Distro Watcher 0.10.1
(Plasmoid Script)
The specific plasmoid displays the latest releases of Linux distributions and packages, as published in distrowatch.com. In order to retrieve the relative data, RSS feeds from distrowatch are being used.
The plasmoid consists of two distinct views; the first displaying Linux distributions, the second displaying packages. Switching between views can be accomplished using a KDE tab bar. By clicking to a distribution record, default browser opens distribution's homepage at distrowatch.com. By clicking to a package record, default browser opens package's homepage.
Moreover, users can click to the button in the bottom-right corner of the plasmoid so as to navigate to the distributions' list; favorites can be selected by just clicking to the relative button. Clicking to a distribution record, they are navigated (using the predefault web browser) to the relative distrowatch page. After selecting favorites, as soon as a new release of a favorite distribution is available, a notification pop-up is displayed. Notifications can be disabled using the relative configuration option.
The plasmoid has been written in QML and JavaScript.
Translated to: Greek, Spanish, Russian, Uzbek(Latin) and Italian. If you would like to contribute to translations, visit the relative transifex project at https://www.transifex.com/projects/p/distrowatcher/
Notes
- Display depends on distrowatch.com RSS feeds. If the relative RSS changes or it is unavailable, plasmoid display will be broken.
- Data fetching is performed every 15 minutes (default). Users can override the default value via "Distro Watcher Settings".
- If no Internet connection is available, no data will be displayed. Instead, a notification screen is displayed. As soon as network connectivity is re-established and the next fetching point is reached, data display is restored. Users are also able to click to the Reload button and request data to be fetched again.
- Icons have been downloaded from:
http://www.iconarchive.com/show/nuoveXT-icons-by-saki/Apps-tux-icon.html
http://www.iconarchive.com/show/nuoveXT-icons-by-saki/Apps-package-icon.html
Credits go to the artist.
Dependencies
- KDE SC 4.10 or later
- QT 4.8.x
* In Kubuntu 13.04/13.10 the following packages were installed for a proper build to take place:
- build-essential
- cmake
- kdelibs5-dev
- kdebase-workspace-dev
- libdbusmenu-qt-dev
Just Display (only for testing)
$plasmoidviewer ~/$YOUR_PATH/distrowatcher_plasmoid/distrowatcher
Installation
Any Linux distribution:
- Unzip the plasmoid
- $ mkdir build
- $ cd build
- $ export QT_SELECT=qt4 && cmake -DQT_QMAKE_EXECUTABLE=/usr/bin/qmake-qt4 -DCMAKE_INSTALL_PREFIX=`kde4-config --prefix` ..
- $ make
- $ (sudo) make install
- "Distro Watcher" widget is now available to add to desktop/panel.
Kubuntu:
Run the .deb file.
License
Copyright (C) 2013 Dimitris Kardarakos
QML and JavaScript written has been based on QT Quick documentation, tutorials and examples found in https://qt-project.org. Icons used come (online) from distrowatch.com and Oxygen icon package.
This program is distributed in the hope that it will be useful, but WITHOUT
ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS
FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. See the GNU General Public License for more details.
changelog:
Version 0.10.1
- Translation updates (Italian: thanks to Giuseppe Pignataro, Russian)
Version 0.10
- Reload functionality added to unavailable screen
- Smooth transition between screens
- Translation updates (Greek, Spanish)
Version 0.9.2
- Notification icon changed to a generic one since, in "Get New Hot Stuff" packaging, no distrowatcher icon is installed
- Translated to Uzbek by Umid Almasov
Version 0.9.1
- Issue with multiple notifications when a distribution appears more than once in an rss bunch fixed
- Unnecessary translations removed
- Code cleaning
- Text field replaced text area in favorites; clearing handle added
Version 0.8.2
- Issue writing into the text area fixed
- Packaging translations issue fixed
Version 0.8.1
- Issue with misleading tooltip fixed
- Favorites list rendering issue fixed
- Russian translation updated
Version 0.8
- Visual improvements
- Searching functionality added to favorite distributions list
- Users can navigate to distrowatch from favorites screen
- Translated to Russian (thanks to sorrymak)
- Spanish translation updated
Version 0.7
- Favorites functionality has been added; users can click to the star button so as to select their favorites distributions.
- As soon as a new release of a favorite distribution is available, a notification pop-up is displayed.
- Notifications can be disabled using the distrowatcher settings.
- Transifex project created: https://www.transifex.com/projects/p/distrowatcher/
Version 0.6.1
- Rendering issue in case of users that use dark themes fixed.
Version 0.6
- Scrolling functionality extension; users can use middle (wheel) mouse button, to scroll against package/distro records offering a no-click navigation experience.
Version 0.5
- Scrolling bar added. So, the amount of displayable distros/packages has been expanded. Users can scroll down and view more distros and packages.
Version 0.4.1
- Translation infrastructure implemented; script to collect messages (messages.sh) created, CMakeLists.txt updated to incorporate translation files.
- Greek and Spanish translations added.
- Plasmoid descriptor (comments) added, so as to inform users regarding the purpose of the plasmoid.
Version 0.4.0
- Better integration with KDE. Coloring and highlight follow the active KDE theme.
- Distro Watcher becomes configurable. Users are able to set the refresh interval (how often, in minutes, data should be fetched from distrowatch.com), in Distro Watcher Settings -> Settings -> Refresh every (minutes).
- Issue with font size in packages section fixed. Both packages' and distributions' font size follows KDE 'Desktop' font size.
Version 0.3.0
- User interface has been completely re-designed. Icons that induced UI clutter have been removed. Current interface is much more minimalistic than the previous one.
- Navigation switch between packages and distributions screen is now accomplished via a KDE native tab bar/group.
- Code has been cleaned. From a developer's viewpoint, it is a totally new application.
- New background (white/transparent) has been added. In conjunction with resizing, icons' display has been improved.
- "Explicit fetch" feature has been removed.
- Text size and color are inherited from current theme.
- Application's icon has been changed. I opted for Tux, since it's the common point of reference for all Linux distributions.
Version 0.2
- Network unavailability management, displaying a new screen in case of network issue.
- Coloring enhancements.
- Geometry fixing.
- Display effect on change of state.
- Function i18n used for strings, enabling future translations.
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