KShutdown Review - Scheduled Shutdown, Restarts, and Other Actions on Linux

excellent
key review info
application features
  • Clear functions
  • (2 more, see all...)

KShutdown is an application that allows users to customize the shutdown procedure for Linux and Windows OS, with features like time delay or proper notifications.

The Windows OS has a ton of these applications, but there aren’t too many for Linux users. The main difference is that Linux users can do pretty much anything they want from the terminal, but that’s not always fun, especially if you are new to this OS. Having a proper application that can automate the shutdown system is indeed useful.

Applications that run both on Windows and Linux are not all that uncommon, and it’s usually possible as long as they both use Qt. Some of you will say that you can find some GTK+ apps out there, but that’s not really the point. Qt apps are more easily adopted for both platforms. As the name suggests, this was built for KDE. The developers went the extra miles and made sure that it can run on pretty much anything that is still maintained.

Installation

I tested KShutdown in Ubuntu 15.10, and it worked just fine, even if there is no official Ubuntu 15.10 package. I downloaded the .deb file for Ubuntu 15.04, and it worked without a hitch, but there is a caveat. The application itself weighs only 162 Kb, but it has a ton of dependencies.

The K letter that’s ahead of the name indicates that it’s going to pull a lot of packages from the repositories. When I installed the application, it notified me that almost 270 MB will be downloaded, which is more or less the entire KDE desktop stack. It’s not clear why all is needed, but users must know this beforehand.

The installation is quite simple. If you’re using Ubuntu, just enter these commands in a terminal (root is needed):

code
sudo dpkg –i kshutdown_3.2-1ubuntu1_amd64.deb
sudo apt-get install –f
If you already have Kubuntu or another KDE-based distribution, the installation should be very fast. Developers provide packages for a huge number of distros, so make sure you check the official website.

Usage

It’s not a terribly complicated application, and the main function is present when you open the application. The actions are pretty straightforward, and users can choose from Turn Off Computer, Restart Computer, Hibernate Computer, Suspend Computer, Lock Screen, Logout, Extras, and Show Message (no shutdown). The last two in that list deserve more details.

The Extras option allows users to customize the application to stop a certain application, from a predefined list or from the system. It’s also possible to add a custom command, with the help of a simple script that needs to be written separately.

The Show Message does exactly what it implies. It allows users to set a reminder that will be displayed at the appropriate hour.

The second list of actions in the main window of KShutdown lets users choose from the time parameters. It is possible to select No Delay, Time from Now, At Date/Time, When selected application exit, and On User Inactivity. Combined with all the actions described above, there is a multitude of scenarios covered.

In KShutdown, it’s also possible to edit the notifications and how often they are presented to the user, and some of the actions can be mapped with shortcuts.

The general settings of the app also have a couple of interesting features, like the ability to set a password for the actions, to enable a system tray icon, and to show a progress bar.


The Good

The sheer number of actions that are available is simply staggering. It’s hard to imagine a scenario that is not covered by the application, especially for the desktop users.

The Bad

The application is very stable, and it’s likely that it behaves differently depending on the OS used. For example, in Ubuntu it doesn’t show the tray icon, and you can only minimize the application, which means that the icon remains in the Dash launcher.

Conclusion

KShutdown is a great tool for Linux and Windows users who want to schedule various actions on their systems. If you can get past the fact that it basically pulls the entire KDE stack from the repos, then you’ll find it to be more than useful.

user interface 5
features 5
ease of use 5
pricing / value 5


final rating 5
Editor's review
excellent
 
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KShutdown (7 Images)

KShutdown in action
KShutdown optionsKShutdown timingKShutdown preferencesKShutdown password
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