Configuring my KDE4 desktop--ongoing thread
 

Hi, all:

I have Kubuntu Hardy Heron 8.04 and KDE 4.1.1. I'm starting this thread to get help with the multiple configuration issues I'm having with my KDE. I'm going to list the stuff I want to do with my desktop, and see if people can come up with solutions to them. This is half wish-list, and half request for help.

1. I have compiz-fusion, and I want different wallpapers for each desktop (currently I use 4 virtual desktops and the Cube configuration).

2. I want to be able to specify which desktop a particular widget goes on.

3. I'd like to configure different virtual desktops for individual tasks, like: (1)--home desktop with weather, RSS, time, Twitter, Facebook, and other info gizmos along with Kontact widgets for mail and alarms and file management stuff like Krusader; (2)--development desktop with quick starters for my Eclipse and KompoZer and widgets for code snippets and updates on my fave forums like Nabble and the Java Development Forums; (3)--entertainment desktop with quick starters for VLC Player, Amarok widget, iPod info widget, YouTube subscription widget that auto-opens new videos in VLC or Flash, and other similar, and (4)--working desktop with Open Office most frequently accessed files and folders widget, quick starter for Open Office apps, link to my dissertation files and database, etc, and dictionary/thesaurus widget, Blogger widget for quick blog updates and other relevant writing widgets.

4. I'd like some hot keys to automatically open KRunner, Konsole, Firefox, Krusader, and Add/Remove Programs. I'd like hot keys to auto-switch to whatever desktop I want to be working on.

5. I'd like to understand the difference between the cube and the cylinder--which one seems better for my interface, based on what you all have seen that I'd like to accomplish?

6. I'd like to be able to specify a different folder for random wallpaper slideshows for each different desktop (like for my home desktop, use pix of friends or pets, for the development desktop, use Java Fact Of The Day or something similar, for the entertainment desktop, use a folder full of Johnny Depp and Russell Crowe, for the work desktop, use a folder of non-distracting landscape and flower images, etc).

7. I'd like KRunner to be a widget, cuz it's useful as hell.

8. I'd like to specify different home tabs for Firefox based on which desktop I open it in (like in the entertainment desktop, if I open Firefox, it opens tabs at IMDB, TV.com, Netflix, and so forth, if I open Firefox in the development desktop, it opens tabs in the Sun Developers Forum, Nabble, Koders, etc, and so forth).

9. I REALLY want the centered maxpect issue fixed with the desktop wallpaper; I have many wallpaper images that aren't 1024x768, like movie posters for Watchmen, captured images from my favorite comic books and graphic novels, and stuff like that. They're all distorted in the current slideshow.

10. I'd like to know where the hell all these nifty widgets are being stored, like the moon-phase one or whatever, cuz they don't show up when I'm trying to install new widgets on my desktop. Maybe an option to install official KDE widgets, or to browse through third-party widgets when clicking on "Add New Widgets" in the context menu?

11. I want Crystal for KDE4.1.1. It is GORGEOUS with the transparency.

12. I'd like the panel at the bottom to only show the windows I have open in a particular desktop. If I have Firefox open in desktop one, and not in desktop three, I should be able to switch to desktop three and not see Firefox at the bottom.

This concludes my current wishlist. When/If I have my dream configuration, I'll post up a YouTube vid of my desktop with all the nifties on it, so people can see what I've done with this information. I anticipate this taking a long time to do, but when I DO have it configured the way I want, I'll direct people to this post so that we can all benefit! I know it's going to take time, and that some of this stuff might have to wait until KDE 4.2, but every little bit helps.

Does anyone have ideas on where to start for any of these items? Or other cool ideas?

The last one (12) is easy - just right-click on task manager on the panel and choose "Task Manager settings" :)

Your number 10 - in Kubuntu they currently reside in /usr/lib/kde4/lib/kde4 . This will change once KDE4 makes it as a default desktop.

All right!! I got that one to work. Thanks.

I've searched and searched, and I can't find any widgets in that directory. Am I missing something?

I've tried to download a widget that a lot of people seem to like; the quick access widget. I tried to use dpkg -i to install it from the .deb archive, and that didn't seem to work, so I tried to use the instructions the guy gave, and got error messages about how my CXX compiler wasn't properly configured. Is this going to be extremely complicated? I have gcc c++ on my machine, and I added cmake to my path; why am I getting these messages?

Here's the widget site: http://www.kde-look.org/content/show...?content=84128

Has anyone else successfully gotten this widget working?

Here's something I don't understand: where are the widgets? On the KDE site at http://techbase.kde.org/Projects/Plasma/Plasmoids , it says that a given widget (like Binary Clock) is located at: /KDE/kdeplasma-addons/applets/binary-clock. I've used the locate command to try to find any directory with binary-clock in it, and there isn't one. Where are these plasmoids/widgets ACTUALLY located?

Also, what's their file extension? How do I install them from the "Install New Widgets" context menu on the desktop?

Once again, in Kubuntu Hardy with KDE4 installed from Launchpad plasmoids are in /usr/lib/kde4/lib/kde4 (for example, binary clock will be /usr/lib/kde4/lib/kde4/plasma_applet_binaryclock.so). Mind you, once KDE4 moves out of Launchpad it will stop residing in /usr/lib/kde4 - so directories will change.

"Install new widgets" doesn't seem to be currently working. Also, when using Kubuntu one has to be prepared for their KDE to be half-arsed (after all, Ubuntu people are very Gnome-centric). Compare this to OpenSUSE's implementation.

I figured this one out with the .deb package, and it worked fine. It seems that the plasmoids that were in the /usr/lib/kde4/lib/kde4 directory are developmental; I ended up being successful using dpkg -i on the quicklauncher plasmoid (after a reboot, the widget appeared in the Add New Widgets desktop context menu). Right now, I'm trying to install the Timoid plasmoid, and it requires making makefiles with cmake. I've installed gcc and build-essential; I theoretically have everything I need to do it. The problem is that I don't understand the process of using the cmake command. Here are the instructions from the Kde-Look site for the Timoid plasmoid:

- extract
- navigate a konsole to source dir
- create a build dir ("mkdir build")
- change to build dir ("cd build")
- generate makefiles: "cmake ../"
--> on my system (debian) i need to use "cmake -DCMAKE_INSTALL_PREFIX=/usr ../"
- make... ("make")
- become root ("su")
- install ("make install")

Here's the widget site: http://www.kde-look.org/content/show...?content=85802

I've downloaded the plasmoid, and extracted it to: /home/tarahmarie/Documents/Software/Timoid.

Inside /Timoid/src, I created /build.

What does it mean by generate makefiles? I've looked at the cmake command, but I haven't been able to google any information that I understand.

Do exactly as instructions say, just change "cmake -DCMAKE_INSTALL_PREFIX=/usr ../" to ""cmake -DCMAKE_INSTALL_PREFIX=/usr/lib/kde4 ../" . (create build in source directory not in source_directory/src).

You also need to install kdelibs5-dev and libplasma-dev ('sudo apt-get ...).

I've installed those packages now.

I don't mean to be dense, but I'm afraid I still don't quite understand what you mean by install to source directory and not source_directory. Where precisely do I go? Was I not supposed to put the extracted Timoid folder in my Software directory? (That's where I store stuff that doesn't come from the repositories)

It doesn't matter where you extract to. Just as the instructions say - so if, when you extract, you have directory Timoid, create build directory in Timoid not in Timoid/src
Here it is:
tar xf timoid.tar.bz2
mkdir Timoid/build
cd Timoid/build
cmake -DCMAKE_INSTALL_PREFIX=/usr/lib/kde4 ../
make
sudo make install

Ok, here is the output I got when I tried using the cmake command, and when I tried locating all the files/folders named "timoid":

tarahmarie@tarahmarie-desktop:/$ locate timoid
/home/tarahmarie/Documents/Software/Timoid/misc/timoid.desktop
/home/tarahmarie/Documents/Software/Timoid/src/timoid.cpp
/home/tarahmarie/Documents/Software/Timoid/src/timoid.h
/home/tarahmarie/Documents/Software/Timoid/src/timoid_automoc.cpp.files
/home/tarahmarie/Documents/Software/Timoid/src/CMakeFiles/timoid.dir
/home/tarahmarie/Documents/Software/Timoid/src/CMakeFiles/timoid.dir/DependInfo.cmake
/home/tarahmarie/Documents/Software/Timoid/src/CMakeFiles/timoid.dir/build.make
/home/tarahmarie/Documents/Software/Timoid/src/CMakeFiles/timoid.dir/cmake_clean.cmake
/home/tarahmarie/Documents/Software/Timoid/src/CMakeFiles/timoid.dir/depend.make
/home/tarahmarie/Documents/Software/Timoid/src/CMakeFiles/timoid.dir/flags.make
/home/tarahmarie/Documents/Software/Timoid/src/CMakeFiles/timoid.dir/link.txt
/home/tarahmarie/Documents/Software/Timoid/src/CMakeFiles/timoid.dir/progress.make
tarahmarie@tarahmarie-desktop:/$ cd /home/tarahmarie/Documents/Software/Timoid/
tarahmarie@tarahmarie-desktop:~/Documents/Software/Timoid$ ls
AUTHORS build CMakeCache.txt CMakeFiles cmake_install.cmake CMakeLists.txt CMakeTmp cmake_uninstall.cmake COPYING CTestTestfile.cmake lib Makefile misc README src
tarahmarie@tarahmarie-desktop:~/Documents/Software/Timoid$ cd build/
tarahmarie@tarahmarie-desktop:~/Documents/Software/Timoid/build$ cmake -DCMAKE_INSTALL_PREFIX=/usr/lib/kde4/lib/kde4/
CMake Error: The source directory "/home/tarahmarie/Documents/Software/Timoid/build" does not appear to contain CMakeLists.txt.
Specify --help for usage, or press the help button on the CMake GUI.
tarahmarie@tarahmarie-desktop:~/Documents/Software/Timoid/build$ make
make: *** No targets specified and no makefile found. Stop.


What am I doing wrong?

Obviously build will not contain CMakeLists.txt since it's in timoid - one directory above! Hence '../'

Just follow instructions - don't improvise! Use copy/paste

'cmake -DCMAKE_INSTALL_PREFIX=/usr/lib/kde4 ../'