"Borealis" sound theme

System Sounds

Source (link to git-repo or to original if based on someone elses unmodified work): Add the source-code for this project on opencode.net

7
7.2
Description:

KDE Sound theme "Borealis"
Version 0.9a (11/14/2004)
by Ivica Ico Bukvic (SlipStreamScapes)
ico at bukvic dot net
http://ico.bukvic.net
http://kde-look.org/content/show.php?content=12584


OVERVIEW
========
The goal of this sound theme is to provide "better feel" through use of the subtle aural notifications. The test I always have in my mind while designing the desktop sounds is to imagine having half-dozen (or more) computer stations in the same office or studio and consider whether their simultaneous use (and resulting desktop sounds) would pose as distraction on users and their productivity. Therefore, in order to minimize the "distraction factor" this theme associates many of the common desktop events with brief, mostly non-pitched, but nonetheless pleasing sound sources (a.k.a. effects).

All of the sounds included have been composed (if applicable), recorded, and mastered by me (although a few of them bear resemblance to other OS's sounds). Some of them are leftovers from my previous compositional and production endeavors, while others are entirely new creations.

All sounds are designed and mixed at CD-quality (stereo, 16-bit, 44.1KHz). Ogg version is distributed as 192Kbit stereo files.

Thank you for your interest!


LICENSE
=======
See below.


FEATURES
========
*Includes sounds for:
*KDE WM
*KDE System Notifications
*Kdevelop
*Kopete
*KDE Sysguard
*KMail
*Konsole
*Proxy configuration
*K3b (missing 1 sound)
*4 startup sounds
*2 exit sounds
*Automated installer and uninstaller (KDE 3.x)

INSTALL
=======
IMPORTANT! installer has been tested only with KDE 3.x series.

Borealis comes with an automated install shellscript making the install a simple 2-step process:

1) Untar the package:
tar -jxvf Borealis_sound_theme-VERSION.tar.bz2

2) Install the theme:
cd Borealis/
su -p
(IMPORTANT! You must do 'su' with the '-p' flag in order to preserve your home dir variable while running as superuser)
sh install.sh

At this point simply follow the on-screen instructions and in a couple moments it should be all ready to go.

Optionally, you may also want to disable animation of minimizing/restoring windows as the theme sounds associated with these actions in my opinion work better when the animation is disabled. You can adjust this setting in the KControl -> LookNFeel -> Window Behavior -> Moving tab -> Animate minimize and Restore option.


UNINSTALL
=========
To uninstall Borealis theme simply use the uninstall.sh script included in the tarball:

sh uninstall.sh

Your votes, comments, and suggestions are most welcome and appreciated. Thanks!

Enjoy!

107 comments
Comments/Ratings

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9

pemartins

3 years ago

9 Excellent sound theme!

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9

yesuza

3 years ago

9 Great!

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Zuba

9 years ago

WTF?!!! Is this kde-look.org?!!! NO!!! So GTFO with this shit!

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amoebios

9 years ago

I'm viewing this on KDE-Look.org. The openDesktop project is meant for all, and content that applies to more than one environment (like mouse themes or system sounds) is shared across the site and will be displayed on KDE-Look, GNOME-Look and Xfce-Look.org

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AlexandrosGR

10 years ago

What errors you get?

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cbarnett2486

10 years ago

I downloaded it and then went to the terminal and typed in everything you said to type in, but it gives me error messages and doesn't continue... Any idea what I'm doing wrong?

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danopia

10 years ago

It looks like Ubuntu Studio uses this sound theme for 10.10. I noticed a few sounds were the same as I have now, then I played the startup sound and there was no mistaking it :)

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chrisluzon

10 years ago

How in the world do I get this to work for Gnome?? Like Ubuntu 10.04...

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ffabris

11 years ago

Very well made theme - I love it! :-)

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jtornado

11 years ago

This is my favorite theme on KDE-Look.org! It's got a clean, Aura sound; prefect for modern operating systems. I liked this theme so much, that I installed the sounds on my Vista PC too.
Keep up the good work!

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black128

12 years ago

It is the best theme for sounds! This author is genius. Sounds charm and it is very pleasant to listen. Although I start it PCLinux OS in VMWare from MacOS (Hackintosh) - it is simple splendidly!

How it is possible to deport the author of den'gi for development?

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C

SlipStreamScapes

12 years ago

Wow, thank you very much for your kind words! They are very much appreciated!

As usual, my apologies for taking this long to reply. I don't frequent this page as often as I would like to.

I would also love to respond to your inquiry stated at the end of your post but I am afraid I am not quite sure what you mean. Sorry!

Once again, I thank you for your kind compliments regarding the theme. Should you happen to have any questions please do not hesitate to contact me.

Best wishes,

Ico

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TheDarkLighter

12 years ago

Ubuntu won't even preview much less use the startup sounds. But it will the exit sounds and pretty all the rest, Try doing shorter ones around 9 seconds at the most.

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C

SlipStreamScapes

12 years ago

Hi,

Have you tried ogg files or wav files? This may be bug in the latest version of Ubuntu. I am using 7.04 and that one works apparently fine.

Best wishes,

Ico

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zopiac

12 years ago

im not sure how to install, or how to manipulate the installed files, or something.
Running Ubuntu 8 (Gnome)
followed the instructions, changed su -p to sudo -s, though, of course, and it said it worked fine. What do i do now? go to Sounds and change the sounds to the /usr/share/sounds/Borealis .wav files?

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C

SlipStreamScapes

12 years ago

Hi,

Many thanks for your interest in Borealis. Haven't been here in a while. Given that the installer was created almost 4 years ago, it is likely compatible with KDE 3.x series only. I haven't tried installing it on KDE 4 and I do know that since Gnome has no easy way (please correct me if I am wrong) to install a "theme" if you are using Gnome the best I can suggest is to manually install specific sounds.

If someone can point me towards a KDE4 theme install format, I may be able to generate a new installer. Likewise for the Gnome platform (I am still running Ubuntu 7.04 and so far I haven't encountered anything that would fit this description).

Hope this helps!

Best wishes,

Ico

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Moo-Crumpus

11 years ago

You asked for 'the gnome way'.

For Gnome Sound Themes please use the folders:
/usr/share/sounds/Borealis
/usr/share/sounds/Borealis/stereo

and the file
/usr/share/sounds/Borealis/index.theme

Index.theme should contain:
----
[Sound Theme]
Name=Borealis
Directories=stereo

[stereo]
OutputProfile=stereo
----
In 'stereo' the audio-files must read:

audio-channel-front-center.ogg
audio-channel-front-left.ogg
audio-channel-front-right.ogg
audio-channel-rear-center.ogg
audio-channel-rear-left.ogg
audio-channel-rear-right.ogg
audio-channel-side-left.ogg
audio-channel-side-right.ogg
audio-test-signal.ogg
battery-low.ogg
bell.ogg
button-pressed.ogg
button-toggle-off.ogg
button-toggle-on.ogg
camera-shutter.ogg
complete-media-burn.ogg
desktop-login.ogg
desktop-logout.ogg
dialog-cancel.ogg
dialog-error.ogg
dialog-information.ogg
dialog-ok.ogg
dialog-question.ogg
dialog-warning.ogg
link-pressed.ogg
menu-click.ogg
message-new-email.ogg
message-new-instant.ogg
phone-incoming-call.ogg
phone-outgoing-busy.ogg
power-unplug.ogg
service-login.ogg
service-logout.ogg
suspend-error.ogg
trash-empty.ogg
window-close.ogg
window-maximized.ogg
window-minimized.ogg
window-move-start.ogg
window-move-stop.ogg
window-slide.ogg

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beojan

12 years ago

When do you next plan to update this sound scheme?

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C

SlipStreamScapes

12 years ago

Hi,

I am not sure. I want to add more but my life has become awfully busy. For what it's worth, what may help nudge the project along is to have specific sound events that may require attention.

Hope this helps!

Best wishes,

Ico

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bluebacco

12 years ago

i think a couple of these sounds (the longest ones) are the best systemsounds on gnome-look.org.

Thanks a lot!

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C

SlipStreamScapes

12 years ago

Many thanks for your kind words!

Best wishes,

Ico

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hadessuk

12 years ago

Before those sounds can be used in GNOME, the license would need to be fixed. It says: "You may not use these sounds in any non GPL-ed or LGPL-ed software/OS for profit-making purposes."

This means that people using proprietary GTK+ apps (Acroread, VMWare, etc.) for their work can't use your sounds.

Something like a Creative Commons license would be more fitting, or at least an explanation of what uses of the sounds you're trying to avoid.

PS: Tried to e-mail you, but didn't get an answer.

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C

SlipStreamScapes

12 years ago

Hello,

Just noticed your question. Please allow me to clarify. The license does not prevent you from using the sounds within the Gnome environment even if you have Acroread and/or other non-(L)GPL-ed software installed on your computer because these sounds would not be associated with those particular software packages. Gnome is GPL-ed and therefore compatible with the sound theme license, including their inclusion and free redistribution provided that the credit is given where credit is due. The sounds, however, may not be integrated into a non-(L)GPL-ed software such as Acroread. If you wish to use sounds for a project that is non-(L)GPL compliant, please contact me for licensing options.

On a side-note, if you do opt for using the sounds as part of an (L)GPL-compatible software, I would greatly appreciate it if you would please let me know.

Hope this helps!

Best wishes,

Ico

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hadessuk

12 years ago

The problem is that, if your sounds are used as system sounds, we can't say whether a proprietary app will "use" them.

Is there any chance for you to choose a Creative Commons license such as http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0/ to avoid interpretation problems.

Or could you tell us whether using your sounds as part of gnome-audio would be OK with you?

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C

SlipStreamScapes

12 years ago

DOH! I just realized that I already changed the license for the theme's inclusion into the UbuntuStudio project as the default theme some time ago. So, hopefully this makes things a bit easier.

As always, if you opt for using the theme, please do not forget to give credit where credit is due and link to my homepage which is ico.bukvic.net.

Many thanks!

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12345678910
211
product-maker pemartins Jan 08 2018 9 excellent
Excellent sound theme!
product-maker yesuza Dec 03 2017 9 excellent
Great!
product-maker Etemenanki Apr 22 2015 9 excellent
product-maker dfghjk Apr 17 2015 9 excellent
product-maker suther Nov 16 2013 3 bad
product-maker Sweyn78 Aug 24 2012 9 excellent
product-maker indymike Jul 14 2012 9 excellent
product-maker Thev00d00 Oct 26 2011 9 excellent
product-maker pups Mar 11 2011 9 excellent
product-maker gwalchmye Mar 02 2011 9 excellent
product-maker flanello Feb 04 2011 9 excellent
product-maker rascranasingha Jan 09 2011 9 excellent
product-maker Tracerneo Dec 19 2010 3 bad

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0.9a
updated Nov 14 2004
added May 12 2004
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