KDE
KDE on-line Documentation
(20 Languages)
KDE is a powerful Free Software graphical desktop
environment for Linux and Unix workstations.
It combines ease of use, contemporary functionality,
and outstanding graphical design with the
technological superiority of the Unix operating system.
KDict
KDict is a graphical client for the DICT protocol.
It enables you to search through dictionary
databases for a word or phrase, then displays suitable definitions.
GNOME
GNOME 2.6 Desktop User Guide
GNOME is the ideal choice for almost any purpose:
GNOME is the desktop of choice for industry leaders like IBM, HP, and Sun. Governments in places as diverse as Kenosha, Wisconsin, in the US, Extremadura, Spain, and Beijing, China, have selected GNOME for their desktops. With a large number of users, and a wide range of vendors, you can be assured of availability and support for a long time to come.
GNOME for Business
Your business wants to cut costs and improve reliability, and GNOME is the obvious choice. GNOME's generous licensing means that you don't have to pay licensing fees or spend money keeping track of licenses, and you can build in-house software royalty-free, even if you choose not to release the source. GNOME also requires minimal training, and is easy to support, administer, and install, cutting your IT costs for rollout and maintenance.
GNOME for Home Users
GNOME is easy to use and easy to learn: the usability project team makes sure of it. GNOME has all the software you need every day: games, browser, email, office suite, and more. In addition, excellent Windows file compatibility means you can work with files that Windows users send you, and extensive manuals and help systems mean you're never without resources.
GNOME for Developers
GNOME gives developers the greatest licensing flexibility and the greatest variety of programming languages. In addition, you can even use Gtk+ on Windows as well as Unix and Linux systems.
Most GNOME libraries are available under the terms of the LGPL, which means you can develop GNOME software free of charge, no matter what license you use for your finished product. And because the GNOME object system is easy to bind to other languages, you can choose from a dozen popular development languages like Java, C#, Python, Perl, and of course plain old C and C++.
GNOME for the World
GNOME is available in your language. Many large software companies do not produce translations for smaller languages, but GNOME makes it easy for dozens of languages both large and small, including Azerbaijani, Arabic, Chinese, Hebrew, Spanish, and Swedish.
GNOME for People with Disabilities
If you have limited mobility or vision, then you'll be glad to hear that GNOME is serious about accessible software. GNOME works with screen readers, braille keyboards, and screen magnifiers, and meets accessibility requirements for many governments worldwide, including the US Department of Defense.
GNOME for System Administrators
Administrators choose GNOME because easy to use means easy to support, and because remote system administration cuts down on time spent pacing hallways and waiting in elevators. The GNOME System Administrations Guide has more information on how to manage a GNOME desktop deployment.
GNOME + XGL
IceWM
IceWM is a window manager which has been coded from scratch for speed and flexibility. It shares no code with other window managers. It can be Gnome-compliant and can use Imlib for graphics support.
It comes with several default themes, including Motif, GTK, OS/2 Warp (3 and 4) and Windows (95 and 3.1) looks, but the theme support allows it to be fairly flexible and it can do reasonable imitations of Mac, RiscOS, Enlightenment's Brushed Metal, AfterStep and Window Maker with the appropriate themes installed.
IceWM is extremely configurable and includes some small taskbar applets for common things, such as APM, network, CPU, mail status and a clock. There are two graphical configuration tools: IcePref (very user-friendly, but requires Python, PyGTK and doesn't always cover all the latest options) and IceWMConf (Tcl/TK, spartan, but attempts to self-configure itself to your version of IceWM).
IceWM prefers the Window Maker style of workspaces to virtual desktops, but these can be accessed in a number of configurable ways. The versatile taskbar (in non-Gnome versions) can include toolbar, workspace switchers, application icons, programs menu, window list menu and various applets.
This window manager is under active development and author Marko Macek uploads frequent new development releases. A stable release is also available for download, but may lack some of the latest options.
Fluxbox
In Unix (and others including GNU/Linux) computing, Fluxbox is a window manager for the X Window System based on Blackbox 0.61.1.
It aims to be lightweight and highly customizable, with only minimal support for graphical icons, and only basic interface style capabilities. The basic interface has only a taskbar and a menu accessible by right-clicking on the desktop. Fluxbox also supports user created keyboard shortcuts.
In accordance with Fluxbox's goal of simplicity, the main menu, the keyboard shortcuts and the basic configuration are all controlled by simple text files, though there are also graphical tools such as Fluxconf available to change settings.
SuperKaramba
SuperKaramba is, in simple terms, a tool that allows you to easily create interactive eye-candy on your KDE desktop. Currently, only linux is officially supported.
How does it work?
Theme writers create themes, or text files that define their widget. Then, they can optionally add python scripting to make their widget interactive. The possibilities are endless!
Here are just some examples of the things that can be done:
* Display system information such as CPU Usage, MP3 playing, etc.
* Create cool custom toolbars that work any way imaginable
* Create little games or virtual pets that live on your desktop
* Display information from the internet, such as weather and headlines
The possibilities really are endless!
