Fwd: Gnome article

["Lucas Rocha" <lucasr gnome org>]

Hi all,

Forwarding submited article by George Fragos. Interesting one because
it's a user point of view article.

Comments?

--lucasr

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: George Fragos <fragos gmail com>
Date: 12/11/2006 05:30
Subject: Gnome article
To: lucasr gnome org


I've written an article on making the change from KDE to Gnome.  I
registered for a login but can't figure out how to submit.  I see
where you get on the queue but couldn't figure out how either.  I
understand the concept of wiki but have never used one -- that may be
my problem.  Lacking any other solution I picked out your name as the
last person editing the page.  Thanks in advance for your
consideration.  My article follows:

> From KDE to Gnome

Like many Linux users, my initial choice of GUI was based on what the
distro installed by default.  In my case it was KDE.  I became
proficient with using KDE and appreciated its range of control.  There
were some common activities that seemed to take multiple steps when a
single one would have felt more natural.  To be honest I also liked
the visual characteristics and icons that seemed common with Gnome.
Finally the day came when significant instability took over the distro
I was using.  I decided to see why many like Gnome so much and
switched to Ubuntu.  Given I was entering a new environment I decided
to give Gnome a couple of weeks try so I could separate the cockpit
problems from the real character of Gnome.  All to many, make
decisions about something new without a fair trial.  Perhaps they
never wanted to change in the first place.  I also decided part of my
fair trial would be to use only Gnome applications -- goodbye Kate,
hello Gedit.
First I noticed that system controls weren't bundled into a control
center but instead often resided in the applications themselves.  One
example is changing to single click wasn't in the mouse setup but
instead in Nautilus.  Given that Nautilus is also the desktop that
makes some sense.  There's a good chance you would be using Nautilus
when you decided to change from double to single click.  Gnome has
more of an object orientation than KDE.  In KDE processes are started
by selecting a function and in Gnome they are started by selecting the
object you want to perform them on.  Sounds like a subtle difference
but in practice object orientation just flows better with fewer steps.
In KDE mime type parameters are by a global file association process
and in Gnome they're attached to the files.  This allows changing the
default opening application, icon and other parameters access-able
from the object you wish change them for.  This is much more intuitive
and direct.  In general, when I click an object icon Gnome seems
better at performing the action I what.
I found a very powerful Gnome tool that gives me the ultimate in
execution control.  Namely, Nautilus Scripts.  My most used script is
"Open as Administrator."  This script works in concert with whatever
application is assigned to the file.  In KDE, I found myself opening a
terminal window and doing an su before starting the application from
the command line.  With Nautilus Scripts the action become a single
step operation.  To get this power, place the following lines in a
text file called "Open as Administrator" or whatever you please. And
then place that file in ~/.gnome2/nautilus-scripts.  All scripts must
be set to execute.

for uri in $NAUTILUS_SCRIPT_SELECTED_URIS; do
gksudo "gnome-open $uri" &
done

You can also place other runnable script types here as well.  Another
of my favorites is "Terminal Here" which is the following bash script,
courtesy of the Gnome community.

#!/bin/sh
# Original by two other scripts merged together
# Modified by Eugenia Loli and Kon, Oct 2004
# This script either opens in the current directory,
# or in the selected directory
# Doesn't work with the ~/Desktop or the ~/.Trash folders (Nautilus'
limitation).

base="`echo $NAUTILUS_SCRIPT_CURRENT_URI | cut -d'/' -f3- | sed 's/%20/ /g'`"

if [ -z "$NAUTILUS_SCRIPT_SELECTED_FILE_PATHS" ]; then
    dir="$base"
else
    while [ ! -z "$1" -a ! -d "$base/$1" ]; do shift; done
    dir="$base/$1"
fi

if [ "$NAUTILUS_SCRIPT_CURRENT_URI" == "x-nautilus-desktop:///" ]; then
dir="Desktop"
fi

if [ "$NAUTILUS_SCRIPT_CURRENT_URI" == "trash:" ]; then
dir="$HOME/.Trash"
fi

if [ "$NAUTILUS_SCRIPT_CURRENT_URI" == "file:///" ]; then
dir="/"
fi

FIRST_URI="`echo -n $NAUTILUS_SCRIPT_SELECTED_URIS`"

if [ "$FIRST_URI" == "x-nautilus-desktop:///home" ]; then
dir="$HOME"
fi

if [ "$FIRST_URI" != "" ]; then
dir="`echo $FIRST_URI | cut -c8-`"
fi

if [ "$FIRST_URI" == "x-nautilus-desktop:///computer" ]; then
dir="/"
fi

# uncomment this if you want to use the Gnome Terminal instead of XTerm
gnome-terminal --working-directory="$dir"

#cd $dir
#exec xterm -bg black -fg green -cr red -sl 3000 -g 100x76+1+1 -T `pwd`

There's other scripts available on the web where I found both of mine.
There are other potential uses for scripts you can create yourself.
File conversion that you do frequently are an excellent example of
candidates.  To use the scripts you've written, right click the object
in Nautilus or on the desktop and select Scripts.  You then choose the
script you want.  Note the Scripts function will only appear in the
menu list if you've created ~/.gnome2/nautilus-scripts/ and placed
scripts there.
You'll also find a wealth of panel applets that either provide
important information or access to handy functions.  One such applet I
can't live without is the Network Monitor which gives me a quick
visual indication of network activity and serves a quick link to more
detailed information and network configuration.  If you're using WiFi,
a signal strength indicator is displayed next Network Monitor icon.  I
place other often used applications in the panel for quick selection.
I recently tried the Deskbar applet which one ups to the command line.
Click the icon and an entry field appears.  Enter lets say "edit" and
you're provided with a list of command lines that relate.  For
example:

Lookup edit in dictionary
Execute edit
Launch Text Editor (gedit)
Launch Configuration Editor (gconf-editor)
Launch GNOME Partition Editor (gksu gparted)
Launch Gimp Image Editor (gimp-remote-2.2)
...
...

Just pick the one you want and up it comes.  Very cool or should I say sweet.

If I enter for example a persons name I'll get "Send Email to" to
every person in my Evolution directory that has that name and a list
of Firefox bookmarks with that name in them.  Response is
instantaneous and so intuitive its almost scary.  Gnome truly is a
user's system that supports my personal style of interacting with the
computer or just about anyone else's for that matter.  There are some
of us that are devoted to the power and challenge of the Linux command
line -- so be it.  Gnome proves that Linux is approachable by GUI
users.  I've moved a number of hard core Windows users to Linux and
Gnome played an important role in making that possible.  Let's not
forget the wonderful Gnome community on the web.  And if after all
there are some KDE applications you can't live without you can still
install them in a Gnome environment.  I haven't found myself wanting
to do that.



--
Have a nice day -- George
____________
George Fragos
fragos gmail com
73 East Swift Ave.
Fresno CA 93704