desktop feng shui [Archive]

fuscia

November 4th, 2005, 03:59 AM

matthew

November 4th, 2005, 04:16 AM

I do it all the time. Desktops rarely last a week on my computer...I'm always making "improvements."

EDIT: meant to mention, I've also alternated between Gnome, KDE and xfce.

fuscia

November 4th, 2005, 04:50 AM

I do it all the time. Desktops rarely last a week on my computer...I'm always making "improvements."

EDIT: meant to mention, I've also alternated between Gnome, KDE and xfce.

have you ever tried that enlightenment thing that poofyhairguy posted?

matthew

November 4th, 2005, 05:04 AM

have you ever tried that enlightenment thing that poofyhairguy posted?
I haven't. I do have a old computer I'm using as a testbox...hmmm. Maybe I'll give enlightenment a try this weekend.

Stormy Eyes

November 4th, 2005, 05:09 AM

Window shopping? I've wasted hours fiddling with my desktop, to my wife's chagrin.

matthew

November 4th, 2005, 05:21 AM

Window shopping? I've wasted hours fiddling with my desktop, to my wife's chagrin. LOL. You may not want your wife to see this post...to end that stress in our house I bought my wife her own computer. Her desktop hasn't changed in over 9 months--even when I (with her permission) upgraded her OS from Hoary to Breezy I was directed to make sure it all looked the same afterward.

My wife's analogy is a pretty good one. Her computer is like the family mini-van, it's kind of boring but it serves its purpose quite well. My computer is the hotrod with the flashy paint job and tons of chrome and lots of technical "improvements" that no one else in the family really understands or cares about. :)

fuscia

November 4th, 2005, 08:56 AM

I haven't. I do have a old computer I'm using as a testbox...hmmm. Maybe I'll give enlightenment a try this weekend.

when you check it out, make note of how many seconds it takes for those 'thought bubble' tooltips to get on your nerves. for me, it was instant rage.

Window shopping? I've wasted hours fiddling with my desktop, to my wife's chagrin.

just tell her you spend less time on your desktop than she does in the bathroom. trust me. that will go over real big.

vayu

November 4th, 2005, 09:11 AM

am i the only one who spends most of the time redecorating with all the various possibilities ubuntu has to offer?

When I first install a new system, I spend the next two days arranging and rearranging. Then after a while I finally settle down and keep a setup for a while.

benplaut

November 4th, 2005, 09:23 AM

gnome, conky, and a few hours of good tweaking, i'm happy :D

jtan325

November 4th, 2005, 10:03 AM

gnome, conky, and a few hours of good tweaking, i'm happy :D

yay for conky! :-)

fuscia

November 4th, 2005, 01:47 PM

conky??? please tell me that has alcohol in it.

kassetra

November 4th, 2005, 01:58 PM

am i the only one who spends most of the time redecorating with all the various possibilities ubuntu has to offer? i used to do the same thing with firefox. i would install every new theme and every new extension and then, dump all but the bare essentials. an hour later, i'd be back to loading it up again. with ubuntu, it's as if i have moved on to 'harder drugs'. YIPEE!!!!

Hmmm.... Let's see....

I've modified the theming engine and recompiled it for my desktop - so that it has some tweaks that I want.

I've rewritten the gtkrc file from top to bottom as well as hand edited/created all of my non-application icons. I have a custom application icon theme.

I wrote a firefox jar theme to match the new gtkrc/icon themes.

I've hand kerned the fonts I'm using as well as rewritten the .fonts.conf for more exacting control of my fonts.

hmmmm... apparently... I'm a desktop junkie. :)

Stormy Eyes

November 4th, 2005, 03:11 PM

LOL. You may not want your wife to see this post...to end that stress in our house I bought my wife her own computer.

She wouldn't mind this post at all. I got her her own PC before she even moved in with me; it was waiting for her when I carried her over the threshold. She tends not to tweak hers much either, unless she sees that I've got a theme she likes. Then I tweak it for her.

Stormy Eyes

November 4th, 2005, 03:13 PM

just tell her you spend less time on your desktop than she does in the bathroom. trust me. that will go over real big.

1. She doesn't spend that much time in the bathroom unless she decides to take a turn at making dinner. The spices she uses make the food taste uber-good, but you'll regret it in the morning.

2. I like getting laid on a regular basis. Why jeopardize that?

fuscia

November 4th, 2005, 05:13 PM

Hmmm.... Let's see....

I've modified the theming engine and recompiled it for my desktop - so that it has some tweaks that I want.

I've rewritten the gtkrc file from top to bottom as well as hand edited/created all of my non-application icons. I have a custom application icon theme.

I wrote a firefox jar theme to match the new gtkrc/icon themes.

I've hand kerned the fonts I'm using as well as rewritten the .fonts.conf for more exacting control of my fonts.

hmmmm... apparently... I'm a desktop junkie. :)

you're out of control!

2. I like getting laid on a regular basis. Why jeopardize that?

you have a practical side.

Stormy Eyes

November 4th, 2005, 05:57 PM

you have a practical side.

Yes, I do. It balances my "individual rights and personal responsibility uber alles!" idealism.

Qrk

November 4th, 2005, 07:05 PM

majikstreet

November 4th, 2005, 09:27 PM

conky rocks.

matthew

November 4th, 2005, 09:34 PM

Kelvin

November 4th, 2005, 10:17 PM

I've modified the theming engine and recompiled it for my desktop - so that it has some tweaks that I want.

I've rewritten the gtkrc file from top to bottom as well as hand edited/created all of my non-application icons. I have a custom application icon theme.

I wrote a firefox jar theme to match the new gtkrc/icon themes.

I've hand kerned the fonts I'm using as well as rewritten the .fonts.conf for more exacting control of my fonts.

:D *bows down* :D

When I grow up to be an UberPenguin, I want to be just like kassetra!

That is truly an obsession to aspire to. I think I'll start tonight!

(OK, so I have no idea how to do half of those things...yet, but I will.)

super

November 4th, 2005, 10:28 PM

i try to fiddle with as many things on my desktop as possible. i like to have different kinds of configurations for all my desktop environments (FVWM, fluxbox, e17, etc...maybe one the gods of tricked out de's can help me with this (http://www.ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=86234))

i try to keep gnome fairly simple tho, so everyone else can use it. plus if i screw one of the other window managers up, i have something to fall back to.

matthew

November 4th, 2005, 10:43 PM

[re: enlightenment]

when you check it out, make note of how many seconds it takes for those 'thought bubble' tooltips to get on your nerves. for me, it was instant rage. I had some free time this morning and have installed enlightment (version 16 from the repos) on my test computer (dual booting dapper and Debian sid...did this in dapper).

First I played around for a while just using enlightenment. The 'thought bubbles' you mentioned irritated me immediately and while I think I could get used to the interface it just wasn't for me.

Then I did Poofyhairguy's enlightened-gnome thing. That was better. I did like the look, but the pop ups and the "get too close to the right of the screen and suddenly you change desktops" bit kept freaking me out. I read in poof's howto that the second thing can be adjusted but I haven't tried to do so.

Anyway, I had a little fun. That computer under dapper has gnome, kde, xfce and enlightenment installed on it so I will keep switching between them from time to time and will play around with e16 some more later. On my main box I am pretty content with gnome and just changing the theme/icons/background regularly.

graabein

November 5th, 2005, 03:07 PM

Hmmm.... Let's see....

I've modified the theming engine and recompiled it for my desktop - so that it has some tweaks that I want.

I've rewritten the gtkrc file from top to bottom as well as hand edited/created all of my non-application icons. I have a custom application icon theme.

I wrote a firefox jar theme to match the new gtkrc/icon themes.

I've hand kerned the fonts I'm using as well as rewritten the .fonts.conf for more exacting control of my fonts.

hmmmm... apparently... I'm a desktop junkie. :)

Let's see some screenshots then! There's a thread here in community chat! :D

occy8

November 5th, 2005, 11:54 PM

I usually pile up files folders pictures and all sorts of sh.. on the desktop so that the screen blends in with its surroundings. I'm a messy person.:D
occasionly I clean up and get a new wallpaper and play with gdesklets

fuscia

November 6th, 2005, 03:56 AM

[re: enlightenment] I did like the look, but the pop ups and the "get too close to the right of the screen and suddenly you change desktops" bit kept freaking me out.

that was it for me. i'm the kind of person that likes to stare at a wall and notice the subtle changes that occur on it from sunrise to sunset. all that 'vegas on a saturday night' flashing was too much for me.

kassetra

November 6th, 2005, 04:15 AM

Let's see some screenshots then! There's a thread here in community chat! :D

http://ubuntuforums.org/gallery/showimage.php?i=1220&original=1&c=9

I've posted a few... normally every time I tweak something major... I will post a new screenie....

that was a major xorg.conf file edit - I re-wrote the modelines....

kassetra

November 6th, 2005, 04:19 AM

:D *bows down* :D

When I grow up to be an UberPenguin, I want to be just like kassetra!

That is truly an obsession to aspire to. I think I'll start tonight!

(OK, so I have no idea how to do half of those things...yet, but I will.)

LOL When I first installed linux in 97.... I learned to tweak the hell out of it - because I couldn't STAND the way it looked.

Within a four-month-period.... I had tweaked nearly every GUI facet of the desktop I was using... one of my first changes then was going from an X cursor to an arrow... figuring that out... wow...

And you have to know that as a UI dev for almost thirteen years now... redoing my UI is somewhat second nature. ;)

Learning LISP just to edit sawfish themes... however.... oh that was nasty.

matthew

November 6th, 2005, 04:54 AM

http://ubuntuforums.org/gallery/showimage.php?i=1220&original=1&c=9

I've posted a few... normally every time I tweak something major... I will post a new screenie....

that was a major xorg.conf file edit - I re-wrote the modelines....
Very nice. I like the coffee fiend one as well. :)

RawMustard

November 6th, 2005, 05:02 AM

I almost died when I couldn't find my favorite theme (clearlooks-olive) in the breezy package of gnome themes. I spent hours trying to get one I liked better, but had to settle with d3a. So much time wested.

(actually, if anyone here knows where I can find clearlooks-olive, please tell me. I miss it already.)

Just make a directory ~/.themes/Clearlooks-Olive/gtk-2.0 - Copy the below code to a gtkrc file in that directory and you should be good to go :)

style "clearlooks-default"
{
GtkButton ::default_border = { 0, 0, 0, 0 }
GtkRange ::trough_border = 0
GtkPaned ::handle_size = 6
GtkRange ::slider_width = 15
GtkRange ::stepper_size = 15
GtkScrollbar ::min_slider_length = 30
GtkCheckButton ::indicator_size = 12
GtkMenuBar ::internal-padding = 0
GtkTreeView ::expander_size = 14
GtkExpander ::expander_size = 16

xthickness = 1
ythickness = 1

fg[NORMAL] = "#201d15" # very dark brown
fg[PRELIGHT] = "#201d15" # very dark brown
fg[ACTIVE] = "#201d15" # very dark brown
fg[SELECTED] = "#201d15" # very dark brown
fg[INSENSITIVE] = "#b5b3ac" # grey

bg[NORMAL] = "#ece9d8" # beige
bg[PRELIGHT] = "#f1efe3" # light beige
bg[ACTIVE] = "#cdc7b0" # dark beige
bg[SELECTED] = "#b4c994" # olive
bg[INSENSITIVE] = "#ece9d8" # beige

base[NORMAL] = "#ffffff" # white
base[PRELIGHT] = "#b4c994" # olive
base[ACTIVE] = "#aba897" # dark olive
base[SELECTED] = "#b4c994" # olive
base[INSENSITIVE] = "#ece9d8" # beige

text[NORMAL] = "#000000" # black
text[PRELIGHT] = "#000000" # black
text[ACTIVE] = "#ffffff" # white
text[SELECTED] = "#ffffff" # white
text[INSENSITIVE] = "#a69872" # very dark brown

engine "clearlooks"
{
menubarstyle = 2 # 0 = flat, 1 = sunken, 2 = flat gradient
menuitemstyle = 1 # 0 = flat, 1 = 3d-ish (gradient), 2 = 3d-ish (button)
listviewitemstyle = 1 # 0 = flat, 1 = 3d-ish (gradient)
progressbarstyle = 0 # 0 = candy bar, 1 = flat
}
}

style "clearlooks-wide" = "clearlooks-default"
{
xthickness = 2
ythickness = 2
}

style "clearlooks-button" = "clearlooks-default"
{
xthickness = 3
ythickness = 3
}

style "clearlooks-notebook" = "clearlooks-wide"
{
bg[NORMAL] = "#e8e4d0"
bg[INSENSITIVE] = "#e8e4d0"
bg[ACTIVE] = "#d4cfb4"
}

style "clearlooks-tasklist" = "clearlooks-default"
{
xthickness = 5
ythickness = 3
}

style "clearlooks-menu" = "clearlooks-default"
{
xthickness = 2
ythickness = 1
bg[NORMAL] = "#f1eee0"
}

style "clearlooks-menu-item" = "clearlooks-default"
{
xthickness = 2
ythickness = 3
fg[PRELIGHT] = "#ffffff"
}

style "clearlooks-menu-itembar" = "clearlooks-default"
{
xthickness = 3
ythickness = 3
}

style "clearlooks-tree" = "clearlooks-default"
{
xthickness = 2
ythickness = 2
}

style "clearlooks-frame-title" = "clearlooks-default"
{
fg[NORMAL] = "#404040"
}

style "clearlooks-tooltips" = "clearlooks-default"
{
xthickness = 4
ythickness = 4
bg[NORMAL] = { 1.0,1.0,0.75 }
}

style "clearlooks-progressbar" = "clearlooks-default"
{
xthickness = 1
ythickness = 1

fg[PRELIGHT] = "#ffffff"
}

style "clearlooks-combo" = "clearlooks-default"
{
xthickness = 2
ythickness = 3
}

# widget styles
class "GtkWidget" style "clearlooks-default"
class "GtkButton" style "clearlooks-button"
class "GtkCombo" style "clearlooks-button"
class "GtkRange" style "clearlooks-wide"
class "GtkFrame" style "clearlooks-wide"
class "GtkMenu" style "clearlooks-menu"
class "GtkEntry" style "clearlooks-button"
class "GtkMenuItem" style "clearlooks-menu-item"
class "GtkStatusbar" style "clearlooks-wide"
class "GtkNotebook" style "clearlooks-notebook"
class "GtkProgressBar" style "clearlooks-progressbar"

widget_class "*MenuItem.*" style "clearlooks-menu-item"

# combobox stuff
widget_class "*.GtkComboBox.GtkButton" style "clearlooks-combo"
widget_class "*.GtkCombo.GtkButton" style "clearlooks-combo"

# tooltips stuff
widget_class "*.tooltips.*.GtkToggleButton" style "clearlooks-tasklist"
widget "gtk-tooltips" style "clearlooks-tooltips"

# treeview stuff
widget_class "*.GtkTreeView.GtkButton" style "clearlooks-tree"
widget_class "*.GtkCTree.GtkButton" style "clearlooks-tree"
widget_class "*.GtkList.GtkButton" style "clearlooks-tree"
widget_class "*.GtkCList.GtkButton" style "clearlooks-tree"
widget_class "*.GtkFrame.GtkLabel" style "clearlooks-frame-title"

# notebook stuff
widget_class "*.GtkNotebook.*.GtkEventBox" style "clearlooks-notebook"
widget_class "*.GtkNotebook.*.GtkViewport" style "clearlooks-notebook"

Otherwise, you can find all the themes here, just upack it and drag out what you want.

http://gnome-look.org/content/show.php?content=19527

Stormy Eyes

November 6th, 2005, 05:06 AM

Learning LISP just to edit sawfish themes... however.... oh that was nasty.

Ewwww... I remember trying to learn a little LISP back when I used emacs. *shudder*

I notice you're using the Tango icons. Does the deb actually work, or should I get them from CVS instead?

fuscia

November 6th, 2005, 03:17 PM

notice you're using the Tango icons. Does the deb actually work, or should I get them from CVS instead?

i got the tango icons from using that gnome-art thing (you know, that gnome-art thing).

kassetra

November 7th, 2005, 07:37 AM

Very nice. I like the coffee fiend one as well. :)

The coffee fiend one... from explodingdog.com .... ooooh I love that wallpaper so much.

I have a bunch of his images as wallpapers.

kassetra

November 7th, 2005, 07:40 AM

Ewwww... I remember trying to learn a little LISP back when I used emacs. *shudder*

I notice you're using the Tango icons. Does the deb actually work, or should I get them from CVS instead?

I'm using some of the tango icons... I'm too.... er, "picky" to use any icon theme straight up.

The tango icons... required a special tool to be installed when I got them - because you have to add an extra layer in order for your system to find the correctly named icon....

And LISP... IS TEH EVEL!

TravisNewman

November 7th, 2005, 07:41 AM

explodingdog effin' rocks. I've been going to explodingdog since he had up like 15 images. I've always loved his art.

kassetra

November 7th, 2005, 07:47 AM

explodingdog effin' rocks. I've been going to explodingdog since he had up like 15 images. I've always loved his art.

YESSSSSSSSS!

I buy his books from him - so that I can get them autographed. I typically have one of his images up for a background at LEAST once a month I've got a couple of his t-shirts too. He so rocks.

TravisNewman

November 7th, 2005, 07:48 AM

god bless sam brown.

Have you met him or do you get them autographed before shipment or what?

kassetra

November 7th, 2005, 07:54 AM

god bless sam brown.

Have you met him or do you get them autographed before shipment or what?

I've been to one of his exhibits - but no, I get him to autograph them before shipping.... I'd LOVE to get his auto in person.

ubuntu_demon

November 7th, 2005, 02:05 PM

ubuntu_demon

November 7th, 2005, 02:07 PM

LOL When I first installed linux in 97.... I learned to tweak the hell out of it - because I couldn't STAND the way it looked.

Within a four-month-period.... I had tweaked nearly every GUI facet of the desktop I was using... one of my first changes then was going from an X cursor to an arrow... figuring that out... wow...

And you have to know that as a UI dev for almost thirteen years now... redoing my UI is somewhat second nature. ;)

Learning LISP just to edit sawfish themes... however.... oh that was nasty.
So you are the perfect girl to point us to some nice howto's :)

Maybe you should write some howto's yourself whenever you aren't busy as hell :D

kassetra

November 7th, 2005, 02:33 PM

fits perfectly with my idea of your taste :-P
nice desktop btw :)

didn't know that you liked "disturbed". I listen to it sometimes.
My idea of taste... don't know if that is a compliment or not...

Disturbed... ohhh yes. I *love* David's voice.
and Orgy, Tool, Otep, Slipknot, Deftones, Ra, KoRn, NIN... etc.
But there are bunches of other types of music I like as well.

kassetra

November 7th, 2005, 02:35 PM

So you are the perfect girl to point us to some nice howto's :)

Maybe you should write some howto's yourself whenever you aren't busy as hell :D
Ummm.... that might be somewhere in the year 2025. Most of the "howtos" I've developed are all in my head - and getting them out... well... I'd need a bunch more time.

If you'd like to do my day job for a few weeks, I'd be able to get out some howtos... heh. ;)

ubuntu_demon

November 7th, 2005, 02:44 PM

My idea of taste... don't know if that is a compliment or not...

Disturbed... ohhh yes. I *love* David's voice.
and Orgy, Tool, Otep, Slipknot, Deftones, Ra, KoRn, NIN... etc.
But there are bunches of other types of music I like as well.
I just think it fits your style :)
and yeah it looks nice

ubuntu_demon

November 7th, 2005, 02:45 PM

Ummm.... that might be somewhere in the year 2025. Most of the "howtos" I've developed are all in my head - and getting them out... well... I'd need a bunch more time.

If you'd like to do my day job for a few weeks, I'd be able to get out some howtos... heh. ;)

:-P

well maybe you know some nice links to good howto's about this stuff then :)

ygarl

November 7th, 2005, 02:46 PM

I've done Gnome, KDE, XFCE, WindowMaker (current fave), ICEWM,Blackbox, Fluxbox, Enlightenment, Metacity, Ratpoison (bleh!).

I usually stick to Windowmaker and Gnome, though I like XFCE the 'bits' in it - XFFM, etc get on my nerves after a while.
So flexible... yet so hard to predict how the different tools are going to work unless you - you guessed it - fiddle with it for hours...

I like Windowmaker, because it's light, it lets me dock applications I use all the time, and I just right-click on the desktop to get to me my Program menus.
Unfortunately, it occasionally doesn't like to do some Gnome/KDE specific things properly...