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jbowtie
Asked: 2010-07-30 04:09:41 +0800 CST

How do I move the window buttons back to the right for all users?

  • 772

I know I can edit gconf to move the [Minimize,Maximize,Close] buttons back to the right-hand side, but is there a way to do this for all users?

Ideally at install time so I don't have to explain this to every user every time I set up a new machine.

metacity window-buttons

4 Answers

  1. gconf-editor has an option to do this. Just right-click on a value you want to set for all users, and click "Set Default". PolicyKit will open and ask you for your password. After that every new user will have that value.

    • 6
  2. Best Answer

    I don't know about install time, but when new users are created, the files from /etc/skel are copied to the new home directory. You could add a file 

    /etc/skel/.gconf/apps/metacity/general/%gconf.xml

    with the contents

    <?xml version="1.0"?>
<gconf>
<entry name="button_layout" mtime="1273173410" type="string">
    <stringvalue>:minimize,maximize,close</stringvalue>
</entry>
</gconf>

    to /etc/skel.

    Or you could create the perfect user-setup (let's name him perfectuser) on a new account, and replace

    SKEL=/etc/skel

    with

    SKEL=/home/perfectuser

    in /etc/adduser.conf.

    That way, each new user you create would have the same configuration as perfectuser.

    Maybe the install CD could also be modified in a similar way?

    To change the setting for all users, you could write a script that adds

    <entry name="button_layout" mtime="1273173410" type="string">
    <stringvalue>:minimize,maximize,close</stringvalue>
</entry>

    to all /home/[user]/apps/metacity/general/%gconf.xml.

    • 5

  3. Download UbuntuTweak go to Window Manager Settings and click "Right"

    Edit: I'm not exactly sure if this does it for all users but it is easy.

    • 3

  4. For people arriving late like me when the above solutions may not work anymore, you can also use gsettings for this:

    gsettings set org.gnome.desktop.wm.preferences button-layout 'appmenu:minimize,maximize,close'

    From

    https://wiki.gnome.org/Projects/Metacity

    • 0