KDE Global Menu?

kdotj · 2010-12-14 21:14:02

Is there a good one for KDE? I have had a look but I can't seem to find anything useful to me. When I say "global menu" I mean having a plasmoid widget in the panel that shows application menu ("File, Edit, View....") like in Mac OS X. I know that Kubuntu has one that comes with it which is named "File/Menu" or something in the "Add Widget" list. If anyone knows of how to get this under Arch or something like this, I'd be really grateful for the information.... Cheers folks

eDio · 2010-12-14 21:20:16

There is one - XBar.
It comes with Bespin, so you need to install one and then choose QtCurve or Bespin in appearance settings.

Xbar, though, will display only Qt applications' menus. To get real globalmenu, you also need to install gnome-globalmenu and then install that package http://aur.archlinux.org/packages.php?ID=40048

Check this thread also https://bbs.archlinux.org/viewtopic.php?id=102568

kdotj · 2010-12-14 21:57:47

Thanks for the quick reply!
These solutions did come up during my searches, and thanks for confirming them for me. I will try them out then and see how it goes...
I just assumed there would be a KDE plasmoid already which didn't need bespin

zephyr · 2010-12-15 15:14:43

kdotj wrote:

I just assumed there would be a KDE plasmoid already which didn't need bespin

There is a plasmoid that works regardless of style chosen i.e. it works with oxygen apart from Bespin's XBar.

It is the one from Kubuntu.

http://aur.archlinux.org/packages.php?ID=40316

Apart from the plasmoid you need qt-appmenu from AUR, the patch will probably be merged in Qt 4.8.

If you also need to enable GTK+ application integration in the Global Menu you should also install appmenu-gtk from AUR:

http://aur.archlinux.org/packages.php?ID=41737

Last edited by zephyr (2010-12-15 15:15:34)

eDio · 2010-12-15 15:53:46

Wow! Looks pretty well. I'm gonna try it tonight. Thanks for that info zephyr.

P.S. Now I'm thinking also about trying Kubuntu.

zephyr · 2010-12-15 16:16:15

eDio wrote:

Wow! Looks pretty well. I'm gonna try it tonight. Thanks for that info zephyr.
P.S. Now I'm thinking also about trying Kubuntu.

No problem mate. :)

I believe that XBar is still more featureful, so if you use Bespin or QtCurve it might be a nicer solution. However plasma-menu-bar may be merged at some point with KDE SC if all goes well and the patch merges into Qt 4.8.

I also hope that the gtk2 patches would go upstream but I don't think there is a high chance of this happening.

ANOKNUSA · 2010-12-15 16:34:02

Kubuntu is quite different from Arch, featuring:

- Automatic installation
- Ubuntu-specific kernel patches and tools
- A Non-KISS approach, and less control over the overall system (a downside of the automatic installer and package manager)
- A set release schedule, rather than a rolling-release plan (less up-to-date packages, but a greater emphasis on stability)
- No AUR, but dozens of Launchpad PPas instead (Of course, the pre-built binaries are nice and convenient).

The global menu is installed by default in the latest version of Kubuntu but, as has been mentioned, it's also available in the AUR for you to build yourself; I use it, and love it. Xbar is also available in the Ubuntu repositories. My own experience regarding Kubuntu is that, for some reason or another, KDE doesn't seem to jibe well with the Ubuntu base. It seemed less responsive to me. Also--and this isn't meant to be a flame, just a fact--Ubuntu focuses almost exclusively on GNOME; the Kubuntu project is contributed to at some degree by Canonical, but by and large is independently maintained and is much less popular. Most of the extra plasmoids and such are only available from kde-look.org/kde-apps.org, rather than the repositories. Hence, you'll likely end up building your own packages and doing most of your own research and maintenance, but without the simplicity and transparency offered by Arch. Feel free to try it out for yourself; it may end up being just what you're looking for, since this is just my experience. However, if you just want the global menu, and feel comfortable with Arch, I'd recommend just installing the AUR package rather than a complete system change. Cheers!

thms · 2010-12-16 17:44:22

zephyr wrote:

kdotj wrote:
I just assumed there would be a KDE plasmoid already which didn't need bespin
There is a plasmoid that works regardless of style chosen i.e. it works with oxygen apart from Bespin's XBar.
It is the one from Kubuntu.
http://aur.archlinux.org/packages.php?ID=40316
Apart from the plasmoid you need qt-appmenu from AUR, the patch will probably be merged in Qt 4.8.
If you also need to enable GTK+ application integration in the Global Menu you should also install appmenu-gtk from AUR:
http://aur.archlinux.org/packages.php?ID=41737

Is there a way to adjust the font color? Currently I have black on dark gray :b

ANOKNUSA · 2010-12-16 18:01:24

It uses the window text color of your current color scheme.

zephyr · 2010-12-16 21:22:29

thms wrote:

Is there a way to adjust the font color? Currently I have black on dark gray :b

Unfortunately no.
I had the same problem too.

The only usable workaround right now is to change your plasma theme to something with white fonts e.g. oxygen, slim glow, elegance etc. or an opaque one like aya or tibanna. Or tweak your plasma theme colors.

Arch Linux

#1 2010-12-14 21:14:02

KDE Global Menu?

#2 2010-12-14 21:20:16

Re: KDE Global Menu?

#3 2010-12-14 21:57:47

Re: KDE Global Menu?

#4 2010-12-15 15:14:43

Re: KDE Global Menu?

#5 2010-12-15 15:53:46

Re: KDE Global Menu?

#6 2010-12-15 16:16:15

Re: KDE Global Menu?

#7 2010-12-15 16:34:02

Re: KDE Global Menu?

#8 2010-12-16 17:44:22

Re: KDE Global Menu?

#9 2010-12-16 18:01:24

Re: KDE Global Menu?

#10 2010-12-16 21:22:29

Re: KDE Global Menu?

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