If the machine has cpufreq support (a laptop for example) should have this applet automatically added to the panel (like the battery applet). Upstream packages at: http://linups.org/~kal/gnome-cpufreq-applet/ Example packages at: http://files.hadess.net/redhat/perso/source/gnome-cpufreq-applet-0.2.1-1.src.rpm
Cc'ing them there UI folkses.
A couple questions: Does this applet allow you to switch frequencies or does it just display them? Does the applet provide any functionality while not in power management mode? (switch to low frequency while not on battery power) Is there a use case for switching from full cpu to throttled while you're not on battery? Unless I'm really mistaken on this stuff it seems like this kind of functionality would best be integrated into the battery applet instead of being an applet of it's own. I don't know enough about this applet itself to make a real call here, but my gut say that this is mostly extra power management utilities and those should be a part of the battery applet. Does this sound reasonable?
> Is there a use case for switching from full cpu to throttled while > you're not on battery? Yes. It makes the system run cooler so it's more comfortable on your lap. (With some laptops, it may even be *unsafe* to put it on your lap if it's not throttled.) Also note that there are desktops, without batteries, which support throttling. So I'm not sure the battery applet is the right place to put CPU throttling. (Furthermore, on Windows, CPU throttling gets its own applet, so that's what people coming from that OS will be used to.)
But that use case has nothing to do with the cpufreq applet. The only thing the applet does is display the current CPU speed. The speed throttling, etc. is included in cpuspeed (kernel-utils). I think that the cpuspeed applet is good as it is, it's self-contained, low-maintenance. Ultimately, there shouldn't be a need for a cpufreq applet (MacOS X, which does CPU speed throttling, doesn't show the CPU speed outside the about box). Realistically, the functionality that should be present (and isn't there yet) would be: - Decent policy capplet (Screen dimming, DPMS, CPU speed, hard drive spinning, and parking, etc.) - A way of detecting over-consumption of CPU (ie. this application made the CPU go faster, and a way to whitelist apps). The desktop would warn that X is using all the CPU, and might be erratic. You would whitelist gcc or a CPU intensive application that requires user-input. The reality of those happening in the short future are low, and the cpufreq applet would be a way to paliate a short-term need.
Ah, ok, I misunderstood; sorry about that.
I guess this thing is in GNOME now.