[vox-tech] KDE config (was Apt-get vs. Dselect)

[Jonathan Stickel]

Peter Jay Salzman wrote:
> On Fri 11 Mar 05, 10:27 AM, Bill Kendrick <nbs at sonic.net> said:
> 
>>On Fri, Mar 11, 2005 at 10:11:30AM -0800, Bob Scofield wrote:
>>
>>>All I know is that I was overwhelmed by aptitude.  I'm told to put a + or - 
>>>next to a package, but I'm given 14,000 plus packages to look at.  I much 
>>>prefer apt-get.  If I was interested in learning what packages were available
>>>I'd probably bring up a browser and check out the relevant package category 
>>>on the debian website, and then bring up a terminal window and apt-get what I
>>>wanted.  But I realize that I do things differently.  
>>
>>Or just use a GUI apt tool, like kio-apt for KDE. ;^)
>>
>>  http://kde-look.org/content/show.php?content=8966
>>
>>You can just type, e.g., "apt:/search?python" to search for all packages
>>with python in the name, or just type "apt:/" to get a little form interface.
>>(See the screenshots at the URL above.)
>>
>>-bill!
> 
> 
> As long as you bring up KDE, I have a couple of questions.  I've been using
> KDE for a day now, and I can't figure out a few things:
> 
> 1. I want a desktop icon similar to "My Computer" that has shortcuts to
>    various filesystems like /usr/local, /home, /C, /D, etc.  How can I
>    generate such a thing?

Konqueror, as a filesystem, may do nearly what you want, as is.  Do you 
have a "home" icon on your desktop or in your kmenu?  By default, this 
just brings you to your home directory.  You can point konqueror 
anywhere you want, and then save "view profile" under settings.  Also, 
on the side bar is a number of icons that show links to different 
places.  One is "devices" which shows links do different mountpoints. 
Another is "root filesystem", which shows "/", of course.

You could make a directory with symlinks to whatever you want, and have 
konqueror startup there.

> 
> 2. How do I change the font displayed underneath icons?  The standard KDE
>    font, aside from not being my cup of tea, is too big for my liking.
> 

If you are not yet familiar with KDE's control center, check it out. You 
can adjust most KDE fonts there.  Also, the fonts for part of konqueror 
can be changed in konqueror by "configure konqueror" from the settings menu.

> 3. How do I get "sloppy focus"?   Sloppy focus is like Unix focus: when the
>    cursor goes over a window, the window gains focus.
> 
>    However, in Unix focus, when the cursor leaves the window (without
>    hovering over another window), the window loses focus.  In sloppy focus,
>    when the cursor leaves the window (without hovering over a new window)
>    the window *remains* focused.
> 
>    This allows me to keep a window's focus *and* click on the desktop.

dunno this one

> 
> 4. I hate to ask this, maybe embarrased is a better word, but is it possible
>    to use MS Windows 95 icons in KDE?  The default KDE icons are too fancy.
>    I want something less ornate.  Less busy.  I really loved the icons (and
>    widgets) that came with MS Windows 95.  Is it possible to use those icons
>    in KDE?

You can choose different icon sets in the control center.  You can 
install more icon sets using your distribution or directly from 
http://kdelook.org/.

> 
> 5. Is it possible to configure artsd to become a client of esd (the
>    Enlightenment Sound Daemon) rather than trying to grab /dev/dsp directly?

You can mess with how arts works in the control center (sounds & 
multimedia - sound system).  I think this is an option, but it used to 
not work.  Things are better since KDE 3.3.

>    Better yet, is it possible to tell KDE applications to use esd instead
>    of artsd?

Possibly.  In the control center under system notifications, you can 
specify which player to use.  For awhile I used "aplay", i.e. alsa 
directly.  Now I am back to using arts since aplay won't do .ogg and .mp3.

Also, I really recommend using alsa with the "dmix" plugin 
(http://alsa.opensrc.org/index.php?page=DmixPlugin).  This will help 
with sound mixing.

Jonathan