With this update we are moving to a new and better theme, and we are solidifying our Layout Switch app to include several layouts.

A new theme

This is how TROMjaro looks like now:

image1787×1006 166 KB

This is the first time we are changing the default theme. From the beginning we have used the Vimix theme - more info here Vimix Theme – TROM-Jaro - and although the theme is great, it lacks proper support for XFCE and so certain elements were not properly designed, such as save/import windows for certain apps. It was also looking a bit outdated and “boring”. The new theme is called Skeuos and you can install it from the Add/Remove Software or from our library here Skeuos Theme – TROM-Jaro . This theme has a much better design, and buttons or other elements are nicer overall and stand out more. Here it is with the light version:

image1786×1008 159 KB

It has some 10 variations of colors, so as many options as the Vimix theme in that regard.

So if you too want to change to this new theme, install it, then select the Skeuos Dark Green theme from Appearance and also from Window Manager.

You can also change the login screen theme via Lightdm:

image1242×753 68.3 KB

We’ve also changed a bit the theme for Firefox’s new tab to match the system’s theme:

image1514×900 79.9 KB

Now if you also use the virtual keyboard then let’s make that one match our new style too. Open the Virtual Keyboard Settings and select this theme:

image1321×794 64 KB

Lastly you can change the HUD theme too. Go to File System, then /usr/share/rofi/themes/ and open as root the file tromjaro.rasi. Replace all of its insides with this:
<pre><code class="lang-auto">/* ==========================================================================
Rofi color theme

Based on the Gruvbox color scheme for Vim by morhetz
github.com/morhetz/gruvbox

File: gruvbox-dark-soft.rasi
Desc: Gruvbox dark (soft contrast) color theme for Rofi
Author: bardisty <b@bah.im>
Source: github.com/bardisty/gruvbox-ro…
Modified: Mon Feb 12 2018 06:04:37 PST -0800
========================================================================== */

* {
/* Theme settings */
highlight: bold italic;
scrollbar: true;

/* Gruvbox dark colors */
gruvbox-dark-bg0-soft: #1a1d23;
gruvbox-dark-bg1: #292c37;
gruvbox-dark-bg3: #32876f;
gruvbox-dark-fg0: #ffffff;
gruvbox-dark-fg1: #ffffff;
gruvbox-dark-red-dark: #cc241d;
gruvbox-dark-red-light: #fb4934;
gruvbox-dark-yellow-dark: #d79921;
gruvbox-dark-yellow-light: #fabd2f;
gruvbox-dark-gray: #5ba58e;

/* Theme colors */
background: @gruvbox-dark-bg0-soft;
background-color: @background;
foreground: @gruvbox-dark-fg1;
border-color: @gruvbox-dark-gray;
separatorcolor: @border-color;
scrollbar-handle: @border-color;

normal-background: @background;
normal-foreground: @foreground;
alternate-normal-background: @gruvbox-dark-bg1;
alternate-normal-foreground: @foreground;
selected-normal-background: @gruvbox-dark-bg3;
selected-normal-foreground: @gruvbox-dark-fg0;

active-background: @gruvbox-dark-yellow-dark;
active-foreground: @background;
alternate-active-background: @active-background;
alternate-active-foreground: @active-foreground;
selected-active-background: @gruvbox-dark-yellow-light;
selected-active-foreground: @active-foreground;

urgent-background: @gruvbox-dark-red-dark;
urgent-foreground: @background;
alternate-urgent-background: @urgent-background;
alternate-urgent-foreground: @urgent-foreground;
selected-urgent-background: @gruvbox-dark-red-light;
selected-urgent-foreground: @urgent-foreground;
}

@import "gruvbox-common.rasi"

</code></pre>

The new Layout Switch app

We are getting more serious about the layout switcher. So instead of TROMjaro Classic and Modern, we are now switching to multiple layouts that replicate most well known and diverse layouts in the operating systems’ world:

image1226×855 21.9 KB

These are the current 4 designs. Actually 5.

The Unity design. Replicating what Ubuntu introduced a few years ago called Unity. It was a great desktop layout and we’ve been using it with TROMjaro as default from the beginning. You have 2 options: with or without global menus. Just so that we please everyone.

Side note: we have moved the window buttons to the right side and we do not merge the top window bar with the top desktop panel when windows are maximized. Why? For one because the new theme that we use does not have a theme for the top panel buttons and we may end up with different window buttons; second is that for many new apps, especially Gnome ones, there is no top bar for windows to begin with…and XFCE is switching to those kind of windows too…so it makes no sense to do this. And third, because on multiple screen setups this was kinda strange. Since it was a bit of a trick, and when a window was maximized it was not displaying the top bar, then the top desktop panel had to display some window buttons so that you can still manage that maximized window. But on multiple screens if you lacked the top panel on one of your screens then you would end up with a window that has no window top bar or buttons on that particular screen. So you had to use the main screen to control a maximized window.

In any case, if you want to bring that back it is damn easy.

A. Right click the top panel and add a new item called: Window Header Buttons.
B. In Window Manager Tweaks select these two:

image1139×699 39.7 KB

Back to our Layout Switch:

image1226×855 21.9 KB

Top Left is Unity and you can have it with or without the global menus.

Gnome. With the bottom apps bar that auto-hides, top center clock, and all that.
Windows. Replicating as much as possible a Windows like layout. 1 single panel.
ChromeOS. Similar to the Windows layout but with the apps in the center.

These are the most diverse layouts out there and everything else seems to be a simple variation of these. For example if you want the Gnome layout but with the apps panel to the left and not bottom, all you have to do is right click the bottom panel and select it to be vertical, then move it to the left. I see no point at making any new layout if the differences between the new and the current are versions are very minute. But we may add new layouts in the future.

Ok. So how do you get this?

If you already have the TROMjaro Layout Switch then let’s properly remove that. Go to .local/bin/ and delete the TROMjaro Layout Switch file. Now go to your File System (open the file manager) and then to /usr/lib/vala-panel/. Open this folder as root (right click). See if there is any file called appmenu-registrar.OFF with the OFF at the end. If it is, delete it.

Now go back to .local/bin/ and create a new empty file. Name it layout-switch and add this to it:
<pre><code class="lang-auto">#! /bin/bash
choice=$(zenity --width=400 --height=275 --list --radiolist --title 'Layout Switch' --text 'Changing to or from any layout that has global menus, will require your admin password' --column 'Select' --column 'Layout' FALSE 'Windows-Like' FALSE 'Unity-Like with Global Menus (default)' FALSE 'Unity-Like' FALSE 'Gnome-Like' FALSE 'ChromeOS-Like')
case "$choice" in
'Windows-Like')
! pacman -Qq vala-panel-appmenu-registrar ||
zensu SKIP_AUTOSNAP= pacman -R --noconfirm vala-panel-appmenu-registrar ||
{ notify-send 'Error' 'failed removing vala-panel-appmenu-registrar !'; exit; }
pacman -Qq vala-panel-appmenu-registrar && exit
killall appmenu-registrar &
xfconf-query -c xfwm4 -p /general/borderless_maximize -n -t bool -s true &
xfconf-query -c xfwm4 -p /general/button_layout -n -t string -s "|HMC" &
xfce4-panel-profiles load ~/.local/share/tromjaro-layouts/Windows-Like.tar.bz2 & ;;
'Unity-Like with Global Menus (default)')
pacman -Qq vala-panel-appmenu-registrar ||
zensu SKIP_AUTOSNAP= pacman -S --noconfirm vala-panel-appmenu-registrar ||
{ notify-send 'Error' 'failed installing vala-panel-appmenu-registrar !\Enabling the internet connection might solve the issue'; exit; }
pacman -Qq vala-panel-appmenu-registrar || exit
xfconf-query -c xfwm4 -p /general/borderless_maximize -n -t bool -s true &
xfconf-query -c xfwm4 -p /general/button_layout -n -t string -s "|HMC" &
xfce4-panel-profiles load ~/.local/share/tromjaro-layouts/Unity-Like-Menus.tar.bz2 & ;;
'Unity-Like')
! pacman -Qq vala-panel-appmenu-registrar ||
zensu SKIP_AUTOSNAP= pacman -R --noconfirm vala-panel-appmenu-registrar ||
{ notify-send 'Error' 'failed removing vala-panel-appmenu-registrar !'; exit; }
pacman -Qq vala-panel-appmenu-registrar && exit
killall appmenu-registrar &
xfconf-query -c xfwm4 -p /general/borderless_maximize -n -t bool -s true &
xfconf-query -c xfwm4 -p /general/button_layout -n -t string -s "|HMC" &
xfce4-panel-profiles load ~/.local/share/tromjaro-layouts/Unity-Like.tar.bz2 & ;;
'Gnome-Like')
! pacman -Qq vala-panel-appmenu-registrar ||
zensu SKIP_AUTOSNAP= pacman -R --noconfirm vala-panel-appmenu-registrar ||
{ notify-send 'Error' 'failed removing vala-panel-appmenu-registrar !'; exit; }
pacman -Qq vala-panel-appmenu-registrar && exit
killall appmenu-registrar &
xfconf-query -c xfwm4 -p /general/borderless_maximize -n -t bool -s true &
xfconf-query -c xfwm4 -p /general/button_layout -n -t string -s "|HMC" &
xfce4-panel-profiles load ~/.local/share/tromjaro-layouts/Gnome-Like.tar.bz2 & ;;
'ChromeOS-Like')
! pacman -Qq vala-panel-appmenu-registrar ||
zensu SKIP_AUTOSNAP= pacman -R --noconfirm vala-panel-appmenu-registrar ||
{ notify-send 'Error' 'failed removing vala-panel-appmenu-registrar !'; exit; }
pacman -Qq vala-panel-appmenu-registrar && exit
killall appmenu-registrar &
xfconf-query -c xfwm4 -p /general/borderless_maximize -n -t bool -s true &
xfconf-query -c xfwm4 -p /general/button_layout -n -t string -s "|HMC" &
xfce4-panel-profiles load ~/.local/share/tromjaro-layouts/ChromeOS-Like.tar.bz2 & ;;
*) exit ;;
esac

## Reset panels and windows
xfce4-panel -r >/dev/null 2>&1
xfwm4 --replace &
xfce4-panel &
sleep 5 && notify-send "$choice was enabled"

</code></pre>
Save. Now right click the file, then properties, and then Permissions, and check “Allow this file to run as a program”.

Next go to .local/share/applications/ and search for a file named TROMjaro Layout Switch. Delete it. We do not need that. Create a new empty file in that folder called layout-switch.desktop and add these to it:

[Desktop Entry]
Version=1.1
Type=Application
Name=Layout Switch
GenericName=Layout Switch
Comment=Change how TROMjaro looks like. Make it look like Unity, Windows, Gnome, and so forth.
Icon=layout-switch
Exec=layout-switch
Categories=DesktopSettings;GTK;Settings;X-XFCE-PersonalSettings;X-XFCE-SettingsDialog;XFCE;
Keywords=settings;layout;toggle;switch;

Lastly you have to grab the profiles that we have created from here and add them all in .local/share/ in a folder called tromjaro-layouts.

That’s it!

Now you can find the Layout Switch app in your apps and in the Settings Manager. It looks like this:

image1273×749 63 KB

Here it is in action:

/uploads/default/original/1X/249dc5de5b5ef5727114082964c67becfb8e92f2.mp4

Fix what Gnome is breaking

This is a big topic and I am not going into it right now. You can read more about it here. But basically Gnome is pushing a new way to create apps for their Gnome desktop, and this basically forces these apps to have 2 themes, the ones of Gnome, on every system. Dark and Light. So when any of these apps update to this new Gnome workflow, they look like this on any system:

365261818561e1b69fbe2f71905900201781×1003 250 KB

They do not respect the theme at all. Not the theme, not the buttons. Imagine having 3 buttons for your window system, to the left side, in a particular order. Well these new apps do not give a shit and will have their defaults, like say 1 button to the right. This is infuriating since it breaks the way the Linux system works in terms of usability. If I want a particular theme then every app should respect that. With TROMjaro we struggled to make pretty much 95% of all apps out there, if not more, respect the system’s theme. This is a greater consistency than Pop OS, Ubuntu, KDE Plasma, and most other distros. Read more here.

But we found a hack. At least for now. And that white sheep from the above photo looks like this with our hack:

image1715×861 171 KB

It respects the theme as it should! However not the window buttons position and type… In this example we are talking about the Touchpad Gestures app, originally named Touche. To fix it go to Menu Editor and search for it. Then in the Command box add this:

sh -c 'env GTK_THEME="$(xfconf-query -c xsettings -p /Net/ThemeName /l)" touche'

image1419×909 106 KB

And save (circle blue button the the left).

From now on, if you see any app that is not respecting the theme, try to do just that. Say the Gnome Calculator that we have installed as default in TROMjaro will switch to this new Gnome workflow. Search for it in the Menu Editor or simply from the apps menu right click it and edit. See how it is called in the Command box:

image1274×764 47.3 KB

Then add the above code sh -c 'env GTK_THEME="$(xfconf-query -c xsettings -p /Net/ThemeName /l)" touche' and replace touche with that name. Such as sh -c 'env GTK_THEME="$(xfconf-query -c xsettings -p /Net/ThemeName /l)" gnome-calculator' .

We will try to fix more and more such apps, but it is not ok…for now at least we found a hack…

Add the App Finder back.

We added back the useful xfce4-appfinder. The apps menu that you see on the panels is very useful, but for keyboard centric humans it is useful to press a keyboard key and have the apps and a search bar to the center of the screen, as such:

image1785×1004 94.1 KB

To use the same layout click the preferences button then do these:

image1300×801 125 KB

We have also integrated the custom searches that you can find in the apps menu and can read more about here. Here they are (all have to be added with Type - Prefix as such):

image1470×743 114 KB
<pre><code class="lang-auto"> wiki
exo-open --launch WebBrowser en.wikipedia.org/wiki/%s
</code></pre> <pre><code class="lang-auto"> help
exo-open --launch WebBrowser forum.tromjaro.com/search?q=%s
</code></pre> <pre><code class="lang-auto"> tf
exo-open --launch WebBrowser directory.trade-free.org/?s=%s
</code></pre> <pre><code class="lang-auto"> edu
exo-open --launch WebBrowser videoneat.com/?s=%s
</code></pre> <pre><code class="lang-auto"> science
exo-open --launch WebBrowser search.trom.tf/search?q=%s&amp…
</code></pre> <pre><code class="lang-auto"> news
exo-open --launch WebBrowser search.trom.tf/search?q=%s&amp…
</code></pre> <pre><code class="lang-auto"> map
exo-open --launch WebBrowser maps.trom.tf/#q=%s
</code></pre> <pre><code class="lang-auto"> download
exo-open --launch WebBrowser search.trom.tf/search?q=%s&amp…
</code></pre> <pre><code class="lang-auto"> image
exo-open --launch WebBrowser search.trom.tf/search?q=%s&amp…
</code></pre> <pre><code class="lang-auto"> video
exo-open --launch WebBrowser ytb.trom.tf/search?q=%s
</code></pre> <pre><code class="lang-auto"> files
catfish --path=~ --start %s
</code></pre> <pre><code class="lang-auto"> web
exo-open --launch WebBrowser search.trom.tf/search?q=%s
</code></pre>

Making the terminal super cool.

Although TROMjaro does not rely on the terminal, why not have a great one anyway!?
You can read here all of the cool stuff about this:

Colors

Colors are enabled by default where possible so that its easy on your eyes. Pacman command & Man pages will now be colorful and easier to read

Syntax highlighting

Syntax highlighting is enabled by default in zsh, this makes your command line very user friendly

vim keybindings

There is an optional vim mode for users who like vim keybindings. This setting is disabled my default, but you can easily enable it by uncommenting the line that says vim_mode=True.

Maia prompt

The new prompt in zsh is simplistic and user friendly. It also gives you info about the exit status of the previous command. If the command completed successfully, it’ll look normal but if the previous command completed with errors then your prompt shows red, and at the right edge of your terminal you can see the exit status inside square brackets [].

Powerful history management

• History beginning search is enabled by default, that means if you type something like echo in the terminal and then press the up arrow, it’ll search for previous commands from your history that starts with echo and move through them. If you don’t type anything or if your cursor is at the beginning of the prompt, then moving up through history works like normal. If you want, you can override this behavior even when you have something typed - just press shift + up arrow instead of simply up arrow. All of these same things apply to the down arrow as well ofc
• Duplicate entries won’t be saved in history, this will reduce storage space and make it easier to browse through your history. Also, commands starting with a space won’t be saved in history, this can be useful for you in situations where you don’t want a command to be saved in history.

Automatically cd into typed directory

You can move to a directory just by typing the name of it, no need to precede it with the cd command before it. This makes it a little bit faster for you to navigate inside the terminal.

Online cheat sheet !

We’ve added a function called chtsh in zsh that uses the cheat.sh/c/releases.rss project to get a cheat sheet of the commands you want. For example, if you wanna know the basics of the command ffmpeg, you can just type chtsh ffmpeg to get a cheat sheet showing you the most common use cases of that program. Please note that this requires an internet connection to work.

Aliases

We’ve added in some aliases by default that we think are useful. cp & mv commands will prompt you before overwriting a file, and rm will prompt you once before removing more than 3 files, or when removing recursively - This is to prevent users from accidentally doing something they don’t want. ls, df & du commands will use human-readable sizes. Commands are also Colorized where possible

Auto-completion

• Advanced tab completion - This is an amazing feature, but its a little hard to explain in words. Try typing ls in your terminal followed by a space, then press the tab key twice to get inside the menu. Now you’re free to move around this menu using arrow keys ! When you find the file/folder you want, just press enter to type it out.
• You may have noticed this already, but tab completion is case insensitive and would also include hidden files. This makes it more user friendly.
• zsh-autosuggestions plugin will show you automatic suggestions from your history based on the words you type. If its showing you the correct suggestion you want, just press the right arrow key and it’ll automatically type that out for you.

And here’s how to do it. Step by step.

1. Change cursor shape & colors like shown in this video:

/uploads/default/original/1X/346586012bafd683dd7ff6a5bc5c8cc0e61d3747.webm

2. Create a file in your home directory called “.zshrc”.

Make sure it has that dot in front of the name. Add this to the file:
<pre><code class="lang-auto">
`# Enable vi mode - you can uncomment the line below to enable vim keybindings`

`#vim_mode=True`

``

`# Enable colors and change prompt:`

`autoload -U colors && colors # Load colors`

`# Maia prompt`

`PROMPT="%B%{$fg[cyan]%}%(4~|%-1~/.../%2~|%~)%u%b >%{$fg[cyan]%}>%B%(?.%{$fg[cyan]%}.%{$fg[red]%})>%{$reset_color%}%b "`

`RPROMPT="%{$fg[red]%} %(?..[%?])"`

``

`setopt autocd # Automatically cd into typed directory.`

`stty stop undef # Disable ctrl-s to freeze terminal.`

`setopt interactive_comments`

``

`# Enable command history`

`HISTFILE=~/.zsh_history`

`HISTSIZE=10000000`

`SAVEHIST=10000000`

`setopt histignorealldups # Ignore duplicates in history`

`setopt HIST_IGNORE_SPACE # Ignore commands that begin with a space in history`

``

`# Online cheat sheet`

`chtsh () {`

`
ping -c 1 cheat.sh >/dev/null 2>&1 || { echo 'Cannot connect
to cheat.sh !\nCheck your internet connection'; return 1 }`

`
curl -s "cheat.sh/$1" | less -P "\ Cheat\ sheet\ ?ltline\ %lt?L/%L.:
byte\ %bB?s/%s..?\ (END):?pB\ %pB\\%.. (press h for help or q to quit)"`

`}`

``

`# Aliases`

``

`alias cp="cp -iv" # Prompt before overwrite`

`alias mv="mv -iv" # Prompt before overwrite`

`alias rm="rm -vI" # Prompt once before removing more than 3 files, or when removing recursively`

`alias ffmpeg="ffmpeg -hide_banner" # Suppress printing banner`

`alias df="df -h" # human-readable sizes`

`alias du="du -h" # human-readable sizes`

``

`# Colorize commands when possible`

`alias ls="ls -h --color=auto --group-directories-first" # human-readable sizes, group directories before files`

`alias grep="grep --color=auto"`

`alias egrep="egrep --colour=auto"`

`alias fgrep="fgrep --colour=auto"`

`alias diff="diff --color=auto"`

`alias pacman="pacman --color=auto"`

``

`# Basic auto/tab complete:`

`autoload -U compinit`

`zstyle ':completion:*' menu select`

`zmodload zsh/complist`

`compinit`

`_comp_options+=(globdots) # Include hidden files.`

`zstyle ':completion:*' matcher-list 'm:{a-zA-Z}={A-Za-z}' # Case insensitive tab completion`

`source /usr/share/zsh/plugins/zsh-autosuggestions/zsh-autosuggestions.plugin.zsh 2>/dev/null`

``

`# Change cursor shape for different vi modes.`

`function zle-keymap-select () {`

` case $KEYMAP in`

` vicmd) echo -ne '\e[2 q';; # block`

` viins|main) echo -ne '\e[6 q';; # beam`

` esac`

`}`

`zle-line-init() {`

` zle -K viins # initiate `vi insert` as keymap (can be removed if `bindkey -V` has been set elsewhere)`

` echo -ne "\e[6 q"`

`}`

``

``

`[ "$vim_mode" = 'True' ] &&`

` { bindkey -v`

` export KEYTIMEOUT=1`

` bindkey -v '^?' backward-delete-char`

` zle -N zle-keymap-select`

` zle -N zle-line-init`

` echo -ne '\e[6 q' # Use beam shape cursor on startup.`

` preexec() { echo -ne '\e[6 q' ;} # Use beam shape cursor for each new prompt.`

``

` # Use vim keys in tab complete menu:`

` bindkey -M menuselect 'h' vi-backward-char`

` bindkey -M menuselect 'k' vi-up-line-or-history`

` bindkey -M menuselect 'l' vi-forward-char`

` bindkey -M menuselect 'j' vi-down-line-or-history`

`}`

`unset vim_mode`

``

`# History beginning search`

`bindkey '^[[A' history-beginning-search-backward`

`bindkey '^[[B' history-beginning-search-forward`

`bindkey '^[[1;2A' up-line-or-history`

`bindkey '^[[1;2B' down-line-or-history`

`bindkey -a '^[[A' history-beginning-search-backward`

`bindkey -a '^[[B' history-beginning-search-forward`

`bindkey -a 'k' history-beginning-search-backward`

`bindkey -a 'j' history-beginning-search-forward`

`bindkey -a 'K' vi-up-line-or-history`

`bindkey -a 'J' vi-down-line-or-history`

``

`bindkey '^[[3~' delete-char; bindkey -a '^[[3~' delete-char # Make delete key work as expected`

``

`# Load syntax highlighting; should be last.`

`source /usr/share/zsh/plugins/zsh-syntax-highlighting/zsh-syntax-highlighting.plugin.zsh 2>/dev/null`

</code></pre>

3. Add the following lines to /.profile file (don’t remove what’s already there):

<pre><code class="lang-auto"># Show color output in less
export LESS=-R
export LESS_TERMCAP_mb=$'\e[1;31m'
export LESS_TERMCAP_md=$'\e[1;36m'
export LESS_TERMCAP_me=$'\e[0m'
export LESS_TERMCAP_so=$'\e[01;44;33m'
export LESS_TERMCAP_se=$'\e[0m'
export LESS_TERMCAP_us=$'\e[1;32m'
export LESS_TERMCAP_ue=$'\e[0m'
</code></pre>

4. Now to switch from bash to zsh.

Make sure the zsh package is installed on your machine (via Add/Remove Software). If it is not, install it. Then open the Terminal and paste this:

chsh -s /bin/zsh

Hit Enter. Restart your computer to be sure it will change it.

5. Install two packages:

zsh-syntax-highlighting and zsh-autosuggestions from the same Add/Remove Software.

Lastly, a few other changes…

• Reinstall the package openrgb if it doesn’t work. Find it in Add/Remove Software, click it, then click reinstall.
• Add the tlp package via the same Add/Remove Software.

2 posts - 1 participant
Read full topic

This may be overwhelming but take it easy. Step by step. Get used to it. You'll see the benefits for sure!

You see, people think that we should dream about a Resource Based Economy, follow TVP or the like. Let's build a new society, a city, a community...

Ok, go about doing those, although they seem quite unachievable. Society doesn't change like that, it evolves, and emerges. We have to focus on what the problem is, not what the solution is, because solutions follow problems. And they are multiple.

In any case, if we do not take care of people's brains then we go nowhere. If most people spend their time on facebook, twitter, youtube, netflix, and the like, consuming like consumers, trading their attention and overall brain for nonsense content, then we cannot build anything. We cannot even start a discussion about creating a different society.

So here's where TROM comes in and helps. Since the human brains are mostly exposed to the online world, we are building a different online world for these brains.

Listen! Here's how you can take care of your brain and your friends' brain.

1. Start with your device. If you use a mobile phone then we can't help you for now, but maybe in the near future. For now you can replace your computer operating system with TROMjaro. tromjaro.com/ . This operating system is fast, easy to use, customizable, stable, and removes all of the bullshit. No more ads, trackers, no more trades. It comes with a plethora of useful tools and features out of the box. It is the basis of your digital world, the foundation.

2. Read our books. They are well sourced and a direct attack to and a dissection of this society. tromsite.com/books/ . Click and read. You can also download them in PDF.

3. Watch our videos. We put a ton of effort into these and are on the same par with our books. tromsite.com/videos/ . Click any and play.

4. Stay informed with sane news. tromnews.com/ - we put a lot of effort into this one to bring you nonstop news from all around the world. No political bullshit. There are several sections there so you can also watch a ton of curated educational videos, amazing photos of our world, and more. Use TROMnews as your daily brain food.

5. Give up movies and switch to documentaries. If you think this is irrelevant, stupid, or boring, then you do not understand how important it is to fill your brain with real and awesome information. Documentaries are not boring if you watch the right ones. Reality is unbelievable. And important. Via videoneat.com/ we make thousands of such materials available as trade-free. We have documentaries and courses. Give them a try. We hand curate them.

6. Give up these ad-platforms that call themselves as "social networks" like facebook, twitter, youtube, and the like. If you want to create posts and share with friends, keep in touch with them and all that, use our social platform social.trom.tf/ . No ads no bullshit. You are in control. Learn more about it here trom.tf/social/. And if you want to upload your science/technology/activism videos use our video platform videos.trom.tf/ . Again, no ads no bullshit. No trades. The more you spend your time on those ad-networks, the more mush your brain becomes, thirsty for consumerism, lacking awareness, not understanding what is happening in the world, and wanting more nonsense content. Don't let that happen! This move can seem hard, but do it! Else you'll become like the rest.

7. Give up the basic internet tools you are using that are consuming yourself. Slack, Google services, search engines, etc. See our trom.tf/ where we have a ton of such alternatives that work great. Also see our Trade-Free Directory directory.trade-free.org/ where you can search for more such tools. From messengers to search engines, you name it!

You TZM, TVP, and the like people, use the TROM decentralized chat chat.trom.tf/ instead of the BS Discord, use our Files files.trom.tf/ for your documents and collaborations, use our Send to send files send.trom.tf/, and so forth. We built these tools for you and everyone else.

Ok.

We do a massive amount of work to create a different world for the brain. One that's realistic, honest, smart, sharp, alert, and one that can see the world for its amazingness, and the society for its awfulness.

If you do not get why this is important, then you don't get it. We run this entire alternative digital universe with some 200 Euros a month...so if you can help us keep it, please also consider a donation - tromsite.com/donate/

We work on a new big documentary and more tools.

Help yourself! #tromlive

First they blamed the gods, then they blamed the kings. Then they blamed the politicians and the rich, and at times the others, or even themselves. And now they blame social media and algorithms.

But it was none's fault.

Gods do not exist. Kings want more for themselves because of an inherited practice of winning the game of trade, on the backs of enslaved humans. Their values were distorted, their power was immense, their means of acquiring were primitive, relying on human labor.

The politicians are just talking heads for the richest of the game of trade. They are the "elected kings" of today. All they say is emptiness, all they do is nothingness. All they want is to keep the game of trade alive by any means, because that's all they know, because that's what helps their own cause.

The rich are the best players of today. They managed to win the game of trade, and the game itself makes them addicted to it. They will always want more and more, with little regard for the others or the planet. Their values are as distorted as those of kings.

To blame others or yourself for the misery of today, it is as true as blaming the gods in the past. You and others exist, but your behavior does not, unless there is an environment that creates it. And if you do not see trade as that environment, then you might as well blame the gods again.

The latest blame-game of today is to blame the social media and the algorithms. The modern gods who know everything we do and influence us on a daily basis. But the same way that gods are a man made creation, social networks are a man made creation, and they are created in their own image. In the same way that god is jealous when you pray to other gods, and wants to punish people for bad behaviors, social media and algorithms are a reflection or today's trade-based society: they want to trade with you and win at this game. They want more of your currency, time, data, attention. And they are created by humans. As simple as that.

The kings, the rich, the politicians, algorithms and social media....the you and the others....are not to blame. All are a product of this trade-based environment that forces us to trade trade trade, and thus consume more, grab more for ourselves, lie, deceive, corrupt or be corrupted. Care little about anything but trading this for that. Accumulate and waste.

Unless this environment changes, nothing will change.

#tromimg #tromlive

A new TROMjaro ISO is out. I still hope to reach more stability in terms of releases. Meaning, to release less often and with less changes. But all of what we do is improvement and making TROMjaro better. Here are the new changes:

Rebuild a few packages.

Due to a phyton update a few packages need to be rebuilt. For the current TROMjaro users please find in your Add/Remove Software the following and choose to reinstall: easystroke, mate-hud, riseup-vpn, syncthing-gtk-python3.

Disable the dark mode for panels.

Right click any panel, then panel preferences, and in the appearance tab disable the Dark Mode. This is more suitable for when you switch to lighter themes.

Refresh the desktop.

The script for refreshing the desktop got a tiny addition that prevents it from crashing at times. Go to .local/bin and edit with a text editor the file refresh-xfce. Remove what is there and add this:
<pre><code class="lang-auto">#!/bin/bash
xfce4-panel -r && xfwm4 --replace && xfce4-panel
</code></pre>

Menu icon.

For a better consistency change the menu icon - right click it, then properties, then appearance, then click the icon. Change it to org.xfce.panel.whiskermenu. Now go and grab our patched icons from here and add all of those icons to your .local/share/icons/Zafiro/apps/scalable/ folder.

The awesome and cool TROMjaro layout toggle.

If you remember we created a TROMjaro Classic at one point. It looked like this:

image1776×996 54.7 KB

With a single bottom panel. This layout was more consistent than the default TROMjaro one. But because I am so busy I could not maintain 2 ISOs. Now we have a great and simple solution to bring back that layout. We have created the TROMjaro Layout Toggle. Look at it in action (the video is not that great because my computer is struggling with so many tasks I am giving to him):

/uploads/default/original/1X/fe1851ab30bc5c12fa7184520bccaf730fdef9e4.mp4

A simple layout toggle! To do this on your system, you have to have 3 packages installed (search in Add/Remove Software for them): zenity, zensu, xfce4-panel-profiles. After you install them go to the folder .local/share/applications/ and create a new empty text file. Name it tromjaro-layout-toggle.desktop and add this inside of it:
<pre><code class="lang-auto">[Desktop Entry]
Version=1.1
Type=Application
Name=TROMjaro Layout Toggle
GenericName=TROMjaro Layout Toggle
Comment=Change the layout between TROMjaro Classic and TROMjaro Modern
Icon=global-menu-and-hud
Exec=tromjaro-layout-toggle
Categories=DesktopSettings;GTK;Settings;X-XFCE-PersonalSettings;X-XFCE-SettingsDialog;XFCE;
Keywords=settings;layout;toggle;switch;
</code></pre>
Save.

Next you need the profiles we made for the two layouts. Download the two archives from here. And put them in .local/share/xfce4-panel-profiles/. If you do not have that folder, create it.

That’s it! You can now find the TROMjaro Layout Toggle in your menu and in the Settings Manager.

The XFCE Panel Profiles, what we use for this, is an awesome little tool that allows you to switch the panels’ design as you desire, and also save your panel configuration. Basically you can tweak the look of your desktop as you wish, in terms of the panels. Add them up, down, sides, add items to them, tweak those items, etc… And then you can save the config and create more. Then switch between them at will. This is the awesome power of XFCE!

NOTE: Our TROMjaro Layout Toggle uses this tool but is more than that, since we also enable global menus for example. So although you may see our layouts in the Panel Profiles, do not use that for it. Else the global menus may not work. So keep that in mind.

Grab it from here.

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