>Kubuntu issues – follow-up

>I’m just following up on my last post – thanks to everyone commenting!

Regarding points #1 and #3, this was compiz running and wm. I’m back to kwin after having removed the file $HOME/.kde/share/config/compizasWM.

For point #2, I’ll deal with it as well, but is seems to be an issue in the proprietary ATI driver’s package. When changing to the free ATI driver I cannot get the resolution I want (I admit – I did not hunt for mode lines for very long).

>Kubuntu upgrade issues

>I just used the Kubuntu upgrade tool to get the latest goodies from Hardy (wobbly windows here I come). However, this resulted in a strange looking system. I’ve found three symptoms:

#1 Klipper and friends start in windows in the top left corner before finding their way down to the kicker dock.

#2 Selecting “logout” or pressing ctrl-alt-backspace results in a blank screen, a hard reset is required to get back to business.

#3 Window decorations are messed up. For instance, Firefox gets some old-style KDE 2-ish look and RMB clicking on the title bar results in what looks like an unthemed menu. However, the desktop menu looks alright.

Desktop menu

Window menu

If anyone knows of a good way to resolve these issues, do let me know.

>More about categories

>As you already know, this years edition of the QtCentre Programming Contest, we will judge applications in a given range of categories. This time I will discuss the education and project management categories.

For us at QtCentre, the education category was accepted without discussion. The need and usefulness for the entire Qt community of having Qt and Qt-based tools in the education field is enormous. Just imagine having started with Qt or a competing technology – what would you pick for your first real world project?

Project management was another easy pick. There is a lack of easy to use project management applications out there. This gives room for new applications as well as innovation – something that we value and enjoy.

>History Meme

>This seems to be some sort of trend at Planet GNOME.

history|awk '{a[$2]++ } END{for(i in a){print a[i] " " i}}'|sort -rn|head
96 ls
89 cd
78 make
33 rm
23 wget
22 grep
19 mv
16 sudo
16 kate
15 tar

What does it tell you? I tend to move about and look for files, make stuff, remove files, download things, search for strings using grep (preferably followed by some sed magic and xargs to open kate with the relevant files). Finally, I edit using Kate and build daily deliveries using tar.

>Rules Changes and Categories

>I thought I’d continue writing about the QtCentre Programming Contest 2008. First up, a rule change: paragraph 7 has been modified to include KDE 4.1.x for the Plasmoid contestants per request. Next, out thoughts on the categories, starting with collaboration.

We want to see collaboration applications, that is, applications that let users interact, create things together and cooperate. Why is this interesting? The world is a more and more interconnected place. While this is a challenge, it is also a place of opportunity, and an area where Qt offers a range of classes that helps you has a developer to be creative. These factors makes us believe that this is a category that can produce great results, so register your entry today!

>QtCentre Programming Contest 2008

>One of the better parts of being a member of the QtCentre administration team is that you get the opportunity to run the annual programming contest. In the first stage, we discussed how to pitch it this year. Last year we tried to divide the entries between developer apps, end user apps, libs, etc. This year we ‘re trying something different. The categories this year are: collaboration, education, project management, automation, demo, plasmoid and newcomer. If you are curious about the details, look no futher than here. I will discuss our thoughts when choosing these categories later on.

In the previous days we reached the next stage of the preparations. I got to talk to lots of interesting sponsors and partners. The nice thing to notice the all the positive feedback that we got. This year, the sponsors making the contest possible are: Klarälvdalens Datakonsult AB, Integrated Computer Solutions Inc., Trolltech ASA, BitRock, Thorsen Consulting, Apress and basysKom. (Yes Apress are donating some copies of my book, the Foundations of Qt Development).

Now, I’m eager for one of the best stages of helping out with the contest – seeing the contestants and trying them out.

>SpeedCrunch 0.10

>Earlier this week, SpeedCrunch 0.10 was released. Helder and all the other contributors have made a great job to make a good application even better. There are lots of new features, but some of my favorites are:

– The maths book, look up any formula and click it. Viola! It appears in your expression entry field.
– Automatic generation of a high contrast palette (this was alot of work for Helder). And it works like a charm.
– A reorganized, fresher looking user interface.

My humble contributions are the Swedish translation and a Windows installer. SC is available on all Qt-supported platforms, so there is no excuse for not using it. In fact, it is a really good example of a Qt project that is fully portable between all the supported platforms being built with CMake.

>Core Dump

>I have not been blogging the last couple of weeks, so here is a condensed report of what I’ve been up to.

  • Qtopia presentation at IT Universitetet, Gothenburg. Note to self, make sure to have water the first hour. Speaking for two hours, only sipping water the second half leaves you with a soar throat.
  • Work, work, work – I’ve been working like a mad man the last weeks. One week in Lapland doing winter testing for an automotive customer (great fun, but still quite a few days away from home).
  • Qt Quarterly dinner – a nice little event in Oslo. A rather loud restaurant, so it was hard to maintain a conversation, but still nice.
  • Carpenting – the upper floor is beginning to look ready-ish. Will try to get the wallpapers up this weekend. Then it is just the floor, doors and details left.
  • Driving – got my new car last week, a BMW 520d. It drives like a dream :-)

Well, now I need to work some more. Do not forget to watch the F1 next weekend. If BMW wins it must be due to my generous contribution. I hope that all the profit from my purchase is transferred directly to Dr. Thiessen’s department.