May I have my previous system tray back, please?

[kensor]

So, here I am, working away furiously, and somehow or another, I erroneously managed to remove some sort of spacer or something from the system tray, which I moved to the top of my screen years ago. The result of the removal was that items in the tray that previously appeared on the right appeared as if they were spread out across the entire tray. I attempted to find a panel spacing adjustment to move them back to the right, but, never having used any of those adjustments before, I did not know how to return to the status quo ante. In the process of trying to do so, I attempted to use the sliders on the panel adjusting screen, which revealed that there was another tray under the tray I have been using for years. Since the icons on the tray underneath were in the usual places, and since I could not adjust the one on top, I deleted the top one without investigating the similar-looking tray underneath. BIG mistake!

I am guessing that the tray I deleted, which I had been using for a long time, was the one installed by Mandriva. After I did the upgrade to Mageia 1, apparently a newer tray was installed, unbeknownst to me, under the Mandriva tray I continued to use. The Mageia tray has larger, less flexible application drop-down, and many of the applications I used to be able to see easily are not readily visible. After just a few minutes of use it appears slower and more cumbersome, not to mention inconvenient. So, is it possible to recover the Mandriva tray? What program do I have to run to recover it and the program links that were installed in it? (Parenthetically, I must say that with this surprise foisted on me, albeit by my own doing, I am not a happy camper. I have other work to do that should not involve hunting to find the most basic tools in my computer.) If anyone can assist me to recover the previous software, and the information stored in it, I would be appreciative. Thanks.

[kensor]

O.K., I found the "switch to classic menu" item, and that was restorative. I have to go out for a while now, so I'll have to explore this situation more later. Helpful comments still appreciated. Thanks.

[doktor5000]

By system tray, do you mean the system tray in the lower right corner,
where the notifications are shown and all the programs that have a systray-icon?

Or do you mean the K-menu in the lower left corner, where you start all your programs?

[kensor]

By system tray, do you mean the system tray in the lower right corner,
where the notifications are shown and all the programs that have a systray-icon?
Or do you mean the K-menu in the lower left corner, where you start all your programs?

Both of these items are contained in a ribbon-like panel across the top of my screen. I realize that they are usually on the bottom, but I've always moved the panel as a unit to the top. So, it was the right-side icons, the notifications, the network, the most recent device, and the volume control that were scattered across the top of the screen. The application launcher on the left stayed in place, but was converted to the newer, and what appears to be clumsier, format delivered with Mageia after I deleted the damaged panel. I don't want my lack of experience with the newer format to sound too critical of the newer stuff, because it may be that that code has advantages about which I am ignorant at the moment. However, I won't be finding out about any of those new features immediately because there does not appear to be a link analogous to the Go To Classical Menu in place to easily take me To the New Modern Menu. The lack of symmetry is not conducive to learning what all the new development and coding was supposed to accomplish. Sigh.

Further, just to add needles to the pins already pricking the shock, when I click on the application launcher, slide down to Documentation, I see only the Linux How-To collection that I installed, and the Python documentation that I installed, but nothing about how the Mageia user interface customizations and menu selections are supposed to work, or even what they are supposed to be. I realize that documentation is low on the project totem pole in terms of excitement and priorities, but it seems to me if open source wants to create more self-reliant users with fewer tech support incidents, better and more complete documentation is part of the solution. The most basic project management principles suggest that the job is not complete until the paperwork is done.

Yes, I realize that Mageia is a new community-based project, and it's not really fair to imply that Mageia should document huge chunks of open source development such as KDE. On the other hand, users of KDE and its Mageia customizations are just as bereft of assistance if the local developers are joined by the up-stream developers in the Alps and Himalayas of code development while the grassy rolling hills of docs writing are vaguely charted on maps and explored less frequently.

For instance, at this moment, I am wondering what are the contents of the default installation menus after various choices of installations are completed. And then how do the menu contents change with the addition of a particular software installation -- for example, meta-task like adding all the development tools. Is this information stored in some configuration file? Is it available on the Web somewhere? If I use the KDE Menu Editor to significantly customize my own system, is there a tool that will capture that customization information for me, so I can conveniently back it up, and restore it, if necessary? Inquiring minds would like to know. Well, that's enough for now. Thanks for reading.

[doktor5000]

Well, let's start from the beginning. It was way back in Mandriva days, i think with 2008.1 when Mandriva added the Kickoff menu style,
as an additional choice to the classical K-Menu style. See http://home.kde.org/~binner/kickoff/sneak_preview.html for a little demonstration.
This was requested by some users, as they like the "new" menu style more. But it was done in a really smart way. Kickoff is in most distributions
now the default, and in some of them even the classical menu isn't offered any more. So fewer choices. Remember, linux is always about choice.

Mandriva made it so, that you can choose on right click on the menu, that you want to switch to Kickoff menu style, and in the other direction
back to classical K-Menu style. Pretty self explanatory. For kickoff there is really a lack of documentation and also configuration, most things
are hardcoded and can only be changed when building it. It was not Mageia that brought along this additional menu style, it was there for
a long time already. But with Mandriva/Mageia you have to choice to switch between them. I see no problem with that, more choices are always good.
If you really want, complaing to Suse or some few KDE people about this one, but not Mageia.

Now to the second point: You complain about the lack of Mageia-specific documentation. First, Mageia didn't change anything except for the name and
artwork. Second, the documenation you ask for was already missing in mandriva times. Third, Mageia is a community-based distribution. So if you
complain, that there is documenation missing, why don't you write up what you think is missing? Or ask somebody who is more in-depth with this
stuff to write it for you? But only complaining, without doing anything, is not the way to go.

And no, i don't know of ways to save the customizations you do with KDE Menu Editor. But i think thats up to you. I like the classical K-Menu like it
is, only some small customization like putting everything from the -> More submenus directly in the relevant menu. But that are only some clicks,
and it's because i like it that way. And how often do you need to do this? How often do you install Mageia? Once or twice per year, depending on release cycle?
Maybe even less?

[jkerr82508]

For KDE documentation:

http://userbase.kde.org/

Jim

[wobo]

One thing strikes me each time I read it: "If Open Source wants to..." - "Open Source should do this..." - "Can't Open Source do that..."
Now, who on earth is that "Open Source" addressed in such sentences? Must be a busy man/woman/company! No, it is a way to work and to distribute the work. It is also a philosophy (very close to the Free Software movement).

And who are the people who are doing this? In our case here it is YOU (whoever reads this)! Mageia is a community-based distribution. It seems to me that many people have not realized (yet) what that really means. It means that YOU are the developpers, packagers, translators, authors of documentation - not some group or organisation who should better deliver, or else! In a community you can not force anything, you can't step up and just say, "I want to have this or I'll quit". You only have 3 choices:
- accept that your wish may or may not be fulfilled, depending on the wish, the developpers/packagers/whatever mood, the health of the developper's/packager's/whatever cat, etc.
- fulfill your wish yourself or join people who are working on it and share the result with the community
- move on.

Do you code? Then join the devels.
Do you pack RPMs? Then join the packagers.
Do you like creating artwork? Then join the artwork team.
Do you speak English and another language? Then join the translators.
Do you know your software and can write text? Then join the documentation team (which is in the stage of being built at this very moment)

And now the most important:
Do you USE Mageia? Then give constructive feedback, test new packages arriving in update_testing, report bugs, share your ideas to improve the software, the websites.

(Now I feel better )