2008: The year in screenshots

Probably more for my own amusement (especially in a year’s time) than for anyone else’s, and in an attempt to document the evolution of my aesthetics, I here give a summary of my own 2008, in screenshots.

The wallpapers I use for my desktops generally reflect my mood, and have some special significance for me at the time. What follows is therefore not just a collection of screenshots, but a reflection of what has been on my mind the last year. Not all the screenshots I’ve taken the past year are here. I’ve left out the odd desktops (like this one or this one) that didn’t last very long.

The screenshots are arranged per computer, roughly chronologically. Yantra is my main computer, on which I do most of my work. Grantha is the computer at my office. Mitra is the old Dell Inspiron 2500 laptop I wrote about earlier.

Most of the screenshots are of Openbox, which I started using in early 2007 (if my memory serves me well…). By the end of 2007, I discovered Pekwm and used that window manager almost exclusively for a few months in the beginning of 2008. In the summer, I started experimenting with Awesome 2.3, which became the standard window manager on one of my computers (mitra), and which I use frequently on another (yantra). All of these screenshots are of Debian or Ubuntu systems. Early in 2008, grantha still ran Windows XP, but that now runs Debian Testing (lenny). One of the early mitra screenshots may be one of Arch Linux, which I had installed on that laptop for a few weeks when I just started using it.

I’ve been using the same themes on grantha and mitra for months now (see the last screenshots for both). The themes on yantra tend to change more often, though I’ve been alternating a lot the last few months between the Children of the Earth themes and the Mythos theme.

I’ve had a lot of dark desktops this year, and have used a couple of dark Gtk themes often (Royalty, Mythos and Eidolon). It really is very pleasant on the eyes, especially at night, even if not all websites go well with it.

For all of you with a slow internet connection: know that this is quite a lengthy post, with more than 40 300×225 thumbnails!

Yantra

Openbox 3.4.5 with the Fearless Openbox theme, Royalty Gtk theme, and slightly modified GnomeCorsair icons. The font used is Arial Rounded MT Bold. The wallpaper was created with images from this site.

Openbox 3.4.5 with the Fearless Openbox theme, Royalty Gtk theme, and slightly modified GnomeCorsair icons. The font used is Arial Rounded MT Bold. I used this picture of an eclipse of the Sun by Jupiter as a wallpaper.

Openbox 3.4.5 with the Aeterna Openbox and Gtk theme, and nuoveXT-1.6 icons. Fonts are Sans (conky and Gtk) and Arial Rounded MT (Openbox). The wallpaper is Green stripes by z3ppelin.

Openbox 3.4.5 with the PixelElegance Openbox and Gtk theme, and Human Ultra Gray icons. The wallpaper is a campaign ad of the Chinese WWF; the characters read Forest / Woods / Tree / Death (see here).

Pekwm 0.1.6, with the Japanese Pekwm theme, modified Dandelion gtk theme, nuoveXT-1.6 icons, Sans fonts, and the wallpaper Less crap more flowers from customize.org.

Openbox 3.4.6 with the Uncertainty Gtk and Openbox theme. Fonts are Arial Rounded MT, HeldustryFTV Basic Black, and Aerofoil (conky). I don’t remember where the wallpaper is from.

Openbox 3.4 with the Aeterna Openbox and Gtk theme. Icons are nuoveXT-1.6, fonts are Heldustry FTV Basic Black (window titles), Arial Rounded MT (Gtk and Openbox menu), and Aerofoil (conky). The wallpaper is a modification of Sparkling colors, seen in the second screenshot.

Windowlab 1.33.

Pekwm 0.1.6 with a slight modification of Mire v2-orange, and a heavily modified MurrinaSunshine Gtk theme. The icons are my own modification of the Area O (areo) icon set, originally created by the great Heylove. The fonts are Arial Rounded MT 9, and the wallpaper is Golden, by Miemo. More info on this desktop in this post.

Openbox 3.4.6 with the First Stone Openbox and Gtk theme and a wallpaper made from an image I once found on deviantart.

Openbox 3.4.6 with the First Stone Openbox and Gtk theme, and an icon theme I assembled based on the KOMIK icons. I don’t remember where I got the wallpaper image from.

Pekwm 0.1.6 with the Elegance Pekwm theme and the PixelElegance Gtk themes. Icons are Human UltraGray. The wallpaper is based on a drawing by H.H. Satsvarupa dasa Goswami.

Openbox 3.4.6 with the Awakened Openbox and Gtk theme. The wallpaper contains a line from the Bhagavad-gita (11.18, second line).

Openbox 3.4.6 with the Into the Unknown Openbox and Gtk themes. Fonts are Corbel and Heldustry FTV Basic Black. The wallpaper uses some devanagari calligraphy by the late R.K. Joshi.

Openbox 3.4.7, with the Salvage Openbox and Gtk themes, FinalOrder icons, and Corbel for the fonts. The wallpaper is based on a picture from gilad on deviantart.

Openbox 3.4.7 with a modified Bygone Openbox and Gtk theme, and a home-made wallpaper.

Gnome 2.something, with the Royalty Gtk theme. I don’t remember wherefrom I got the picture used for the wallpaper.

Openbox 3.4.7, with the Children of the Earth Openbox and Gtk theme, the Children of the Earth icon theme, and this wallpaper, tinted with hsetroot.

Awesome 2.3, with the Awesome-red Gtk theme, and the Iris icon theme. Fonts are Corbel and nu (artwiz). This is my first Awesome setup.

Openbox 3.4.7, with the Children of the Earth Openbox and Gtk icon theme, and a gimped picture of Seattle.

Openbox 3.4.7, with the Mythos Openbox and Gtk themes, and this wallpaper.

Openbox 3.4.7, with the Dandelion Openbox theme, and the Eidolon Gtk theme. The icon theme is Oxygen Refit (Black). The font is Corbel.

Awesome 2.3, with a colour scheme matching the Mythos Gtk theme.

Openbox 3.4.7, with the Children of the Earth Openbox and Gtk theme, and the Children of the Earth icon theme. Fonts are Corbel. I don’t remember where I got the wallpaper from.

Openbox 3.4.7, with an unreleased Openbox and Gtk theme.

Mitra

Openbox 3.4.7 with the Salvage Openbox and Gtk theme. Fonts are Corbel and Sans.

Awesome 2.3, with the dark colours of the Mythos Gtk theme. The wallpaper depicts a favourite verse from the Bhagavata (11.29.5)

Awesome 2.3, with a colour scheme matching the Mythos Gtk theme. The wallpaper is home-made.

Awesome 2.3, with the Eidolon colour scheme.

Grantha

Windows XP, Litestep with the 807 theme (slightly modified) and this wallpaper.

Xfce 4.4.2 with Openbox 3.4. Openbox theme is Fearless, Gtk theme is Murrina-Tangoesque, icons are HumanAzul2, and the wallpaper is from Customize.org.

Openbox 3.4.7 with the Salvage Openbox and Gtk theme, Corbel fonts, and a wallpaper based on an image I once found online.