Liane:
If running gnome-cleanup fixes a problem, this means that you have
found a problem with how GNOME's configuration management isn't
supporting backwards compatibility as well as it should. If you
are using the vermillion-devel builds, this may or may not be a
real problem. Remember the vermillion-devel builds are not
supported by Sun and contain unsupported 2.(odd number) code from
the GNOME community. This code has no stability guarantees from the
GNOME community. So you may be just seeing bugs that might not affect
users who only use the stable code.
The problem with using gnome-cleanup is that it is like using a
sledgehammer to kill a bug. It removes all your configuration settings
and starts you from scratch. This does tend to resolve such problems
if you are willing to recreate your launches, and redo your
configuration. The problem, as you say, is that you also lose all
your other configuration settings that you really probably don't
want to lose.
If you were able to identify specifically which configuration option
is causing the problem, then we can work the external GNOME/FreeDesktop
community to better support backwards compatibility. The problem with
figuring out more specifically what the problem might be is that it can
be labor intensive. Let me explain.
What you could do if you wanted to help identify the specific problem
is to save your "bad" configuration settings off to the side and
by careful removal of specific settings try to figure out which
setting is causing the problem. For example, you could do the
following:
- back up $HOME/.gconf
- log out of GNOME and log into a failsafe session or CDE or
something not GNOME.
- make sure you kill the gconfd daemon if it is still running
- delete directories in $HOME/.gconf (such as apps) one at a
time.
- log back into GNOME and see if the problem has gone away.
- if so, then log out of GNOME, make sure you kill the gconfd
daemon, and put the bad directory back. Repeat this process
with the subdirectories in $HOME/.gconf/apps until you find
the specific configuration option that causes the problem.
- if not, then log out of GNOME, and repeat the process with
a different directory (one that isn't apps).
If the problem is with a specific application, then you can try to
target configuration files that relate to that application (e.g.
$HOME/.gconf/apps/gnome-settings/gnome-panel for an issue you see
with gnome-panel). This can make the process slightly less
painful.
Another approach is to run gconf-editor and peruse the options to
see if there might be an obvious setting that is incorrect or
might be affecting you. You might find that changing certain
values corrects the problem. You need to log out and log back
in to see if a change makes a difference to programs that are
already started (like the panel, nautilus, etc.).
If this process makes you want to stick a fork in your eye, then
perhaps you understand why many people run gnome-cleanup and
forget about it. Though perhaps other people might have better
approaches or suggestions about how to debug such problems?
In the near future, things may get better because one problem with
GConf on Solaris is that we don't support FAM (automatic file
change notification). This will be fixed, I think, in an upcoming
Nevada build, and GConf should become better about updating itself
when you change a configuration setting. This should avoid the need to
logout, make sure the gconf daemon is killed, and log back in so much
to figure out such problems. But still, tracking down the problem
can feel like finding a needle in a haystack.
If you are able to identify which value is causing the problem,
then let us know and we will work with you and the external community
to try and fix the issue so that backwards compatibility works
better. Or at least be able to provide people with a better fix
than running gnome-cleanup.
Or you could just file a bug and attach a tarball with your bad
.gconf settings and hopefully someone can look into it.
> At least once every 6 months, usually more frequently, after I
> live-upgrade, something wonky happens to my desktop. Sometimes I
> lose desktop icons entirely. This time (70->74 upgrade) the icons
> and their text are much bigger than previously, and my window title
> bars are messed up. (Controls aren't left and right justified.)
>
> I haven't done it yet this time, but gnome-cleanup usually does the
> trick -- at the expense of having to re-create my launchers, etc.
>
> Is there some way that the system settings can get updated without
> losing my personal customizations? Or, is there a way to make my
> personal customizations so that un-related changes don't override
> the system settings?
Not really. The problem is with the updated programs not working
well with configuration settings that used to work with previous
versions of the same program.
> I really don't customize that much on my desktop, so I'm a bit
> surprised I keep running into this. (Or that I'm the only one.)
The problems may also be caused by programs that try to save
information (e.g. state) in your .gconf directory. Not necessarily
with configuration options that you set yourself by hand. Also note
that all changes you make to GNOME programs in "Preference" dialogs
are saved in the GConf repository.
Brian
