How to safely run/test gnome app (Ubuntu-Gutsy)
 

I'm wanting to experiment with the 'appearances and preferences' 'applet that runs when you right-click on the gnome desktop and select the menu option for it.

I believe I've downloaded the right source....: gnome-control-center.

I've unpacked the source and am getting ready to take a look at it, but I need to know how I can test any changes I make without interfering with the applet that's already running by default in gnome. Do I need a chroot environment for that, or something else? Or is it possible to test this right along side of the default applet without interference?

Have you thought about making yourself a Virtual Machine to test stuff like this in? It is actually a very nice way to "muck about" without destroying anything. If you use VMWare Workstation (payware), you can also make "Snapshots" of your machine and revert it to the previous state as you work on it, very nice if you really do nasty stuff...:)

There are some free ones out there also, Xen being the one getting the most attention these days, after they were bought by Citrix. The product is still free, but limited in some aspects to VmWare.

I have also seen instructions somewhere on how to make VMWare machines for free, using Xen (I think) to make a VMWare Disk/Machine, and starting it in VMWare Player (free) to get access to the other functions VMWare have to offer.

I would highly recommend this approach as compared to changing the software running on your production computer. As an added bonus, you can run Windows on top of your Linux box....;)

Thanks, I'll check it out!