Beautiful GNOME Shell Theme By Half-left

Half-left (who has created the amazing Smooth Inset Gnome Shell theme) has created yet another beautiful theme for Gnome Shell called Atolm (based on Atolm by SkiesOfAzel).

Check it out - firstly some screenshots from my computer:

And a screenshot by Half-left:

Remember, Gnome Shell themes are not regular GTK themes - they only theme the top panel, the GNOME Shell "dock", ALT+TAB / ALT+F2 dialogs and so on, but not the application windows.

Install Atolm for Gnome Shell

GNOME Shell - Atolm is compatible with GNOME Shell beta, RC and 3.0 stable.

To install it, you must overwrite the GNOME Shell "themes" folder (I for one couldn't get the GNOME Shell themes extension to work). So extract the downloaded archive and depending on where you've installed GNOME Shell, replace the "themes" folder (make a backup first to be able to restore the original theme!) under:

• if you've installed GNOME Shell from a PPA / use a Linux distribution that ships with GNOME Shell: /usr/share/gnome-shell/
• if you've compiled GNOME Shell using jhbuild: ~/gnome-shell/source/gnome-shell/data

Then press ALT + F2 and enter "rt" (without the quotes) and press enter to reload the GNOME shell theme (or enter "r" to reload the whole GNOME Shell).


Download GNOME Shell - Atolm

[Solution] When you open "Sites" opens the Totem player

For some strange reason ,Gnome ceased to "know how to open" media files with the default application, and more importantly, when I opened any of the folders in Sites ,It was with the movie player, namely Totem. As I said before know the reason, but how to fix it, since the problem was in the association of applications, so I opened mimeapps.list, And there I saw the reason for

It's official: Unity is the default desktop environment in Ubuntu 11.04 Natty Narwhal

Last week, talks between developers Canonical Featured put on the table a tricky question: Unity dispense as default environment in Ubuntu 11.04. But it will not be and the commitment of the British company will make its debut as planned.

In the conversations referred to, Canonical developers raise the possibility of holding the classic desktop of GNOME by default ,Emphasis on some of the

How To Create A Screencast In GNOME 3

GNOME 3 has an inbuilt software that allows you to record your desktop. This makes it very easy to create a screencast in GNOME 3. Here is how you do it ...
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KDE SC 4.6.2 released, with a wink included GNOME 3

Today is currently moving to new versions of various projects, including the desk in the big K is a quiet place with the publication of KDE SC 4.6.2.

KDE SC 4.6.2 is, like all minor updates -or maintenance- of this desktop environment, one goes on. That is, Bugs Fixed and better translations for all the tools that make this incredible collection of software.

This time, however, or the

GNOME 3.0 has arrived: a new era?

The developers of the GNOME project launched GNOME 3 (Or rather, GNOME 3.0), The new and "revolutionary" version of the GNOME desktop environment which will probably have to get used, and that fewer will use the classic distributions GNOME 2.x series

The evolution of GNOME 3 is well known ,But that does not detract from a release that will allow us to have a totally different paradigm of desktop

GNOME 3 (With GNOME Shell) Has Finally Been Released

GNOME 3 has finally been released a few minutes ago. You can check out all the new features (videos and screenshots) @ gnome3.org - but unfortunately the website is down at the time I'm writing this post. The videos are also available on the GNOME Desktop YouTube channel.

Due to a GNOME Shell bug (which doesn't seem to like my graphics card), I couldn't record a proper video so I've joined all the videos provided on the gnome3.org website into a single video with all the major new features in GNOME 3:

All the credits for the video go to Gnome Desktop YouTube channel.

If you want to try Gnome 3, you can download an openSUSE or Fedora ISO @ Gnome3.org - but again, the website is down for now. To write the ISO to an USB stick, use USB Image Writer and the exact instructions provided on the Gnome3 website - in my test using the Startup Disk Creator in Ubuntu or Unetbootin fails.

There's also a new Developer website: developer.gnome.org, but this one is down too for now.

Introducing Gnome Tweak Tool - GUI To Configure Gnome 3 / Gnome Shell

If you've been following the Gnome Shell development, you probably know that it doesn't provide a GUI tool to tweak some basic settings like changing the GTK, Gnome Shell theme or icon theme, re-enable the minimize and maximize buttons, and so on.

For this reason, John Stowers has created "Gnome Tweak Tool", a 'power user' application you can use to tweak Gnome 3. But I think this tool will become very popular for any Gnome 3 user and not just power users considering how useful it already is. Read on!

Features

• enable disable menu and button icons
• change GTK and icon theme
• define the titlebar double click, middle click and right click actions
• tweak the fonts: change the default font for document, desktop and so on, change the hinting, antialiasing and text scaling factor
• Gnome Shell tweaks: show date in clock, re-enable the minimize and maximize (or just minimize) window buttons
• Install and switch Gnome Shell theme (this option requires you install a Gnome Shell extension called "User Theme")
• change action for laptop lid close on battery and AC
• allow file manager to handle desktop and draw the desktop

Screenshots

While the application is still very new, as you can see it already can handle most stuff the old Gnome 2.3x used to allow and even more. For instance, the option to display icons in menus and buttons was removed in Gnome 2.28 (I'm not sure if that's when this change was introduced, but it was definetly not there in 2.28) but you can easily enable this using Gnome Tweak Tool.

Another much requested feature was an easy way to change the Gnome Shell theme - this is different then the GTK theme because the GTK theme only changes the application look but doesn't affect Gnome Shell (workspace switcher, Dash, top panel). Thanks to the 'User Theme' Gnome Shell extension and Gnome Tweak Tool, you'll no longer have to manually replace system files to apply a new Gnome Shell theme. Unfortunately because I've tested Gnome Tweak Tool on a Live CD, I couldn't install the 'User Theme' extension so I was unable to test this feature (and while I've compiled the latest Gnome Shell in Ubuntu today, unfortunately a bug in GS 3.0.0 prevents the extensions from working).

In the future, the application might also allow easily enabling / disabling Gnome Shell extensions but we'll cover that in a future post.

Download

Gnome Tweak Tool doesn't come with Gnome 3, but is available @ git.gnome.org. If you've installed GNOME 3 via the semi-official GNOME3 Ubuntu 11.04 PPA, you can install GNOME Tweak Tool using the following command:

sudo apt-get install gnome-tweak-tool

What do you think?

Thanks to John Stowers for the tip!

Make KDE Applications Look Native In GNOME (With Ubuntu Ambiance Style)

(Dolphin running in Gnome)

Getting KDE applications to look native in Gnome is rather easy (contrary to what you may think when looking at the lenghty instructions below - it's actually just a few clicks) thanks to an Ambiance KDE style created by WebUpd8 reader Alaukik. This means that while the instructions below work with any GTK theme, you'll need a KDE style similar to the one created by Alaukik for your current GTK theme to get everything looking properly.

Get KDE apps to look native in GNOME (Ambiance style)

1. Install systemsettings:

sudo apt-get install systemsettings

2. You need a KDE style to match your GTK theme. For Ambiance, download it from HERE (you'll need an Ubuntuforums account to download it) and extract it.

3. Go to System > Preferences > System Settings, on the "Application Appearance" and do the following:

- On the "Style" tab, under "Widget style" select "GTK+":

- On the "Colors" tab, select "Import Scheme" and browse for the Ambiance KDE style you've downloaded in step 2:

- On the "Icons" tab, select "Humanity":

- On the "Fonts" tab, select you need to select Ubuntu 11 (or whatever size you use on your desktop) for all except the fixed width font. You can mass-select the Ubuntu font for all by clicking the "Adjust All Fonts" button:

- For a complete matching font, on the same tab select "Enabled" under "use anti-aliasing", then click "Configure and select "Use sub-pixel rendering" and for "Hinting style", select "Slight":

Please note that the font hinting will only be applied to newly opened applications.

Thanks to alaukik for the tip! Via Ubuntuforums

3 New Equinox Themes Released: Equinox Evolution Dawn, Dusk and Midnight

The Equinox GTK themes is a pack of (now) 5 beautiful themes created by Tiheum (who's also the Faenza icons author). Check out our previous posts about the Equinox GTK themes: here and here.

An update to the Equinox PPA brings 3 new great looking themes: Equinox Evolution Dawn, Dusk and Midnight (which complete the Equinox Evolution series along with the regular Equinox Evolution and Equinox Evolution Light) as well as an updated Equinox GTK engine. The Equinox Evolution Midnight theme is experimental because "Gnome doesn't support dark themes well" says Tiheum.

Each GTK theme comes with a Metacity theme with either rounded or squared buttons.

The new Equinox Evolution themes:

(Equinox Evolution Dawn)

(Equinox Evolution Dusk)

(Equinox Evolution Midnight)

Here are two more screenshots taken by Tiheum:

(Equinox Evolution Dawn)

(Equinox Evolution Dusk)

The themes support Nautilus Elementary breadcrumbs too, but not by default. If you want to enable the breadcrumbs for these themes, you'll have to edit the "gtkrc" file (in each Equinox Evolution theme folder the gtk-2.0 directory; you can find the themes in /usr/share/themes) and uncomment the following line (remove the "#" in front of it):

#include "apps/nautilus-elementary.rc"

If you don't want to do this manually, see the commands at the end of the post.

Install The Equinox Themes in Ubuntu

Add the Equinox PPA and install the latest Equinox Evolution Themes using the following commands:

sudo add-apt-repository ppa:tiheum/equinox
sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get install gtk2-engines-equinox equinox-theme

To also install the Equinox Ubuntu themes, use the following command:

sudo apt-get install equinox-ubuntu-theme

The themes can also be downloaded via Gnome Look: Equinox Evolution themes | Equinox Original themes (but these are no longer maintained)

How to enable Nautilus Elementary breadcrumbs for the Equinox Evolution themes

Like I've told you above, to enable Nautilus Elementary breadcrumbs (and other Nautilus Elementary tweaks) for the Equinox Evolution themes, you need to edit the "gtkrc" file inside the "/usr/share/themes/THEME NAME/gtk-2.0" folder, where "THEME NAME" is each Equinox Evolution theme folder.

To make it easy, I've set up a command for each of the Equinox Evolution theme you can use to enable Nautilus Elementary breadcrumbs (including for Equinox Evolution and Equinox Evolution Light) - only use this if you have installed Nautilus Elementary and have enabled the breadcrumbs in the options (Edit > Preferences, on the "Tweaks" tab, check the "Show like breadcrumbs" box):

sudo sed -i 's/\#include\ \"apps\/nautilus\-elementary\.rc\"/include\ \"apps\/nautilus\-elementary\.rc\"/g' '/usr/share/themes/Equinox Evolution/gtk-2.0/gtkrc'
sudo sed -i 's/\#include\ \"apps\/nautilus\-elementary\.rc\"/include\ \"apps\/nautilus\-elementary\.rc\"/g' '/usr/share/themes/Equinox Evolution Dawn/gtk-2.0/gtkrc'
sudo sed -i 's/\#include\ \"apps\/nautilus\-elementary\.rc\"/include\ \"apps\/nautilus\-elementary\.rc\"/g' '/usr/share/themes/Equinox Evolution Dusk/gtk-2.0/gtkrc'
sudo sed -i 's/\#include\ \"apps\/nautilus\-elementary\.rc\"/include\ \"apps\/nautilus\-elementary\.rc\"/g' '/usr/share/themes/Equinox Evolution Light/gtk-2.0/gtkrc'
sudo sed -i 's/\#include\ \"apps\/nautilus\-elementary\.rc\"/include\ \"apps\/nautilus\-elementary\.rc\"/g' '/usr/share/themes/Equinox Evolution Midnight/gtk-2.0/gtkrc'

Gnome 3 ready to go the week of 4 April

On 22 March appeared on the mailing list gnome.org, the announcement of a upgrade Gnome Shell ,The particular 2.91.92. The numbering and aimed to be in the pre-release version 3, news that in itself, regardless of developments, not contribute more.

The really important thing was a few lines down, first announced code freeze Gnome 3, Which would not be changed unless serious errors and then

Gtk+ 3.2 Will Let You Run Any Application In A Browser (Remotely Too)

Gtk+ 3.2 will let you run any application in a browser thanks to the new HTML5 gdk backend. That means you'll be able to run GIMP, Gedit, a video editor or whatever, remotely (or on the same computer), using a web browser.

This is still work in progress so not everything works yet (the keyboard input support, dnd or c&p) and also, it only works in Firefox 4 for now, but this is nevertheless amazing.

Check out the following video recorded by Alexander Larsson:

(video also available in WebM)

For more info, visit Alexander Larsson's post.

via Ubuntusecrets.it

Second beta version of GNOME 3

The team responsible for the GNOME Project has announced the launch of the second and final beta version of GNOME 3.0. In this second beta is followed by a release candidate to arrive on 23 March, after which we will have with us the final version GNOME 3.0 on 6 April.

GNOME 3.0 Beta 2 (Or GNOME 2.91.91, as developers call it) includes changes to stabilize this desktop environment, plus correct

Fuduntu 14.9 Stable Released, Replaces Bottom Gnome Panel With AWN

Fuduntu is a Fedora remix designed for netbooks and laptops (but works on a desktop too) that integrates a lot of very interesting tweaks. Check out our previews Fuduntu posts for more info.

Fuduntu 14.9 stable was released today and it now features Avant Window Navigator by default which is automatically adjusted based on your computers ability to run Compiz. But if you want to use the regular Gnome panel instead, Fuduntu provides a tool that automatically restores it - simply go to System > Preferences > Bottom Panel Chooser and select "Restore my bottom panel".

Further more, when you first run Fuduntu 14.9, your computer is tested if it can run Compiz and if so, Compiz is enabled.

Here's a screenshot with the latest Fuduntu 14.9 running in VirtualBox (without Compiz):

and another screenshot - by Fewt - in which Compiz is enabled (thus AWN looks a lot better):

The artwork was also updated and Fuduntu now ships with quite a few new wallpapers. The first time you log in, your wallpaper will be chosen automatically from one of these wallpapers.

The Fuduntu repository now provides the latest stable Adobe Flash, Chromium (9), VLC or OpenShot.

For a complete list of changes in the latest Fuduntu 14.9, see the release announcement on Fewt's blog.

Download Fuduntu 14.9 (available for both 32bit and 64bit).

Nautilus 3.0 Beta Screenshot (With New Sidebar Design, Floating Statusbar)

We've seen mockups on how Nautilus 3.0 should look like, but I for one have never seen a screenshot until now. Well, Cosimo posted a screenshot of the new Nautilus 3.0 - currently in beta:

As you can see, the Gnome devs have done a great job turning those mockups into actual code. In the above screenshot you'll notice a new sidebar design, a floating statusbar and a streamlined toolbar.

What do you think?

GNOME 3 Won't Have Minimize And Maximize Buttons

GNOME 3 is doing away with minimize and Maximize buttons for applications in its user interface. The basic premise being they don't make sense within the current shell design.

Of course, that doesn't mean you can't minimize or maximize your applications' window in GNOME 3.
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