How to embed a transparent terminal to kali and make a nice desktop | no compiz

[nano-nerd]

Hello guys , um kinda new to kali but not to linux , Kali is great but UI really matters to me so it took me some time to reach a nice UI at the end without compiz and without gnome3 grid look , here's the tips :

Assumptions

1- U have kali 1.1.0a [the last release at the posting time]
2- U already followed these tips here (except for the graphics card drives , as they are very outdated and may crash the UI )
http://www.blackmoreops.com/2014/03/...ng-kali-linux/
3- U know how to install a theme (if u don't it won't affect the transparent terminal , or u can just ask )
4- U like my own desktop , it's the final product anyway so I hope u like it ,

here's it :

Screenshot from 2015-04-15 21:16:32.jpg

and here's how my theme looks

Screenshot from 2015-04-15 21:17:37.jpg

so now let's do it,

1-check if u have already screenlets via

screenlets

if it's not installed (ie: command not found) then
install screenlets (screenlets are like gadgets or widgets , google them to know more )

sudo apt-get install screenlets-pack-all

or u might even try

sudo apt-get install screenlets

once installed u can start it from the terminal as above , it should show a screen like this :

Screenshot from 2015-04-15 21:29:29.jpg

note dont' start it as root , it doesn't normally give you any feature while being root except for installing new screenlets ,

2- download the transparent terminal screenlet from gnome-look here :
http://gnome-look.org/content/show.p...?content=74844
(recommended to place it in a folder with sufficient permissions (be fast and do it in ur home ) ,

3- open screenlets again by

screenlets

click install , then ok , choose the .tar.gz file u just downloaded (and don't decompress it ) ,


installed ?
fine , it should tell you that u successfully installed it , in the search bar in screenlets window , type terminal
it should show you this :
Screenshot from 2015-04-15 21:44:45.jpg


4 - Fine u are almost done , now you need to install cinammon desktop because for unknown reasons the terminal screenlet doesn't work with gnome-fallback , I don't know why but I needed to install cinnamon any way to make the overall look better ,

ty

apt-get install kali-defaults kali-root-login desktop-base cinnamon

once done logout and relogin but choose the desktop to be cinnamon 2D from the login window ,

5 -If u are cinnamon now , then it's the final step to get ur transparent terminal .

open screenlets again select the terminal screenlet as and now click from the left menu these two options :

auto-start at login and start

it should show u a stupid black terminal , that's fine , and the last step will do the magic .

6- right click that black terminal , properties , options , then select these values :

sizing tab

select ur preferred size and 0 for the borders

options tab

select :
transparent screenlet , amount 1.00
transparent terminal , amount 0.10

screenlet tab

-adjust the x , y positions , scale as u like ,
- opacity about 0.80
mark the following as active :
-stick to desktop
-treat as widget
-keep below
-draw button controls
-skip pager
-skip taskbar
-resize in mouse scroll

and deactivate the other options ,
close and u are all set , enjoy the transparency


finally , get a beautiful theme from gnome-look.org ,
for me I like this :

http://gnome-look.org/content/show.p...content=160222

get a great icon theme from here :

https://github.com/numixproject/numix-icon-theme-circle

that's all , congrats a good looking kali : )

[hahotobg]

Ok man but i use only the root account... What can i do with it?

[nano-nerd]

Well , there's an article here http://www.webupd8.org/2009/06/how-t...c-and-awn.html tells u what to do if u wanna run screenlets as a root ,
but it's ur own responsibility to do so , you've to be aware of the risks to use-only-root , and even to run a non-root program as root , it's heavily not recommended ,
instead just create an administrator user

[Renegade]

I like your theme and your terminal is very useful when your still in your courses and have to learn from PDFs or vids.

Really great share thanks alot man, keep it up!