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Google Gadgets open-sourced for Linux

arstechnica.com — Google has announced the availability of Desktop Gadgets support for Linux and has released the full source code. We tested it on Ubuntu 8.04 to see how well it works.

Who dugg this? Made popular Jun 5, 2008

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  • will27, on 06/05/2008, -0/+30wget http://google-gadgets-for-linux.googlecode.com/fil ...

    nice to see that google have released the source code :)

  • jubalj, on 06/06/2008, -0/+25Okay simple step by step instructions to install in ubuntu (hardy) so do you dont have to read through all the detail..

    1. wget http://google-gadgets-for-linux.googlecode.com/fil ...
    2. tar zxvf google-gadgets-for-linux-0.9.1.tar.gz
    3. cd google-gadgets-for-linux-0.9.1/
    4. sudo apt-get install zlib1g-dev libmozjs-dev libcurl4-openssl-dev libxml2-dev libdbus-1-dev libmozjs-dev libgstreamer-plugins-base0.10-dev libcurl3-openssl-dev libdbus-1-dev libxul-dev libcurl3 libcurl3-dbg libcurl3-gnutls libcurl4-openssl-dev libcurl-ocaml libmozjs0d libmozjs0d-dbg libmozjs-dev g++-4.2-multilib g++ libqt4-dev
    5. sudo ldconfig
    6. ../../configure --enable-debug
    7. sudo make install
    (alternatively dont use sudo and set an alternate install directory, default /usr/local)
    8. export LD_LIBRARY_PATH=/usr/local/lib
    9. ggl-gtk
    An icon should show in the top right status bar, right click and add gadget!
  • vrbanabanana, on 06/05/2008, -0/+19dugg for Google releasing source code!
    dugg for Linux!
    Also dugg for an article that isn't political!
  • 4DFX, on 06/05/2008, -0/+13Yes.
    CompizConfig Settings Manager --> Widget Layer --> Behaviour (tab)
    Put this into the Widget Windows text box: class=Ggl-gtk
  • MrDowntempo, on 06/05/2008, -0/+13Nice, happy to get real linux release from google. Something Open Source and not wrapped in Wine. Plus I've tried things like gDesklets from years back and it has taken this long to get a good solution for that kinda app. And this is superior to most other screenlets etc. because they are truly cross platform now.
  • inactive, on 08/11/2008, -5/+17So much better than those ***** screenlets.
  • 4DFX, on 06/05/2008, -0/+12I love what Google did here, the gadgets though are quite a resource hog (I get +10% to the average CPU usage). For now Screenlets work much better.
  • inactive, on 06/05/2008, -1/+10It's for Linux? It works?

    About flippin' time. (in a totally good way)
  • segphault, on 06/05/2008, -1/+9Yes, you just have to add class=Ggl-gtk to the widget windows field on the behavior tab in CCSM.
  • lapubell, on 06/05/2008, -1/+9anyone got these to work with the compiz widget layer?
  • Dunnix, on 06/05/2008, -0/+7Works pretty well, installing all the dependencies was kind of troublesome for the build... but turned out well. I'd wait for ubuntu or someone to release a package. =)
  • jejones, on 06/05/2008, -0/+7Sweet. Wonder whether it works with KDE 4.*?
  • bar10dr, on 06/05/2008, -0/+7Excellent! +1 for Google.
  • known, on 06/06/2008, -1/+7Thank you Google.
    Open Source Software promotes Competition.
    Closed Source Software promotes Collusion.
  • straps, on 06/06/2008, -0/+66 ./configure --enable-debug

    thank you
  • jakethecake, on 06/06/2008, -0/+67. sudo make -j2 install
    If you have a dual core.

    7. sudo make -j4 install
    If you have a quad core.

    To speedup compile.
  • iRelinquish, on 06/06/2008, -0/+6googlelove
  • LavaWarrior, on 06/05/2008, -0/+5I love Google, they aren't selfish, they spread their good works everywhere, whether it be linux, Windows, or OSX, they spread their love. Hats off to google.
  • kleverness, on 06/05/2008, -0/+5I have 4.1 (from svn trunk) running and it works quite well. However, memory usage of the app is quite high (around 200mb) don't know why.
  • IEatHamburgers, on 06/06/2008, -1/+6That's OK, Linux gives you so much spare memory compared to Windows that you can afford to waste it :P
  • equinoxChild, on 06/06/2008, -0/+4sweet, i've been hoping for this to happen...screenlets just hasn't been working great for me and i haven't found the screenlets i'd like.

    thanks guys for the compiz settings info :)
  • Mogger, on 06/06/2008, -0/+4http://aseigo.blogspot.com/2008/06/google-gadgets. ...
    And people ask me why I like Google?
  • golvin, on 06/06/2008, -0/+3I thought Google has officially made a statement that they only use "Goobuntu" internally and will not release it?

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Goobuntu
  • trogdoor, on 06/06/2008, -1/+4Considering that it's Free software I am pretty sure it won't :)

    http://www.ubuntu.com/community/ubuntustory/compon ...
  • Vadi0, on 06/07/2008, -0/+2To install on Ubuntu without compiling: http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=821478
  • vertexoflife, on 06/06/2008, -0/+2Because it's not final yet.
  • Ratatosk, on 06/06/2008, -0/+2in the TODO list on the website they state they want to integrate it with plasmoids
  • Dunnix, on 06/09/2008, -0/+2Deb is now available: http://ppa.launchpad.net/googlegadgets/ubuntu/pool ...
  • RobotBuddha, on 06/06/2008, -0/+2Works great in 4.1 svn for me as well. The fact that it can use the qt4 webkit backend makes me optimistic for nice integration with the rest of the system eventually.
  • DreadKnight, on 06/06/2008, -0/+2GOOGLE, CANONICAL, KUBUNTU, ASUS FTW! xD
  • Peterix, on 06/06/2008, -0/+2Eh ... screenlets. Those have a really big problem with staying on the desktop... For some reason or other, they never save the state when X crashes. In my case this is just about all the time... No screenlets for me.
    Also I'm missing something that would display a simple TODO list using the data from Evolution (don't shoot me, I mess with the X code).
  • Jancis, on 06/06/2008, -0/+2it does work and I have no complainments about speed. ;)

    ubuntu 8.04 compiz, intel X3100, 1.7 Celeron, 2.5 Gb RAM
  • jay019, on 06/06/2008, -1/+2Now people who claim ubuntu is the idiots linux will look pretty stupid themselves.
  • donna1234, on 11/08/2008, -0/+1Google has announced the availability of Desktop Gadgets
    http://www.bestipodtips.info
    http://www.e-uuu.com
    http://www.webthe.info
    http://www.mad4.info
    http://www.vindictivebastard.net/
    http://www.alobre.info
  • romulasry, on 06/07/2008, -0/+1http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iKeE3saeguY (Related?) lol
  • pHr34kY, on 06/06/2008, -2/+3If it's open source, I reckon it will appear in the multiverse repository VERY soon :)
  • agentlame, on 06/07/2008, -0/+14. sudo apt-get install zlib1g-dev libmozjs-dev libcurl4-openssl-dev libxml2-dev libdbus-1-dev libmozjs-dev libgstreamer-plugins-base0.10-dev libcurl3-openssl-dev libdbus-1-dev libxul-dev libcurl3 libcurl3-dbg libcurl3-gnutls libcurl4-openssl-dev libcurl-ocaml libmozjs0d libmozjs0d-dbg libmozjs-dev g++-4.2-multilib g++ libqt4-dev

    also, libgtk2.0-dev, not sure about what qt libs are required.
  • inactive, on 08/11/2008, -0/+1I don't need to know jack ***** about the people who made them to know that they're worthless, ugly pieces of garbage, half of which don't even work right thanks to truly shoddy Python coding.

    And technically I have "contributed" to screenlets; I once demonstrated on gnome-look.org how to fix the terrible broken code in one of them. And now that I have Google Gadgets, I don't need to have a certification in Python and a half-hour of free time to get them working. Amazing!
  • Killerah, on 06/06/2008, -0/+1Man, this is probably the slowest compiling program I've ever had to compile. Hopefully it's worth it, thanks for the little tutorial, very handy.
  • Biznarie, on 06/06/2008, -1/+1http://www.theregister.co.uk/2006/01/31/google_goe ...
  • nimes, on 06/06/2008, -2/+2wooooww. thank you very much...
  • Jancis, on 06/06/2008, -0/+0agree, I am compiling Linux version right now.. if it will be like running them on windows, then screw them, i`ll try to run screenlets instead.
  • suzhe, on 06/16/2008, -0/+00.9.3 is available, many bugs have been fixed.
  • Balla79, on 06/06/2008, -0/+0I recompiled it, and for some reason it worked.
  • markiester, on 08/25/2008, -0/+0http://abominath.blogspot.com http://plannedplasmh.blogspot.com http://cinemanographp.blogspot.com http://djdkdrtddyeu.blogspot.com http://brurrooseu.blogspot.com http://aarlcuckn.blogspot.com http://coaxingcow.blogspot.com http://billboabds.blogspot.com http://choultrrclaudiu.blogspot.com http://reisterrux.blogspot.com
  • Balla79, on 06/06/2008, -1/+0It doesn't start when I press ALT + F2 and enter ggl-gtk. Only works when I start it from the terminal? Is it just me?
  • courtjester555, on 06/05/2008, -3/+1Doesn't Google have its own Ubuntu variant, Goobuntu? Could have something to do with this project's release into Linux.

    Google is such a successful company today because they can spot trends early. It's nice, then, to see them backing open source and Linux to such a high degree.
  • InorganicMatter, on 06/06/2008, -4/+2Now why would you ruin a Linux install with this? Google Gadgets is terrible - it was on a laptop we got at work and it successfully brought a 2.6GHz Penryn to its knees.
  • Jancis, on 06/06/2008, -5/+1You could just shut up and say nothing.. you dont know a jack ***** about the people who contributed their work for screenlets. they`ve done amazing job and i remember screenlets as really good widgets for linux. just because these have mighty G on then, it doesnt mean they have already beaten screenlets... have you seen last versions of screenlets? - they can import even google screenlets (maybe this is related to google opening source for linux, i dont know).

    And i bet, you haven`t contributed anything except stupid comments.

    ironically, i cannot run screenlets, i have some kind of svg dependency error. (hardy 8.04)
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