How to Add Images as Wallpapers Directly in Nautilus (file manager) in Ubuntu?

Yes I know, Gnome desktop or its applications in general are painfully simpler for most of us :) (I'm serious!) . But at least, I don't know about other applications, but the default file management utility in Gnome, the Nautilus does let you expand its features via plugins (scripts actually) with ease.

Anyhow, if you're a bit new to Ubuntu, then I'm pretty sure by now that you've figure out that unlike with many other desktops, once inside Nautilus file manager, you just can't right click on an image and "set it as a wallpaper". What!, yep :).

First we gotta open it and then via the default image handler and then by clicking on its window we'll be able to do it. But it's a bit of a work and not the most easiest nor the enjoyable thing to do either. 

Luckily, there's a Nautilus extension/script that once installed, lets you easily set any image extension as a wallpaper, it's called "nautilus-wallpaper" (obviously :D).

Just right-click on any image and from the menu, you'll see a new one called "Set as Wallpaper"...

You can install this "nautilus-wallpaper" script in Ubuntu 11.04, 10.10 and 10.04 (perhaps it'll also work in latter versions...) by using the below command in your Terminal window.

sudo apt-get install nautilus-wallpaper

But for the changes to apply properly, you either have to re-login into the desktop or simply restart Nautilus by using the below command.

nautilus -q

That's it.

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How to Install Orta Theme Pack in Ubuntu 11.04 Natty Natty Narwhal?

Gnome desktop is well known for its simplicity but some (including me) finds it too simple because when it comes to customizing the desktop according to your preference easily... well I've got two words for ya... "good luck", cause you're gonna need it.

Lets forget the other aspects of the desktop... but they don't even give you the ability to change the colours of the themes (title bars, buttons, fonts, etc) for instance because some core developers seems to believe that if you're an "advanced user" or use the computer for a single "major" purpose, other than doing actually nothing productive but playing with it, then you won't be needing those type of "options".

In a way this is true. For instance, I remember a time not that long ago when I was quite obsessed with tweaking themes and stuff. I wanted to make my desktop look absolutely beautiful and perfect thus I spent countless hours for doing so. And other than that... all I did at that time with my GNU/Linux (well I had Widows as well) Laptop was watching videos and listening to music.

Interestingly I had an another friend who primarily used his computer to use a certain application (it was a 3D graphic rendering app I think), it was basically the only program that he used (almost), I went to see him every weekend and even after several months he had the "official" theme that came with the OS and he haven't even changed a single thing!.

So in a way this is not wrong because if you're concentrating and doing something "productive" using your PC then you'll have lesser needs to think about how cool you can make the desktop and windows look, etc.

But the point is that everyone is different so are their needs and implementing something as small as giving the users the ability to change colours... I mean come one Gnome, be reasonable!. I really don't like this approach of Gnome developers of "trying to figure-out everything for the users" all by themselves and to think that it makes them unique or something like that. So please try to be reasonable.

Anyhow back to the post. Sorry about the rambling... but it kinda slipped out :).

Orta is actually a beautiful theme-suite (I guess you can call it like that) and unlike with many other themes... what I like about it that, it has an another application called "Orta Settings Manager" which basically lets you change a lot of it options such as...

*. Change window gradients.

*. Switch between tab styles (dark and light colours combinations).

*. Change expanders (square, arrows, etc).

*. Change scrollbar size.

*. Built in few Nautilus menubar styles (breadcrumbs, Nautilus Elementary type styles, etc).

The "settings manager" window...

*. Different types of menus.

*. Change panel colour (personal favourite :D).

And few other application related "fixes" for enhancing the GTK graphic rendering are the main features. So, a big thank to SkiesOfAzel the developer of this amazingly beautiful theme.

But as said, no manual colour selection is available (other than the built in ones) but the controllability and the features makes you wonder how cool Gnome will look if the developers were kind enough to include a "decent" theme manager by default :/.

Anyhow, you can install Orta-theme in Ubuntu 11.04 Natty Narwhal and 10.10 by using their official PPA channel. To do that, simple open your GNU/Linux Terminal and enter the below command.

sudo add-apt-repository ppa:nikount/orta-desktop

sudo apt-get update

sudo apt-get install orta-theme

If you encounter any errors saying some files are missing, etc while doing the "apt-get update" ... just ignore it... it works just fine on my Ubuntu 11.04 Laptop. 

It's made to integrate quite nicely with the Faenza Icon theme which is not necessary... but if you want the maximum "experience" ;-), then you can install it by using the below command as well.

sudo apt-add-repository ppa:tiheum/equinox
sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get install faenza-icon-theme

Sometimes the changes that you made via the "Orta settings manager" (accessed via: "System" -> " Preference") may not be applied unless you restart the PC or change the theme to a different one and then re-change it to Orta. Enjoy!.

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How to Make Gnome Desktop Automatically Change the Wallpaper?

Despite all the criticisms against it, still the one of the oldest parts of the GNU, the GTK+ written (now uses the GTK3+ toolkit with the Gnome 3) Gnome is one of the most popular choices among the GNU/Linux users when it comes to the desktop.

The GUI is extremely simplified thus it's pretty easy to learn to use it (especially if you're coming from the Mac OSX environment :D) but as mentioned, most of the time we'll have to depend on "external" applications when it comes to "computing" or doing certain things, since Gnome does lack some features. 

Anyhow, I don't know if we can call this feature a "must have" but nonetheless, if you want to make Gnome automatically change its wallpaper, well, by default you can't.

Although it has a simple desktop customisation window which lets you do things like change the wallpaper, add pictures from online sources (Gnome artwork, etc), change font, etc but it won't let you automatically change the wallpaper on a timely basis.

In that case, especially if you use Ubuntu Linux (the app maybe available for other major distributions) then there is an excellent utility called Cortina that does exactly that!.

Main features...

*. Once installed it'll run from the notification area and let you add wallpaper locations from local storage devices such as HDD/USB, etc easily.

*. Change the wallpaper from a timely basis automatically, finally! :D.

*. Lets you choose it to run when the desktop is loading.

*. Delete pictures from the "collection".

One thing though, once done configuring, don't click on the "close" button at the title-bar, use the big "Close" button below instead, otherwise it'll exit from running thus no more automatic wallpaper changing, etc...

*. Set pictures to - Zoom/scale/centre/spanned, etc

*. Change the time-frame.

That's about it. It's an amazingly simple yet extremely useful app if you want to automatically change those wallpapers nonetheless.

You can install Cortina in Ubuntu 11.04, 10.10 or 10.04 by using its PPA. To do that, open your GNU/Linux terminal and enter the below command.

sudo apt-add-repository ppa:cs-sniffer/cortina

sudo apt-get update

sudo apt-get install cortina

That's it. Once installed you can access it via: "Applications" -> "Graphics" -> "Cortina" in classic Gnome desktop. Enjoy it!.

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How to Remove Nautilus Thumbnail Cache Folder in GNU/Linux (Gnome)?

Nautilus is default file manager of the GTK written GNU desktop, Gnome. Although this is not the only file manager for GNU/Linux yet, it's simple, easy to use and a pretty "decent" application nonetheless.

Nautilus is actually inspired by Apple's Mac OS's file manager without a doubt and if you want even more simpler "versions" of Nautilus then other file managers such as Thunar and Elementary are quite good too. Even the Unity desktop still uses the Nautilus as the primary file manager in its desktop as well.

Unlike with MS Windows where it save the thumbnails of files it generates within the each folder itself, Nautilus on the other hand stores all the generated thumbnails of videos, pictures, etc in a single folder. Now in comparison with the Microsoft Windows... both these "methods" have their own good and bad aspects about which I won't be talking, since it's out of the scope of this post.

The "decent" Nautilus :)...

Anyway, why is it important to clear this Nautilus Thumbnail cache?

Well, depending on the occasion, this can come in real handy. For instance, say that after installing Ubuntu Linux for the first time, you entered into a folder which contains nothing but video files.

Say that you haven't installed the proprietary codecs, then Nautilus will fail to generate any video thumbnails and "mark" them as "failed" thumbnails. As a result, even after you install all those proprietary codecs, and whenever you enter that "failed thumbnails" folder afterwards, Nautilus, still, will not generate and display thumbnails because it now has an entry which says that it's impossible for that folder.

In that case our solution is to manually delete that cache which would resolve the matter (obviously).

So, how the heck can I do that Gayan?

Simple actually. By default Nautilus stores all those cached/thumbnail details in a folder called "thumbnails" in your "Home" folder.

So after open your "Home" folder and simply press "Ctrl" + "H" keys on your keyboard to make nautilus show hidden files... then scroll down until you see a folder called ".thumbnails" as shown in the below screenshot.

Inside that folder you'll see other 3 folders named "fail", "large", "normal". Now as you can guess, simply go inside of the "fail" folder and there will be another folder called "gnome-thumbnail-factory". Go inside that as well and simply press "Ctrl" + "A" keys and delete them all.

Now close the window and enter the folder/location which Nautilus refused to generate any thumbnails... now when you enter it... it should give you those beautiful looking picture previews, at last :D. Enjoy it!.

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Install "GConf Cleaner" in Ubuntu Linux (A "Registry" Cleaner for GTK/Gnome Desktop!)

Just like any other operating system, GNU/Linux also stores its most important configuration files using various ways. Some are embedded into the root directory itself... but as everyone knows, the desktop and the Kernel are separately developed in GNU/Linux, both Gnome and KDE desktops (including other of course) store their user configuration files separately.

Concerning the GTK written Gnome, it stores its main configurations such as menus, window behaviors (you know, what should happen when you right-click on the title bar or its button layout, etc), default fonts and their sizes, applications and their assigned extensions (such as Totem for both playing and creating video thumbnails for various formats, etc), default icons for applications are just a few to mention...

... this database is managed in Gnome by using an application called "GConf-Editor". Now whenever you install a new program in Gnome (say in Ubuntu Linux) then those applications automatically use Gconf-editor as a way of applying their settings such as integrating into the main menu in the desktop, etc across all the users for instance.

So as you can see the more apps that you install the more settings are added. Although whenever you uninstall these apps, they do remove those Gconf entries but since nothing is perfect, some portions of these applications can still be "left inside" in Gconf database thus slow downing your Gnome desktop!.

Finally!, something useful :)...

It is obviously not possible to manually check each entry and clean it all by hand and on the other hand the average users (like you and me :D) won't have enough knowledge even to think about doing something like that either.

In that sense, there is a GUI tool written in GTK+ toolkit called "Gconf Cleaner" that does exactly that. It first scans your Gnome Gconf-database/registry and identifies the entries that are no longer used by applications. So all you gotta do is just press a button, and it'll clean all those unused entries within seconds!.

However, I couldn't save these settings :/, it just crashed, could be a bug... 

If you use Ubuntu 11.04 Natty Narwhal (should work in 10.04 and 10.10 as well) then you can install Gconf Cleaner by entering the below command in your Terminal.

sudo apt-get install gconf-cleaner

Once installed you can run it by pressing "Alt" + "F2" keys and entering the below command in that box or in Unity dash.

gconf-cleaner

+ It can also be launched via: "Applications" -> "System Tools", in the classic Gnome desktop if you like.

I don't use Unity desktop much but since it uses the Gconf-editor, not only on the classic Gnome desktop but this should clean entries in Unity as well.

Note: I don't know if it's a bug, but when I tried to save my gconf settings, the app just crashed. Although I can click on the forward button and clean the entries... but since you can't create a backup... use it at your own risk.

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How to Install Gimmix Music Player in Ubuntu Linux?

If you love the now a bit forgotten yet easy to use and simple music players written in C and GTK+2 toolkit that has a GUI similar to the Winamp (what is that? ;-) ), then you'll love Gimmix. If you want a fast loading, effective and fully featured application, then this is pretty awesome.

Don't be fooled by its simplicity since as mentioned it has built in features that most other similar application come with nonetheless.

Few of the main features...

*. Elegant and simple GUI. 

*. Has a Library browser.

*. Search for files within the Library.

*. Amazon album cover art support.

*. ID3 Tag editing (version 2) ability.

*. Automatic lyrics fetching.

*. Switch between compact and full views.

*. Sys tray icon + notification ability (those pop-ups which display currently playing file duration, etc)... are just a few to mention.

Although I don't think it's in active development these days but seriously the application itself downloading size is about 192Kb and it is well known for its ability to use less system resources (RAM) which is very important for dudes like me who has old GNU/Linux Laptop or PCs :).

If you use Ubuntu 11.04 Natty Narwhal, 10.10 or 10.04 versions then you can install Gimmix 0.5.7.1 by using the below command in your Terminal.

sudo apt-get install gimmix

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They Weren't Kidding... Gnome OS is Underway!

Unlike with MS Windows or Mac OSX, even from the beginning GNU/Linux is (or "was" :) ) a somewhat "scattered" operating system. I mean, while a community of programmers design the Kernel others are busy building a desktop environment and lot of others are developing individual applications of their own which is something totally different from MS Windows, etc since all the parts of their operating system is being built by the same "people".

So basically, we don't have a KDE OS or a Gnome OS (not until now). We have distributions where group of individuals "collects" these Kernels and desktop designs (built using various toolkits such as Qt or GTK, etc) and various other applications such as office packages, multimedia utilities, etc and "merge" them together, the end result is a complete operating system.

Few months ago, Jon McCann (a serious Gnome contributor) started a little "buzz" within the community saying the need for an operating system which is developed/distributed/maintained directly by the Gnome developers!. It's called Gnome OS. He gave his "reasons" by saying few interesting things...

"We are dividing and conquering ourselves – lost before we begin.  Are we so hungry and desperate that we must devour each other in order to survive?  I hope not.  These tribal distribution boundaries are guarded jealously and they fight over the smallest (one) percentage of the market and mindshare.

I think it is time we reunite.

If we want to change the game, think big, and demonstrate that we can truly be relevant – we need to work together... we need to start at the source. We need to start with GNOME."

This is understandable from my personal experience actually. Because I come from a country where not that long ago two tribes fought viciously with each other, killing thousands of their fellow humans. When the war was going on, the people on those tribes worked together (within their tribe, of course). They were busy fighting the common enemy, thus there were less "space" for individual "greed".

The war was "ended" recently. Now we're busy building an economy, yet we find it easier to fight with everyone and it has nothing to do with what side you're in, anymore.

Back to the story....

Anyhow, when I first heard Jon talking about it for the first time, I actually didn't think it'll be developing at this "rate" :). For a start, now they have an OS whiteboard which describes various aspects of this Gnome OS such as ...

OS booting process and Login screen. 

The official booting logo is still developing at the moment, so there's nothing much to talk about right now. But they're planning on implementing a logo of their own using the Playmouth utility (an application that's written to display graphical logo/backgrounds at the early stage of the boot process).

They certainly won't be giving us a pure Black background by saying that...

"Background cannot be pure black (#000) due to the way monitors align video images. However, #080808 for example is OK."

By default it'll be running at a resolution of 800x600 in your Monitor.

Log-in Screen

They use GDM (it's actually John who's the current maintainer and the creator of GDM) for the log-in process... and they've released few screenshots of how it looks, well, it looks like Gnome3 :). See below picture.

At the moment it seems that we cannot change the Keyboard Layouts at this GDM log-in screen, but I think that will most definitely change.

A GTK3 Written installation Wizard

This is still at its very beginning. But again, looks good. For instance, I don't like that welcome screen which displays "Gnome3, it's here!", because it's been "here" for sometime now. So, hopefully it'll change. For a good OS installer... this Gnome OS wizard seems to have it all.

Starting with Hardware detection, disk partitioning to install/upgrade your system, it looks simple... but looks good. Again, without seeing it for real, it might be a mistake to praise much at this point :).

Have a look at the below screenshots to understand it better.

Click to enlarge...

Post OS installation...

Well, like with many other distributions, Gnome OS will also have a post OS installation wizard that would help you to setup things like your Clock/Regional settings, setup networks, create a fresh user account, etc.

It'll also come with a screen locking feature and an on screen keyboard as well.

If must, it'll Die with Dignity! ;-)

If it's confronted by "evil" and crashed the entire OS or a part of it, then Gnome OS will do its best to give the users the ability to file a decent bug report which would help programmers to understand about the technical attributes of the problem. They've "divided" the OS into five different layers, which would make it easy to file bug reports and enhance stability in general as well.

Here are the five main "layers" - Application, System, OS Shell, OS Core Services and the Kernel itself. According to the bug reporting whiteboard...

"In general, the handling of each type of trouble should be handled by the layer above it. Application problems should be handled by the Shell. Shell problems handled by Core Services (probably GDM or plymouth). And kernel failures by the boot system. And boot system failures by the firmware."

It has a simple bug reporting (GUI) tool, which again would change its "options" as time passes by.

OS Updates

This is one of the most important aspects of an operating system which helps to "patch" bugs and get latest features which again helps tremendously to fight against computer viruses/hacker attacks, etc. Again, the update wizard should be quite simple because I don't think most users even read if it consists of "all-technical" type attributes.

So, it should be informative, in a more intuitive way (you know, stimulating a little fear through our backs :D )  to the point of "forcing" the user (in a good way :P) to get the updates, if those updates are that serious. Anyway, it's too early to form an opinion about it... yet when considering its fast approach, heck, I think we should see its official release sooner that anyone would've expected it.

You can get updated information about it from this official Gnome OS-Design Whiteboards page.

Any thoughts about this Gnome OS??.

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Drivel, A Blog Post Editing Client for Gnome Desktop!

If you're a professional web master or a simple blogger (like me ;) ) and use GNU/Linux as your main operating system and looking for a way to create and publish blog posts in your site without using a web browser, directly using an app that works from the Gnome desktop, then Drivel is the answer.

It comes with a very simple yet powerful GUI which is easy get used to (in fact, it'll look similar to your current post editor as well) and lets you do things like...

*. Post new content.

*. Edit/Delete the already existing ones.

*. HTML syntax highlighting and spell-checking.

*. Saves your written content automatically, so if something like an OS crash occurs... then you'd most probably get your data back.

*. Supports a lot of blogging platforms such as - Wordpress, Blogger, LiveJournal, Drupal, etc.

If you use Ubuntu 11.04 Natty Narwhal then get the .deb package from here.

For Ubuntu 10.10 users, get it from here. Once the downloading completes, simply double click on the .deb file and follow the instructions on your screen. That's it.

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How To Take a Screenshot (Including Menus) in Ubuntu?

This actually can also be used in Gnome desktop in general, if I'm not mistaken. Now here's the thing, unless you install a dedicated screenshot taker, by default, with Gnome desktop (using Ubuntu 11.04 in Gnome classic desktop for this example), unlike with Microsoft Windows, you can't take a screenshot while your mouse pointer is at a menu. Don't believe me, just give it a try.

For instance, you can always take a screenshot of your desktop any given time by simply pressing the "print-screen" button on your Keyboard. But say that you were accessing a certain menu in your Totem video player or the main programs menu in Gnome, then try pushing the "print-screen" button at the same time ... nothing happens :(.

Although as an answer, as mentioned before, you can use a dedicated application for that but if all you want is, "just" to take a screenshot (while accessing a menu) then you don't have to install any other software, just follow the below method and you should be able to get that "full" screenshot with ease!.

*. From the main menu, go to: "Applications" > "Accessories" > "Take Screenshot"

Now from the window that you get (as shown below), choose your preference (either to grab the whole screen, current window only or define the area manually) but under the "Grab after a delay of" option, set the seconds that the screenshot taking app's waiting time (5-10... or any seconds you like).

You can also choose things like "include pointer" and "include widow border" and add few effects as well.

So as a general rule, it's a wise thing to set it above 5 seconds so you can navigate in your menu. After that press "Take Screenshot" button, go to your menu location and simply wait.

Once the app automatically takes your screenshot after the delay is complete, it'll open itself in a new window in which you can give a location where to save, etc. That's it. Hope this helped :D.

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Plank, A Very Simple Yet an Elegant Dock for GNU/Linux

A "dock" that lets you keep your running programs or application shortcuts are very popular these days. Although it was Apple who introduced it first with their earlier versions of Mac OS... but since Gnome does praise Apple's way of designing UI... having a "dock" is a must these days it seems, especially for the Gnome Geeks :P.

Anyhow, the Plank dock is created by the Docky Core Team thus it inherits a bit of this and that from docky as well. It is written using a new programming language called Vala (created by Gnome developers) which has a reputation of being able to create software that use less memory requirements.

Although you won't get a lot of features with Plank but you can add/remove apps or shortcuts and make it automatically hide when not needed, etc nonetheless. Once installed you should be able to access it via: Applications -> Accessories -> Dock Plank.

In Ubuntu 10.10 and 11.04 you can install Plank by issuing the below command.

sudo apt-add-repository ppa:ricotz/docky
sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get install plank

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