Applet vs Application
 

Hi Everyone!!

I am so glad to be trotting around with my N810. Never thought I'd buy a tablet :eek:

Anyways...

Could somebody please explain to me the difference between an "applet" and an "application" with specific reference to how they appear on the desktop?

I am excited about apps that reside on the desktop itself. But all new apps that I have installed don't even appear in the Home>Select Applets dropdown! :confused:

Wud appreciate advise.

Best,
wirefree

Re: Applet vs Application
 

Gladly. An "applet" resides and works from the desktop. Examples would be the internet search bar, the internet radio, and the "getting started" button.


Applications are found by pressing on the bottom icon of the 3 icons on the left side of the desktop. Pressing the different gray-shaded words reveal different lists. Most likely, the applications installed will be in the "Extras" tab.

Only a few applications have desktop applets.

-TK

Re: Applet vs Application
 

Applet: doesn't take up the full window area nor full screen, is resizable, and is only visible when all applications are minimized, cannot be minimized, runs constantly, starts at boot time.

Application: takes up the full window area or the full screen, only resizable in terms of "full screen vs full window area", can be minimized, does not run constantly, does not start at boot time.

Re: Applet vs Application
 

ok...gotchya!

In which case, where's the applet treasure trove?? Where do I download 'em? Most download sites, including internettablettalk, categorize all under titles like "Softwares" or "Downloads". :confused:

- wirefree

Re: Applet vs Application
 

There are many fewer applets than applications. I do not think they are catagorized as applets. A few good ones might be fmradio, omweather, and simplelauncher.

Re: Applet vs Application
 

I remember seeing a lot many more at Nokia's flagship store in Manhattan...if my memory serves me well, there was an eBay applet too... :confused:

think i'll hve to pay them another visit!!

but look at the screenshot here:

http://maemo.org/downloads/product/OS2007/omweather/

...theres some action happening down at the bottom...there are 3 icons to the left of the clock...wonder what those are for!? :rolleyes:

Re: Applet vs Application
 

I believe those are apps in Simplelauncher.

Re: Applet vs Application
 

I believe simplelauncher has shortcuts to apps, but I was referring to simplelauncher as an applet on the desktop. :)

And those three icons are part of that simplelauncher, the applet has transparency :D

Re: Applet vs Application
 

I wish he'd port it to OS2008.

Re: Applet vs Application
 

It's even worse. There are normal applications, home applets, status bar applets, task navigator applets, control panel applets ...

There's a bunch of different type of applets. The hello-world demo that's part of the development suite demos them all.

Re: Applet vs Application
 

Clearly they differentiate from the one that resides on the desktop and thats what we're interested in at the moment.

:rolleyes:

Re: Applet vs Application
 

it works fine in OS2008, the only part that doesnt work is the transparency and thats not that big of a deal.

Re: Applet vs Application
 

It's not THAT big of a deal, no, but it is annoying. I'd like to see the transparency issues with both omweather (it now flashes when you change things, instead of being ... uh... transparently transparent) and simplelauncher get resolved.

But, you're right, otherwise both applets work just fine under 2008.

(the other two problems I have with simplelauncher are that 1) it only seems to find the skype and/or rhapsody installer and not the actual application once you've installed the actual application; and 2) it only allows one row of application icons, where it would be nice to use arbitrary row and column configurations)

(and, don't suggest IDEA -- annoying applet to work with ... I'd rather do without than use IDEA)

Re: Applet vs Application
 

I completely concur - an ObjectDock-like row of multiple launchers wud b better.

;)

What is IDEA? I googled to find nothing:confused:

Re: Applet vs Application
 

Yeah, IDEA is hard to find via google. It's another launcher. It has the benefit of greater configurability (especially, it can be arranged in multiple rows), but I find certain aspects of it very annoying (especially the way the icon you click "ducks" and all the other icons "shimmy" when you click). This may have changed, I haven't used it in a while, and I don't even know if it's available for OS2008... but here it is: http://idea.garage.maemo.org/

Re: Applet vs Application
 

My main problem with it is that configuring it is a complete pain in the ***. You have to jump back and forth between two different screens (one for layout of buttons, one for the application that is tied to the button). IMO, it has a very low usability rating.

A rather classic example of "very useful, but not very usable" :-}

Re: Applet vs Application
 

Hello,

Tasty new applets have come my way since this thread's initiation. But the beginning has been dismal.

I have installed the following applets:

- homememfree 0.0.6
- homenetstats 0.0.6
- homeip 0.0.6
- homecpuspeed 0.0.6

All have been installed directly from maemo.org. They appear in the Application manager too after installation.

However, on selecting them in 'Select Applets' and pressing OK, they do not appear on the desktop.

I next attempted to install one of them by downloading & transfering it from my PC, again to no avail.

Note that all pre-installed applets run normally, i.e. (dis)appear on (de)selecting them in 'Select Applets'.

Would greatly appreciate advise.

Best,
wirefree

Re: Applet vs Application
 

UPDATE: The famous "Other Maemo Weather" applet does not even install. The following error is generated:

"Unable to install omweather. Incompatible application package."

The above is despite of the applet being listed on the N810 OS2008 page.

Re: Applet vs Application
 

Better install all these from Extras.

Re: Applet vs Application
 

Could you please ellaborate on your recommendation.

The 'Extras' menu simply lists installed application.:confused:

Re: Applet vs Application
 

Also the python applets need a sort of python-desktop bindings. Search the forum.

Re: Applet vs Application
 

This problem has been fixed. Try again.

Vlad.

Re: Applet vs Application
 

The extras repository, in Application Manager.

Re: Applet vs Application
 

I remain stuck :(

This is as far as I got:

- Open Application Manager
- Open "Browse installable applications"
- Open 'Extra'
- There exists "personal-menu" listed here

Could you pls ellaborate or else direct me to a tutorial link.

Wud appreciate it. ;)

Re: Applet vs Application
 

In Application Manager, go through the menu to find Application Catalog, or something like that. Make sure the extras repository is present and enabled (I think in a cleanly-flashed tablet, it is present, but not enabled...)

Re: Applet vs Application
 

@Benson: Extra repository is indeed present, as mentioned in my last post, but it only contains personal-menu, as mentioned earlier. :confused:

@qwerty12: The thread titled "HomeIP, HomeCPUSpeed, and HomeDiskFree" proposes a solution. But some pieces of the puzzle are missing:

1) The threads author, Khertan, mentions in post 41 that all "is fixed and should install straight forward without need to add an other package." By "other package" I assume he's referring to python-hildondesktop!?

But as you can see, I cannot run these still. So I am still following the thread's solution, which is as follows:

2) It is suggested to install python2.5-hildondesktop from extras-devel. But:
a) N810's App Manager contains Extra & Devel as two separate repositories and neither contain python2.5-hildondesktop
b) In 'All', however, there is "python-launcher" & "python2.5-edje-demo". Should I install one of these to get the applets to run?

Look forward to advise.

Re: Applet vs Application
 

Your last post did not mention that the extras repository was present; that's a category, and it's only by confusing accident that they have the same name.

You need to go into the menu, choose Tools, choose Application catalog..., and make sure you have a repository (probably named "maemo Extras") with the web address http://repository.maemo.org/extras, and components free and non-free. (And enabled.)

Maybe you already did that, but your last post referred to something else, and you say "as mentioned in my last post", I can't help but think you still haven't quite got it right.

Re: Applet vs Application
 

Appreciate the prompt response.

There existed no checkmark for 'Disabled' in 'maemo Extras' under Application Manager>Menu>Tools>Application catalogue...>maemo Extras

Please suggest the next step.

Re: Applet vs Application
 

Then you should have these applications listed (HomeSomething ones and OMWeather) in your "Browse installable applications -> All" list.

Re: Applet vs Application
 

The "home" ones listed under 'All' are not the ones I referred to above, namely:

- homememfree 0.0.6
- homenetstats 0.0.6
- homeip 0.0.6
- homecpuspeed 0.0.6

Instead, the following appear:

- homediskfree
- homeinternaltemp
- homelightmeter
- homewifilevel

:confused:

Re: Applet vs Application
 

I am trying the manual method of installation as all of the above have ended in vain.

I am at this stage:
dpkg -i /yourpath/python-hildondesktop_0.0.2-1_armel.deb

Here I get "dpkg: requested operation requires superuser privilige"

So, I am told to add sudo in front of it. Next, it asks for a password :confused:

This is the first time I fired up xTerm and have no clue as to the password requested.

Would appreciate assistance.

Best,
wirefree

Re: Applet vs Application
 

That's because you have them installed already. I have them listed.

My bad, they are in extras-devel (not very stable and suck battery).
http://repository.maemo.org/extras-d...hinook/free/h/
Anyway if you have the others listed, you should have these too.

Re: Applet vs Application
 

You were right, Bundyo - they were not present in 'All' since they were already installed. So, I uninstalled them. I added the repository URL you mentioned in your last post. Next, I reinstalled them. Then I end up with the same situation as my post #17 - which is that on selecting the applets from Home->Select Applets, they do not appear on the desktop.

So, can you please assist me with the sudo password problem.

Wud appreciate it.