Setting Up Remote Gmail Access

To setup access to Gmail from within Kmail, follow these steps:

1. Login to your Gmail account

2. In the top right corner, click the settings gear icon and then click “Mail Settings”.

3. Click “Forwarding and POP/IMAP”.

4. To enable POP, select either “enable POP for all mail” or “enable POP for mail that arrives from now on”.

5. Choose an option for “when messages are accessed with POP”.

6. To enable IMAP, select “Enable IMAP”. Other settings are optional.

Now, you will need to configure your Kmail client:

1. Start Kmail and go to “Settings -> Configure Kmail”

2. Click the “Accounts” button

3. In the Receiving tab, click “Add…”

4. At this point, you will need to decide whether you want to use IMAP or POP (This example will assume you chose POP).

5. In the “General” tab, enter a name you will use to recognize this account.

6. For “Incoming mail server” type: pop.gmail.com (for IMAP, choose imap.gmail.com)

7. For “Username” enter your complete email address: soandso@maketecheasier.com

8. Enter your password.

9. Click the “Advanced” tab and select “Leave fetched messages on the server”.

10. In the “Connection Settings” section, select “SSL/TLS” encryption.

11. Click “OK”

Now click the “Sending” tab and follow these steps:

1. Click “Add…”

2. Select “SMTP” and click “Create and Configure”

3. For “Outgoing mail server” type smtp.gmail.com

4. Check the box next to “Server requires authentication”.

5. For “Login” type your full email address

6. Enter your password

7. If you want, select “store SMTP password” so that you do not have to enter it each time before you send.

Disclaimer: If you use IMAP or have selected to download all of your previous Gmail messages with POP (perhaps as a backup measure), please be advised that it will download everything. That means if you have been in the habit of not deleting any Gmail message, you could spend the next few hours downloading your thousands of emails.

Simplicity and Security

Kmail offers many email features, such as complex templates, that Gmail cannot. Moreover, you can access your messages offline and have full integration with other KDE apps. By keeping your message on your Gmail account as well, you can have the best of both worlds, accessing your Gmail through Kmail on your computer and still using web-based Gmail when you go mobile.

Related Posts:

• How to Create Custom Email Templates in KMail
• How to Make GTK3 Apps Look Presentable in KDE4
• How to Get a Dock-Like Taskbar in KDE with Icon Tasks
• How to Use Custom Tray Icons in KDE

Oxygen-GTK3

The solution to this problem is a package called oxygen-gtk3, which has made its way into some Linux distributions. If it is not in your distribution’s default repository (and it probably is not unless you have the most bleeding edge release), you can likely get the package from a third party.

For Kubuntu and other Ubuntu-based distributions, add the following repository:

ppa:hrvojes/kde-goodies

Then, install the package called gtk3-engines-oxygen:

sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get install gtk3-engines-oxygen

For OpenSUSE, you need to add the swyear repository:

sudo zypper ar Index of /repositories/home:/swyear/openSUSE_12.1

Then, install the oxygen-gtk3 package:

sudo zypper install oxygen-gtk3

Other distribution installation procedures will vary. I did find Fedora packages available from this user, but did not find any distribution-specific installation instructions.

For Archlinux, you need to install oxygen-gtk3-git from AUR.

Completing the Installation

If you have come this far, you might have noticed that your GTK3 applications still look awful, even after you restarted your desktop environment. That is because GTK3 requires its own configuration file called settings.ini, which may remind you of your old Windows days. Fortunately, this settings.ini is not quite so aggravating, and you will only need to add a single configuration line.

If one does not already exist, create a folder at this location “~/.config/gtk-3.0“. In Archlinux, you can apparently just link to the default file:

ln -s /usr/share/themes/oxygen-gtk/gtk-3.0 ~/.config/gtk-3.0

Next, create a file inside the gtk-3.0 folder called settings.ini. Using the text editor of your choice, add this line:

gtk-theme-name = oxygen-gtk

Save and close your text editor, and the settings should take effect immediately. If not, restart your desktop environment. When you open applications like Gufw, you should now see your Oxygen theme rather than the ugly , un-themed GTK3 default that it previously displayed. There have been some reports of certain apps crashing on some distributions. I have not experienced this, but if you do, you should definitely report it to the appropriate developers.

Keeping it Seamless

KDE users tend to like everything to flow nicely together. Oxygen-gtk3 allows you to keep your desktop looking seamless even when you need to use a GTK program. With the next major releases of most Linux distributions, you will probably see this package added by default, requiring no further action on your part. Until then, the above instructions should remain valid and usable.

Related Posts:

• How to Check Your Gmail Account with Kmail
• How to Get a Dock-Like Taskbar in KDE with Icon Tasks
• How to Use Custom Tray Icons in KDE
• 5 Alternatives to Unity in Ubuntu Oneiric

Installation

Icon Tasks is a binary plasmoid, meaning that it must be compiled from source before using it on your Linux or BSD system. The source code is currently available from KDE-Look.org. Alternatively, if you are using Kubuntu 11.10, you can install it from a PPA by doing the following:

sudo add-apt-repository ppa:gnumdk/ppa
sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get install plasma-widget-icon-tasks

You can also optionally install Firefox UnityFox support with this command:

sudo apt-get install libunity6

And you can install Docky helper support with this:

sudo apt-get install python-dockmanager

To install from source on other distributions, do the following:

1. Make sure you have the necessary Qt and KDE development packages installed. You can build against KDE 4.7. Check your distribution’s documentation if you are unsure about package names.
2. Download the source package and extract the contents

From the terminal:

tar xjvf plasma-icontasks-0.9.2.tar.tar.bz2
cd plasma-icontasks-0.9.2
mkdir build
cd build
cmake .. -DCMAKE_INSTALL_PREFIX=`kde4-config --prefix`
make
sudo make install

For full building instructions, see the Readme file included in the source archive.

Getting Started

After installation, you will need to remove your current task manager and (optionally) any launchers for single applications, since you can add those directly into Icon Tasks. Once you have removed the old task manager, place the new one on the panel wherever you want it to appear.

Any programs you start will appear as icons rather than the traditional taskbar entry (icon with text). Moreover, you can turn any task into a launcher by right clicking and then selecting “Show A Launcher When Not Running”. Alternatively, you can drag launchers from your Kickoff menu directly onto the Icon Tasks bar to instantly create new launchers.

Icon Tasks has full support for standard KDE task manager functions, such as the Highlight Windows desktop effect, task grouping, and window preview popups. To change any features, right click anywhere on the widget, and click “Icon-Only Task Manager Settings”. There, you can enable/disable features such as progress bars over the file manager launcher during copy/move/delete operations, Unity feature support, recent documents, and media player controls in the preview popups of applications like Amarok.

A Game Changer

Icon Tasks is a game changer for KDE that once again demonstrates the flexibility of KDE’s Plasma desktop, which makes it easy for developers to introduce new features. It also increases the number of options KDE users will have, as those who wish to keep the traditional task manager will have that option. This only perpetuates KDE’s reputation for being one of the most flexible and easily customizable desktop environments.

Related Posts:

• How to Check Your Gmail Account with Kmail
• How to Make GTK3 Apps Look Presentable in KDE4
• How to Use Custom Tray Icons in KDE
• 5 Alternatives to Unity in Ubuntu Oneiric

Why KDM?

KDM, the default display manager for KDE, starts when your X server instance begins. This means that the user has still not logged in, and any settings established at this point will apply to all users. Moreover, making these changes in KDM is often safer and easier than modifying your xorg.conf file or coming up with some hack that will only work for a particular user once he or she has logged in.

How to Run Scripts

KDM has its own startup script called Xsetup. When X is started, KDM will execute anything within this script file. To run your own scripts, all you have to do is tell Xsetup to execute them.

For example, you might want to run xrandr when KDM starts. This will automatically configure your monitor or multiple monitors to your preferred settings, and those settings will stick when any user logs into KDE, unless they override them. To accomplish this, follow these steps:

1. Locate the Xsetup file. It may vary depending on your distribution. In Kubuntu, it is located at: /etc/kde4/kdm/Xsetup
2. Edit the file as root.
   example: Press Alt+F2 and type “kdesudo kate /etc/kde4/kdm/Xsetup“
3. Enter the commands you want to execute (note: They will be run as root before the login dialog appears)
   example: xrandr --auto --output VGA1 --mode 1440x900 --right-of LVDS1 --refresh 60.1
4. Click “Save” and close your text editor.

In most cases, it is a good idea to place your command string before this line:

/sbin/initctl -q emit login-session-start DISPLAY_MANAGER=kdm

That will execute your script before KDM starts.

Another example of something you might want to execute before KDM starts is to set Numlock to either “on” or “off”. KDE has a setting for this, but setting it in KDM will essentially enable a global default. To enable or disable numlock, follow these steps:

1. Install numlockx.
   

   sudo apt-get install numlockx

2. In your Xsetup file, add the following line:

   numlockx on

3. Save your Xsetup file.

Just to reiterate an important point, you should always be mindful that anything you put in Xsetup will be executed by root and will affect anyone who logs in with KDM, no matter the user or desktop environment they choose from the KDM menu. This can have far-reaching consequences, particularly if you have a multi-user system.

Safety issues aside, using KDM’s Xsetup script is a great way to get your desktop exactly the way you want it even before you login. Whether you are enabling numlock or even setting up a custom keymap with Xmodmap, you can do it from Xsetup and not have to worry about configuring it after you start your user session.

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• Auslogics BoostSpeed 5 Speeds Up Your Windows PC + Free Giveaway
• How to Make GTK3 Apps Look Presentable in KDE4
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Those purists still love KDE 3.5, and many of them continue to use the supported version of it called Trinity Desktop Environment. Others, however, mainly just preferred the KDE 3.5 look over the current Plasma Air appearance. If that is the case, Plasma gives you the flexibility to make your KDE 4 desktop look like KDE 3.5.

The Panel

In terms of functionality, much of the KDE panel has not changed. You still have a “K” button, a pager, a task manager, a system tray, and a clock. The default Plasma appearance, however, looks radically different. Furthermore, the Kickoff menu is big and clunky compared to the simple KDE 3.5 menu.

To change the panel’s appearance, do the following:

1. Download the “Vintage” Plasma theme (Unfortunately, there is a problem with the packing of this theme on KDE-Look.org. I repacked it and have made it available here.)
2. Unpack the theme and copy it to your desktop theme folder: /hom/[username]/.kde/share/apps/desktoptheme
3. Open “System Settings”
4. Choose “Workspace Appearance”
5. Click “Desktop Theme”
6. Choose “KVintage”
7. Click “Apply”.

The Desktop

The default KDE 4 desktop uses folderview widgets and icons that are also widgets. If you prefer a desktop that functions like the KDE 3 desktop, KDE 4 can handle that too.

1. Right click on the desktop
2. Click “Desktop Settings”
3. If necessary, click “Unlock Widgets”
4. For “Layout” change it from “Desktop” to “Folder View”
5. Click “OK”

You should now have a more traditional-looking and functioning desktop.

The K Menu

The kickoff menu is very robust with a great deal of functionality, but if you want the simple menu from KDE 3, simply remove the application launcher widget and replace it with the traditional one.

1. Right click on the “K” button on the panel
2. Click “Remove this application launcher”
3. Right click again on the panel and click “Add widgets”
4. Drag the “Application Launcher Menu” widget to the panel

You should now have the traditional application launcher menu from KDE 3.5.

The Icons

The default KDE icon set is called Oxygen, but you can use whatever icons you want, as long as they are properly configured for KDE4’s structure. Fortunately, someone has repackaged the KDE3 CrystalSVG icon theme.

1. Download the icon theme manually
2. Open “System Settings”
3. Click “Application Appearance” and then “Icons”
4. Click “Install Theme File”
5. Locate the icon set you just download and select it
6. Choose the icon theme from the list and click “Apply”

Application and Window Decoration Appearance

Most of the old KDE 3 window decorations and styles are still around in KDE 4. To use them, all you have to do is select them in System Settings. To change the style:

1. Click “Application Appearance”
2. Next to “Widget style” select the theme you want, “Plastique” for example
3. Click “Apply”

To change the window decoration:

1. In System Settings, choose “Workspace Appearance”
2. Choose “Window Decorations”
3. Select the theme you want, such as “Plastik”

The File Manager

One of the most monumental changes from KDE 3 to KDE 4 was the introduction of Dolphin, a new file manager to relieve Konqueror of one its multiple responsibilities. To have a true KDE 3.5 experience, you will need to make Konqueror your default file manager.

1. Open “System Settings” and choose “Default Applications”
2. Select “File Manager” from the left pane
3. Select “Konqueror” and click “Apply”

Once you have all of these changes in place, you may start to see KDE 4 in a different light. Although many features under the hood have changed, it is still possible to get the KDE 3.5 look and feel back on your desktop.

Related Posts:

• Sprinkle Some Eye Candy on your KDE Desktop
• How to Give Any KDE Desktop An Ubuntu Makeover
• 7 Ways to Beautify Your KDE 4 Desktop
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Fortunately, some KDE users have taken the initiative to create monochrome icons for those programs that did not already have them and even some alternative tray icon sets for users who want a different look from the standard Air desktop theme set. This brief tutorial will show you how to quickly and easily install tray icons for your KDE Plasma desktop theme.

Icon Choices

Some Plasma themes come with their own tray icon sets. For others or for your own custom theme, you will need to install one. There are a few system tray icon sets available on KDE-Look.org, including the following:

• Krayscale – Gray scale icons with some color effects
• Monochrome Tray Icons – These fit KDE’s default desktop theme, adding icons for extra apps
• Oxygen Plasma System Tray Icons – For those who dislike the monochrome look, this returns color to your system tray

Installing System Tray Icons

Normal KDE user-installed icons are stored in /home/[username]/.kde/share/icons, but system tray icons are part of the desktop theme and are stored in the theme’s folder. These icons are SVG and are designed to scale nicely with your panel size.

Tray icons are kept in the following folder structure:

/home/[username]/.kde/share/apps/desktoptheme/[theme-name]/icons

For global themes that will be accessed by all users, use the following directory (dependent on your operating system or distribution):

/usr/share/kde4/apps/desktoptheme/[theme-name]/icons

To install, simply extract and copy the icons to the theme folder. If you are using the default KDE theme, you would copy them to:

/home/[username]/.kde/share/apps/desktoptheme/default/icons

Using the Icons

A restart of KDE should make your icons appear, but if it does not, you may need to clear your icon cache or plasma cache. To do so, go to the following folder:

/home/[username]/.kde/cache-[ComputerName]

Then, remove the file “icon-cache.kcache” and possibly also “plasma_theme_[theme-name].kcache”. This should reset the theme and show your new icons.

Earlier versions of KDE-PIM applications did not support the SVG tray icons. Therefore, most of the monochrome icon sets do not include kmail, akregator, and others. With KDE-PIM 4.6 and up, these icons will now work. The Krayscale icon theme includes them, but the icons will not show message counts for Kmail or Akregator, which may be enough incentive for some to stick with the default color icons.

If you decide to make your own icons or simply change the color of an existing one, you can use Inkscape to edit the SVG images and then copy your creations to the desktop theme folder. If you do decide to create your own, make sure you share them on KDE-Look.org so that everyone can enjoy your artwork.

Related Posts:

• Sprinkle Some Eye Candy on your KDE Desktop
• 7 Ways to Beautify Your KDE 4 Desktop
• How to customize your KDE desktop with KDE-Look.org
• KDE Plasma Netbook Preview

I have spoken to many people who dislike KDE solely based on its default appearance, the Air/Oyxgen set of styles and themes. Some have even argued that it looks too much like Windows (although evidence strongly suggests that Windows 7 mimicked KDE, rather than the other way around). What those people may not realize is that you can make KDE look as much like Gnome or any other desktop environment as you want.

The customizations in this guide are just examples. They will not give an exact Unity or Gnome appearance, as most people change those defaults anyway. Instead, this example will use some of the common customizations that Ubuntu and Gnome users often apply.

The Desktop Theme

KDE-Look has a plethora of desktop themes you can use. To change your theme, do the following:

1. Open “System Settings” from the kickoff menu (or press Alt+F2 and type it)
2. Click “Workspace Appearance”
3. Click “Desktop Theme” on the left-hand pane
4. Click “Get New Themes” at the bottom
5. Choose whatever theme you want and click “Install”. For this example, I have chosen the “Ambiance” theme.
6. Click “Apply”

The Window Decoration

Since you are already in Workspace settings, now is a good time to change the window decoration.

1. Click “Window Decorations” from the left-hand pane.
2. Click “Get New Decorations”
3. Following the same example, search for Ambiance Aurorae and click “Install”
4. Choose the decoration theme and click “Apply”.

If you want to really be like Ubuntu/Mac OS X, you can move the window buttons to the left side:

1. Click “Configure Buttons”
2. Check the box labeled “Use custom title bar button positions”
3. Simply drag each button type to the left in the order that you want them.

Application Appearance

Getting the application appearance you want is a little more tricky. That is because KDE does not currently offer users the ability to install new styles from within System Settings. Therefore, before you choose a style, you will need to make sure the one you want is installed. You have two options: 1. You can install the actual GTK style that you want and use it, or 2. Find an actual KDE or Qtcurve style that matches the one you want.

If you decide to go with the Qtcurve option, you can download something like Ambiance-like. Download it and extract it to the folder of your choice. To install it, do the following:

1. Open “System Settings”
2. Click “Application Appearance”
3. Choose Qtcurve and click “Configure” (If you do not have Qtcurve installed, it is probably in your distribution’s software repository)
4. In the “Presets” section, choose “Import”
5. Find the Ambiance-like theme (Ambiance-like.qtcurve) and then click “OK”
6. Click “Apply”
7. Click the “Colors” button in the left-hand panel
8. Choose “Import Scheme”
9. Locate the Ambiance colors (Ambiance-like.colors) and click “OK”
10. Click “Apply”

Alternatively, you can use the Ambiance color scheme from KDE-Look.

Panel and Launcher

In most distributions, the KDE panel is at the bottom and is rather large. To move it to the top:

1. Right click on the panel and click “Unlock widgets”
2. Click the cashew button on the far right
3. Click and hold the “Screen Edge” button and drag the panel to the top.
4. Click and hold the “Height” button to make it the size you want

KDE can use a global menu that works for KDE, Qt, and GTK apps. To use it:

1. Click the cashew again and click “Add widgets”
2. Choose “Window Menubar” and drag it to the panel

You have a couple of options for launchers. You can either use a KDE-native launcher like Daisy or Fancy Tasks, or you can use a separate launcher program like Docky (mono-based but very reliable), Plank (fast, light-weight next-gen Docky), AWN (robust and powerful), or Cairo Dock (all about options).

Icons

KDE uses a slightly different icon theme system from Gnome and Ubuntu. Therefore, it may not be the best idea to use those themes directly, but they will still work. The alternative is that you can find one specifically modified for KDE. Faenza-Cupertino is a very popular iconset for Ubuntu users, and KFaenza is an excellent KDE version.

To install it:

1. Open “System Settings”
2. Click “Application Appearance”
3. Choose “Icons” from the left-hand pane
4. Click “Get New Themes”
5. Search for “KFaenza”
6. Click “Install”
7. Select the icon theme and click “Apply”

Mixing and Matching

You are certainly not limited to the examples I have shown. You can mix and match whatever you like to get your KDE desktop looking exactly the way you want.

Related Posts:

• How to Get Great Looking Fonts in KDE
• How to Make KDE 4 Look Like KDE 3
• 7 Ways to Beautify Your KDE 4 Desktop
• How to Install QtCurve in KDE

Standard Notifications

By default KDE’s notifications pop up from the “Notifications” widget, which is found in the panel next to the system tray. Whenever a system or application event occurs, the notification will briefly appear in a Plasma popup over this area. Once the popup disappears, you can click the icon at any time to see past notifications.

Notification Widget Settings

The notification widget has a few settings that can change the way it displays notifications for you. To reach the settings, right click on the widget icon and click “Notification Settings”. The first section labeled “Pop Up Notices” allows you to select some basic notification categories: “Application notifications” and “File transfers and other jobs”. The last setting labeled “Automatically hide” determines if notifications disappear after a short time.

Notification Configuration

More extensive KDE notifications are available in System Settings in the “Application and System Notifications” section. The first pane called “Manage Notifications” allows you to configure system and application notifications.

“Event source” refers to the system or application that will send the notification. The “State” column tells you which types of notifications are enabled for a particular event. KDE gives you five options for this:

1. Play a sound – Choose any supported audio file you want.
2. Show a message in a popup – the standard method
3. Log to a file – useful if you want to keep track of how often an event occurs
4. Mark taskbar entry – The taskbar will change colors to alert you of the event
5. Run command – With this you can enable more advanced responses to notifications. When a certain event finishes, it can spawn a program that starts another.

As an example, suppose you want to change the way KTorrent notifies you when a torrent has finished downloading to automatically start your video player. By default, it will only show a popup and possibly play a sound if the KDE sound system is enabled. To change this, do the following:

1. Click the dropdown menu next to “event source” and choose KTorrent
2. Choose the last event in the list “Torrent has finished downloading”
3. Check the “Run command” box
4. Type in the command /usr/bin/dragon (or whichever video player you use).

To change the way KDE plays system sounds, click the next tab labeled “Player Settings”. This allows you to adjust the volume, use an external player (such as “play” or “mplayer”), or disable audio output completely.

Other Notifications

One of the more annoying features that I have always disabled in KDE is the bouncing “busy cursor”. If you share my disdain for it, you can disable it by clicking the “Launch Feedback” button and choosing “No Busy Cursor” from the dropdown menu. In order to still get some type of notification when a program is launched or demands attention, leave “enable taskbar notification” enabled. The “startup indication timeout” option determines how long the notification stays in the taskbar even after a program fails to start.

KDE’s notification system can make use of the accessibility system bell to provide better notification for people who are not easily alerted by the standard notifications. Click the “System Bell” button and check “use system bell instead of system notification” to enable this feature.

Ultimate Flexibility

KDE now has the ability to interpret GTK notifications, resulting in better integration of KDE and non-KDE apps. The KDE nofitication system can be as active or as passive as you want. You can even detach a notification popup and move it to a different location. It provides the ultimate flexibility for all types of users.

Related Posts:

• How to Give Any KDE Desktop An Ubuntu Makeover
• How to Get Great Looking Fonts in KDE
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1. Gnome 3 with Gnome Shell

Let’s get the most obvious choice out of the way first. Historically, Ubuntu has always run the Gnome desktop environment. Gnome was one of the first DEs for Linux, and is still going strong. When they recently released version 3, it was a complete overhaul of both the desktop interface and much of the software behind it. Currently, Ubuntu uses Gnome 3′s backend software with the Unity desktop, but if you want the full Gnome 3 experience you need Gnome Shell.

As regular readers may know, we’ve covered Gnome Shell in detail several times before.

Gnome shell can be installed through the Ubuntu Software Center, or from the command line with

sudo apt-get install gnome-shell

2. KDE

The other big kid on the block is KDE. It and Gnome have been battling for the Linux desktop for years, each with their own group of avid supporters. As one of the heavyweight contenders, KDE packs a full suite of mature and capable software, a beautiful desktop, and decades of Linux desktop design experience.

All of KDE’s power and flexibility does not come cheap. A full KDE installation is a pretty hefty thing, and for all its fine points, KDE might not be a great option for low end or mobile computers.

KDE can be installed through the Ubuntu Software Center or from the command line with

sudo apt-get install kde-standard

or if you want, download Kubuntu, which comes with KDE as the default DE.

3. XFCE

For a long time, XFCE was jokingly known as “Gnome Lite”. It uses similar backend software (such as GTK) and has an overall look and feel similar to the Gnome 2.x series. It’s generally regarded as lighter and faster than Gnome, however most of those comparisons were made prior to Gnome 3. Now the two desktops take such vastly different approaches, and such comparisons would have less meaning.

Still, its resemblance to Gnome 2 is much of the reason why many people (including Linus Torvalds himself) have migrated to XFCE due to dissatisfaction with Gnome 3.

XFCE can be installed through the Ubuntu Software Center or from the command line with

sudo apt-get install xfce4

or download Xubuntu which comes with XFCE.

4. LXDE

A lightweight option that’s been growing in popularity lately is LXDE. It’s a desktop environment built around the OpenBox window manager. It includes several small apps and utilities like the PCManFM file manager and a custom panel and terminal.

LXDE is a fairly nice setup, particularly on lower-end machines, but it’s been this author’s experience that LXDE and its related apps always seem to have the feel of being almost done. If you’re the type of user who likes everything to be smoothly polished, feature-complete, and rock-solid – LXDE might not be great for you. If, however, you need something light, fast, and simple – I highly recommend you try it out. It may not be your dream desktop, but it’s almost there.

LXDE can be installed through the Ubuntu Software Center or from the command line with

sudo apt-get install lxde

5. Enlightenment (E17)

Once considered a thing of myth and legend, E17 is now a part of Ubuntu 11.10′s online repositories. Many years of development have gone in to this release, and it’s got loads of features. This is a desktop that aims to do it all – high performance, high productivity, extreme flexibility, and loads of eye candy. Chances are it does not much resemble any desktop environment you’ve used before, so if you decide to take the plunge, be prepared for a little bit of a learning curve.

Once you’ve learned to do things the “enlightened” way, it may be tough to switch back. E17 can be installed through the Ubuntu Software Center or from the command line with

sudo apt-get install e17

Conclusion

Each of these has its own pros and cons. Some people love Gnome 3, some think it’s garbage. Some people use KDE every day, others won’t go near it. The beauty of Linux is that whatever you like, you can have it – for free. If it doesn’t exist, make it. That’s what open source is all about: choice. Hopefully this guide has helped you make yours.

Related Posts:

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In reality, a font can make or break a desktop’s appearance and accessibility. KDE makes it incredibly easy to install and configure fonts, but since I could not find any one document that lists all of the features and functionality, MakeTakeEasier comes to the rescue again.

Choosing Fonts

KDE does not have a default font set. That completely depends on the Unix or Linux distribution you happen to be using. The font you choose should be both aesthetically pleasing and also easy to read. Whether you realize it or not, you do a lot of reading on your computer, from menus to emails, making font appearance a critical feature.

To change KDE fonts, do the following:

1. Open System Settings by clicking the “K” menu and then going to “Applications -> Settings -> System Settings”. If it is in a different place, you can type it in the search box to get to it.
2. Under the category “Common Appearance and Behavior”, click “Application Appearance”.
3. Choose the fourth sidebar item from the top labeled “Fonts”
4. Click the “Choose” button to the right of the font type you want to change or click “Adjust All Fonts” to change them all at once.

In addition to selecting the font you want, you can also set some font rendering settings. Anti-aliasing will give the fonts a smoother look, removing jagged edges, but it can also make them slightly blurry. Some users must have this setting on while others cannot stand it.

If you click “Configure” next to that option, you will see some options for “subpixel rendering“, which may vary depending on your monitor and graphics driver. “Hinting” may make your words clearer, but you should experiment with it to get the best results possible.

Installing Fonts

You can install fonts from within system settings, but this is not the only way to do it. You can also install them directly from Dolphin, KDE’s file manager. First, to install using System Settings:

1. Start System Settings
2. Under “System Administration” click “Font installer”
3. Click “Add”at the bottom to install a new font.
4. It will then ask you if you want to install it for “Personal” or “System”. “Personal” refers to local fonts for only your current user, while “System” refers to fonts usable by all users. If you choose “System”, it will prompt you for your administrative or root password.

Installing From Dolphin

When you download a font from the web or want to install one from a removable device, you do not have to go into the font installer. You can install fonts from anywhere using Dolphin. To do so:

1. Open Dolphin and navigate to the folder where you have saved the fonts
2. Click the font to open it, and it should bring up KDE’s font viewer, which will provide a preview.
3. Click “Install”.

Alternatively, if you do not need a preview, you can skip the font viewer and simply right click on the font, go to “Actions” in the menu, and then click “Install”. In either case, it will prompt you to choose between Personal and System.

Other Apps

KDE applications will almost always use the global fonts you specify. In some cases, however, you can use custom fonts for individual applications like KMail. Furthermore, you may need to configure fonts manually for Qt-only apps and GTK apps, although this may happen automatically. For Qt, you can use qtconfig and qtconfig-qt4. For GTK, you can use gtk-chtheme. Once you are finished, you will have a beautiful KDE desktop with your fonts exactly the way you want them.

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Not all graphics cards are equal, but one would expect them to perform the same or close to the same on one operating system as they do on another. Unfortunately, the lack of cooperation from some graphics chip manufacturers and the slow development of some open source drivers have created an environment where every user’s experience may be different.

KDE has several settings that you can tweak to get better performance with desktop effects. Unfortunately, there is no solution that fixes all issues, and even two users with the same graphics chip manufacturer but different models may have dramatically different results. The intent of this guide is to help you understand the different settings and what they can do to help improve performance.

Enable Desktop Effects

Many current Linux distributions will enable desktop effects by default. If your distribution does but you still cannot get desktop effects working, you should first check the settings.

1. Open “System Settings” from the K-menu or press Alt+F2 and type “System Settings”.
2. Under Workspace Appearance and Behavior, click “Desktop Effects”.
3. Check the “Enable desktop effects” box.

If you cannot check the box and it tells you that it could not be enabled, KDE may have your graphics card on its black list. To get around this problem, you will need to manually edit ~/.kde/share/config/kwinrc. You can use the following commands from a terminal:

kwriteconfig -file kwinrc -group Compositing -key Enabled true
kwriteconfig -file kwinrc -group Compositing -key OpenGLIsUnsafe false
kwriteconfig -file kwinrc -group Compositing -key CheckIsSafe true

Advanced Configuration

The “Advanced” tab in the “Desktop Effects” configuration allows you to tweak your effect system to work better with your graphics card. As a warning, you should know that some settings may cause your screen to become unreadable or cause desktop effects to stop working. Fortunately, any changes you make will revert back to their previous settings if you are unable to confirm them.

Compositing type

There are two choices here: OpenGL (3D) and XRender (2D). From my experience, graphics cards with good 3D hardware and drivers should always use OpenGL. Nvidia and AMD cards usually fall into this category, although the AMD/ATI drivers may vary in performance depending on the age of your card. Recent Intel graphics drivers have been horrendous, and your 3D performance will probably be significantly lower than it would in Windows. Because of this, I recommend using XRender with Intel graphics chips until the drivers are improved. The down side of XRender is that it will disable some effects, such as Desktop Cube and Cover Switch. Most, however, such as Transparency, Shadows, and Desktop Grid, will continue to function.

If you want to make sure desktop effects stay enabled no matter what, check the “Disable functionality checks” box. This may help if some effects work with your card but are not supported.

Keep window thumbnails

In most situations, you can leave the setting “Only for Shown Windows”. If you experience any problems, you can always disable it.

Scale method

This is all about speed vs. quality, and only the discerning eye will know the difference. “Crisp” is faster and more rigid, while “Smooth” is slower and more polished.

If you think suspending desktop effects will improve performance, you can check “Suspend desktop effects for fullscreen windows”. This may help some games and videos.

OpenGL mode

There are three settings for OpenGL mode:

• Texture from Pixmap – In this setting, textures are stored directly in the graphics card’s memory, which is usually faster than storing them in the system memory
• Shared memory – This stores the textures in your X server’s shared memory, which is a section of your system memory. Use this only if pixmaps do not work, as it is usually slower.
• Fallback – This setting simply tries Texture from Pixmap and then switches to Shared memory if the former does not work.

Direct rendering

This is one setting that will vary greatly from one graphics card / driver combination to another. Generally, direct rendering should be faster as it bypasses X and sends instructions directly to the graphics card, but some cards have stability issues or incompatibility with this option.

VSync

With vertical synchronization, all screen drawing is synced with the monitor’s vertical display updates. It is designed to make the screen easier on the eyes and prevent tearing. For some, however, it can slow down performance.

The Right Combination

It is impossible to know what the perfect combination of settings will be without trying them on your own graphics card. Until the Linux graphic driver situation improves,  KDE users will have to do some tweaking to get optimal performance.

Related Posts:

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• Preview of KDE 4.5
• How to Set Special Window Settings with KWin
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What’s new in KDE 4.7

Improved Oxygen theme

Long time KDE user will know that the Oxygen GTK theme does not really play well with GTK+ application. In some cases, you have to use the QTCurves theme to render the GTK app. In KDE 4.7, the oxygen icon themes has been improved to provide a seamless blending of GTK app into your KDE desktop.

Updated version of applications

The following applications have been updated to a newer version:

• Kontact – better integration with Akonadi
• Dolphin – able to create and clone repositories, push and pull changes, view diffs
• Marble- It now has voice navigation support, a map creation wizard, and new plug-ins
• Gwenview – now comes with the ability to compare two or more pictures side by side
• Digikam – new features include face detection and recognition, image versioning support and reversed geotagging.
• Kate – a new Search plugin with the ability to search in files on disk or opened files
• Okular
• and many more

Installing KDE4.7

If you are using Kubuntu (or KDE 4.6.x), just add the following PPA and upgrade your system.

sudo apt-add-repository ppa:kubuntu-ppa/backports
sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get upgrade

Overall, you won’t notice much differences in KDE4.7 as most of the improvements are done on the backend. Other than a minor issue with external monitor, you should experience an improve in performance.

Note: Kubuntu 11.10 (scheduled to release in Oct 2011) will be running KDE 4.7.

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• How to Make GTK3 Apps Look Presentable in KDE4
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Magic Folder is a plasmoid for KDE that enables you to organize your files effortlessly. All you need to do is to drag and drop the file(s) onto the Magic Folder and it will move them to the destination you have pre-defined. There is no limitation to the type of file that it supports. You just set the rules and it will work magically.

To use the Magic Folder, we have to first download it (a plasmoid file) from KDE-app.org and install it in your KDE system. (If you have no idea how to install plasmoid, here’s the detailed instruction)

After you have installed the plasmoid, drag the widget to your desktop. You should see a big folder as shown in the screenshot below:

Sorting your images files

Click the Magic Folder to open the configuration window. Click the first button (the file icon with a plus sign). From the dropdown, select “Image Files”.

You should see a list of all the image extensions available. Next, select the destination folder. This is the place where you want to store all your image files. That’s it. Whenever you drag and drop an image file to the Magic Folder, it will be moved to the destination folder you have defined. Similarly, you can do that with all video, audio and text files

Advanced Options

Other than the default set of rules, you can also create your own rule. For example, you might want to sort all PDF files to your ebook folder. To do that, select “Anything” from the dropdown. At the regex field, enter “*.pdf” (without the quotes). Make sure that the “wildcard” box is checked. Lastly, select the destination folder. That’s it.

Other options that you can configure include whether the rule should be case-sensitive or not. In this case, “.pdf” is not the same as “.PDF“. Also, you can select whether it is a copy-only or to move the file over to the destination.

More powerful feature: Scripting

If you think the above features are all the capabilities of Magic Folder, then you are wrong. The most powerful feature of Magic Folder is that you can get it to run a script whenever you drag and drop a file onto it. For example, you can drop a zip file onto it and get it to run a script to unzip the file and sort the content within. While writing a script may be too technical a thing for most users, for power users, this can be a very handy tool. There is basically no limit to what you can do with it.

To get it to run a script, simply point the destination to the script and put a check beside the box “Destiny is a script”.

Magic Folder

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That is only one part. The next issue is the installing of new plasmoids. I downloaded some plasmoids from kde-apps.org and I have completely no ideas how to install it (I am still a newbie in KDE). I double click on it. It doesn’t work. I drag it to the widget section. It doesn’t work either. Once again, I have to google for help.

If you are, just like me, having difficulty in installing your plasmoids, here is how you can do it:

1. Download the plasmoid to your home folder. It should have a .plasmoid extension.

2. Click the Panel Tool Box (on the right bottom corner) and select Add Widgets.

3. Click “Get New Widget -> Install widget from local file“.

4. Under the type of widget to install, select “Plasmoid: Native Plasma Widget” and click Next.

5. Lastly, navigate to the place where you store your plasmoids and select it. Click Finish.

That’s it.

Install via command line

In some cases, installing plasmoid via the above method doesn’t work. The best way is to install via the command line.

plasmapkg -u widget-file-name.plasmoid

If that still doesn’t work, try the following method:

1. Extract the plasmoids to a new folder (right click the plasmoids and select “extract to”) in your home directory. You should see a “contents” folder and a meta.desktop file.

2. Open Konsole.

3. type in the following command:

plasmapkg -i plasmoid-folder-name

where the plasmoid-folder-name is the name of the folder that you extracted the plasmoid to.

If the installation is successful, you should find the plasmoid in your widget library. You can then drag it to the desktop to use it.

It is easy, only if you know the way to do it.

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Here’s how you can install KDE in Ubuntu Natty.

1. Open your Synaptic Package Manager.

2. Search for the KDE package. There are three options for you:

• kde-plasma-desktop: the KDE plasma desktop and a minimal set of applications
• kde-standard: the KDE plasma desktop and a minimal set of applications
• kde-full: the full suite of KDE (not recommended. If you want the full suite, you might as well install Kubuntu)

Pick the one most suitable for you and select “Mark for installation”. A window will pop up showing all its dependencies. Click Mark. Once it is done, click Apply.

During the installation, a window will pop to ask which is your default display manager. If you want to use KDE permanently (or set your Ubuntu to boot into KDE automatically), select “kdm”. If not, keep it as “gdm”.

Once the installation has finished, log out of your current desktop session and re-login with the KDE desktop.

That’s it.

Note: The current version of KDE as of this post is still 4.6.2. KDE 4.6.3 will be added to the Ubuntu repository over the weekend. As long as you upgrade your system regularly, you should be getting KDE 4.6.3 in no time.

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1. Faster User Switch

If you happen to share a computer with one or more individuals, switching users is very important. This little plasma widget makes it easy to select a currently logged-in user and switch to that account. It can display user avatars, their names, or both. It is a nice widget to add to a panel for easy access. It also provides a quick interface for starting new user sessions.

2. Kbackup

Kbackup has been around for a long time, but it just received an update. With it you can quickly and easily backup any directory on your computer, specify where you want the backups to go, and have them archived in the folder or device of your choice. This app is lightweight, simple, and does exactly what it says.

Packages for Kbackup are available in Ubuntu repositories and other Linux distributions.

3. Converseen

This nifty little application is a must for anyone who works with a great deal of images. It is a pure Qt app, rather than a KDE one, but that means it still integrates perfectly with KDE. With Converseen you can convert batches of images to any format, any size, any resolution, and to any naming scheme you want. It allows you to make multiple changes on the fly and then save the new images wherever you want. Best of all, Converseen supports just about every image format you can imagine.

4. Muon Package Management Suite

The graphical package manager frontends for KDE have always felt a bit like second-class citizens to Synaptic for GTK. Muon comes very close to evening the playing field. With it you can search, update, install, and receive update notifications for packages with ease. Muon Software Center provides a more visual approach to installation, similar to Ubuntu Software Center. Based on QApt, the entire application suite is lightweight and fast, without some of the hiccups of other frontends.

Muon is available in many Linux distribution repositories.

5. Clementine

Not everyone was in love with the new interface and features of Amarok 2 that came with KDE 4. For those who still love the old Amarok 1.4 look and feel, Clementine is a Qt music app, inspired by that code tree with quite a bit of its own unique features. Features include lyrics, artist bios, tabbed playlists, Wii remote support, visualizations, iPod, iPhone, and mass storage USB support, album cover art, Internet music (Last.fm, SomaFM, Magnatune, Jamendo, and Icecast), and music format conversion.

You can download Clementine for Linux, Windows, Mac OS X, or the source code for other operating systems.

There are plenty of other great apps hiding on KDE-Apps.org. Many are updated regularly and well maintained. If you have a favorite third-party KDE app, feel free to share it in the comments section. Also, if you would like to read a review of any app, make sure to suggest it to MakeTechEasier.

Recommended reading:
5 Intriguing KDE Apps

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Styles and Themes

In KDE, a style refers to the window color, buttons, scroll bars, progress bars, and similar interactive visual components. Themes include color schemes and more, all in one package. You can set styles in System Settings -> Application Appearance -> Style.

Qtcurve – One of the most highly acclaimed styles, Qtcurve gives you ultimate control over customizable features. The configuration settings are extensive, giving you control over button style, gradients, and even accompanying window manager settings. Many users have created their own Qtcurve presets that you can download and use.

Bespin – Bespin is the technical successor to the famous Baghira style from KDE 3. With rounded buttons, silver gradient backgrounds, and an exotic selection of visual options, it is by far the most stylized of the available KDE styles, and outsiders may not even recognize your desktop as being KDE. Like Qtcurve, Bespin also has a window manager theme to go along with it.

Oxygen Transparent – Plainly put, Oxygen Transparent is the Oxygen style with support for translucent windows applied to it. Normally, only the window decorator can be translucent or transparent, but this features gives you control over the opacity of the entire window. This is best used with the Blur effect, which only works with certain graphics cards.

Plasma Themes

Plasma themes control how your panel, Krunner, and widgets appear. You can change themes in System Settings – Workspace Appearance – Desktop Theme.

Glassified – Slick and smooth, Glassified gives you a clear picture of your desktop, through the looking glass.

Tibanna – This theme is designed to go with Bespin, and unlike most other themes, it will give you an opaque panel and widgets, complete with Bespin gradient backgrounds.

Elegance – Elegance is reminiscent of the earlier black Oxygen theme with a little more class to it. It is very dark and will set a night mood to your workspace.

Ghost - If nothing else, Ghost wins points just for being unique. This will transform your desktop into something completely different.  If you can stand the extremely dark theme, it will make your computer desktop look like it came off an alien ship.

Icons

Black and White icons – These black and white icons will go nicely with the new monochrome system tray icons. They will extend the silvery feel of Oxygen.

MIB Ossiengo - Like your icons were dipped in the ocean, these icons have an aqua-like feel to them.

H2O – Add hydrogen to oxygen, and you get the H2O icon set. As the creator describes it, H2O will add color and life to your desktop.

If you want more themes, icons, and styles, you can add browse/search for them directly from within System Settings or go to KDE-Look.org.

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Installation and Setup

Most Linux distributions that ship KDE as an option or as the default desktop also distribute packages for KTorrent. For example, to install KTorrent on Kubuntu or other Ubuntu variants, just use the graphical installation program or open a terminal and run:

sudo apt-get install ktorrent

Once installed, start KTorrent on the machine where you want it to run. You will need to configure it before you start using it remotely. First, in the main menu, click “Settings” and “Configure KTorrent”.

Set the default save location to the place where you want your torrent files to be saved. The web interface will not allow you to access this setting remotely. Click “OK” to finish the configuration.

Next, click the “Plugins” tab on the left. Check the “Web Interface” box to enable remote management. Now, go back into “Settings” -> “Configure KTorrent” and click the “Web Interface” tab. You should probably use a login and password, but it is optional. Make sure the default web server port is not used by another application. If it is, change it to something else.

Click “OK”, and you should now have a KTorrent web server running on the computer. To verify that it is running, open your web browser and navigate to http://localhost:8080/. Replace 8080 with the port number you used.

Starting KTorrent Remotely

If you are not completely obsessed with convenience, you can always start KTorrent directly from the host machine and keep it running in the system tray. If, however, you need to start it remotely, you can use SSH.

Before you go any further, you need to make sure your computer’s firewall will permit the port you will use for remote connection.

Next, login to the remote machine via SSH:

ssh -l username ipaddress

Replace “username” with the computer’s currently logged-in username and “ipaddress” with the local IP of the computer. You may also be able to use the computer’s host name. It will prompt you for a password and should give you access to the remote command line.

Finally, start ktorrent so that it opens on the user’s current X display rather than yours:

ktorrent --display :0 &

If the user is not logged in on :0 X display, change it to the appropriate number. If you are unsure that it worked, you can check to see if it is running:

ps aux | grep ktorrent

You now have the option of adding torrent URLs directly through SSH:

ktorrent /path/to/torrent/file/filename.torrent --silent

Alternatively, you can exit SSH and access KTorrent from the web interface.

Web Interface

The KTorrent web interface is very basic but gets the job done. First, open your web browser, go to the IP address or hostname of the computer running KTorrent, and add the port number to the end. For example:

http://192.168.1.1:8080

If it connects correctly, you will see the KTorrent header and login form. Enter the username and password you created during the initial setup. If did not make one, it should pass you straight through to the interface.

The first page you see will be the Torrents tab. To add a new torrent, click “Load Torrent”. There are two ways to load a torrent:

1) with the direct URL to a torrent file from a website or
2) from a downloaded file.

Once you have entered the URL or file, click “Upload Torrent”.

Click back on the Torrents tab to make any individual configuration changes to downloading or seeding torrents. The buttons to the left of each torrent allow you to start, stop, or remove them, and the page will continuously update to show you current download information.

For torrents with multiple files, the title will be displayed as a hyperlink. Click on it to configure individual files. Using the icons to the left of each file, you can set the download priority for each.

The third tab is “Settings”, but this only contains a fraction of the settings available in the actual KTorrent application. It allows you to configure upload/download speeds and also gives you some control over the web interface, such as automatic refresh.

When you are finished with your torrents, click “Logout”. Alternatively, if you are completely finished with KTorrent and all of your torrents are completed, you can click “Shutdown” to end the program completely.

Related Posts:

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• How to Use ‘remote:/’ KIO and KNetAttach
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Kate SQL Client – The popular all-in-one text editor for KDE now has basic SQL client functionality, thanks to the new SQL Query plugin.

App Enhancements – Many other applications have been enhanced. Gwenview and KSnapshot now have social media sharing buttons. Marble has a route planning tool with MarbleToGo for mobile devices, and KStars now has OpenGL rendering support. A few games also received upgrades.

New Activities Design – KDE Workspaces activities allow the user to truly have multiple desktops, with each one having its own purpose, its own set of widgets, unique wallpaper, and even its own applications. Each activity additionally has its own set of virtual desktops, giving you maximum power and flexibility. This is an improvement over the last version, which was pretty confusing. The one feature I would still like to see is the ability to give each activity a more distinct icon.

KWin Improvements – One of the areas where KDE lagged behind was compositing window management. In previous versions, Compiz has always outperformed KWin, even though it was not a KDE window manager. In 4.6, KWin has been optimized, adding a significant performance boost. KWin also has support for more graphics adapters and better detection. The improvements were noticeable as soon as I started it.

New Notification Features – You can now detach notification popups from the tray icon and drag them anywhere you want, and expanded notification popups have a new meter telling you how fast a download is coming.

Docking Taskbar – The KDE panel has always had launcher capabilities, but now you can pin tasks in the taskbar, turning them into smart launchers. This worked fairly well, but it has some ways to go before users would be able to use the panel like a true dock. That may not even be the intentions of the developers, but it is a nice option to have, nonetheless.

Speed – In general Plasma feels snappy and fast. Even on my desktop computer, I used to notice a slight lag in effects such as the shelf widget icon highlighting. Those are now lightning fast. The same applies to just about every other plasma and KWin effect.

Oxygen-GTK – One of the big improvements in KDE 4.6 is the new Oxygen-GTK engine that finally makes GTK apps look pretty much identical to KDE apps, even with window color gradients in place. The screenshots on the KDE website confirm that it works, but I was not able to get it to work out of the box. First, it did not even come with my install of Kubuntu, so I had to download it from the project’s website. Even then, I could not get it to work right without manually editing the .gtkrc-2.0 file. After that, it worked as expected. On my test user account, which had received less tweaking, it worked without any problems.

Overall Impressions

KDE 4.6 is the fastest and most polished release of KDE in the 4.x series. It is truly smooth, and the added features just make it that much more solid and remind me why I chose KDE as my desktop. It will be interesting to see where they go from here, as they move closer to the inevitable KDE 5. As long as they stay on the path they are currently on, the future looks very bright.

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Kfilebox (formerly Kdropbox) is an easy-to-use utility that automatically downloads the latest Dropbox daemon and integrates Dropox with your KDE system.

Note: If you have previously installed Dropbox in Kubuntu, rename the .dropbox-dist folder to .dropbox-dist-backup in order for Kilfebox to download the latest version of the Dropbox daemon.

To install Kfilebox in Kubuntu:

1. Go to the project’s Sourceforge website

2. Click the latest version (currently Kfilebox-0.4.5)

3. Click Ubuntu 10.04 (even if you have 10.10)

4. Choose i386 (32 bit) or amd64 (64 bit), depending on your hardware

5. When it finishes downloading, click on the deb file to install and enter your password when prompted.

6. When the installation completes, find “Kfilebox” in your menu or press Alt-F2 and type kfilebox

*Kfilebox will then automatically start downloading the Dropbox daemon

7. When prompted check the appropriate button to tell Kfilebox whether you already have a Dropbox account or need to get a new one.

Once you finish the configuration, you can set Kfilebox to start when you login and tell it which folder to use for synchronization. For more information about Kfilebox, visit the project website.

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