Internet access UP / DOWN indicator tray icon
by browny_amiga from LinuxQuestions.org on (#54XB2)
Hi,
for years and years, internet connectivity in my sphere has been lousy and spotty, with internet connectivity going down over and over. Years and years ago I had a plan to do a very simple app:
An indicator in the tray on the left bottom of the Linux Desktop (I use KDE, but this should also work for other DEs), a green indicator says: I can reach the internet (ping google), red means (nope, internet is down)
This is especially important as I have noticed that wifi might still work and be connected, but the OS cannot get out to the internet.
Now after many years of more and more stable internet connections, this idea became less and less important and in the "always connected" era that we now are in, I thought it might have lost its importance. Except that it has not: Connectivity STILL drops. It's still annoying that "I", as the user, have to go check if the internet is in fact reachable or not. I want the OS to show me quickly and simply if this is the case.
I would love to write this in python, my favorite language, but I read that KDE / QT no longer supports this.
In case of KDE, I would think that a widget / plasmoid would be the best way to do this (I can't figure out what the difference is between the two) and it should be pretty simple:
1. Run every 5 seconds (if possible, it should not generate too much load)
2. ping www.google.com
3. Depending on success or failure, color the icon red or green.
This would make troubleshooting easy, answering the question "is the internet accessible again already?" with a quick glance to the tray icon.
I can imagine better designs for the icon, maybe a cloud icon that is either green or red, as "the cloud" has been used in network charts as a symbol for the internet for many decades.
Does anybody have experience writing widgets that could do this?
for years and years, internet connectivity in my sphere has been lousy and spotty, with internet connectivity going down over and over. Years and years ago I had a plan to do a very simple app:
An indicator in the tray on the left bottom of the Linux Desktop (I use KDE, but this should also work for other DEs), a green indicator says: I can reach the internet (ping google), red means (nope, internet is down)
This is especially important as I have noticed that wifi might still work and be connected, but the OS cannot get out to the internet.
Now after many years of more and more stable internet connections, this idea became less and less important and in the "always connected" era that we now are in, I thought it might have lost its importance. Except that it has not: Connectivity STILL drops. It's still annoying that "I", as the user, have to go check if the internet is in fact reachable or not. I want the OS to show me quickly and simply if this is the case.
I would love to write this in python, my favorite language, but I read that KDE / QT no longer supports this.
In case of KDE, I would think that a widget / plasmoid would be the best way to do this (I can't figure out what the difference is between the two) and it should be pretty simple:
1. Run every 5 seconds (if possible, it should not generate too much load)
2. ping www.google.com
3. Depending on success or failure, color the icon red or green.
This would make troubleshooting easy, answering the question "is the internet accessible again already?" with a quick glance to the tray icon.
I can imagine better designs for the icon, maybe a cloud icon that is either green or red, as "the cloud" has been used in network charts as a symbol for the internet for many decades.
Does anybody have experience writing widgets that could do this?