Linux

As I have already mentioned in an earlier post, I installed Ubuntu 10.04 on my computer... and I am quite happy with it.

However, some things have changed since previous versions. For instance, you now cannot move a window to the other desktop by just dragging it. I guess they removed the feature to not confuse inexperienced users.

Since I used that functionality a lot (and also the desktop switch with the mouse wheel) I looked for a way to get it back. Here are the shell commands I ended up with.

gconftool -t string -s /apps/compiz/plugins/vpswitch/allscreens/options/next_button "Button5"
gconftool -t string -s /apps/compiz/plugins/vpswitch/allscreens/options/prev_button "Button4"
gconftool -t bool -s /apps/compiz/plugins/wall/screen0/options/edgeflip_move "1"

No, I am not talking about the animal in the picture, but rather about the latest and greatest Ubuntu release. When it comes to cats and operating systems I usually think of several Mac OS 10 versions such as Panther, Tiger and Leopard, etc... I am just guessing, but I think the Ubuntu team had exactly that in mind on their search for an animal starting with the letter "L". And I personally think it fits, because the new look, the integrated Ubuntu One Music Store and the window controls being at the top left actually remind me of those great Apple operating systems.

What do I think of Ubuntu sort of copying Apple technology? So far I am happy with it. Maybe this would change, if Ubuntu started to copy the unpleasant things as well such as trying to narrow down user options to push its own products. I think a software company has to find the right balance between client and company interests. Of course, different clients have different interests, so that balance highly depends on the client himself... but I am getting a little bit off topic here :)

In a previous post, I talked about how to use D-Bus to get information about network status changes. Now, since I have been using a private VPN with my Ubuntu as a client, I came across another scenario, where a script using D-Bus could help: The VPN works fine, but sometimes just disconnects. It does not happen very often, but when it happens, it is annoying and I'd like to see it reconnecting automatically. Moreover I'd like to stay in the VPN whenever I have a network connection available. Unfortunately, I didn't found any option within the NetworkManager to manage this. I ended up in writing this script which can be invoked like autovpn <VPN_NAME>, where <VPN_NAME> is the name of the VPN which is displayed in the NetworkManager under VPNConnections. You can even run it automatically on system startup by placing it in "Startup Applications". It does two things:

It tries to connect the VPN whenever it detects an active internet connection.

It tries to reconnect the VPN, whenever it disconnects unintentionally. The number of attempts is limited to 5 and there is artificial delay of 5 seconds between attempts.

Today, I tried to figure out how to execute scripts in Ubuntu on network connection changes. I came across the D-Bus system, which is used for inter-application communication in Linux. It is indeed very easy to access D-Bus within a Python program. If you read on, you will see the source code of a Python script, that - when launched - receives events from the Gnome Network Manager via the D-Bus interface.