mintDesktop 1.2 released!

[clem]

Hi.

If you're running Bea you already have mintDesktop 1.0 installed. This software is now available in version 1.1, as a deb file from the repository, and it does way more things than before

By the way, if you're still running Barbara or even Edgy, now is the time for you to enjoy mintDesktop

What it does:

- When you login, if it hasn't done so before it'll create a set of folders in your home directory and place nice emblems on them. It'll also place links to some tutorials in your Documents folder to make sure you feel comfortable in your mint desktop

- It has a frontend accessible from System->Preferences->mintDesktop from where you can set the following options:
. show computer/home/documents/trash/volumes/network icons on the desktop
. choose between browser/spatial mode for nautilus

Why it's cool:

- It's a central piece of software and it's directly related to you, your desktop and the way you find information and organize your data. It will evolve everytime we get new ideas about how to make your desktop an even better place.

How to install it:

To install mintDesktop you need to add this line to /etc/apt/sources.list:

Code: Select all

deb http://lt.k1011.nutime.de/repository edgy main

Then update your sources:

Code: Select all

sudo apt-get update

Then install mintDesktop:

Code: Select all

sudo apt-get install mintdesktop

Once installed:

Bea users:
- you need to check the file /etc/gdm/PostLogin/Default
you'll see two lines for mintDesktop. Remove one of them.
- have fun with System->Preferences->mintDesktop

Barbara and non-mint users:
- Restart X (no need for bea users)
- Check the inside of your home folder
- have fun with System->Preferences->mintDesktop

And of course:

- This stuff is going to be included in Bianca, so if you did test it... whether you liked it, or not.. please give us your feedback!

Clem

EDIT: version 1.2 was released. Added automatic mounting of your Windows network in your home folder.. enjoy

[thorhr]

I tried it and I like it good job.

[Dual Cortex]

Pretty cool

You're doing a great job with Linux Mint

[Tiptup300]

Its really nice how mint is starting to get its own software, nice job, I got a zune so I have to use windows more

[Femi]

I installed Mint Linux out of cusiosity yesterday (for my girlfriend). It seems a very good project to me. Especially this mintDesktop is a good idea.
Is there a possibility to configure where the created folders need to point to?
My specific situation is that my girlfriend uses both Linux and Windows. For her to be able to use "My Documents" in both OSs, I have created a FAT32 partition with her documents. In here home map there is a symlink to that partition.
Now it would be great if I could configure the Videos, Pictures, ... folders of mintDesktop to point to the corresponding Window$ folders.

I know I can do this manually, and for now that's what I will do. I am only asking about some functionality or maybe I am giving an idea the develepers of mintDesktop can think about.

Keep up the good work

[alan2273]

After following your instructions, then opening the file /etc/gdm/PostLogin/Default, there was only one entry, so I left it as it was.
I prefer my desktop with no icons, and this made it so easy to remove the existing ones.
Keep up the good work.

[techne]

Is there any way of getting the package without using apt-get? I typically have to download Linux packages at other computers not running Linux, so if there is a separate HTTP or FTP download site, I would appreciate knowing about it.

[clem]

You'll find the debs here: http://linuxmint.com/repository/di ... nary-i386/

[techne]

Thank you.

When I went to install them, I got messages about broken dependencies. By the way, I am using Barbara. How should I install them? (I thought I just had to double-click the packages for installation. Is that right?)

[JohnH]

Clem and fellow Minties,

I have it installed and up and running. It didn't install under the method recommended so I went into Synaptic, found it (repo worked) and installed it there. All works well. Thank you to those who give their time to this project.

Regards
John

[Totally Infected]

I just installed 2.1 the yesterday and the only thing I've done is allow it to update as it requested. I checked etc/gdm/postlogin/default in gedit. There was already only one line there (w/o #'s)... /usr/lib/linuxmint/mintDesktop/mintDesktop.sh so I left it alone

I have the icon-ized folders in my home folder but no system->preferences->mintDesktop or variation there of.

Any ideas?

[clem]

Nothing to worry about.. you're basically running mintDesktop 1.0. If you want version 1.1, remove the mentioned line, and follow the instructions above on how to install it.

Clem

[Totally Infected]

A general question... I think I remember there being a way to open a directory folder as root (sort of a temp root file manager) so that anything you navigate to and open in it will be opened as root... rather than navigating there to verify it's there and then turning around and going to the terminal.

Any trick for that in Mint? for us slow visual folks...

thanks again... next up, a 3D acceleration install, NTFS read/write capability, and some key repos and apps. hehe

[clem]

version 1.2 was released. Check your upgrades for those who already installed version 1.1

- upgrade to mintDesktop 1.2
- open the frontend in System->Preferences->mintDesktop
- check "automatic browsing" and click "OK".
- restart X
- go to your home folder...
- you should see a new Network folder in there... which contains all your Windows neighbourhood

Enjoy

[Tiptup300]

Next all you need to do is beable to stream music to your 360.

[MDT]

Ok, I try to run the command, but I get the following error :

bash: deb: command not found

[Dr.U]

A general question... I think I remember there being a way to open a directory folder as root (sort of a temp root file manager) so that anything you navigate to and open in it will be opened as root... rather than navigating there to verify it's there and then turning around and going to the terminal.

Any trick for that in Mint? for us slow visual folks...

This isn't exactly what you want, but it is what I have done and maybe you can use it until we get a solution. I opened the "alacarte" menu layout editor and went to the "Administration" area (in the left pane under "System").

Now in the middle pane I highlighted some entry (it doesn't matter which one), then clicked on "+New Item" (in the right pane). In the resulting pop-up window enter "Root File Manager" (or whatever you wish) for the name, then some comment you would like to have, then "gksu nautilus --no-desktop --browser %U" ( or "gksu pcmanfm" is what I use, it's very fast and is a small download), click on the icon button and select some icon, and there you have a "Root File Manager" entry for your GUI browsing pleasure You can then also open files such as /etc/hosts from within this "Root FM" and modify and save them (since you are now operating as "Root" -- caution advised).

I made similar entries for a "Root Text Editor" (use "gksu gedit", or download mousepad or leafpad and use "gksu mousepad" or "gksu leafpad" -- they starts faster than gedit but have fewer features) and a "Root Terminal" (using "sudo gnome-terminal" or "sudo whatever-terminal-emulator-you-prefer-to-use").

Not perfect, but quick and dirty.

Hope this helps.

Regards,
-- Dr.U

[jes]

Hey i install MintDesktop 1.2 on Bea god work

[OBraIN]

super works fine good work ! thx 4 it

[hairy_Palms]

yo allow things to be opend as root go to ~/.gnome2/nautilus-scripts
and make a file called "open as root" then put the following code into it,

#!/bin/sh
for uri in $NAUTILUS_SCRIPT_SELECTED_URIS; do
gksudo "gnome-open $uri" &
done

voila! instant root context menu