Random Background is a little script to show a different photo each day on your GNOME desktop background.
You will need python, and if you have exiftran it will be used to make sure the photos are properly rotated.
On Ubuntu just type:
sudo apt-get install python exiftran
Download random_background (right-click the link and choose "Save As") and save it somewhere e.g. /home/user/bin/random_background .
NOTE: above and elsewhere you should replace "user" with your username.
To change your background immediately, you can simply run the script from the command line like this:
/home/user/bin/random_background ~/Photos
(Assuming there are some photos (in .jpg format) in the Photos directory inside your home directory.
To make your background change every day, you need to add a line to your crontab. Start editing your crontab by typing this:
crontab -e
and in the editor that appears, add a line like this:
0 6 * * * /home/user/bin/random_background /home/user/Photos
This will change your desktop background at 6am every day.
#!/usr/bin/python
import os
import os.path
import random
import sys
if len( sys.argv ) != 2:
sys.exit( "You must supply a directory which contains .jpg photos." )
photos_dir = sys.argv[1]
random.seed()
names = []
for (dirpath, dirnames, filenames) in os.walk( photos_dir ):
for fn in filenames:
if fn[-4:].lower() == ".jpg":
names.append( dirpath + "/" + fn )
if len( names ) == 0:
sys.exit( "No .jpg photos were found in ' photos_dir )
chosen_fn = names[ random.randint( 0, len( names ) ) ]
if os.path.isfile( '/usr/bin/exiftran' ):
bgs_dir = os.path.join( os.path.expanduser( "~" ), ".random_background" )
if not os.path.isdir( bgs_dir ):
os.mkdir( bgs_dir )
bg_file = os.path.join( bgs_dir, "bg.jpg" )
os.system( '/usr/bin/exiftran -a -o "s"' % ( bg_file, chosen_fn ) )
chosen_fn = bg_file
os.system( '/usr/bin/gconftool-2 --type=string '
'--set /desktop/gnome/background/picture_filename " chosen_fn )
Andy Balaam <axis3x3 at users dot sourceforge dot net>
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