Cimi turns 22! 26 March, 2008
Happy Birthday to me, Happy Birthday to me! …Happy Birthday Cimi… Happy Birthday to me!!!
Posted in English | 50 Comments »
Welcome Unity, new GNOME Theme :) 18 March, 2008
Unity and GNOME-Alternative hits GNOME’s trunk (gnome-themes-extras).
I will do the 2.22.0 release when andreasn will answer me if he needs some more days to complete Foxtrot Icon Theme 
Anyway I will wait since Unity is in testing, so I can do some fixes if someone notices some bugs.
P.S.: We chose the name Unity over Suave since it follows the design and it means something more (Suave got problems with translations/meanings between languages)
P.P.S.: I’ve changed a little bit the text of the inactive titlebar so should be more usable. No screenshots for the moment
Posted in English, GNOME, GTK, Icons, Metacity, Themes | 36 Comments »
I need a name for a new GNOME Theme 6 March, 2008
Hi guys, I need a name for a new Gtk Theme + Metacity that I made one month ago and I’d like to publish asap in Gnome Themes Extras (I’m also the Maintainer of this module).
Please, if you have an Idea, add a comment here.
Description
Basically it is composed of a Clearlooks-based Gtk theme with a darker background (compared to the default Clearlooks), more roundess, brighter shadings on most widgets (toolbars included), a Metacity theme merged with the Menubar (I’m a fan of the default blue borders, but since FOSS is about choice this is for the guys who like it ), and the Gnome Folders by Ulisse Perusin.
Shot
Posted in English, GNOME, GTK, Themes | 77 Comments »
March’s Break :) 26 February, 2008
I must take a break in the next month, I coded too much since December and now it’s time for a breath 
This doesn’t mean I will be offline, but don’t expect commits for Clearlooks or Murrine
Anyway, if you’ve some questions about Murrine or you just want to take part ot the Community, simply come into the channel #murrine in Freenode and add it to your autojoin!
I’m sure that, if you will have patience, someone will help you.
Cheers,
Andrea Cimitan
Posted in English, GNOME, GTK, Murrine | 4 Comments »
RGBA Colormap by default in GTK+: Call for a Coder 17 February, 2008
Hi Gtk+ hackers
I’m writing this post to see if someone is interested in writing a small patch to make all apps use the RGBA colormap, when available.
The Approach
I’ve discussed few days about *which could be the saner approach* in IRC with thos, ebassi, benzea etc etc.
Of course, same discussion could follow in mailing lists, if you don’t agree with that.
The approach we have in mind can be explained in that way (fell free to correct me if could be better):
- Adding a GtkSetting, something like a boolean rgba-colormap = TRUE | FALSE.
- Mapping that GtkSetting to an Xsetting.
- Reading this GtkSetting before initializing a Window, and here set a RGBA colormap if available.
Using RGBA colormaps will give the Window an alpha value, useful to draw fancy things, from transparent widgets till rounded menus/tooltips.
Patches are Welcome
Unfortunately I’m not the right man, now, to write that patch. First of all I’m really busy with exams, then I lack of basic GTK knowledge, and this could cost me days/weeks instead an hour of coding
I’ve shown you this feature request, here there’s a bugzilla bug too.
If you’re interested in a fancy eye-candy evolution for the gnome world (optional eheheh, clearlooks *is* and *will be* our rockin’ default theme), this patch is essential, since my Murrine (RGBA capable) engine is absolutely stable and ready for the masses
A Murrine’s release could follow the Gtk+ release that will have this patch in.
Comments are Welcome
If you have to contribute in a constructive way to the discussion please follow the bugzilla, otherwise feel free to comment here on my blog.
Posted in English, GNOME, GTK, Murrine | 49 Comments »
Optional Flat Toolbars for Murrine 13 February, 2008
Just a quick note following the previous update to Clearlooks with optional Flat Toolbars.
I’ve added the same thing in the Murrine engine, should work quite good except the menubar in RGBA mode… For the moment I just ignore shadow-type when drawing menubars in RGBA mode.
So In the next release you’ll be free to use it in this powerful Gtk Engine…
Thanks goes again to lucazade for the main concept, even if it was a simple patch
Posted in English, GTK, Murrine, Themes | 9 Comments »
Optional Flat Toolbars for Clearlooks 2.22 9 February, 2008
I’m actually in love with an optional feature I’ve recently added in Clearlooks:
the ability to draw flat toolbars/menubars. (thanks to lucazade for the idea!)
How to Use this Feature
In order to get this you have to:
1) update to gtk-engines revision 1062 and newer
2) open the gtkrc of Clearlooks (or copy and create a new theme) and add those two lines (see the screenshot above):
GtkMenuBar ::shadow-type = GTK_SHADOW_NONE
GtkToolbar ::shadow-type = GTK_SHADOW_NONE
A little Notice
Please notice that file-roller and inkscape seems to use something different than a GtkToolbar (they use a mix of GtkHBox Vbox and so on… don’t tell me why), and this feature will not work. (Of course I don’t want to write hacks or special cases in the engine to be compatible with their different behaviour).
Posted in English, GNOME, GTK | 24 Comments »
Saying “Hello” to the GNOME community ;) 9 February, 2008
Hi guys, I’ve just noticed I’ve been added to the planet, so “Hello” to everybody! 
If you don’t know who is “Andrea Cimitan” (myself ehehe) I’m working on gtk-engines and gnome-themes since february 2007, I’m the author of the new Clearlooks shipped in 2.20 and of the new themes you’ve seen. Which a lot of you, guys, appreciated so much… (thanks!!!)
I’m also the author of the Murrine Engine, and I’m still working on its transparent version.
So, following my future entries on the planet (or directly from my blog), you’ll be informed on Gtk+ theming, and sometimes, on bleeding edge software (I always love to try new free software)
Cheers to everybody!
Andrea Cimitan
PS: yes I need an Hackergotchi…
Posted in English, GNOME, GTK, Murrine, Themes | 7 Comments »
Grandi Novità sul website di Murrine 4 February, 2008
Mentre continua lo sviluppo su Murrine RGBA (a breve un post di aggiornamenti), ho aggiornato il sito di Murrine offrendo la possibilità di registrarsi ed inserire Temi!!!
Questa volta infatti ho deciso di optare per una scelta diversa dal solito sito di presentazione di un software (e ai classici forums), offrendo la possibilità di contribuire in modo diretto.
A contraddistinguersi dagli altri portali vi è il tentativo di fare un briciolo di selezione, in modo che si possano trovare subito i temi più belli senza doversi perdere nei meandri di Gnomelook…
Che dire, se siete themers e avete fatto qualcosina correte a registrarvi e uploadate i vostri lavori che andranno subito a far parte della raccolta ufficiale presente sul sito!
Posted in GTK, Italian, Metacity, Murrine, Themes | 12 Comments »
Da GoogleTalk a Jabber trasferendo i Contatti 2 February, 2008
Decisomi più che mai ad abbandonare temporeaneamente GoogleTalk verso cimi _at_ jabber.org, essenzialmente per via dell’utile file transfer mancante in GTalk e delle limitazioni in altri ambiti (il nickname non è funzionante con tutte le applicazioni a causa dell’implementazione googleiana non-standard di XMPP), l’unico problemone era proprio il trasferimento dei contatti… che pizza solo l’idea 
La Salvezza
Installo gajim-svn e aggiungo i due account, mi accorgo di un opzione “sincronizza contatti“… Comincio a leccarmi i baffi…
Ci clicco sopra e come d’incanto mi compare una nuova finestra con l’elenco di tutti i contatti che avevo in GTalk, seleziono quelli interessanti… —> et voilà aggiunti a jabber.org!
Ecco effettuato un passaggio indolore, finalmente avrò un file transfer decente, potrò accedere alle conferenze, (il VOIP?) e soprattutto cimi _at_ jabber.org mi sembra decisamente più figo!
Posted in Howto, Italian | 8 Comments »