Different Background Image For Each Desktop In Gnome
So I fairly recently switched from Fedora and KDE to Kubuntu (Unbuntu with KDE) (because the problems with package repository conflicts were driving me crazy), then from Kubuntu to Ubuntu (because I was immediately turned off by the new KDE 4.1 simplifying/candy-ifying makes it looks too much like Windows, and they’ve reduced functionality).
The move from Fedora to Ubuntu went very well, but KDE can do some things that Gnome can’t. They seem like little things, but top on my list are:
- KDE and Gnome allow for multiple virtual desktops you can switch between. I like arranging them on the desktop switcher in a 2×2 matrix, and KDE lets me use the key sequence of my choice to rotate around them. I couldn’t find a way of doing that in Gnome, but I found a way to configure a Compiz desktop effect to at least rotate around a 1×4 matrix. By the way, I found a program to simulate multiple desktops on Microsoft Windows called VirtuaWin.
- KDE and Gnome let you place applications on a particular virtual desktop (I use 4), but KDE supports applications that show up on all desktops. That’s great forthings like IM clients you always want to see. No solution to this one, but I can live with that
- KDE can have a different background image for each desktop. It helps identify which desktop you’re on, and I find it fun. I’m into lots of different things, so I like to have different kinds of images on the desktops (anime, Linux, sci fi, etc)
I wasn’t able to get different background images on each desktop. However, I found out that if you overwrite the image used for the desktop, the desktop will update to show the new image! So now I have a cron job that copies a random file from a specific directory to the background image file’s name every 10 minutes. Sweet!
<shameless plug>I’m an officer in the Boston Linux and UNIX group. We have a great mailing list, even if you never come to a meeting, and everything’s free.</shameless plug>
Gnome does too let you have applications visible on all desktops. Click on the window menu and check “Always on Visible Workspace”, and that window will always be on the, er, visible workspace.
Comment by Chip | December 25, 2008
Huh! I stand corrected. Never noticed that before.
Comment by David | December 25, 2008