[fsug-calicut] Fwd: Make Tech Easier
- From: stranger in black <gnuise@xxxxxxxxx>
- To: fsug calicut <fsug-calicut@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>, fsugknr@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx, Freesoftware users trivandrum <ilug-tvm@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Wed, 6 May 2009 20:38:43 +0530
---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Make Tech Easier <damien@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Date: Wed, May 6, 2009 at 6:00 PM
Subject: Make Tech Easier
To: junisesafvan@xxxxxxxxx
Make Tech Easier <http://maketecheasier.com>
Ubuntu: Two Ways to Keep A Clean Desktop Without Affecting Your
Efficiency<http://feedproxy.google.com/%7Er/MakeTechEasier/%7E3/hVlzAMKPHx0/06>
Posted: 06 May 2009 05:10 AM PDT
[image: clean-linuxdesktop]I love placing all the shortcut icons and files
on my Desktop because it allows me to access to my data quickly and save me
the trouble of searching for it in Nautilus.
On the other hand, I also have a passion for clean desktop. I have a huge
collection of beautiful wallpapers and I love to set my desktop to rotate
the wallpaper every 30 minutes. It is my source of inspiration and seeing
the beautiful wallpaper allows me to relax whenever I am too stress out from
my work.
Apparently, having a lot of desktop shortcuts and a clean beautiful desktop
together is not quite possible. I need a solution, a method that allows me
to clean up my Desktop, yet allows me to access to my shortcut icons and
files quickly.
1st Method: Toying with the gconf-editor
Nautilus is the app that is in charge of rendering the desktop icons. By
configuring the relevant entry in gconf-editor, you can get Nautilus to
show/hide the desktop icons. (I will not go into the detail here)
Ivy.fr<http://www.ivy.fr/blog/index.php/2008/05/08/85-from-macos-to-ubuntu-show-hide-desktop-icons-on-gnome>has
come up with a script that allows you to toggle on/off the desktop
icons. Here is the modified version.
Open a text editor and paste the following code into it:
#!/bin/bashif ( `gconftool --get
/apps/nautilus/preferences/show_desktop` == "true" ) then
gconftool --set /apps/nautilus/preferences/show_desktop \--type
boolean falseelse
gconftool --set /apps/nautilus/preferences/show_desktop \--type
boolean truefi# EOF
Save the file as *ToggleDesktop.sh* and place it in your Home folder.
On your file manager, right click on the ToggleDesktop.sh file and select *
Properties*. Select to the *Permissions* tab and make the file executable.
[image: toggledesktop-permission]
Now, whenever you click on the script, it will hide/show the desktop icons.
You can also drag and drop the script to the panel for easy access.
The limitation
While this method seems like a good way to show/hide your desktop icons, it
comes with some limitations:
1) Once you have toggled the desktop icons off, you’ll have totally no
control over the desktop. You won’t be able to access the context menu (via
right-click) and you won’t be able to change the wallpaper. If you are using
a wallpaper changing app (such as
Drapes<http://maketecheasier.com/desktop-drapes-another-gnome-wallpaper-changer/2008/07/29>),
it will no longer work.
2) This is not stable and it could cause the Nautilus to crash occasionally.
The problem is, when Nautilus crashed, it does not show any error message.
You will have completely no knowledge that it has crashed.
3) Hiding your desktop icon is fast, but getting them to display again will
have a time lag (of about 1 second).
2nd Method: Using Compiz and a lightweight file manager
The second method is an idea that I have come up on my own that allows me to
maintain a clean desktop and at the same time have quick access to my data.
It makes use of Compiz widget layer and a lightweight File Manager.
Unlike the above method, the idea here is not to hide your desktop icons,
but to create a folder to store all your Desktop icons/files and make it
into a widget where you can access it easily.
The lightweight file manager that I use is
Thunar<http://thunar.xfce.org/index.html>.
It will work too if you use Rox-Filer or PCManFM. I avoided using Nautilus
as it is the default file manager in Gnome and I don’t want it to mess up my
system.
*Instructions*
1) Create a folder in your Home directory and name it *Desktop_Folder*.
2) Move all your desktop shortcuts and files to this folder. In the future,
this will be the folder where you place all your shortcuts and files that
you want to have quick access to.
3) Install Thunar and CompizConfig Settings Manager
sudo apt-get install thunar compizconfig-settings-manager
4) Open up Compiz Config Manager (*System-> Preferences->CompizConfig
Settings Manager*)
5) Go to the *Widget Layer *section. Click on the *Behavior* tab.
Enter the following in the Widget Windows field
title=Desktop_Folder - File Manager & class=Thunar
[image: compiz-widget-behavior]
6) Click on the *General* tab, on the third row of “Toggle Widget Display”,
configure the screen corner to activate the widget. For me, I chose the
bottom right corner.
[image: compiz-widget-corner]
(Check out this
article<http://maketecheasier.com/how-to-turn-any-applications-to-a-widget-in-ubuntu/2008/08/04>for
more detail on setting any applications to be a widget in Ubuntu)
7) Close Compiz Settings Manager. Go to *System->Preferences-> Sessions* (or
Startup Applications if you are using Jaunty). Create a new entry and enter
the following:
*Name:* Thunar
*Command:* thunar /home/your_username/Desktop_Folder
That’s it. Whenever you startup your computer, Thunar will load up with the
*Desktop_Folder* directory and hide itself behind the screen (in the widget
layer). Whenever you need to access your files, simply point your mouse to
the bottom right corner of the screen to display Thunar. There you will find
all your shortcuts and files.
Let me know if these two methods work for you. If you have any other ways to
keep a clean desktop without affecting your efficiency, do let me know in
the comments.
Image credit: indra-wahyudi <http://www.flickr.com/photos/indra-wahyudi/>
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junise safvan
project guidance on vhdl, image processing, embedded system designing etc
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