Re: KDE activities
On 27/11/11 20:00, Alan Chandler wrote: With the problems I seem to be having with Gnome3 (not the problem that most people have with the shell, which I like - but other applications which seem to have become flakey - Gedit crashes on closing a tab, Nautilus FTP doesn't seem to work half the time, issues I have been discussing here about the applications launched with file associations ...) I decided to give KDE 4 another try (I had switched to Gnome from KDE when KDE 4 was first introduced). I am struggling with the concepts behind Activities, Desktops, Workspaces and Screens. Have you read the fine documentation in the KDE Help Centre? $ khelpcenter You can also access it from the entry on the Programs Menu, or from the Help menu in any KDE application. I'd strongly suggest you refer to Debian specific documentation on KDE. This is not helped by the fact that I am trying to follow the advice from various web pages - but I don't seem to see what I should see. In particular - I use Super Q What is Super Q? to bring up the activities manager pane. Are you talking about Desktop Activities? (many things have activities). This shows I have two activities both named New Activity. I should then right click on a desktop and select Desktop Settings I should see a window with the left pane having three options Wallpaper, Activity and Mouse Actions. That sounds like a description of the Desktop Activity Manager:- http://ge.tt/9U7gqQA/v/0 NOTES: Options in the left-hand pane are determined by Activity Type. In the pictured case the Activity Type is Wallpaper. (the other Activity Type is Folder View) Instead I see a window with only two options, View and Mouse Actions. Perhaps some screen shots and links to them would better illustrate what you are asking about? Have I not installed something I should have? or has this changed and all these web pages are out of date? What web pages are you referring to? Which Debian release are you running? What is it that you are trying to achieve? Cheers -- Iceweasel/Firefox extensions for finding answers to Debian questions:- https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/collections/Scott_Ferguson/debian/ -- To UNSUBSCRIBE, email to debian-user-requ...@lists.debian.org with a subject of unsubscribe. Trouble? Contact listmas...@lists.debian.org Archive: http://lists.debian.org/4ed21462.3060...@gmail.com
Re: KDE activities
Hi Alan!
Am Sonntag, 27. November 2011 schrieb Alan Chandler:
With the problems I seem to be having with Gnome3 (not the problem that
[…]
...) I decided to give KDE 4 another try (I had switched to Gnome from
KDE when KDE 4 was first introduced).
I am struggling with the concepts behind Activities, Desktops,
Workspaces and Screens. This is not helped by the fact that I am
[…]
In particular - I use Super Q to bring up the activities manager pane.
This shows I have two activities both named New Activity. I should
then right click on a desktop and select Desktop Settings I should
see a window with the left pane having three options Wallpaper,
Activity and Mouse Actions. Instead I see a window with only two
options, View and Mouse Actions.
Have I not installed something I should have? or has this changed and
all these web pages are out of date?
You are not alone. Activities are something that have been changed a lot
during KDE 4 lifetime. I think they first appeared in KDE 4.2 or so and
have been rather inconsistent there. They gotten way better with KDE 4.6.5
and even better with the brand new KDE 4.7.2 amd64 packages from
yesterday¹.
So what KDE version are you using?
I don´t know where you read about the three panes. I only have the two you
mentioned, but as that, activities have been changed a lot. Maybe that
source refers to an earlier version of KDE 4.
Its a bit difficult to grasp the concepts and differences between virtual
desktops versus activies. I found the excellent blog of Chani, who
develops on KDE activities as well, very help ful in understand
activities. For example:
{December 26, 2010} Activity-oriented vs Application-oriented workspaces
http://chani.wordpress.com/
were she describes the differences between GNOME 3 and KDE in that regard
or her screen casts like
{December 18, 2010} Activities 4.6 screencast
http://chani.wordpress.com/2010/12/18/activities-4-6-screencast/
or
{January 9, 2011} Activities in Action
http://chani.wordpress.com/category/activities/
I also darkly remember a blog entry of her or someone else that explains
the difference between activities and virtual desktops in a really clear
way. Lets see whether I find that one. Ok, it might have been that one:
The Rise of Plasma Activities and What it can do for You
http://yuenhoe.com/blog/2011/01/the-rise-of-plasma-activities-and-what-it-
can-do-for-you/
of Jason moofang Lim Yuen Hoe.
Yes, thats it.
I found it through
Activities – A change in workflow?
http://hanschen.org/2011/02/04/activities-a-change-in-workflow/
which also seems to be a good read.
I suggest you, to read these and watch some screencasts by Chani. And when
there are still questions, ask them then. That said, I am still into
exploring this new concept myself.
I have several activities:
- communication
- KMail
- Kontact
- Chat stuff
- system administration
- Konsole
- Some system meter plasmoids like CPU and free memory
- First use case of myself for rotating plasmoids
- I have them rotated by 90 degrees ;)
- Before I never understand why this could be a useful feature ;)
- photos
- Quicklinks to Digikam, Gwenview
- image plasmoids with photos from my gf and other nice photos
- Second use case for rotating plasmoids
- files
- I am wondering, whether this is too generic of an activity
- I do lots of stuff with files, maybe I split into different activities
- information
- Weather plasmoid
- Comic plasmoid with space picture of the day and some comics
- Akregator
- Web browsers like Rekonq, Konqueror, Iceweasel
- thats to fuzzy as well, maybe at least split into fun and information
- lets see
- gaming
- quick links to popular games
- probably a Konsole for compiling Freedroid RPG from SVN and such
not all of them are started at any time although since switching to my new
company laptop - an ThinkPad T520 with 8 GB of RAM - this wouldn´t be much
of a resource problem.
I am still wondering about my activities, the categorization of stuff into
activities. Especially for files and information which seem to generic to
me.
[1] http://qt-kde.debian.net/
Thanks,
--
Martin 'Helios' Steigerwald - http://www.Lichtvoll.de
GPG: 03B0 0D6C 0040 0710 4AFA B82F 991B EAAC A599 84C7
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Re: KDE activities
Am Sonntag, 27. November 2011 schrieb Alan Chandler: With the problems I seem to be having with Gnome3 (not the problem that most people have with the shell, which I like - but other applications which seem to have become flakey - Gedit crashes on closing a tab, Nautilus FTP doesn't seem to work half the time, issues I have been discussing here about the applications launched with file associations ...) I decided to give KDE 4 another try (I had switched to Gnome from KDE when KDE 4 was first introduced). I am struggling with the concepts behind Activities, Desktops, Workspaces and Screens. This is not helped by the fact that I am trying to follow the advice from various web pages - but I don't seem to see what I should see. In particular - I use Super Q to bring up the activities manager pane. This shows I have two activities both named New Activity. I should then right click on a desktop and select Desktop Settings I should see a window with the left pane having three options Wallpaper, Activity and Mouse Actions. Instead I see a window with only two options, View and Mouse Actions. Have I not installed something I should have? or has this changed and all these web pages are out of date? I found some more: 7 ways to switch activities http://hanschen.org/2011/05/15/7-ways-to-switch-activities/ Switching via mouse gestures rock ;) I also installed the Activity Manager plasmoid from source. Locks quite nice. I did not yet try this one Switch to specific activities with keyboard shortcuts http://hanschen.org/2011/05/20/switch-to-specific-activities-with-keyboard- shortcuts/ cause thats a bit cumbersone to configure. Thats one of the current shortcomings: Better ways to switch between activities. But now lets see what you make out of it. I hope to hear from your experiences. BTW for additional help you might want to ask on debian kde mailing list as well. Ciao, -- Martin 'Helios' Steigerwald - http://www.Lichtvoll.de GPG: 03B0 0D6C 0040 0710 4AFA B82F 991B EAAC A599 84C7 -- To UNSUBSCRIBE, email to debian-user-requ...@lists.debian.org with a subject of unsubscribe. Trouble? Contact listmas...@lists.debian.org Archive: http://lists.debian.org/20271302.14198.mar...@lichtvoll.de
Re: KDE activities
On 27/11/11 10:43, Scott Ferguson wrote: On 27/11/11 20:00, Alan Chandler wrote: With the problems I seem to be having with Gnome3 (not the problem that most people have with the shell, which I like - but other applications which seem to have become flakey - Gedit crashes on closing a tab, Nautilus FTP doesn't seem to work half the time, issues I have been discussing here about the applications launched with file associations ...) I decided to give KDE 4 another try (I had switched to Gnome from KDE when KDE 4 was first introduced). I am struggling with the concepts behind Activities, Desktops, Workspaces and Screens. Have you read the fine documentation in the KDE Help Centre? $ khelpcenter You can also access it from the entry on the Programs Menu, or from the Help menu in any KDE application. I'd strongly suggest you refer to Debian specific documentation on KDE. This is not helped by the fact that I am trying to follow the advice from various web pages - but I don't seem to see what I should see. In particular - I use Super Q What is Super Q? It is the default KDE Key Combination that brings up the Activity Manager - Super is (I think) the KDE word for the Logo key that sits between Cntl and Alt to bring up the activities manager pane. Are you talking about Desktop Activities? (many things have activities). I am talking about Desktop Activities This shows I have two activities both named New Activity. I should then right click on a desktop and select Desktop Settings I should see a window with the left pane having three options Wallpaper, Activity and Mouse Actions. That sounds like a description of the Desktop Activity Manager:- http://ge.tt/9U7gqQA/v/0 NOTES: Options in the left-hand pane are determined by Activity Type. In the pictured case the Activity Type is Wallpaper. (the other Activity Type is Folder View) That is indeed the screen I was talking about - I think in your notes you mean to say that Options in the Right Hand pane ... What I was saying is I DON'T see WallPaper and Activity in the Left Hand pane - instead I see Just View - but with the same options as you show in the right hand pane - and Mouse Actions. Instead I see a window with only two options, View and Mouse Actions. Perhaps some screen shots and links to them would better illustrate what you are asking about? Unfortunately KDE seems to be particularly unstable - KWin seems to crash on me - so I had to switch back to Gnome3 (but its only a log out/log in away if I need to) Have I not installed something I should have? or has this changed and all these web pages are out of date? What web pages are you referring to? Here is one http://forum.kde.org/viewtopic.php?f=17t=90091 Which Debian release are you running? Sid This means I am running KDE 4.6.5 What is it that you are trying to achieve? In order to better understand what the activities were doing I was trying to rename them so they both didn't say New Activity Cheers -- Alan Chandler http://www.chandlerfamily.org.uk -- To UNSUBSCRIBE, email to debian-user-requ...@lists.debian.org with a subject of unsubscribe. Trouble? Contact listmas...@lists.debian.org Archive: http://lists.debian.org/4ed22b52.6030...@chandlerfamily.org.uk
Re: KDE activities
On 27/11/11 23:21, Alan Chandler wrote: On 27/11/11 10:43, Scott Ferguson wrote: On 27/11/11 20:00, Alan Chandler wrote: With the problems I seem to be having with Gnome3 (not the problem that most people have with the shell, which I like - but other applications which seem to have become flakey - Gedit crashes on closing a tab, Nautilus FTP doesn't seem to work half the time, issues I have been discussing here about the applications launched with file associations ...) I decided to give KDE 4 another try (I had switched to Gnome from KDE when KDE 4 was first introduced). I am struggling with the concepts behind Activities, Desktops, Workspaces and Screens. Have you read the fine documentation in the KDE Help Centre? $ khelpcenter You can also access it from the entry on the Programs Menu, or from the Help menu in any KDE application. I'd strongly suggest you refer to Debian specific documentation on KDE. This is not helped by the fact that I am trying to follow the advice from various web pages - but I don't seem to see what I should see. In particular - I use Super Q What is Super Q? It is the default KDE Key Combination that brings up the Activity Manager - Super is (I think) the KDE word for the Logo key that sits between Cntl and Alt It doesn't work here What does work is:- Alt+D, Alt+S to bring up the activities manager pane. Are you talking about Desktop Activities? (many things have activities). I am talking about Desktop Activities OK. I normally choose various Virtual Desktops (Desktop Pager on the Panel), creating more if necessary, and name them according to what I want. Usually the first one is Private, and the others for various clients (so Private, and various Works). Then I create the Activities that use those Virtual Desktops. There are a number of ways of assigning (and using) Activities. This shows I have two activities both named New Activity. I should then right click on a desktop and select Desktop Settings I should see a window with the left pane having three options Wallpaper, Activity and Mouse Actions. That sounds like a description of the Desktop Activity Manager:- http://ge.tt/9U7gqQA/v/0 NOTES: Options in the left-hand pane are determined by Activity Type. In the pictured case the Activity Type is Wallpaper. (the other Activity Type is Folder View) That is indeed the screen I was talking about - I think in your notes you mean to say that Options in the Right Hand pane ... No, I mean the left-hand pane. If I were to select the Activity option in the left-hand pane, and then change the Activity type in the right-hand pane (which changes when Activity is selected on the left) I'd then be able to change the activity type to Folder View:- http://ge.tt/9KsJzQA/v/0 After applying that change - the options in the left-hand pane would change also.:- http://ge.tt/9KsJzQA/v/1 NOTE: those folders open and display contents on mouse-over What I was saying is I DON'T see WallPaper and Activity in the Left Hand pane - instead I see Just View - but with the same options as you show in the right hand pane - and Mouse Actions. It may be that you're looking at is the properties of a plasmoid. Also, if widgets are locked, try unlocking them (or the other way around). Instead I see a window with only two options, View and Mouse Actions. Perhaps some screen shots and links to them would better illustrate what you are asking about? Unfortunately KDE seems to be particularly unstable - KWin seems to crash on me - so I had to switch back to Gnome3 (but its only a log out/log in away if I need to) If you have Desktop Effect enabled in System Settings - try disabling it. Though your instabilities may just be the result of running Sid (I have no bleeding edge hardware, so I don't use it). Have I not installed something I should have? or has this changed and all these web pages are out of date? What web pages are you referring to? Here is one http://forum.kde.org/viewtopic.php?f=17t=90091 That's fairly old (given what you are running). The Debian and Aptosid posts were relevant - SuSE uses a quite (very) different packaging of KDE. Which Debian release are you running? Sid This means I am running KDE 4.6.5 That makes a big difference. I only run Squeeze (4.4.5) - so you have features I won't see for a few years. What is it that you are trying to achieve? In order to better understand what the activities were doing I was trying to rename them so they both didn't say New Activity Ah. You're going to have fun :-) Maybe set up a throw-away user just for the purpose of playing/learning with KDE until you break something (make a config change you don't like but don't know how to undo). Activities are great, and there are many ways to arrange them. I find the type (reading, listening, editing) of activity less useful than the intent (work, client, private etc) for the
Re: KDE activities
On 27/11/11 09:00, Alan Chandler wrote: ... This shows I have two activities both named New Activity. I should then right click on a desktop and select Desktop Settings I should see a window with the left pane having three options Wallpaper, Activity and Mouse Actions. Instead I see a window with only two options, View and Mouse Actions. Have I not installed something I should have? or has this changed and all these web pages are out of date? I have cracked it. In later releases of KDE = not sure exactly when, but I think 4.6, the activity manager shows each activity with a little wrench in the bottom right hand corner. Click on that, and you can change the name. -- Alan Chandler http://www.chandlerfamily.org.uk -- To UNSUBSCRIBE, email to debian-user-requ...@lists.debian.org with a subject of unsubscribe. Trouble? Contact listmas...@lists.debian.org Archive: http://lists.debian.org/4ed2487d.6010...@chandlerfamily.org.uk
Re: KDE activities
Am Sonntag, 27. November 2011 schrieb Alan Chandler: On 27/11/11 09:00, Alan Chandler wrote: ... This shows I have two activities both named New Activity. I should then right click on a desktop and select Desktop Settings I should see a window with the left pane having three options Wallpaper, Activity and Mouse Actions. Instead I see a window with only two options, View and Mouse Actions. Have I not installed something I should have? or has this changed and all these web pages are out of date? I have cracked it. In later releases of KDE = not sure exactly when, but I think 4.6, the activity manager shows each activity with a little wrench in the bottom right hand corner. Click on that, and you can change the name. Ah, you wanted to rename an activity. I didn´t get that from your initial post. Yes, thats the place I know, too. -- Martin 'Helios' Steigerwald - http://www.Lichtvoll.de GPG: 03B0 0D6C 0040 0710 4AFA B82F 991B EAAC A599 84C7 -- To UNSUBSCRIBE, email to debian-user-requ...@lists.debian.org with a subject of unsubscribe. Trouble? Contact listmas...@lists.debian.org Archive: http://lists.debian.org/20271602.26976.mar...@lichtvoll.de
Re: KDE activities
On 27/11/11 11:11, Martin Steigerwald wrote:
Its a bit difficult to grasp the concepts and differences between virtual
desktops versus activies. I found the excellent blog of Chani, who
develops on KDE activities as well, very help ful in understand
activities. For example:
{December 26, 2010} Activity-oriented vs Application-oriented workspaces
http://chani.wordpress.com/
were she describes the differences between GNOME 3 and KDE in that regard
or her screen casts like
{December 18, 2010} Activities 4.6 screencast
http://chani.wordpress.com/2010/12/18/activities-4-6-screencast/
or
{January 9, 2011} Activities in Action
http://chani.wordpress.com/category/activities/
I also darkly remember a blog entry of her or someone else that explains
the difference between activities and virtual desktops in a really clear
way. Lets see whether I find that one. Ok, it might have been that one:
The Rise of Plasma Activities and What it can do for You
http://yuenhoe.com/blog/2011/01/the-rise-of-plasma-activities-and-what-it-
can-do-for-you/
of Jason moofang Lim Yuen Hoe.
Yes, thats it.
I found it through
Activities – A change in workflow?
http://hanschen.org/2011/02/04/activities-a-change-in-workflow/
Thanks - very useful and I think I understand activities now. Very
useful concept for me - and one which makes it worthwhile for me to
stick back with KDE for a while. Sorry Gnome3 - I liked your concept,
but this just a lot better.
--
Alan Chandler
http://www.chandlerfamily.org.uk
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