Ceci est une ancienne révision du document !
We’re back to finish our series on Linux Help this month.
KDE and KRecipe Disappointments
As detailed last month, one of the things I use a computer for is recipe management. Linux has a recipe manager that is part of the K Desktop Environment, or KDE – the KRECIPES application. Although I hate to criticize, especially on something that’s FREE, I actually switched away from KDE (I prefer the look and feel of to both GNOME and Unity), because it seems to have some serious deficiencies. These include what I perceive to be some poor testing and business analysis, particularly in regards to the KDE project’s product management.
For two examples, there seems to have been minimal development and virtually no documentation of Calligra Braindump, a whiteboarding application that is part of Calligra Office, the successor to KOffice. A shame; it looks like it could have been interesting (although that application name has got to go). Also, if you run any applications in the current version of KDE’s Plasma desktop environment that set their own resolution that is different from your desktop resolution (a LOT of games do this), once the application is done and exits back to KDE, all your desktop icons will be resized, or rearranged, or both. This seems to me to be symptomatic of very poor testing and quality control. I feel that this is pretty fundamental desktop functionality. Unfortunately, KRecipes is a part of what I see as KDE’s software management problem.
I firmly believe that recipe management is an important practical use of a computer. As a diabetic, cooking for myself can be very helpful in managing my diet and my blood sugar levels, but I do also think knowing how to cook is an important life skill that everyone should have, at least to some degree, and the computer is a natural tool to help with this. However, KRecipes has been unmaintained for some time now (since 2016), and promised documentation seems to have never been completed.
I posted to the KDE forum to request help for the issues I’ve had with KRecipes (refer back to last month’s Everyday Ubuntu for details, but the short version is it won’t save pictures or instructions). I won’t reproduce the single response I got, but the honest truth is that it was not at all helpful. When requesting help in Linux, we should all be mindful that any help we get is volunteered, so sometimes you just get what you paid for. If anyone is interested to see the question I posted and the single response, it can be found here: https://forum.kde.org/viewtopic.php?f=22&t=161843&p=420596#p420596.
Strangely, I pulled out my old Kubuntu cloudbook (which I set aside due to the broken Plasma desktop), and pictures still don’t work, but at least instructions are saved. The interface also looks a good deal different: As compared to how it looks in Unity (although this is the ‘add new recipe’ function, so you can see the instructions it refuses to save – you can still see the difference in the interface):
Just for further comparison to the interface under KDE, here’s the main recipe interface in the Unity desktop after adding everything. Note the lack of instructions even after typing in and saving them:
In the KDE screenshot, it’s cutting off the recipe title at the top due to the cloudbook’s resolution. For the record, this is my simple recipe for homemade marinara sauce.
I suppose that the KRecipe application simply runs differently (better, apparently) in the desktop environment it was actually designed for, but that’s actually a condemnation – it absolutely should have also been tested properly in Unity and in GNOME. Apparently, that was not the case. As a former business analyst who dealt with similar testing concerns during my career, I can tell you that I, and my teams, were frequently so overtasked that it was practically impossible to test things effectively and thoroughly, but it’s no less disappointing that this is apparently where we often are today when it comes to software development. Thorough testing is apparently no longer regarded as a priority in many organizations, and that’s a shame (climbing down from soapbox now…).
Challenge to the Readers
Since I could not get help on this issue or find anything with Google searches, I’d like to throw this issue out to the readers here: Does anyone know if there are parameters to get KRecipes to accept and save pictures properly (I’m guessing they may have to be a certain size in pixel height and width, but could not confirm), or why it won’t save instructions properly? For the record, I’m using Ubuntu 16.10 64-bit, Unity as the desktop environment, and KRecipes 2.1.0, the latest (and evidently final) version. Feedback is, as always, welcomed at acer11kubuntu@gmail.com.
Alternatives?
A little research showed some possible alternatives to KRecipes. One is Gourmet Recipe Manager, which I installed using Synaptic Package Manager. Sadly, it fails more epically than KRecipes, as it crashes immediately upon launching with no error message and generates no error log that I could locate, so I have no idea how to even start troubleshooting the issue with it. Hopefully, maybe readers here can install and use it successfully, but I could not. Other alternatives (with a tip of the hat to Full Circle’s own Q&A columnist ErikTheUnready for this list) include: • Gnome recipes • Kookbook • AnyMeal • Taco recipe manager • PHPrecipebook
I still could not get any of these to install or work properly. This is where you sometimes have to find alternate ways to get to your desired end result.
What Do You Really Want To Do?
KRecipes had some capabilities I would have liked, but the unvarnished truth is: Nothing that was crucial. So, we’re going to use the tools we have available in a ‘stock’ Ubuntu setup: File management and LibreWriter. We can use our file system as a flat file database of sorts, and use LibreWriter to generate our individual recipes.
Buttermilk Biscuits for Two
Here’s the recipe from last time that I adapted from one I found on YouTube, on Ken Click’s channel. Check out Ken’s YouTube channel at https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC4bgbP1BW74_DE8loU45i6Q. Ken also kindly granted permission to use not only the recipe in Everyday Ubuntu, but also to use his biscuit thumbnail picture. So, here is the adapted recipe again (you can find Ken’s original, that uses whole milk, on YouTube at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wy_dqphsakU):
Buttermilk Biscuits for Two
Ingredients: • Just over 1 cup all purpose flour • 1/2 teaspoon sugar • 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder • 1/4 teaspoon salt • 3 tablespoons cold salted butter • A little under 1/2 cup buttermilk
Instructions: • Mix all dry ingredients with a wire whisk. • Cut 3 tbsp COLD butter into small pieces and incorporate into dry ingredients. This can be done by fingers, fork, or pastry cutter. Incorporate butter thoroughly until mixture is uniform, with a texture like wet sand. • Make a well in the center and add a little less than a half cup of buttermilk. Slowly and gently start pulling flour into center with a wooden spoon or a spatula. Continue until all flour is incorporated. • Turn onto a well-floured surface, dust dough ball with flour, and flatten out with hands or rolling pin. • Fold over halfway, rotate a half-turn, and fold over again, re-flatten. Repeat about 4 or 5 times, but do not overwork the dough. That said, some folding is necessary to make the biscuits come out flaky. • Cut the rolled out dough into four or five equal portions, roll each into a ball and flatten until about 1 to 1 ½ inches thick. • Put into a pan sprayed with non-stick cooking spray and place in a preheated 400 degree oven for 10-12 minutes, until lightly browned.
Yield: Four to five biscuits
And here is Ken’s thumbnail picture of his tasty biscuits:
Adding a New Recipe
Okay, so now let’s set up our file structure. I put my recipes in a folder within the existing documents folder in the Home location. Invoke the File Manager by going to the Dash (top icon in the Launcher, the icon tray that runs down the left side of the screen by default on Unity), and search for ‘Files’. That should be sufficient to bring up your File Manager. In most cases, you can also just click the icon on the Launcher that looks like a file drawer, it will usually be the second from the top:
Let’s create a ‘bread’ folder under the existing Recipes folder that I created earlier (you can create your Recipes folder the same way we’re creating the ‘bread’ subfolder). In the File Manager, click the ‘hamburger’ menu in the top right and select ‘New Folder’, then type in the folder name ‘Bread’. Simple, but effective.
Creating the Recipe Document
Similarly, creating the recipe document is quite simple. Go back to the Dash and type in ‘write’, which should be sufficient to locate LibreOffice Writer (unless you already have it as a desktop shortcut, which I recommend, or on the Launcher, which is also a good idea). Launch Writer and put a title at the top.
I like to Google for images that illustrate whatever the dish is. For illustration purposes here, I’m going to use Ken Click’s thumbnail that I have already downloaded to the Recipes folder. In Writer, go to Insert – Image, then navigate to your image file and double-click it to insert it. Alternatively, you can web search and find the desired image, right click it in your browser and select Copy Image. Then, in Writer, position your cursor where you want the image and right click, then do a Paste.
Now, simply type in or copy and paste the text for the ingredients and instructions, then go to the File menu, select Save As, and navigate to your ‘Bread’ subfolder under ‘Recipes’ and save the document. Done! Again, simple, but effective. I’ve actually been using this minimalist, but quite functional, approach to recipe management for literally decades now, and it does get the job done fairly effectively.
And a HAPPY 150th ISSUE to Ronnie and the rest of the Full Circle staff!
Next month: Another installment in our ongoing Retro Gaming series, just to cleanse the palate (in a manner of speaking). Prepare to meet your (Chocolate) Doom!