GoblinX Newsletter Ed.213 08/16/2009

Note

The KDE4 distribution release candidate can be already downloaded and tested. We are going to upgrade few more packages and upload Slackware upgrades after finish the G:Noblin 3.0 and G:Standard 3.0. After these releases GoblinX will be moved to another project and we will adopt a differente method of releasing ISO files for you.

GNU/Linux News & Articles

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The Linux screensaver xscreensaver

"Most of us go away from our computers. When we do we don’t much care to come back to see our screen just the way we left it. We have been trained that a screensaver should take the place of our work or our play on our monitors. I have been asked numerous times “How do I have screensaver X on my Linux desktop?”"

The Power of Open Source

"It is a fact that many corporations are starting to consider Open Source technologies as a way to reduce IT spending while taking advantage of existing technologies. It is also a fact that more companies are widening Open Source reach to projects that wouldn't have been considered before, opening more possibilities for the community to spread."

Get to know Linux: Terminology

"I have been covering the Linux operating system for a long time now. There are moments when I take it for granted that everyone knows the basic terminology surrounding this operating system. Because this is obviously not the case, I thought it might be a good time to stop and explain some of the terms that many Linux users toss about every day as if they were household terms."

10 reasons Linux should be your netbook operating system

"I’ve read countless Microsoft-funded “studies” trying to persuade me that Windows is already dominating the netbook space. According to these studies, Linux might as well just take a curtain call because its act is over in the world of netbooks. That is simply not true. If it were, Asus wouldn’t be selling netbooks with Linux preinstalled."

Read More: http://blogs.techrepublic.com.com/10things/?p=945

More News & Articles (Just Links)

Development News

G:Standard 2.9.90

The GoblinX Project is proud to announce the second released of the next G:Standard. The G:Standard 3.0.rc01 (2.9.90) is Released. The G:Standard is the original edition first released in the end of October 2004. In the past it was called as GoblinX and later as GoblinX Standard. In order to dismiss doubt about the releases and follow the same criteria used for all distributions (editions) of the GoblinX Project it became simply G:Standard.

Upgrades

The step before start test G:Noblin final release is upgrade packages. We are also waiting for the final Slackware release to close our repository and build our stable releases. KDE will be 4.2.4 and Gnome will be 2.24.4 the stable and heavily tested series.

Minitutor

Add New Actions for Devices in KDE4
(autoplay an audiocd using Xmms)

The KDE4 uses another approach to manage plugged devices. The new media center of KDE4 is great, in my opinion the best I ever used before, but even a great feature needs some improvements and in the case of adding new actions for devices you need to use a new place.

The actions the media manager will bring to you as possibilities when a new device is plugged is found inside the /usr/share/apps/solid/actions directory. In order to add new actions you just need to add desktop files inside this directory. Following a example of a new action:

[Desktop Entry]
X-KDE-Solid-Predicate=[ StorageVolume.ignored == false AND OpticalDisc.availableContent == 'Audio' ]
Type=Service
Actions=open;
[Desktop Action open]
Name=Play AudioCD with XMMS
Exec=AudioCD="$(lshal --show %i | grep block.device | cut -f2 -d"'")" ; xmms --play $AudioCD
Icon=xmms

The second line includes the predicate the device needs to have and it is the most importante part of the desktop file because the media manager will read it and use when a new device is plugged. In the example you can see two predicates, one is storage volume and the other is optical disc content, the first predicate is false and this tells to the media manager to ignore all storage volume devices, and the second predicate tells to the media manager this action is to be used when a optical audio disc is inserted (audiocd).

The rest of the desktop entry of the file indicates the type and the main action and the desktop action open shows the name of the action, the icon and the command, in the example Xmms will autoplay the audiocd using lshal to get the block device.

We can add as many actions as we want using desktop files and the solid actions directory such as the above example which will be showed by media manager as possible actions to audiocds. Create your own actions after know the solid predicate you need to use.