eye candy apps

[tucolino]

how about a thread to suggest eye candy for your desktop? didn't seem to find any that does this. correct me if i'm wrong anyway...

here are some to get started:

3d desktop (http://desk3d.sourceforge.net/)
alcaron programs (http://users.senet.com.au/~alcaron/software.html)
artwiz fonts (http://artwizaleczapka.sourceforge.net/)
aquariumapplet (http://aquariumapplet.sourceforge.net/)
aterm (suggested by loki3) (http://aterm.sourceforge.net/)
Brigthside (http://home.jesus.ox.ac.uk/~ecatmur/brightside/)
bomb (visual-musical instrument (http://draves.org/bomb/)
bootsplash (http://bootsplash.org/)
cafire (set your cursor on fire) (http://home.zcu.cz/~cimrman3/cafire.html)
celestia by furanku (http://www.shatters.net/celestia/gallery.html)
convert osx icons (http://justlinux.com/forum/showthread.php?threadid=98048&highlight=osx+icons)
crystal gl (http://www.kde-look.org/content/show.php?content=18983)
customize.org (Now Includes Linux Eye Candy) (http://www.customize.org)
dashboard (http://www.nat.org/dashboard/)
demo effects (http://demo-effects.sourceforge.net/)
desktopgirls (http://www.desktopgirls.com)
deviantart (http://deviantart.com/)
devils pie (http://www.burtonini.com/blog/computers/devilspie)
directfb (http://www.directfb.org/)
docker (http://icculus.org/openbox/2/docker/)
dockapps (http://dockapps.org/)
electric sheep (http://electricsheep.org/)
enlightment (sugested by gearjunkie and saturn-vk) look for iconbar, eplayer, entrance, elicit, erss, entice in cvs (http://enlightenment.org/)
eterm (suggested by loki3) (http://www.eterm.org/)
evidence (http://evidence.sourceforge.net/)
expocity (http://www.pycage.de/expocity.html)
fbdesk (suggested by amgeex) (http://fluxbox.sourceforge.net/fbdesk/)
filelight (suggested by Cherad) (http://www.methylblue.com/filelight/)
floating head (http://www.earth.li/projectpurple/progs/head.html)
fluxus (http://www.pawfal.org/Software/fluxus/)
freedesktop (http://freedesktop.org/Software/xserver)
fresco (http://www.fresco.org)
fsv (3d filesystem representation) (http://fsv.sourceforge.net/)
gdesklets (http://gdesklets.gnomedesktop.org)
getcontrol (http://getcontrol.sourceforge.ne)
gkrellm (http://web.wt.net/%7Ebillw/gkrellm/gkrellm.html)
gkrellm tray icons (http://sweb.cz/tripie/gkrellm/trayicons/)
gliv (http://freshmeat.net/projects/gliv/)
glmame (http://glmame.linuxgames.com/)
gnome art (http://art.gnome.org)
gnome-look (http://gnome-look.org)
gnomefiles (http://gnomefiles.org/)
gnubiff (mail notification) (http://gnubiff.sourceforge.net/)
goats (http://www.menudo.freeserve.co.uk/goats.html)
gtodo (http://gtodo.qballcow.nl)
happypenguin (lots of 3d) (http://happypenguin.org/)
idesk (suggested by amgeex) (http://idesk.timmfin.net/)
kahakai (suggested by hegga) (http://kahakai.sourceforge.net/)
karamba (suggested by arkaine23) (http://www.kde-look.org/content/show.php?content=5561)
kde look (http://kde-look.org)
KNOPPIX LiveCDs (suggested by mahdi and superted) (http://knoppix.org)
knotes (http://pim.kde.org/components/knotes.php)
kompose (http://kompose.berlios.de/)
kooldock (http://ktown.kde.cl/kooldock)
matrix screensaver (u probably havent seen this one) (http://freshmeat.net/projects/matrixgl/?topic_id=62)
MaCoPix(suggested by MartinB) (http://kurumi.sakura.ne.jp/~chimari/macopix/index-e.html)
mplayer skins (http://mp.dev.hu/homepage/design6/dload.html)
overclockix (suggested by arkaine23) (http://overclockix.octeams.com/)
picogui (http://picogui.org/)
ps3 (ps in 3d) (http://user.tninet.se/%7Euhu537u/)
pogo (http://www.ibiblio.org/propaganda/pogo/)
psi various (http://varg.dyndns.org/psi/pub/code/index.html)
pypanel (http://pypanel.sourceforge.net/)
pywm (http://pywm.sourceforge.net/)
qingy (http://qingy.sourceforge.net/screenshots.php)
really slick screensavers (nice ones!!!) (http://rss-glx.sourceforge.net/)
rox (found a lightweight gtk file manager, amongst other good things) (http://rox.sourceforge.net/phpwiki/)
rsxs (http://rsxs.sourceforge.net/)
skippy (http://thegraveyard.org/skippy.php)
speyes (http://www.okb-1.org/speyes/speyes.html)
slicker (suggested by hook) (http://slicker.sf.net/)
sticky notes (http://loban.caltech.edu/stickynotes/)
tdfsb (http://www.hgb-leipzig.de/%7Eleander/TDFSB/)
themedepot (http://www.themedepot.org/)
themes at freshmeat (http://themes.freshmeat.net/)
tleds (use ur keyboard leds for net traffic) (http://www.hut.fi/~jlohikos/tleds_orig.html)
Threedsia (http://threedsia.sourceforge.net/)
transluxent (http://www.stud.uni-karlsruhe.de/%7Eunk6/transluxent/)
tuhtah (http://www.tammura.at/tuhtah)
umicons (http://www.kde-look.org/content/show.php?content=7214)
winamp plugins (http://www.emulinks.de/xmms-winamp/)
wincustomize for good icons (suggested by ciphrix) (http://www.wincustomize.com/skins.asp?library=29)
xdesktopwaves (http://xdesktopwaves.sourceforge.net)
xicons (http://xicons.com/)
xine frontends (http://xinehq.de/index.php/releases/)
xfishtank (http://www.warped.org/linux/xfishtank.html)
xmms weasel (hide your xmms automaticlly!!) (http://xmms-weasel.sourceforge.net/)
xnotes (http://www.graphics-muse.com/xnotes/xnotes.html)
xpad (suggested by gearjunkie) (http://xpad.sourceforge.net/)
xpenguin (suggested by IsaacKuo) (http://xpenguins.seul.org/)
xplanet (http://xplanet.sourceforge.net/)
xscreensaver (change the lock screen!) (http://www.swanson.ukfsn.org/xss/)
xvidcap(some of you may have been looking for this) (http://xvidcap.sourceforge.net/)


--------------------------------------------------------
Tip #1:
animate your desktop with your screensavers by passing the -root option. try something like:

/usr/lib/xscreensaver/xmatrix -root
--------------------------------------------------------
Tip#2:
mplayer with the --rootwin option does the same as above with a movie
--------------------------------------------------------
Tip#3
i was very annoyed that my autohidden gnome panel was showing quite a bit in gnome 2.6. anyway, you can change this using gconf-editor. mine was a bottom panel, so i fixed it by going to:

apps -> panel -> profiles -> bottom_panel -> auto_hide_size

you need to set this key to 0 (zero)
--------------------------------------------------------

so fire away... anything that gives some eye candy to your desktop, some nice themes, apps, tricks, etc.

tuco

[superted]

What's that prog you have in the upper left corner which displays a couple of todo notes ? I've been looking for something like that for ages. My homework keep slipping away in the wrath of hacking my desktop! :)

Also, what's that xmms thing?

[Hayl]

don't most people discuss this topic in the ScreenShots thread?

superted - that app in the top left, looks like a gdesklet (gbloatlet :)).

[tucolino]

Originally posted by Hayl
don't most people discuss this topic in the ScreenShots thread?

superted - that app in the top left, looks like a gdesklet (gbloatlet :)).

there is some eye candy there, but you have to sort through hundreds of pages. i was thinking more of a thread strickly to recommend links to some eyecandy.

yeah it is gdesklet, memo (http://gdesklets.gnomedesktop.org/categories.php?func=gd_show_app&gd_app_id=34)

tuco

[sleepingbear]

Thanks for the recommendations! I had a look at all four and I like them. I'll use these as soon as I get KDE or Gnome working. Would these work in fvwm2 or fvwm95?

[Icarus]

I'll vote for the entire KNOPPIX LiveCDs :)

That thing is packed full of eye candy!

[superted]

gnoppix!

[tucolino]

i originally had about four links, i updated the first post with some more.... anyone else?? come on... send us some eye candy!

[nirve]

Hey tucolino, I see on your screen shot (your sig) you are using GNOME, but what is that bar at th bottom, and where can I get i?
Thanks

[tucolino]

Hey tucolino, I see on your screen shot (your sig) you are using GNOME, but what is that bar at th bottom, and where can I get i?
Thanks

gdesklets (http://gdesklets.gnomedesktop.org/categories.php?func=gd_show_app&gd_app_id=13) , particularly starterbar.

tuco

[amgeex]

If anyone of you *geeks* are using a *box WM and want some tasty desktop icons, try IDesk (http://idesk.timmfin.net/). It's a small program, doesn't munch on much memory, and has a wealthload of features.

P.S. Edited via text files. Kinda easy when you get the hang of it.

[tucolino]

Originally posted by sleepingbear
Thanks for the recommendations! I had a look at all four and I like them. I'll use these as soon as I get KDE or Gnome working. Would these work in fvwm2 or fvwm95?

sorry, don' t know... never tried them.

tuco

[amgeex]

FBDesk (http://fluxbox.sourceforge.net/fbdesk/)

FbDesk
FbDesk is a fluxbox-util application that creates and manage icons on your Fluxbox desktop.

Features:
Implemented:

* XPM and PNG image loading
* Antialias text
* UTF-8 and multibyte support
* Vertical text
* Grid Snapping
* GUI for editing command/label and add/remove icons
* Fluxbox menu style

Planned:

* Drag'n'drop support
* Configurable actions
* Menu config for placement and text color
* Transparent icons
* Icon browser

***The above is from the fbdesk website, I've never used it , but sounds promising.***

[vhg119]

i cannot get gdesklets to install on my rh 9.0 box w/ gnome 2.4!!!
anyone have rpms?
it just wont compile.. it keeps complaining about a file libgobject something .la or something..

[nirve]

thanks for the link tucolino... I installed StarterBar and gDesklets, but some stuff is being messed:
- the StarterBar file does not work when clicked in nautilus (shows the XML source)
- gDesklets does not load on start of x
- when I get StarterBar up with gDesklets as a parameter to the gDesklets program, it appears in the top left and corner, with the one icon. The problem is I want to move it to the bottom, but it simply won't move. I try the prefs for StarterBar, and it is set to "bottom", but is at the top (if I set it to top or whatever, it goes higher... but whatever direction I place it, it is stuck in a little invisable box that it won't go outside of)

Do you know what's happening? I would like to move it to the bottom of the screen like you had in your screen shot. (I also tried dragging it with no luck)
I'm running Slackware 9.1 with GNOME... if that helps.

[Loki3]

I just wanted to say that Eterm and aterm seem to be very popular with the eye-candy croud, especially with transparent backgrounds.

[tucolino]

Originally posted by nirve
thanks for the link tucolino... I installed StarterBar and gDesklets, but some stuff is being messed:
- the StarterBar file does not work when clicked in nautilus (shows the XML source)
- gDesklets does not load on start of x
- when I get StarterBar up with gDesklets as a parameter to the gDesklets program, it appears in the top left and corner, with the one icon. The problem is I want to move it to the bottom, but it simply won't move. I try the prefs for StarterBar, and it is set to "bottom", but is at the top (if I set it to top or whatever, it goes higher... but whatever direction I place it, it is stuck in a little invisable box that it won't go outside of)

nirve,
Do you know what's happening? I would like to move it to the bottom of the screen like you had in your screen shot. (I also tried dragging it with no luck)
I'm running Slackware 9.1 with GNOME... if that helps.

not too sure whats happening there... did you install both the display and the sensor for starterbar?

to load gdesklets when you start x, you need to go to "Application->Desktop Preferences->Adcanced->Sessions" go to the startup programs tab and add gdesklets to it.

you can move the starterbar using your middle button. to add more icons, you just need to right click on it and choose the option.

hope that helps...

loki3,

thanks for those!! they are a must. totally forgot about them.

tuco

[nirve]

thanks! that worked perfectly (middle mouse moves it)... it's all good now...

[knute]

So that's how it's done with the mouse! Middle Click!

It wasn't a problem for me, since I have sawfish set up to be able to move windows with the keyboard. Though it would only pack, rather than slide, but que sera sera! :)

I don't use gdesklets atm, cause it uses almost more resources than my computer has! :)
Then again, I had like a dozen of them going all at once. :D

[nirve]

hmm... I figured out something else to my problem:
nothing saves in GNOME (like low level prefs... like resolution and such) I have to change resolution ever time I go into GNOME (and I did set it to be default). Also, gdesklets loads on start of x, but the toolbars and such do not. When I manually load them, they are empty. So basicly, every time I restart (which is frequently since I duel boot), I loose my gdesklets prefs, and my resolution. I did check my XF86Config, and the one I want is the first (res), so it should load allright.
Any insight?
I'm running Slackware 9.1...

EDIT: ok, I got gdesklets to load allright and it's great... now, I want my screen resolution to stay the same :(

Andrew

[tucolino]

edit your XF86Config file.

look for:

Subsection "Display"
Depth 24
Modes "1280x1024" "1024x768" "800x600" "640x480"
ViewPort 0 0
EndSubsection

delete undesired modes. make sure you back up the file before you try anything.

tuco

[nirve]

ok, I've tried this before, but I'll do it again and see if it will work.

[nirve]

nope... went to 1024x768, even though that resolution was completely removed from XF86Config...

[bryan.6]

anyone have a good kicker recomendation?
i'm not a big fan of ksmoothdock, even when i could get it working, and i hate using superkaramba (paranoid about performance, even though it isn't a big drag). if the kicker had a menu, that'd be great, but i suppose i could try without for a bit.
bryan

<edit>
preferably not gdesklets either, if anyone knows of any standalone kicker, that'd be great, otherwise i'll live without it... i'm using kde by the way.

[tucolino]

the list is growing... any one care to comment or add??

tuco

[madcompnerd]

Originally posted by bryan.6
anyone have a good kicker recomendation?
i'm not a big fan of ksmoothdock, even when i could get it working, and i hate using superkaramba (paranoid about performance, even though it isn't a big drag). if the kicker had a menu, that'd be great, but i suppose i could try without for a bit.
bryan

<edit>
preferably not gdesklets either, if anyone knows of any standalone kicker, that'd be great, otherwise i'll live without it... i'm using kde by the way.
Ksmoothdock 3.x is easy to get working, just compile and then dig up the binary (usually like /usr/kde/bin/ksmoothdock). I found it to be very stable, had a few small bugs like icons not always unzooming right away; but it wasn't a performance lagger.
Karamba is crap. Python is not meant to draw/manipulate things on your screen and it does a horrible job of it to boot. Every single python scripted superkaramba theme I found lagged down my computer, even when I wasn't *using* it.

[kippx]

tuco..

is dircetfb the only way to get transparancy through all windows? i like the transpancy features of say aterm and others, but dislike the fact that i can seem to only get the transparancy to the wallpaper.

[tucolino]

Originally posted by kippx
tuco..

is dircetfb the only way to get transparancy through all windows? i like the transpancy features of say aterm and others, but dislike the fact that i can seem to only get the transparancy to the wallpaper.

i believe there are a few others out there now. off the top off my head, there is transluxent. (http://www.stud.uni-karlsruhe.de/~unk6/transluxent/). I never fully got it working though. I did, but my 3d acceleration wasn't working, which made it really slow. Check it out ayway.

tuco

EDIT: by the way, there is also freedesktop (http://freedesktop.org/Software/xserver) . i saw some screenshots with transparency, but dont really know the current status of it.

[kippx]

let me see if i understand this right. directfb is an XFree86 "replacement", ie it doesnt use XFree86. where transluxent and freedesktop or more or less XFree86 "add-ons"?

if the above is correct, since you are running directfb?, i would imagine you have had the best luck out of those 3? any quirks about the current (or your latest version) that should be noted?

EDIT: After a few extra minutes researching I've learned that dircetFB also has an RC5 out of XdirectFB which seems to also be an "add-on" to the the current XFree86 source tree.. corrections?

[tucolino]

Originally posted by kippx
let me see if i understand this right. directfb is an XFree86 "replacement", ie it doesnt use XFree86. where transluxent and freedesktop or more or less XFree86 "add-ons"?

if the above is correct, since you are running directfb?, i would imagine you have had the best luck out of those 3? any quirks about the current (or your latest version) that should be noted?

EDIT: After a few extra minutes researching I've learned that dircetFB also has an RC5 out of XdirectFB which seems to also be an "add-on" to the the current XFree86 source tree.. corrections?


directfb is an XFree86 "replacement"

i believe so. it uses its own x server. xdirectfb.

transluxent i think adds an extra layer to X to handle the rendering in opengl. not sure about the other one. i didnt try it. i did xdirectfb as it was the easiest one. there was an ebuild of it in the gentoo tree.

tuco

[ciphrix]

Probably not the first place Linux fans would look but wincustomize.com can be a very good source for icons. Their object dock section (http://www.wincustomize.com/skins.asp?library=29) has a TON of really nice icons. The best part is they are mostly all (if not all) already in the png format. True that there are a lot of "windows only" apps but there are also some for Firebird/Thunderbird, Gaim, Kazaa, etc. and some can be interchangeable (like a winamp icon for xmms or a photoshop icon for the gimp).

[gearjunkie]

ON a quick note, I use xpad (http://xpad.sourceforge.net/) for a 'post-it note' type of program very easy to use, very simple, and it's stand-alone (so you don't have to load superkaramba or gdesklets or anything like that).
I would also like to suggest enlightenment (http://enlightenment.org/) in general. All these people around here using fluxbox, kde, gnome, and they all forget the cool little eyecandy that's built in to enlightenment. try it out, fun stuff....

here's a screenshot (http://www.3dmobility.com/stuff/screenie1.jpg) of some enlightenment goodness.
and another one (http://www.3dmobility.com/stuff/screenie2.jpg) just for good measure. fun sliding desktops, cool ripple 'water' effect, and neat window animations built right in! (and faster than gnome and kde, which is important on my older machines...)
enjoy!
-nathan

[tucolino]

Originally posted by gearjunkie
ON a quick note, I use xpad (http://xpad.sourceforge.net/) for a 'post-it note' type of program very easy to use, very simple, and it's stand-alone (so you don't have to load superkaramba or gdesklets or anything like that).
I would also like to suggest enlightenment (http://enlightenment.org/) in general. All these people around here using fluxbox, kde, gnome, and they all forget the cool little eyecandy that's built in to enlightenment. try it out, fun stuff....

here's a screenshot (http://www.3dmobility.com/stuff/screenie1.jpg) of some enlightenment goodness.
and another one (http://www.3dmobility.com/stuff/screenie2.jpg) just for good measure. fun sliding desktops, cool ripple 'water' effect, and neat window animations built right in! (and faster than gnome and kde, which is important on my older machines...)
enjoy!
-nathan


cool... thank... just updated the list.


tuco

[arkaine23]

Here's my own Knoppix live CD with lots of eyecandy-

http://overclockix.octeams.com

KDE screenshots:

http://overclockix.octeams.com/snapshot8.jpg
http://overclockix.octeams.com/snapshot7.jpg
http://overclockix.octeams.com/snapshot5.jpg
http://overclockix.octeams.com/snapshot4.jpg
http://overclockix.octeams.com/snapshot3.jpg
http://overclockix.octeams.com/snapshot2.jpg
http://overclockix.octeams.com/snapshot1.jpg

It also has fluxbox and Icewm. The Technomancer release has better eye candy for those WM's than the Eidolon release.

Some highlights-

gkrellm
karamba
mplayer + skins
big pack of png icons
lots of fantasy wallpapers
transperant menus. terminals, and xchat

[GlennaclawZ]

ark do u have any gnome screenshots? if so post them

[tucolino]

ok... sorry for the bump. the list is growing. anyone care to add some more? any one found anything interesting here they hadn't seen before?

tuco

[boftron]

i'm trying to install GnoMetal theme and i can't, i am using redhat 9 and gnome, i am a n00b so bare with me, i go to start here> then to preferences then to themes and then i click install theme and i go to the dir that i saved them in and it starts to load all the files and then nothing happens, i can't find the theme i just installed or anything. can someone please help me? thank you


Spencer

[tucolino]

Originally posted by boftron
i'm trying to install GnoMetal theme and i can't, i am using redhat 9 and gnome, i am a n00b so bare with me, i go to start here> then to preferences then to themes and then i click install theme and i go to the dir that i saved them in and it starts to load all the files and then nothing happens, i can't find the theme i just installed or anything. can someone please help me? thank you


Spencer

try coping the theme to your themes directory and then decompressing it there manually.


mv theme.tar.gz ~/.themes/
cd ~/.themes/
tar xvzf theme.tar.gz


then go to the theme browser and it should be there.

tuco

[boftron]

i did that command and it started extracting and i checked in the themes folder and that didn't work so i tried adding it in themes buy clicking "install theme" now it's installing like 400 /.theme folders

[GlennaclawZ]

does anyone know where all the fonts are kept and if linux exepts .tff files... (possibly .ttf)

[katibabi]

tucolino,

Your getcontrol link is broken. :-) Forgot the "t" on net. Just thought you'd like to know so others don't harrass you without looking and realizing they CAN get into the site.

http://getcontrol.sourceforge.net/

PS...GREAT idea for a thread!! I was able to find things I have seen around, but didn't know what to ask for! This is wonderful!

Thanks!

[tucolino]

Originally posted by katibabi
tucolino,

Your getcontrol link is broken. :-) Forgot the "t" on net. Just thought you'd like to know so others don't harrass you without looking and realizing they CAN get into the site.

http://getcontrol.sourceforge.net/

PS...GREAT idea for a thread!! I was able to find things I have seen around, but didn't know what to ask for! This is wonderful!

Thanks!

thank you. just fixed it. glad you like the thread. if u ever find anything not in the list, please let me know.

tuco

[arkaine23]

Originally posted by GlennaclawZ
ark do u have any gnome screenshots? if so post them

Sorry, this live CD is based on Knoppix and has no Gnome. It does have fluxbox and IceWM. Here are some more pics:

Fluxbox-

http://overclockix.octeams.com/snapshot15.jpg

http://overclockix.octeams.com/snapshot14.jpg

More KDE from the Technomancer release:

http://overclockix.octeams.com/snapshot10.jpg

http://overclockix.octeams.com/snapshot9.jpg

http://overclockix.octeams.com/snapshot7.jpg

http://overclockix.octeams.com/snapshot8.jpg

http://overclockix.octeams.com/snapshot6.jpg

[sporkit]

hmm which link adjusts the task bar at the bottom. i think the mac looking ones are really cool. :)


oh btw great thread. i agree the screenshot forum doesnt seem to offer good discussion on where to find the skins.

[tucolino]

Originally posted by sporkit150
hmm which link adjusts the task bar at the bottom. i think the mac looking ones are really cool. :)


oh btw great thread. i agree the screenshot forum doesnt seem to offer good discussion on where to find the skins.

are you talking about gdesklets? they have a launcher with with animations.

tuco

[MartinB]

I came across a neat little program recently called ActX, it's basically a small window sitter (A program that puts a small character on your screen that sits on top of your active window, occasionally doing things).

This one is open source, it comes with several anime-style characters ("mascots") and I think it's possible to set it up to alert you with a speech bubble when you've got new mail, although I haven't yet done that myself.

The only problem is, all the documentation and web pages about ActX are in Japanese, so you'll have to figure out things on your own (unless of course, you know Japanese). The INSTALL file is in English though, so installation is very easy.

Here's the URL:
http://kurumi.sakura.ne.jp/~chimari/ActX/index.html

[tucolino]

Originally posted by MartinB
I came across a neat little program recently called ActX, it's basically a small window sitter (A program that puts a small character on your screen that sits on top of your active window, occasionally doing things).

This one is open source, it comes with several anime-style characters ("mascots") and I think it's possible to set it up to alert you with a speech bubble when you've got new mail, although I haven't yet done that myself.

The only problem is, all the documentation and web pages about ActX are in Japanese, so you'll have to figure out things on your own (unless of course, you know Japanese). The INSTALL file is in English though, so installation is very easy.

Here's the URL:
http://kurumi.sakura.ne.jp/~chimari/ActX/index.html

wow. good post. very rare :) haven't tried it, but looks very neat from the screenshots. Just added it to the list.

tuco

[nabetse]

I personally like pypanel

http://pypanel.sourceforge.net/

Basically a lightweight, transparent, panel for *boxes and some other WMs

i think it showed up on some other threads too...

[tucolino]

Originally posted by nabetse
I personally like pypanel

http://pypanel.sourceforge.net/

Basically a lightweight, transparent, panel for *boxes and some other WMs

i think it showed up on some other threads too...

thanks. added!

tuco

[saturn-vk]

All of these applications can be downloaded from the cvs of http://www.enlightenment.org

iconbar - E17's iconbar, especially with the enstromish skin, it's the most beautiful iconbar available.

ePlayer - currently plays only ogg files. With winter or iio skins, it looks very nice.

entrance - a replacement for kdm/xdm/gdm. None of these can touch it in terms of eye candy.

elicit - useful for every graphic artist, and pretty to boot.

erss - for displaying rss feeds on the desktop, pseudo transparency included.

entice - an image viewer, and a little weird one.

[IsaacKuo]

So, how exactly do you get true transparent windows and window shadows? Can you get them with fluxbox? I'm a Linux newbie so forgive me if this is a stupid question.

Thanks!

[IsaacKuo]

Clarification--by "with fluxbox", I mean is it possible to get true transparent windows and shadows working with fluxbox? I know fluxbox doesn't include true transparency by default.

The sort of transparency and shadows I'm thinking of are like:

http://freedesktop.org/~keithp/screenshots

That's from the Freedesktop link of the original post--but just browsing around that link, it's not at all obvious what to download/install, much less where to find the necessary files.

Thanks for any help!

[tucolino]

Originally posted by IsaacKuo
Clarification--by "with fluxbox", I mean is it possible to get true transparent windows and shadows working with fluxbox? I know fluxbox doesn't include true transparency by default.

The sort of transparency and shadows I'm thinking of are like:

http://freedesktop.org/~keithp/screenshots

That's from the Freedesktop link of the original post--but just browsing around that link, it's not at all obvious what to download/install, much less where to find the necessary files.

Thanks for any help!

The only transparency i have been able to get working is from directfb (http://www.directfb.org/) . It worked on gnome. I see no reason why it wouldn't work on fluxbox. It was relatively painless to install it. It was in the gentoo portage. All I had to do (if i still rememeber) was emerge it and start the different X server. I might have had to put "gnome-session" in one of the config files or so. Although transparency was really cool, I had no 3d acceleration, so I ended up giving up on it. I haven't tried the transparency from others like freedesktop. If you are successful, let us know...

tuco

=====================================

On a different note, there is a new plugin for xmms that autohides it when you dock it to the top of your screen. Pretty cool. Just added to the list xmms-weasel (http://xmms-weasel.sourceforge.net/)

[nox]

Hello:
Just testing if I can post here. Bye

[IsaacKuo]

Hmm...it looks like hardware acceleration on directfb is more or less only working well on Matrox cards. I just priced some Matrox cards...OUCH! I have Ati cards so far, because they're among the cheapest.

Oh well...freedesktop still has me completely bewildered. I can't figure out where to download it at all.

Maybe transluxent...

Still, window shadows look much cooler than transparency, and transluxent doesn't have shadows.

I'm somewhat surprised, because I had window shadows on my Amiga years ago (via a freeware program that hacked a third bitplane onto the standard 2 bitplane desktop).

[Pain]

How do you get the weather eye candy thing I see in alot of the screenshots?

[squeegy]

Karamba, Superkaramba, or gDesklets

[tucolino]

Just wanted to post my test of the x server at freedesktop. Installation instructions are found here (http://www.freedesktop.org/Software/XserverInstallGuide). They have a script, which I used, and everything compiled without a glitch. Here's a screenshot. (http://web.syr.edu/~alramire/clear.png) You can see the shadows and transparency on the menu.

tuco

[IsaacKuo]

tucolino, thanks for the tip! I ran that script, and...well, I really don't know what I'm doing here. I'm running Debian as installed onto HD by Knoppix.

I opened up a Konsole, and typed in "su" to login as root. Then I ran the xserver-inst.sh script (after chmod'ing the file to be able to execute it). It churned away for a long time and created a lot of directories--in my user home directory (/home/isaac)...I assume this was a mistake, right? Surely there must be some more appropriate location for all these files.

Anyway, I'm a linux newbie so I really don't know whether I was successful at all. My home directory now looks like:

CompositeExt Render Xcomposite Xfont tmp
DamageExt ResourceExt Xdamage Xproto xcompmgr
Desktop X11 Xdmcp Xrandr xserver
FixesExt XExtensions Xext Xrender xserver-inst.sh
Randr Xau Xfixes none xtrans


I'm really really really unfamiliar with X. My previous *nix experience has all been just text mode stuff as a user at University (for programming classes). From my old programming classes, I can recognize a lot of stuff which was going on...like compiling, linking, makefiles, and such.

But I have no idea how to make X "go". Help?

Thanks!

[IsaacKuo]

BTW, I DID have success with MaCoPix:

MaCoPiX (http://kurumi.sakura.ne.jp/~chimari/macopix/index-e.html)

I found this link from one the eye candy apps--the ActX window sitter. That project is finished, and superceded by MaCoPiX. I was very interested in MaCoPiX, because it features window sitters from Maria-sama ga Miteru, a recent anime TV series.

I followed the instructions to install...and it failed. There was some macro it couldn't find in one of the files--I went in and deleted the problem line, and everything else went smoothly!

I now have a cute Marimite window sitter keeping my windows company! :)

[tucolino]

Originally posted by IsaacKuo
tucolino, thanks for the tip! I ran that script, and...well, I really don't know what I'm doing here. I'm running Debian as installed onto HD by Knoppix.

I opened up a Konsole, and typed in "su" to login as root. Then I ran the xserver-inst.sh script (after chmod'ing the file to be able to execute it). It churned away for a long time and created a lot of directories--in my user home directory (/home/isaac)...I assume this was a mistake, right? Surely there must be some more appropriate location for all these files.

Anyway, I'm a linux newbie so I really don't know whether I was successful at all. My home directory now looks like:

CompositeExt Render Xcomposite Xfont tmp
DamageExt ResourceExt Xdamage Xproto xcompmgr
Desktop X11 Xdmcp Xrandr xserver
FixesExt XExtensions Xext Xrender xserver-inst.sh
Randr Xau Xfixes none xtrans


I'm really really really unfamiliar with X. My previous *nix experience has all been just text mode stuff as a user at University (for programming classes). From my old programming classes, I can recognize a lot of stuff which was going on...like compiling, linking, makefiles, and such.

But I have no idea how to make X "go". Help?

Thanks!

yeah. my bad. should have told you make a folder for it and execute the script from within it. what it does is check out the different modules from cvs and then compile them. did the compilation finish? if everything went correctly, it should have been installed in /opt/fdo/bin. check to see if it exists.

tuco

[IsaacKuo]

Okay, this is what /opt/fdo/bin looks like:

-rwxr-xr-x 1 root root 9362096 Apr 9 22:07 Xati
-rwxr-xr-x 1 root root 9214205 Apr 9 22:07 Xchips
-rwxr-xr-x 1 root root 8482586 Apr 9 22:07 Xfbdev
-rwxr-xr-x 1 root root 9463284 Apr 9 22:07 Xmach64
-rwxr-xr-x 1 root root 9205771 Apr 9 22:07 Xmga
-rwxr-xr-x 1 root root 9345993 Apr 9 22:07 Xnvidia
-rwxr-xr-x 1 root root 9206141 Apr 9 22:07 Xr128
-rwxr-xr-x 1 root root 8996017 Apr 9 22:07 Xsmi
-rwxr-xr-x 1 root root 8795790 Apr 9 22:07 Xvesa
-rwxr-xr-x 1 root root 66777 Apr 9 22:09 xcompmgr


The dates are from yesterday, so I guess they were all created alright. Since I'm using a Radeon 7200, I tried running Xati by typing in ./Xati...and it complained, saying this:


Fatal server error:
Server is already active for display 0
If this server is no longer running, remove /tmp/.X0-lock
and start again.


Of course, this was in a shell in Knoppix's default KDE setup. Switching to a text display...hmm...can I figure out how to do that...

Okay, I figured out how to switch among tty's...and, same error. Hmm...I'm doing something wrong here...
:confused:

[tucolino]

Originally posted by IsaacKuo
Okay, this is what /opt/fdo/bin looks like:

-rwxr-xr-x 1 root root 9362096 Apr 9 22:07 Xati
-rwxr-xr-x 1 root root 9214205 Apr 9 22:07 Xchips
-rwxr-xr-x 1 root root 8482586 Apr 9 22:07 Xfbdev
-rwxr-xr-x 1 root root 9463284 Apr 9 22:07 Xmach64
-rwxr-xr-x 1 root root 9205771 Apr 9 22:07 Xmga
-rwxr-xr-x 1 root root 9345993 Apr 9 22:07 Xnvidia
-rwxr-xr-x 1 root root 9206141 Apr 9 22:07 Xr128
-rwxr-xr-x 1 root root 8996017 Apr 9 22:07 Xsmi
-rwxr-xr-x 1 root root 8795790 Apr 9 22:07 Xvesa
-rwxr-xr-x 1 root root 66777 Apr 9 22:09 xcompmgr


The dates are from yesterday, so I guess they were all created alright. Since I'm using a Radeon 7200, I tried running Xati by typing in ./Xati...and it complained, saying this:


Fatal server error:
Server is already active for display 0
If this server is no longer running, remove /tmp/.X0-lock
and start again.


Of course, this was in a shell in Knoppix's default KDE setup. Switching to a text display...hmm...can I figure out how to do that...

Okay, I figured out how to switch among tty's...and, same error. Hmm...I'm doing something wrong here...
:confused:

try getting out of kde and kill your x server. you probably need to kill kdm if thats what you use to choose sessions. in my case i had to kill gdm. once you have no x sessions, try running xati. i had no problems with my radeon 7500.

run this to get an x session running:

sudo /opt/fdo/bin/Xvesa :1 & xterm -display :1

then you will get a bare x session with a terminal. type whatever you need to start a kde session. what is it?

kdeinit is this it?

once you have kde running, you can open a konsole and type:

export LD_LIBRARY_PATH="/opt/fdo/lib:$LD_LIBRARY_PATH"


and finally:

/opt/fdo/bin/xcompmgr

this last one should start all shadows and transparencies in menu's. hope this helps...

tuco

[IsaacKuo]

Okay, I tried those instructions and experimented around with a somewhat limited degree of success. I didn't figure out how to kill the existing KDE, but I did get a second X display working with either Xvesa or Xati. I was able to manually open up xterms in it, but kdeinit was no go.

It did take "fluxbox", though...not much success. It couldn't open up any icons or fonts, so it was mostly graphical garbage. I could tell it was basically functioning, though, since the minimize/maximize buttons and such worked.

The export command went without complaint (it just sets an environment variable, right?)

xcompmgr didn't work--I can't remember off hand how it failed.

Anyway...I'm not there yet. These instructions and a bit of deduction have taught me worlds about how to do a few basic things in a bare X session, though. Thanks!

[tucolino]

actually i was wrong. it might be "startkde" as opposed to "kdeinit." try that. sorry... i'm just not that familiar with kde.

EDIT:

to kill your kdm session try something like:

1. Ctrl Alt F1 (or F2 or F3... whatever you want)
2. Login as root
3. killall kdm


tuco

[IsaacKuo]

Okay, after having put this on hold for a while, I'm going to give it another go. I'm going to simultaneously try out compiling the latest KDE, so I can get a transparent taskbar. My struggles with upgrading KDE have taught me a lot about how it works...

If all goes well, I'll have shadows from the taskbar icons and MaCoPiX mascot. I'll post an update on how things go...

[IsaacKuo]

BTW, are you going to add MaCoPiX (http://kurumi.sakura.ne.jp/~chimari/macopix/index-e.html) to your list? These window sitter mascots are just irresistably cute!

[tucolino]

Originally posted by IsaacKuo
BTW, are you going to add MaCoPiX (http://kurumi.sakura.ne.jp/~chimari/macopix/index-e.html) to your list? These window sitter mascots are just irresistably cute!

it is already there under actx. that's the name of the package isnt it?

EDIT: Ok, changed it to MaCoPix.

Thanks,

tuco.

[IsaacKuo]

ActX is the precursor to MaCoPiX, but is no longer under development. MaCoPiX is under current development, and all ActX mascots had been ported over to MaCoPiX. MaCoPiX has more features, which I suppose couldn't have just been added to ActX.

[Gandalf2041]

Hey Tuco,

With your interest in eye candy, I'm hoping you may know of a port of, or program similar to, the Marine Aquarium Software for Mac OSX. I used to love having the animated fish swimming as my background:


Marine Aquarium Software (http://www.orderndev.com)

Any thoughts?

[tucolino]

Originally posted by Gandalf2041
Hey Tuco,

With your interest in eye candy, I'm hoping you may know of a port of, or program similar to, the Marine Aquarium Software for Mac OSX. I used to love having the animated fish swimming as my background:


Marine Aquarium Software (http://www.orderndev.com)

Any thoughts?

hmmm... not off the top of my head. doing a quick google, i found acuarium (http://www.ulb.ac.be/di/ssd/ggeeraer/Aquarium.html) but I dont think this is what ur looking for. However, I was able to get something similar working using Atlantis from xscreensaver. Run it in the root window. Mine was as follows:

/usr/lib/xscreensaver/atlantis -root

you can take a look at a screenshot (http://www.cis.syr.edu/~alramire/fish.png) and a video (bare with the low quality of the recording) (http://www.cis.syr.edu/~alramire/fish.mpeg) in action.

hope that helps,

tuco

[Gandalf2041]

Unfortunately, Atlantis isn't the same quality. Oh well, since I'm not a programmer, I'll just have to wait until someone ports it :( I appreciate your help :)

Thanks,
Kevin

[IsaacKuo]

I just rediscovered xpenguins (http://xpenguins.seul.org/). Good lord this horde of penguins is cute! The little suckers are running amok all over my desktop!!! :D

[knute]

Originally posted by IsaacKuo
I just rediscovered xpenguins (http://xpenguins.seul.org/). Good lord this horde of penguins is cute! The little suckers are running amok all over my desktop!!! :D

It's been awhile since I"ve played with that, but I think that there were turtles and something else that you could have running all over your screen as well! :D

xpenguins -l
(that's a lower case L, btw)

[IsaacKuo]

Okay, I'm back to struggling to get freedesktop to work...I'm no longer worried about getting KDE to work, that just seems to be asking too much at once. I haven't gotten Fluxbox to work properly, even though it opens up fine when I log in with Fluxbox. I HAVE gotten plain jane twn working, though.

But, I still can't get xcompmgr to run. When I try, it complains with the error:
./xcompmgr: error while loading shared libraries: libXcomposite.so.1: cannot open shared object file: No such file or directory

That file DOES exist in /opt/fdo/lib. I have used echo $LD_LIBRARY_PATH to confirm that this variable has no value before manually setting it. I have used export LD_LIBRARY_PATH=/opt/fdo/lib to manually set that variable. Maybe this isn't the exact correct spelling for the necessary variable?

I don't have any man page for xcompmgr and what little documentation I can find browsing around the files and freedesktop's web site doesn't seem to inform at all.

Still puzzled...:confused:

[IsaacKuo]

On a better note, I've hacked out some modified C code for xpenguins. The way xpenguins normally works, is that it erases all the toons and then draws all of them. This causes the toons to flicker when you have a lot on screen at once. I modified it so that it erased/redrew the toons in groups of overlapping toons instead of all at once. This eliminates flicker except for large groups of toons.

Having hundreds of toons running amok on the desktop is very eyecatching!:cool:

[tucolino]

Originally posted by IsaacKuo
Okay, I'm back to struggling to get freedesktop to work...I'm no longer worried about getting KDE to work, that just seems to be asking too much at once. I haven't gotten Fluxbox to work properly, even though it opens up fine when I log in with Fluxbox. I HAVE gotten plain jane twn working, though.

But, I still can't get xcompmgr to run. When I try, it complains with the error:
./xcompmgr: error while loading shared libraries: libXcomposite.so.1: cannot open shared object file: No such file or directory

That file DOES exist in /opt/fdo/lib. I have used echo $LD_LIBRARY_PATH to confirm that this variable has no value before manually setting it. I have used export LD_LIBRARY_PATH=/opt/fdo/lib to manually set that variable. Maybe this isn't the exact correct spelling for the necessary variable?

I don't have any man page for xcompmgr and what little documentation I can find browsing around the files and freedesktop's web site doesn't seem to inform at all.

Still puzzled...:confused:


from the their list (http://freedesktop.org/pipermail/xserver/2004-March/001080.html) :

Make sure the directory your libXcomposite.so.1 is in is listed in
/etc/ld.so.conf and then run ldconfig and try running xcompmgr again.

good luck.

tuco

[x_Seraph_x]

I have to say that I absolutely fell in love with Celestia. That program has everything that you could want. I would consider it an astronomer's dream program. Great images, easy manuvering, excellent add-ons and one of the most educational pieces of software for surfing the stars.

[tucolino]

here (http://web.syr.edu/~alramire/Screenshot2.png) is a screenshot of expocity in action. just tried it for the first time. what it does is it shrinks all windows currently open (when you press ALT TAB) so they all fit on your desktop. you may then click on the desired window and they all come back to the original size, with the selected one on top. this is apparently a feature in osx panther.

tuco

[bigmac99]

where are the best places to get icons and fonts? I have looked at kde-look.org but I can never seem to find what I am looking for there. Any of you guys have a good site for these?

Thanks
Charles

[tucolino]

Originally posted by bigmac99
where are the best places to get icons and fonts? I have looked at kde-look.org but I can never seem to find what I am looking for there. Any of you guys have a good site for these?

Thanks
Charles

Did you look at some of the links on this thread?

convert osx icons (http://justlinux.com/forum/showthread.php?threadid=98048&amp;highlight=osx+icons)
www.iconfactory.com
xicons (http://xicons.com/)
umicons (http://www.kde-look.org/content/show.php?content=7214)
wincustomize for good icons (suggested by ciphrix) (http://www.wincustomize.com/skins.asp?library=29)
gnome art (http://art.gnome.org)

tuco

[nabetse]

from tucolino:
here is a screenshot of expocity in action.


Do you need to be running Gnome or Metacity in order to make expocity work? Does it work for non-metacity window managers?

[tucolino]

Originally posted by nabetse
from tucolino:

Do you need to be running Gnome or Metacity in order to make expocity work? Does it work for non-metacity window managers?

gnome uses metacity. expocity is basically a patch for metacity.

tuco

[tucolino]

A while back, I saw that customize.org was gonna host themes for gnome. Totally forgot about it. It seems like it is picking up a bit. Check it out.

tuco

PS. By the way, they also have kde.

[nabetse]

gnome uses metacity. expocity is basically a patch for metacity.

darn, it looks pretty cool. thanks though.

[ka9qlq]

Anybody know a command I could put in a cron or pearl script to force icewm to reload my background or to rotate backgrounds?:confused: I want to display some weather images I download every half hour on my desktop and wmsetbg says "could not find image file used in texture" Ideas welcome.
Alvin
http://ka9qlq.tripod.com/

[JohnT]

Please try to refrain from using such lengthy :code: strings in posting, it really whacks the page out when trying to read or post. Thank you.:D <-----friendly smile.

[ka9qlq]

Why?
Alvin
http://ka9qlq.tripod.com/

[JohnT]

One...its off-topic for this subject....Two...its bad formatting.:D <-----friendly smile.

[ka9qlq]

Really? The topic is eye candy isn't? Friendly attitudes like yours is why Linux is still just an also ran against Windows. For those interested bsetbg is the answer I was looking for. Sorry to crash your little self impotent party:mad:

[JohnT]

A little self education and a little less self-indulgence you would have realized my post had nothing whatsoever to do with your request, but applied to the top of the page where I first pointed this out. ":code:"...I didn't say a word about attachments. Familiarize yourself with the forums rules and etiquette. ....Oh! and personally I don't think I have that much effect on the direction that Linux or Windows takes in the scheme of most popular desktop, but thanks for the compliment.:D<------Very Friendly smile


Original thread starter:how about a thread to suggest eye candy for your desktop? didn't seem to find any that does this. correct me if i'm wrong anyway...

[mrBen]

Lets keep it pleasant to save me having to close the thread.

[JohnT]

I have no problem with keeping it friendly, as you well know , but I also have no problem with defending unfounded accusations,and insults when worded as it was.:D <---still smiling, and I might add...very friendly.

[mrBen]

Originally posted by JohnT
I have no problem with keping it friendly, as you well know , but I also have no problem with defending unfounded accusations when worded as it was.

Sorry - I wasn't specifically replying to you, just generally for the people in this thread. I thought your original reply was nice and restrained ;)

[tucolino]

so anyway... getting back to topic. here's a pretty nice and new addition. just as kde had kde-look, now gnomw users do as well. enjoy:

gnome-look (http://gnome-look.org)

tuco

[IsaacKuo]

I found this OSX Dock clone which I like:
KoolDock (http://ktown.kde.cl/kooldock/)

I like it because it defaults to an "autohide" mode which contaminates NO SCREEN SPACE until you move the mouse pointer to the bottom edge (within the horizontal size of the dock). The zooming animation of the dock unhiding/hiding is pretty slick also.

Unfortunately, there are graphics glitches--especially with a semi-transparent background image--and there's limited configurability. I haven't tried other OSX dock clones so there's probably something better out there. The only other one I tried used SuperKaramba, and I couldn't get it to work.

[IsaacKuo]

Really cool OpenGL based hardware accelerated image viewer/browser:

GLiv (http://freshmeat.net/projects/gliv/)

Smooth fade transitions are used to flip between images.

You can use the mouse and mousewheel to smoothly zoom, pan, and rotate. It uses texture smoothing so that typical images don't have a pixelated look unless extremely zoomed in. VERY slick effect, and incredibly useful for high resolution scans or digital photos.

3d hardware acceleration is required--it's unusably sluggish without it.

[saturn-vk]

another ELF-based app, engage, located in the misc cvs module. Screenshot is provided below. The nice thing about it is that with almost all the EFL apps i've listed above, it can be opengl accelerated, which means that if you have the iron, the icons can move much smoother than python based iconbars, and it won't be a cpu hog.

[tucolino]

IsaacKuo and saturn-vk, thanks for these new additions. i really wanna try them but i recently moved and don't get my computer with 3d accel until jul 16th. i am curretnly using this K6 333MHz laptop ouch!!! :) with no acceleration.

saturn-vk, are we talking about the elnlightenment (http://enlightenment.org/pages/news.html) cvs for the accelerated bar (engage)? sounds like a nice one.

tuco

[saturn-vk]

Originally posted by tucolino
IsaacKuo and saturn-vk, thanks for these new additions. i really wanna try them but i recently moved and don't get my computer with 3d accel until jul 16th. i am curretnly using this K6 333MHz laptop ouch!!! :) with no acceleration.

saturn-vk, are we talking about the elnlightenment (http://enlightenment.org/pages/news.html) cvs for the accelerated bar (engage)? sounds like a nice one.

tuco

yeah, it's from the E-cvs, under the misc module

btw, you can run it under the software engine instead of the gl engine, if you don't have the iron. just like most of the other apps that are using the E libs (including most of the ones I've already said, and the rest with a 1-line code change)

[sporkit]

anybody have a link to a good mac style scrolling bar? i remember i used to have a decent one but lost the link after moving away from linux for awhile.

i think people know what im talking about mouse over and the icon gets bigger.

[JohnT]

Originally posted by sporkit
anybody have a link to a good mac style scrolling bar? i remember i used to have a decent one but lost the link after moving away from linux for awhile.

i think people know what im talking about mouse over and the icon gets bigger. Which Desktop/Window manger are you using?

Possibly....http://gdesklets.gnomedesktop.org/categories.php?func=gd_show_app&gd_app_id=13
or.....http://ktown.kde.cl/kooldock/

[squeegy]

Originally posted by sporkit
anybody have a link to a good mac style scrolling bar? i remember i used to have a decent one but lost the link after moving away from linux for awhile.

i think people know what im talking about mouse over and the icon gets bigger.

Might wanna try engage, checkout the enlightenment home page. It's on there somewhere. I think you have to compile from cvs tho and you must also have the EFL Libraries from the E site as well. From what I can tell it is by far the best OSX like bar out there, although it takes awhile to configure.

[madcompnerd]

Anybody have any idea when E17 will probably be released?
I LOVE enlightenment, but I don't run anything from cvs; just curious if they have discussed finding a feature freeze point or anything.

[Hayl]

Originally posted by madcompnerd
Anybody have any idea when E17 will probably be released?
I LOVE enlightenment, but I don't run anything from cvs; just curious if they have discussed finding a feature freeze point or anything.

we were talking about that on their irc channel the other day.

they won't give a date.

it was even asked if it was going to be first quarter next year and tehy basically said no way.

the cvs for DR17 is broken on purpose so people can't use it until it is closer to being ready.

the DR16 is being actively worked on again... specifically 16.7.1 is very nice.

[apeekaboo]

Here's another completely-useless-and-oh-so-cool app to hog your system with: xdesktopwaves (http://xdesktopwaves.sourceforge.net/) :)

[Icarus]

Oh ya, that's a good one. totally pointless yet very fun!
also doesn't eat as much CPU as you'd think ;)

[apeekaboo]

Exactly! :p
But they had that in mind when they made the program, and it stops hogging the cpu once you actually start doing some work... ie stop playing around with the mouse/windows.

[IsaacKuo]

Here's a fantastic KDE window decorations set:

crystal-gl (http://www.kde-look.org/content/show.php?content=18983)

It makes window borders and titles transparent, with awesome refraction and lighting effects, and cool smooth fading of window focus and button highlighting. Having a bunch of shaded window title bars on screen looks REALLY REALLY COOL. :cool:

Crystal-gl really needs to be seen in motion to be appreciated. There's nothing like the "wow" factor of moving a window around and seeing the wallpaper distort through the window borders as if they were made of curved glass.

Best of all, it's OpenGL accelerated. On my 550mhz PIII, Crystal-GL actually takes up LESS CPU cycles than a much uglier lightweight window border set (like, say, ActiveHeart or a WinXP clone).

The same author wrote a non-GL accelerated version earlier--also available at KDE-Look. Unlike Crystal-GL, plain old Crystal has much fewer effects and honestly is a CPU hog. On a slower machine without OpenGL hardware acceleration, I must recommend turning window movement/resizing into wireframe mode.

[jymbo]

Originally posted by apeekaboo
Here's another completely-useless-and-oh-so-cool app to hog your system with: xdesktopwaves (http://xdesktopwaves.sourceforge.net/) :)

Awesome...gives my P4 w/HT (RHEL 3 work machine) something to do!

[tucolino]

well... haven't been recording much of the eye candy lately, but here's one that some of you might like:

change the lock dialog of xcreensaver (http://www.swanson.ukfsn.org/xss/)

let's revive this thread! fire up some nice eye candy you have added to your desktop recently.

tuco

[pezplaya]

Originally posted by tucolino
well... haven't been recording much of the eye candy lately, but here's one that some of you might like:

change the lock dialog of xcreensaver (http://www.swanson.ukfsn.org/xss/)

let's revive this thread! fire up some nice eye candy you have added to your desktop recently.

tuco

excellent. I can't stand the default one... it just looks eh.... bad.

thanks

[acid45]

3ddesktop: wooo the "WINDOWS" key actually means something fun =D

[tucolino]

hehe. i had forgotten about this thread. it's quite outdated now. we have things like compiz/compiz-fusion/beryl now which do things smoother than 3ddesktop, for example...

another one that comes to mind is avant window navigator...

[acid45]

well I'm glad I dug it up :p cause now I get to play with all sorts of eye candy apps and have people tell me they're outdated and show me new ones to play with :D