customizable gui

[Adramelech9]

I'm rather new to linux in general. I'm in the process of switching over, and am comparing capabilities.

I was wondering if there was a gui for linux that was fully customizable. For example, able to create buttons on the desktop, display forms and pictures. if you have no idea what i'm talking about, i use 'talisman' on my windows partition as a shell replacement and windowblinds to skin every window.

Are there any programs that could do these things or would i have to learn an object oriented language and modify the source of kde or something?

[rudie_rage]

If I understand your question correctly, there is no single program i know of that does all this for you.

However, with KDE or Gnome you get plenty of features and with a program such as gdesklets you can get all sorts of interesting apps and widgets to run on your desktop

The bonus of it all is that most linux distros come with kde or gnome installed by default. If your new to linux, ubuntu will be a good starting place (comes with gnome) or if you prefer the kde look (which IMHO looks very much like windows by default) you can install kubuntu.

the KDE and/or gnome desktops will give you all sorts of control such as skins (no seperate program like windowblinds needed) and you can also rearrange where all your toolbars and menus go. For example, you could put the launch menu (like windows start button) anywhere you want, or even make multiple buttons for it. Same goes for the system clock, system tray, and the buttons for all open apps. There are also dozens of other little gadgets you can place in the bar.

as for other widgets, there are several programs. The only one i remember was gdesklets, and it had some intesting ones like system monitors and weather forecasts that go right over your background image.

Hope that helps!

[devils casper]

Are there any programs that could do these things or would i have to learn an object oriented language and modify the source of kde or something?

check KDE-Look.org and GNOME-Look.org

[oz]

If you really want a hands on approach to your GUI, you can also look at FVWM:

The Official FVWM Home Page

It's quite powerful as window managers go, but it's no easy task if you should put your config files together from scratch yourself. Otherwise, you can take someone else's config files and edit them to your own liking.

Have fun with Linux, and with FVWM!

[Adramelech9]

well right now i'm running MEPIS 6.0 and will play around with kde for some time, then when i feel more confident with linux i'll try fvwm-crystal out, what i really need is some huge book on debian and absorb its contents, like i did with a book on DOS not too long ago.
Thanks again.

[oz]

then when i feel more confident with linux i'll try fvwm-crystal out

Crystal is really nice if you want a prepackaged set of configs. You can be up and running in minutes. If you put together your own configs, it can take days, weeks, or even months, depending on how involved you want to get with it.

Have fun with Linux...

oz