Ubuntu Tutorials

I’ve been spending some time recently in KDE 4.4.x. It seems with each new release it gets more and more polished, and I want to thank the dev team for their hard work. Some of the oddities that I find in KDE though, I think, are based on my familiarity to GNOME. This post outlines how to change the Run Command Keybinding (ALT-F2) to match that of GNOME-Do (Super-Space). This gives you basically what GNOME-Do does (granted not quite the same, but good enough for quick-launching apps), without installing GNOME-Do and its dependencies.

System Settings – Global Keyboard Shortcuts

1. To quickly get to the System Settings and the Global Keyboard Shortcuts configuration, use the Run Command interface by pressing ALT-F2 and enter “Global Keyboard Shortcuts”.
2. In the drop-down menu labeled “KDE Component”, select “Run Command Interface”.
3. Select “Run Command” in the Action (left) column.
4. Click the “Custom” box.
5. Click the input box to the right of “Custom” and press the key combination “Super-Space” (Super is the Windows Key).
6. Click Apply.

General Usage

I admit that the Run Command interface doesn’t give all of the same options as GNOME-Do, but it does do quite a bit. You can, of course, quickly launch applications. You can switch between applications (type the name of a currently running app, and select it. It’ll switch focus, or switch to the desktop running that app). Do you have any suggestions on how to use the Run Command interface for more efficient desktop usage?

Conclusion

If you’re trying out KDE and want your transition to be a little smoother, try changing some of the little things to make you feel more at home. Changing this keybinding, for those used to GNOME-Do, is just one small step along the way.

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The recent release of Gnome-Do 0.8.0 has brought with it a number of interface changes and upgrades.  I won’t go into all the new “shiny” stuff in this post, but simply outline how to satisfy the new requirements.  Gnome-Do 0.8.x now requires some type of compositing support for its interface (unless you stick with “Classic”).

First of all, composite does not mean Compiz.  Let’s get that out of the way right from the start.  You do not need a flashy 3D desktop to run Gnome-Do.  You do need a basic compositing manager however, and these should work on nearly any modern system and can run with minimal resources in the background.

I am using a tool called ‘xcompmgr’ for my compositing support, but there are others available.  Ask around or leave some comments to find out what other compositing managers people use.  Here is how I got mine setup:

sudo aptitude install xcompmgr

You can then start compositing manually via the ‘xcompmgr‘ command, or you can automate the process via Sessions.

System > Preferences > Sessions : Add

• Name – Compositing Manager
• Command – xcompmgr
• Comment – Shiny!

With basic compositing enabled you should now be able to use the enhanced features of Gnome-Do 0.8.x, including the Mini Interface, Docky, Glass Interface and Nouveau.

I generally don’t jump on the meme bandwagon but I thought this one might be of interest to some of you.  My old co-worker, Clint Savage, jumped on a meme regarding “What’s the first thing you do after installing <distro>?”

I’d be very interested in what my reader-base does after first installing Ubuntu.  Perhaps you’ll discuss it in the Ubuntu Tutorials Forum?

In any case, this is the first command I run after installing Ubuntu:

sudo aptitude install htop nautilus-open-terminal ubuntu-restricted-extras vim-full gnome-do gnome-do-plugins

Did I miss anything?

Yesterday it was brought to my attention that the Gnome-Do team had released a major update, 0.5!  Being completely addicted to Gnome-Do I immediately upgraded to check out the new features.  Here is a basic rundown of the new features and, of course, how to upgrade your system!

Features

After taking a look at the mile-long list of improvements I realize that I won’t nearly have enough room here to outline everything.  I figure I’ll give you a link to the long list, and just outline some of the stuff that impresses me the most.

First of all I really like the new interface to handle the plugins.  Gnome-Do is a great tool, but a lot of the best functionality comes in the shape of plugins.  In the new version you’re able to manage all of your plugins by way of a central UI.  Activation, configuration, deactivation, etc all in one place.  Its a great way to try out all the plugins available without requiring manual downloading and setup, which was the previous method.

You really do need to check out all the plugins available–there are a bunch of new plugins that I’m sure you haven’t tried before.

You might notice, as I did, that some of the plugins you were previously used to need to be activated before they can be used again.  After you install (below) make sure to open the preferences and activate your favorites.

You can see an exhaustive list of additions at Dave’s blog, here.

How To Upgrade?

Now that I’ve got you interested I’ll outline how to upgrade.  In Ubuntu this is done by way of the Launchpad hosted PPA (Personal Package Archive).  This command will add the PPA repository to your sources.list:

echo "deb http://ppa.launchpad.net/do-core/ubuntu hardy main" | sudo tee -a /etc/apt/sources.list


Once you’ve got this added you’ll need to update (refresh), and then request the upgrade:

sudo aptitude update && sudo aptitude safe-upgrade

If you’re a new user you’ll definitely want to check out Gnome-Do with this release.  Install it using:

sudo aptitude install gnome-do


You should see an update for gnome-do at this point.  Accept the upgrade and the latest greatest version should install.

Thoughts?

I’d love to get some of your thoughts on Gnome-Do.  Do you use it as much as I do?  Hell, I don’t even have menu’s anymore.  I launch everything with Gnome-Do–everything!  Let me know what you think or share your favorite plugins.