Distro Watcher

Distro Watcher

Description
The specific plasmoid displays the latest releases of Linux distributions and packages, as published in distrowatch.com. In order to retrieve the relative data, RSS feeds from distrowatch are being used.

The plasmoid consists of two distinct views; the first displaying Linux distributions, the second displaying packages. Switching between views can be accomplished using a KDE tab bar. By clicking to a distribution record, default browser opens distribution's homepage at distrowatch.com. By clicking to a package record, default browser opens package's homepage.

The plasmoid has been written in QML and JavaScript, using Plasma Components API.

Notes
- Display depends on distrowatch.com RSS feeds. If the relative RSS change, be unavailable, etc, plasmoid display will be broken.

- Data fetching is performed every 15 minutes (default). Users can override the default value via "Distro Watcher Settings".

- If no Internet connection is available, no data will be displayed. Instead, a notification screen is displayed. As soon as network connectivity is re-established and the next fetching point is reached, data display is restored.

- Icons have been downloaded from:
http://www.iconarchive.com/show/nuoveXT-icons-by-saki/Apps-tux-icon.html
http://www.iconarchive.com/show/nuoveXT-icons-by-saki/Apps-package-icon.html
Credits go to the artist.

Dependencies
- KDE SC 4.8.x or later
- QT 4.8.x

* In Kubuntu 12.04/12.10/13.04 the following packages were installed for a proper build to take place:
- build-essential
- cmake
- kdelibs5-dev
- kdebase-workspace-dev
- libdbusmenu-qt-dev

Just Display (only for testing)
$qmlviewer -I /usr/lib/kde4/imports /$YOUR_PATH/distrowatcher_plasmoid/distrowatcher/contents/ui/distrowatcher.qml
or
$plasmoidviewer ~/$YOUR_PATH/distrowatcher_plasmoid/distrowatcher

Installation
Any Linux distribution:
- Unzip the plasmoid
- $ cd build
- $ cmake -DCMAKE_INSTALL_PREFIX=`kde4-config --prefix` ..
- $ make
- $ (sudo) make install
- "Distro Watcher" widget is now available to add to desktop/panel.

Kubuntu:
Run the .deb file.
Tested in (working properly)
- Kubuntu 13.04
- Kubuntu 12.10
- Kubuntu 12.04

License
Copyright (C) 2013 Dimitris Kardarakos

QML and JavaScript written has been based on QT Quick documentation, tutorials and examples found in https://qt-project.org. Icons used come (online) from distrowatch.com and Oxygen icon package.

This program is distributed in the hope that it will be useful, but WITHOUT
ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS
FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. See the GNU General Public License for more details.

Version 0.4.0
- Better integration with KDE. Coloring and highlight follow the active KDE theme.
- Distro Watcher becomes configurable. Users are able to set the refresh interval (how often, in minutes, data should be fetched from distrowatch.com), in Distro Watcher Settings -> Settings -> Refresh every (minutes).
- Issue with font size in packages section fixed. Both packages' and distributions' font size follows KDE 'Desktop' font size.

Version 0.3.0
- User interface has been completely re-designed. Icons that induced UI clutter have been removed. Current interface is much more minimalistic than the previous one.
- Navigation switch between packages and distributions screen is now accomplished via a KDE native tab bar/group.
- Code has been cleaned. From a developer's viewpoint, it is a totally new application.
- New background (white/transparent) has been added. In conjunction with resizing, icons' display has been improved.
- "Explicit fetch" feature has been removed.
- Text size and color are inherited from current theme.
- Application's icon has been changed. I opted for Tux, since it's the common point of reference for all Linux distributions.

Version 0.2
- Network unavailability management, displaying a new screen in case of network issue.
- Coloring enhancements.
- Geometry fixing.
- Display effect on change of state.
- Function i18n used for strings, enabling future translations.