This here program is a general purpose "start menu".
It attempts to resemble it's counterpart that was shipped by a major proprietary software company with it's operating system released way back in 2001. It should help people who want to clone the look of that operating system, when coupled with corresponding Gtk+ and metacity themes.
This "menu" does not depend on the panel, or any other component of the desktop, that is, it is a standalone application. This means that it can be used with any window manager, and that at the same time it has features that enable it to be incorporated into a desktop seamlessly.
How to use:
1. Launch the start menu: $ start-menu
You can also set your desktop to load it at startup.
2. Whenever you want to pop up the menu, hit it with a SIGUSER1 signal: $ killall -SIGUSR1 start-menu
Integration with GNOME
1. You can configure gnome-session to automatically load it at startup. Go to Desktop -> Preferences -> More Preferences -> Session
2. Make a "button" for the menu on gnome-panel. Right click on an empty space on the panel, click "Add to panel" and then select "Custom Application Launcher". Enter "Start Menu" as name and "killall -SIGUSR1 start-menu" as command, without the quotes.
3. Add a keyboard shortcut. Go to Desktop -> Preferences -> Keyboard Shortcuts and set your favorite shortcut to the command "killall -SIGUSR1 start-menu"
Integration for other desktops might be similar.Last changelog:
The files inside the package are dated in the future (May 19), hence some warnings happen during "make". Well, in a few days this will not be a trouble, lol.
Also, installation doesn't work if the "~/.icons/" and "~/bin/" directories don't already exist. So you should use "mkdir -p" in the makefile.
Anyway, thanks for this, it will be useful for relatives who are new to Linux.
Im sure this is a great program but is it really useful? Why do people want to copy Windows so much? It's so ugly. I guess it's for the new guys who want that familiarity.
Did you just call my program "ugly" ? Did you not look at the screenshot ? Please take a look at the screenshot.
Although it "resembles" some other operating system's corresponding feature ( to a GREAT extent ) I wouldn't really call it copying because such projects have already been undertaken before I cam along; See KBFX and SUSE's start menu. This is more or less a reference implementation of how such code could be easily developed.
It's a "start-menu", but it's not really a "menu" at all; it's a couple of GtkTreeView(s) and some effort at creative programming. The idea is not so much as "copying" as much as "we can do it too".
And, to think about it objectively, it is kind of useful as well; we have frequently used shortcuts and a "run" box with auto completion built in; I would think that useful.
Please see the screenshot; I disagree about it's ugliness. Maybe it might not be useful, but it's definitely not ugly.
PS: It's not really a "great" program. A little clever, perhaps, but definitely NOT great.It's pretty simple, actually; I actually wonder how come nobody ever built one before me.
I believe they weren't calling your program or the aesthetics of it ugly exactly but instead expressing dislike towards the windows XP look and anything that bears resemblance. I must say that personally I think yours looks better than the original XP start menu and all the almost-identical replicas people have made either through themes for existing menus (e.g. Gnomenu) or through their own creations.
Still, I can see why people would say it's ugly. certainly after having to see it in public for 9 years and endure the same login sound due to the mass public *twitch*. And personally, Window's default themes have always looked pretty cheap to me.
Yours, as I said, looks better than the real thing but a few people will likely dislike it purely on the basis of it emulating the appearance of windows (which is what you're trying to achieve here, for familiarity's sake)
I commend you for your efforts though, especially seeing as this is one of the only such "Start menus" that should be rather usable and fitting in the majority of window managers and environments.
Ratings & Comments
5 Comments
The files inside the package are dated in the future (May 19), hence some warnings happen during "make". Well, in a few days this will not be a trouble, lol. Also, installation doesn't work if the "~/.icons/" and "~/bin/" directories don't already exist. So you should use "mkdir -p" in the makefile. Anyway, thanks for this, it will be useful for relatives who are new to Linux.
See, my CMOS battery is dead, so my clock keeps a changin' of it's own free will ... :)
Im sure this is a great program but is it really useful? Why do people want to copy Windows so much? It's so ugly. I guess it's for the new guys who want that familiarity.
Did you just call my program "ugly" ? Did you not look at the screenshot ? Please take a look at the screenshot. Although it "resembles" some other operating system's corresponding feature ( to a GREAT extent ) I wouldn't really call it copying because such projects have already been undertaken before I cam along; See KBFX and SUSE's start menu. This is more or less a reference implementation of how such code could be easily developed. It's a "start-menu", but it's not really a "menu" at all; it's a couple of GtkTreeView(s) and some effort at creative programming. The idea is not so much as "copying" as much as "we can do it too". And, to think about it objectively, it is kind of useful as well; we have frequently used shortcuts and a "run" box with auto completion built in; I would think that useful. Please see the screenshot; I disagree about it's ugliness. Maybe it might not be useful, but it's definitely not ugly. PS: It's not really a "great" program. A little clever, perhaps, but definitely NOT great.It's pretty simple, actually; I actually wonder how come nobody ever built one before me.
I believe they weren't calling your program or the aesthetics of it ugly exactly but instead expressing dislike towards the windows XP look and anything that bears resemblance. I must say that personally I think yours looks better than the original XP start menu and all the almost-identical replicas people have made either through themes for existing menus (e.g. Gnomenu) or through their own creations. Still, I can see why people would say it's ugly. certainly after having to see it in public for 9 years and endure the same login sound due to the mass public *twitch*. And personally, Window's default themes have always looked pretty cheap to me. Yours, as I said, looks better than the real thing but a few people will likely dislike it purely on the basis of it emulating the appearance of windows (which is what you're trying to achieve here, for familiarity's sake) I commend you for your efforts though, especially seeing as this is one of the only such "Start menus" that should be rather usable and fitting in the majority of window managers and environments.