14 DAY TRIAL // Gis Weather is a customizable weather widget available for numerous Linux distros. It's not all that well known, but it's a great tool nonetheless.
Various Linux distributions have all kinds of apps and indicators that can provide users with weather reports although the number of reliable applications of this kind has diminished over time. One of the favorite and modern ways of getting weather reports is with the help of Conky scripts, but not everyone might want to try that.
In any case, no matter what Linux operating system you're using, you probably have quite a few options available, so why would you choose Gis Weather, of all things. It turns out that Gis Weather is a good tool and that it's rather underrated.
It qualifies as a relatively new application, having been launched only a couple of years ago, which is a short time if we calculate in Linux years. The developers have issued a lot of updates for it, so it's fairly well maintained.
Installation
I tested Gis Weather in Ubuntu 15.10, but it's not in the official repositories. Other distributions might have it, but it doesn't matter since the application can run on pretty much anything. Developers provide packages for distros that use either RPM or DEB, but they also have the source and already compiled version that only needs python.
In any case, if you want to install it in Ubuntu, all you need to do is download the DEB file and run it. The easiest way is with the Ubuntu Software Center, but if you don't like it, you can use the terminal (root is needed):
sudo apt-get install -f
Usage
After the installation has been completed, users will be able to start it from the launcher. You'll be asked to choose the city and the provider for the weather date. For this application, things are a little bit different.
You can't search for the name of the city you're interested in, but you have to go on the website (different depending on weather service), find the city, and get the ID that's used in the URL. That ID can be added to the application.
The name of Gis Weather comes from the GIS Meteo service, which is the first one in the list, but there are others if you don't want that one.
The widget is very customizable. Right-clicking on the window will bring a menu that has quite a few of entries. It's possible to change the kind of icons that are displayed, the theme of the widget, the background image, and the color of the text.
If you go into Preferences, there are even more options. It's possible to add other locations, to determine the update interval, and to start the application at login. You can also change the type of units used, the position of the window, the transparency, the number of days, the number of events monitored, and a lot more.
Also, if you have multiple desktops, the widget will be present on all of them, and if your OS has support for either Unity or GNOME indicators, it's also possible to activate them as well.
The Good
The Bad
Also, there is an issue with the size of the widget, but it's understandable. You can't resize with the mouse; you can only resize by changing the number of days you monitor. If you want only two, for example, for some reason the information will appear outside of the window. Since the developers have been pretty active, it's a safe bet that these issues will be ironed out in upcoming releases.
