Ever in Flux i {work, game, rant, geek out, lost my mind}

Gnome/Metacity is tweakable, y’all.

I hear/read it a lot.  Gnome/Metacity is not as configurable as other Desktop Environments (DE).  That's not entirely true.  It's not as EASILY (read GUIfied) configured as other environments.  

Wait!  Which environments provide a GUI configuration for all of the tweakable desktop elements like title font, window border, button shape, size and/or placement?

I can think of 2 that allow such fine-grained control in a GUI:

  1. KDE/Kwin
  2. XFCE/XFWM4
I KNOW there are more than these two.  Tell me about them.  I may have already used it in the past.

When I read about someone's experience with a tiling window manager (WM), I think, "That's what I need. Insert Justfication 1, Justification X and Justification III here." I will then promptly install whatever DE/WM they've recommended, use it for 2 weeks and then go right back to Gnome.  Why?  Familiarity, for one.  Secondly, I customize Gnome to my liking.  I get keyboard shortcuts that I like, a look that I prefer and the overall experience is mine.

Each of us have discovered THE best configuration of their computer for their particular usage. Some like a minimalist UI (OpenBox, Fluxbox, ratpoison, awesome), others prefer a compromise between lightweight and stylized (LXDE, XFCE, IceWM, GNUStep and still others prefer a plain console with or without framebuffer enabled.

I prefer Gnome for all its "bloat" and "size." Again: Why is this?  On a modest system (Intel Celeron 2,2GHz, GeForce 8400 GS, single 21" display via DVI and 2GBs of RAM running the latest Arch Linux 64-bit version), I can enable the built-in compositing in Metacity without noticeable impact to my desktop performance.  3D performance drops dramatically, but I turn off the compositing if I really need 3D performance, like when playing games or playing games.


Gnome is very configurable, however.  Like with other DE/WM combinations, you'll have to get "under the hood" and "get your hands dirty."  This means that a few config files have to be tweaked, you WILL need a command prompt and the changes may not be permanent.  It's Linux, not OS X or Windows.


I've modified the default icon theme, changed the background of the panel and other tweaks that make my desktop:

  • Unique (Like every other alternative-OS-running-mofo's desktop. Is that ironic?)
  • Personal (That's what PC meant originally, right?  No reason it should mean anything else now.)
  • Functional (By adding this myself, I can be more productive.  Can be, but I'm not) 

I like the customization freedom I have with Gnome.  Is it as easy as in other DE/WM combinations? No, not really?  Do I care? Nope.  Not enough to remedy the situation.

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Adding new hotkeys using the rarely-used "Windows" key.

I abhor using that word to describe that key and I'm too lazy to replace the keymap with a "penguin" or a "mudflap girl" or whatever else it could be.  For now, it remains the "Windows", "Super" or even "Mod4" key.

One of the best uses of that key, however, is as a modifier for personal Keyboard shortcuts.  Gnome doesn't clobber keyboard shortcuts that use these keys.  Your DE/WM may vary.

For example, I've added some questionably convenient shortcuts for myself:

Each of those either runs a script (nothing fancy, just calling apps with arguments) or calls an application directly to achieve a desired result.  In this way, I'm able to re-invent functionality of other Operating Systems, applications I've used in the past or just add something I wanted (like the Now Playing popup from SizzlingKeys).
If you're running Gnome/Metacity, check the Keyboard Shortcut preferences and related documentation to add your own shortcuts.
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Enable Metacity compositing via command-line

If you're running GNOME/Metacity, here's a quick command I use to enable/disable Metacity's built-in compositing feature:

gconftool-2 --set /apps/metacity/general/compositing_manager --type BOOLEAN "true"
gconftool-2 --set /apps/metacity/general/compositing_manager --type BOOLEAN "false"

I can then assign them to keystrokes via System -> Preferences -> Keyboard Shortcuts.

This is the same method used here: Enable Metacity Compositing in Gnome 2.22. 

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MeMug

beansmyname

just a geek struggling with day-to-day existence. I like the dinklegruber more than any other.

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