OpenSUSE Linux Rants

Here’s a cool tip for people who are KDE users, as it is plainly clear that this is the correct desktop to use, per Linus Torvalds.

In recent versions of KDE, there is a new K Menu layout. This is called the “SUSE Menu Style”. The traditional K Menu style is called the “KDE Menu Style”. You can switch between them by right-clicking on the K Menu. There is an option to switch to switch in the small menu that appears.

If you are a fan of the traditional “KDE Menu Style”, this tip may come in handy. It does not appear to work the same in the “SUSE Menu Style” layout of the K Menu.

When I do a fresh openSUSE install, I like to have my machine set up exactly how I like it. I have a small document that I go through to set some KDE tweaks to suite my taste. One of these happens to be the icon size in the KDE Menu. If you would like to adjust this, follow these simple steps:

1. Open your favorite text editor. Edit the file located at ~/.kde/share/config/kickerrc
2. Go to the [menus] section of this file.
3. Edit (or add, if it isn’t there) the “MenuEntryHeight=” variable to be the height, in pixels, that you wish the K Menu icons to appear.
4. Save and quit.
5. Restart the KDE Panels with this command: dcop kicker Panel restart

I have tried settings as low as 4 and as big as 128, both of which work but are outside the range of usability. My personal preference is 16, but whatever suits your taste.