You will have likely already heard that Ubuntu 10.10 Netbook Edition is introducing “global menu” ”esque application menus into the panel (think OS X if you’re confused).
If you want to help to test the global menu in Ubuntu Lucid you can install the menu using the commands underneath, however do note that: –
- XUL applications (such as Firefox and Thunderbird) and OpenOffice are NOT targets for Maverick, as they will require more work.
- The focus is on testing GTK and Qt applications
Install the indicator menu… applet… thing
To install and test the global menu… thing in Ubuntu 10.04 add the following PPA: –
sudo add-apt-repository ppa:canonical-dx-team/une
Now run: –
sudo apt-get update && sudo apt-get install appmenu-gtk libqtgui4 indicator-applet-appmenu indicator-appmenu
- Once installed you’ need to manually add it to your panel
- Right click on the panel, and add the “Indicator Applet Appmenu” applet. Note: you won’t see any change on the panel yet, but if you add the applet a second time it will exit so you can remove it (choose: delete & don’t reload)
- To test the global menu with an application type the following into a terminal:
- In the terminal that opens run the application(s) you wish to test by typing the respective command (gwibber, vlc, etc) and hitting enter.
GTK_MENUPROXY=”libappmenu.so” gnome-terminal
The wiki advising users on what and how to test recommends that: –
“When testing we purposely enable the Global Menu AND keep the old menu in place. That way it is obvious to you if anything is broken. Unity will also pull in indicator-datetime, so you will end up with two clocks too. Please don’t file bugs on double menus and clocks, it’s like that on purpose!”
For more information on what specifically to test refer to: wiki.ubuntu.com/DesktopExperienceTeam/ApplicationMenu
Here’s a quick video demo of the menu in action: –