Gnome Globalmenu

Global Menu is the globally-shared menu bar of all applications launched in your desktop session.

In other words, it works more like the menu bars you see on a Mac. Its very useful and works brilliantly. Although support for many apps are missing, its in constant development and improvements are likely to be seen very soon. The installation guide for the app is quite exhaustive and doesnt need any explanation, so I'll direct you to the guide: www.code.google.com/p/gnome2-globalmenu/wiki/InstallingonUbuntu

Okay, so after you have installed it, you need to add this applet to the panel. Right click on the GNOME panel, select Add to Panel and then select Global Menu panel Applet from the list. Thats all. Try it out. And of course if you dont like it, you can remove it the usual way by typing sudo apt-get remove gnome-globalmenu

Add random colours to burn effect of Compiz

The default burn effect of Compiz can get a bit boring after sometime. So, here's something to 'lighten' things up.

First up, go to GNOME Menu > System > Preferences > Compiz Config Settings Manager

You will now have to go to the Animations Add-on option:



Next, select the Random Colored Fire option:



Thats it! Now close the window and watch the magic unfold!

If you havent activated Compiz or configured it, please go through this post.

Transparency (contd.)

This is actually a continuation of the Transparency post (already covered in another post) which can be found here.

The type of transparency which I'm going to mention today will change the transparency of the panels without changing the transparency of the docks (which you might be using). So basically this is transparency in the truest sense.

First up you need Compiz installed. For that check out this post.

Open Compiz (GNOME Menu > Preferences >CompizConfig Settings Manager). This is what you’ll see:



Now do you notice that small tab which says “Opacity, Brightness and Saturation”? Click on that tab and it will open with this:



Notice carefully, you can see a “New” button on this window under ‘Window specific settings’. This image will help you out:



After you click on “New”, type the following exactly as is:

(class=Gnome-panel) & !(type=Menu | PopupMenu | Dialog | DropdownMenu)

Set the value to around 70, I have found best results with 67. But do check which value suits you best.

Next if you want to change the transparency of the windows, this is how you do it:

First up, install Ubuntu Tweak. If you havent installed it already, the guide for the installation is here.

Now coming to the panel window transparency. Open Ubuntu Tweak from GNOME Menu > System Tools > Ubuntu Tweak. Go to the Desktop >Windows option and select the settings as given here (change the values to suit your needs):



I have set active and inactive windows transparency to 1.00 and 0.75 respectively. Try it out and check what suits you best.

Thats it! This will give you transparency in the truest sense.

Remove programs from WINE

Now uninstalling programs installed under WINE is pretty easy isnt it? But sometimes, even though you have uninstalled a program, the menus of it might persist in the GNOME Menu > WINE > Programs

This is quite a common problem with an easy solution. The next time you see list of programs in the menu which you have already uninstalled, do this:

Go to /home/username/.local/share/applications/wine/Programs folder (the username being your username) and delete the files which have the names of that already removed program.

Thats it! Close the folder and check the GNOME menu now, your WINE menu will be exactly as it should be.




(For tips on how you should install WINE and modify it to benefit you, check out another blog post of mine here)

Transparency

This is perhaps one of the most important aspects of the 'look' of Ubuntu and its panels. And especially since Windows 7 has taken transparency to a whole new level now! :P What if you could make the GNOME panels and the title bars of the windows transparent?

I'm not exactly sure if there's any comprehensive tutorial on transparency yet. That way, you are in luck!

First things first, you'll need Compiz and Ubuntu Tweak to do this. If you have been following my blog, you might have come across the two guided tutorials on the installation of both of them. If, however, you have missed those posts, here's a link to those tutorials (do go through both the posts as you'll need both the softwares installed):

Click here for a complete guide to Compiz installation and setup
and,
Click here for a complete guide to Ubuntu Tweak installation and setup

So, this is how you make your GNOME panel transparent:

Open Compiz (GNOME Menu > Preferences >CompizConfig Settings Manager). This is what you'll see:



Now do you notice that small tab which says "Opacity, Brightness and Saturation"? Click on that tab and it will open with this:



Notice carefully, you can see a "New" button on this window under 'Window specific settings'. This image will help you out:



After you click on "New", type the following exactly as is:

type=dock

and set the Window Value to 70 (change this to suit your needs). This pic will make the scenario clear:



Now coming to the panel window transparency. Open Ubuntu Tweak from GNOME Menu > System Tools > Ubuntu Tweak. Go to the Desktop >Windows option and select the settings as given here (change the values to suit your needs):



Thats it! Say hello to transparency! :)

(For another take on a different type of transparency check out another post on this blog here)

Install Kubuntu alongwith Ubuntu

Here's a bit of a suggestion for those who have Ubuntu installed and want to try out KDE and dont want to format their hard drives or run it from the Live CD.

First up go to Synaptic. How do you do that? System>Administration>Synaptic Package Manager

In the synaptic package manager search bar, type "kubuntu-desktop" and the following search results will be produced:

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

So, click on the first result, i.e. kubuntu-desktop and mark it for installation. Once you mark it, it'll show you the names of dependent packages which need to be installed but click on the option "Mark":

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

After that its pretty much simple. Restart your Ubuntu (recommended) or simply log out.

In the next login screen you'll see the following at the bottom:
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Click on the menu where its written "GNOME" and from the drop down menu select "KDE". Next log in with your username and password just as you would with Ubuntu. (By the way, this step requires that you disable auto login. To do that, go to System>Administration>Login Screen and then click "unlock". Enter your keyring password and select the first option "Show the screen for choosing who will log in") Mind you can always log in to your default Ubuntu by selecting GNOME from the login screen and then logging in with your username and password.

Thats it, you'll be taken to the really cool looking Kubuntu KDE interface!

However if you dont like the Kubuntu installation and want to remove it, here's a really cool trick.
Just open your terminal and copy paste the following (yeah, thats the command, no kidding!) :


------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

sudo apt-get remove akonadi-server akregator amarok amarok-common amarok-utils apport-kde apturl-kde ark cdrdao dolphin dragonplayer exiv2 foomatic-db-gutenprint gdebi-kde gnupg-agent gtk2-engines-qtcurve gwenview hpijs-ppds ibus-qt4 ijsgutenprint imagemagick install-package jockey-kde k3b k3b-data kaddressbook kamera kate kcm-gtk kde-icons-oxygen kde-style-qtcurve kde-window-manager kde-zeroconf kdebase-bin kdebase-data kdebase-plasma kdebase-runtime kdebase-runtime-bin-kde4 kdebase-runtime-data kdebase-runtime-data-common kdebase-workspace-bin kdebase-workspace-data kdebase-workspace-kgreet-plugins kdebase-workspace-libs4+5 kdebluetooth kdegraphics-strigi-plugins kdelibs-bin kdelibs5 kdelibs5-data kdemultimedia-kio-plugins kdepasswd kdepim-groupware kdepim-kresources kdepim-runtime kdepim-runtime-data kdepim-runtime-libs4 kdepim-strigi-plugins kdepim-wizards kdepimlibs-data kdepimlibs5 kdesudo kdm kfind khelpcenter4 kipi-plugins klipper kmag kmail kmix kmousetool knotes konq-plugins konq-plugins-l10n konqueror konqueror-nsplugins konqueror-plugin-searchbar konqueror-plugins konsole kontact kopete korganizer kpackagekit kppp krdc krfb ksnapshot ksysguard ksysguardd ksystemlog ktimetracker ktorrent ktorrent-data kubuntu-artwork-usplash kubuntu-default-settings kubuntu-desktop kubuntu-docs kubuntu-firefox-installer kubuntu-konqueror-shortcuts kvkbd kwalletmanager kwin-style-qtcurve language-selector-qt libakonadiprivate1 libao2 libaudio2 libboost-program-options1.38.0 libclucene0ldbl libepub0 libexiv2-5 libfftw3-3 libflac++6 libindicate-qt0 libjpeg-progs libk3b6 libkabcommon4 libkcddb4 libkdcraw7 libkdecorations4 libkdepim4 libkexiv2-7 libkipi6 libkleo4 libknotificationitem1 libkonq5 libkonq5-templates libkonqsidebarplugin4 libkontactinterfaces4 libkopete4 libkorundum4-ruby1.8 libkpgp4 libksane0 libksieve4 libkwineffects1 liblancelot0 liblastfm0 liblzma0 libmimelib4 libmodplug0c2 libmpcdec3 libmsn0.1 libokularcore1 libotr2 libpackagekit-glib11 libpackagekit-qt11 libplasma3 libpolkit-dbus2 libpolkit-grant2 libpolkit-qt0 libpolkit2 libpoppler-qt4-3 libqca2 libqca2-plugin-ossl libqimageblitz4 libqscintilla2-5 libqt4-assistant libqt4-dbus libqt4-designer libqt4-help libqt4-network libqt4-opengl libqt4-phonon libqt4-qt3support libqt4-ruby1.8 libqt4-script libqt4-scripttools libqt4-sql libqt4-sql-mysql libqt4-sql-sqlite libqt4-svg libqt4-test libqt4-webkit libqt4-xml libqt4-xmlpatterns libqtcore4 libqtgui4 libqtscript4-core libqtscript4-gui libqtscript4-network libqtscript4-sql libqtscript4-uitools libqtscript4-xml libruby1.8 libscim8c2a libsmokekde4-2 libsmokeqt4-2 libsoprano4 libstreamanalyzer0 libstreams0 libstrigiqtdbusclient0 libtag-extras1 libtidy-0.99-0 libvncserver0 libxcb-shape0 libxcb-shm0 libxcb-xv0 libxine1 libxine1-bin libxine1-console libxine1-misc-plugins libxine1-x libzip1 mysql-server-core-5.1 okular okular-extra-backends openoffice.org-kde openoffice.org-style-oxygen oxygen-cursor-theme packagekit packagekit-backend-apt phonon-backend-xine pinentry-gtk2 pinentry-qt4 plasma-dataengines-addons plasma-dataengines-workspace plasma-scriptengine-python plasma-widget-facebook plasma-widget-folderview plasma-widget-googlecalendar plasma-widget-indicatordisplay plasma-widget-kimpanel plasma-widget-kubuntu-qa-feedback plasma-widget-lancelot plasma-widget-networkmanagement plasma-widget-quickaccess plasma-widgets-addons plasma-widgets-workspace policykit printer-applet python-kde4 python-packagekit python-qt4 python-qt4-dbus python-sip4 quassel quassel-data ruby ruby1.8 software-properties-kde soprano-daemon speedcrunch system-config-printer-kde systemsettings ttf-arphic-uming ttf-dejavu ttf-dejavu-extra update-manager-kde update-notifier-kde usb-creator-kde userconfig && sudo apt-get install ubuntu-desktop

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

(Reference: http://www.psychocats.net/ubuntu/puregnome)

And hit enter. Enter your administrator/sudo password and all the KDE dependent apps will be uninstalled and you will be returned to your native Ubuntu installation. Hope this helps.