Seriously? Cannot set custom background!

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1

How can I set custom background in gnome (OpenSuse 12.3)?

“gnome-control-center -> background” only allows to select from default list of backgrounds. I am sure it can be done somehow, but come on, how much time do I have to invest into trying to achieve simple things?

More annoyance:

  • how do I disable F1 key and reuse it as a shortcut to my custom command?
  • how can I disable “win” key from showing activities? I know I can work around this by
gsettings set org.gnome.desktop.input-sources xkb-options "'altwin:left_meta_win']"

or the equivalent in gnome-tweak-tool.

Is the world coming to an end? Why simple things which used to work for years get broken now? It seems that with every upgrade things are getting worse. Hey, this is why I used to hate Windows.
>:(

2

You can set custom background.
After clicking existing background you can see three tabs at the top of the tool. Click on pictures tab and it will load all pictures from your ~/pictures and you choose a relevant background.
You can alternatively open any pic in Eye of Gnome (EOG) and then right click and set background or something like that.
Note:-All your application preferences/settings menu are in top panel for applications like totem,calculator etc…

3

This does not work for me, as I store my pics in different folders, not in ~/Pictures.

EDIT: right-clicking in eog does work. It is somewhat puzzling that the application designed just for this purpose is so limited and one has to use different app! This used to work. I really don’t understand the philosophy behind this feature removal.

Also the following command seems to do the same trick:

gsettings set org.gnome.desktop.background picture-uri ‘file:///home/…/file.jpg’

4

On 05/07/2013 04:46 PM, petr danecek wrote:
>
> This does not work for me, as I store my pics in different folders, not
> in ~/Pictures.

so, this “world coming to an end” problem is not due to a fault in
either openSUSE or GNOME, but rather due to a choice your system
administrator made as to where to store your pix…

maybe put links to your pix into the directory which the DE looks for
background shots…or, rewrite GNOME to look where you want.

–
dd

5

I agree that it is not exactly a bug. It is just a very stupid decision made by the developers. Why should the users be forced to store their pictures in the ‘Pictures’ directory? Because he/she happens to like it named that way? Why F1 help key cannot be changed, etc? This is what I call “the world of linux coming to an end”.

6

On 05/07/2013 05:26 PM, petr danecek wrote:
> This is
> what I call “the world of linux coming to an end”.

hardly, there are plenty of ways to make your desktop appear just as
you want it…

if that takes more time or trouble than you wish to link your pix to
~/Pictures, then you could do any of these things:

  • live with it as it is

  • use a different desktop environment

  • use some other distribution

  • use another operating system

  • continue to complain that it is not like you want it, nor easy
    enough to make like you want it…

imo, the last choice is probably the least productive.

–
dd

7

You can probably do it using dconf-editor too.

8

DenverD, as you could see from my posts, I found a working solution, so it is certainly not only about me complaining.

I would hope that the developers welcome feedback. My feedback was angry, because that’s what this “improvement” deserves.

I was upset and I still think it is retarded to remove useful features without a good reason. It just makes no sense to replace a perfectly working feature-rich tool with something this inferior and stupidly rigid.

Vazhavandan, thank you for your help, your advice was helpful.

9

On 05/08/2013 08:26 AM, petr danecek wrote:
> I would hope that the developers welcome feedback.

it seems you don’t realize that this forum is volunteer users
helping other users…if you want to provide feedback to the
developers then do it in the correct place(s), which is not here…

this is a technical help forum, not a feedback forum…educate
yourself: http://tinyurl.com/d8g49wd

–
dd

10

On 05/08/2013 09:22 AM, dd wrote:
> this is a technical help forum, not a feedback forum…educate yourself:

that thought should have ended like this:

educate yourself before you get ‘angry’, ‘upset’ or judge community
or developer decisions as ‘retarded’, ‘inferior’ and ‘stupidly rigid’.

technical feedback is oh so much more likely accepted and acted on
when a rational reason is proposed–rather than spewing an emotional
tirade.

read where to become helpful here: http://tinyurl.com/d8g49wd

ymmv

–
dd

11

They seem to be aiming at touch screens and hence the funky designs

you are welcome