New page for puppylinux.com

[01micko]

We need help from peple to add content to the brand new Puppy Linux website. Also, proof readers
are needed to check grammar and spelling. Even seasoned native English speaker coders are
hopeless with these!

Barry has given the puppylinux.com domain to me (01micko) for the community***.


We are now live with a comprehensive new site.

Interested parties should check out our new development at puppylinux-woof-CE.github.io


If you are a interested in adding content or just following development
then follow these instructions:+++

• Create yourself a github account if you don't already have one.
  (Don't worry about credit card details and crap - it is free for our purposes.)
• Create a fork of the Puppylinux.com website github repository.
• Edit the markdown to your liking (in the GitHub UI).
• Issue a pull request where someone with write access to woof-CE will evaluate
  your request and either merge it or close it. Don't be discouraged if it is closed. Usually the
  responsible "steward" will say what they don't like.

Or, if you are a CLI freak ... (but be aware you won't be able to test changes locally!) you can clone your repo and edit locally.
Note that mdview by jamesbond will give you a VERY rough view of the page.


That's it! Have fun!

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

*** Although the domain "puppylinux.com" is in my name it is very much a a community driven effort.
I am not the new "benevolent dictator" of Puppy Linux! At some point I might even decide that I don't want
to develop on puppy any more but I will keep my hand in with Puppy as long as I can, even if it is from
the "side lines".

+++ This is not a github tutorial. There are plenty of those on the web.

[Burn_IT]

You might like to place some community checks on updates to that page to stop the silly children getting at it and corrupting it.

[01micko]

• Issue a pull request where someone with write access to woof-CE will evaluate
  your request and either merge it or close it. Don't be discouraged if it is closed. Usually the
  responsible "owner" will say what they don't like.

@Burn_IT

[Burn_IT]

OK! I forgot that!

[mavrothal]

ie,

If you are a web developer or just know how to make nice web pages or just want to (hands-on) learn how to make them AND you like/use puppy, please help to generate an appealing and informative public Puppylinux face.

BTW, this is how http://www.puppylinux.com looks today

(Am I going to be banned if I repost this every day till there is some response? )

[russoodle]

I doubt you'd be banned from the kennels for nagging, or barking a lot for a cause, mavrothal
I'm no coder, just a hacker of templates, (or meown simple straightforward stuff), but i've opened an account on github and am willing to modify a nice template from some attractive, clean ones that i've found, with provision for images/screenies, as Mick requests

[unicorn316386]

All 4 of the classic pages look pretty neat:
puppylinux.com in November 2005
puppylinux.com in March 2006
puppylinux.com in May 2007
puppylinux.com in April 2008

The new cover page here works too: http://barryk.org/puppylinux/index.html

A plentiful list of links and information for those who want to know more. A "history" and "what's cookin" page might be neat.

Are static Websites now considered the "1.0 web"? I dunno, I still like to read them.

[mavrothal]

If you are a web developer or just know how to make nice web pages or just want to (hands-on) learn how to make them AND you like/use puppy, please help to generate an appealing and informative public Puppylinux face.

BTW, this is how http://www.puppylinux.com looks today

(I said I will... )

[disciple]

Browser compatibility should be observed.

Just thought I'd mention that I quite like the way the current page comes out in Dillo (compared to e.g. http://puppylinux.org/main/Overview%20a ... tarted.htm): the links and stuff that are supposed to be across the top are all contained in the black - visually separating them from the main content on the page.

[Ted Dog]

Do you want puppylinux.net? I think its up for renewal this month.

[mavrothal]

I'm not sure that domain names is our problem.
The only thing is, if someone else uses it to curve into the huge puppy market

[peebee]

If you are a web developer or just know how to make nice web pages or just want to (hands-on) learn how to make them AND you like/use puppy, please help to generate an appealing and informative public Puppylinux face.

BTW, this is how http://www.puppylinux.com looks today

(I said I will... )

Hi Mav & Mick

I have doubts that the proposed approach is going to work....I for one am not not sure what needs to go on the new website nor what the style should be nor what already exists "out there" which maybe needs bringing up to date or rewriting completely or generating from scratch.

So can I suggest that the first step must be a definition of the page structure for the new website

plus some sort of style guide for what pages should look like

then for each section, identification of what content already exists and what it's status is and what needs to be done to bring it up to date

only then can people volunteer to populate parts of the site (I think)

Also, we want the publically available website to always look professional and coherent, so I would think there is a need for a private developing website which only becomes public when the pages are complete and suitable for publication. I'm unclear as to whether the git based process gives us this?

I'm happy to try and do my bit - but only as part of a bit more structured process than is currently proposed.

My twopennyworth....

Cheers
peebee

p.s. maybe we should use a service like weebly.com to be our development play ground??

p.p.s I always warn people that building a website is the easy part of the process - there is nothing worse than a website that is unmaintained and is clearly out of date - so there is no point in starting construction unless you know how the website is going to be maintained over its lifetime (what ever period that may be).

[disciple]

I respectfully disagree with the private developing website idea. If you ran an open source software project like that it would be considered highly dysfunctional - even the microsoft people developing .NET have decided to stop "code bombing". Why would documentation be any different?

[peebee]

I respectfully disagree with the private developing website idea. If you ran an open source software project like that it would be considered highly dysfunctional - even the microsoft people developing .NET have decided to stop "code bombing". Why would documentation be any different?

I did say "development play ground" - i.e as part of a collaborative construction process - not for the publically available published website!

[peebee]

Top 5 results on google search for "puppylinux" or "puppy linux" are:

Puppy Linux Community Home - Getting Started
puppylinux.org/
Home, overview and getting started with Puppy Linux, amazingly fast, fascinatingly complete and delightfully small Linux.

puppylinux.com/
Puppy Linux was originally developed by Barry Kauler back in 2003. In 2013 Barry retired from development of Puppy Linux to concentrate on other ideas, ...

Puppy Linux - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Puppy_Linux
Puppy Linux operating system is a lightweight Linux distribution that focuses on ease of use and minimal memory footprint. The entire system can be run from ...

DistroWatch.com: Puppy Linux
distrowatch.com/puppy
8 Jun 2015 - Puppy Linux Summary ... User Forums, http://www.murga-linux.com/puppy ... Download Mirrors, http://www.puppylinux.com/download

Puppy Linux Discussion Forum - Murga-Linux.com
murga-linux.com/puppy/

so arguably the effort should go into making sure that puppylinux.org is more up to date than it currently is - and maybe querying the need for puppylinux.com to be different??

[mavrothal]

You are right about the page design. We must decide on guidelines and there is where a webpage designer is handy.
We do not need to rediscover the wheel and we can look at other distros for guidance. But my personal preference is for a clean style, redirecting to inside pages as needed. Something that would allow for a gradual fleshing up.
But we need some more things that will fit puppy's wild style. For example could have a rolling window with forum posts (maybe from specific sections-derivatives, bugs etc).
I'm not sure how a private development site can help. In github we can also have a development branch of the site pointing to the standard github link (not puppylinux.com) and when happy we can merge with the "official" puppylinux branch.

The real problem I think is that no one appears to be willing take a lead or even follow such an effort. Is an unglamorous work, particularly as it is not about "your very own product", but only partially at best.
And as you said maintaining this site will be even harder but that's where git is handy as anyone can contribute (say the person that builds a new pupplet or pet)

[disciple]

I respectfully disagree with the private developing website idea. If you ran an open source software project like that it would be considered highly dysfunctional - even the microsoft people developing .NET have decided to stop "code bombing". Why would documentation be any different?

I did say "development play ground" - i.e as part of a collaborative construction process - not for the publically available published website!

I guess we have a philosophical disagreement. I think the easier it is for anyone to suggest changes and the more eyes on it the better, and there are always going to be a lot more eyes on the public website.
How "professional" does it need to look, anyway? Puppy isn't even professionally developed. And other distros like Arch have all their documentation in a wiki.

[Rattlehead]

I think it would be a good idea to start by setting a declaration of purpose for the website. Out of it, the functionalities required will emerge; and cumbersome tasks, if any, will be easier to face when the person in charge knows what the desired end result is. Starting from listing features, in the hope that a sense will emerge in the whole is push rather than pull, imo.

[solo]

In my opinion, what works best is to take people by the hand and lead them to the right place.

The first thing to do is to explain what Puppy Linux is, or what it stands for.

And then you try to answer the most frequently asked question by newbies on this forum.

Which Puppy is most suitable for my computer?

You ask visitors what kind of computer they have (type, age, model, RAM), and depending on that, they will be guided towards a download section containing a selection of Puppies most suitable for their needs.

Each of these Puppies has their own list of features, and each of them has their own download and installation instructions, because there's simply too much variety between them to make that general.

[greengeek]

The real problem I think is that no one appears to be willing take a lead or even follow such an effort.

Maybe there is no-one here who has the required skill set. Willingness is no use without skills (at least in terms of making something pretty and also functional).

I do have one question though - would this website be focused on "woof" style puppies? (ie: "real" puppies). I think it is too much to ask that someone keep such a website up to date with regard to ALL of the puppy derivatives currently on offer. Surely the website would have to reflect a smaller subset of Puppies - ie only those that are 'standard' LTS puppies?