Puppy 2.15CE "Viz" - Development Ideas/Requests

[iscraigh]

Side note

Opera still does not work with my banking site, tried inetify as Firefox/IE as well as mask as Firefox/IE

Installed flash 9 plugin.pup Worked in firefox (okay still crashes on some sites)
Did not work in opera all i get is a gray screen.

installed jre.pup, worked in firefox, no love in Opera



Craig

[Pizzasgood]

Okay WhoDo, I'll try to explain. When you put a ROX-compatible theme in /root/.icons/, it adds a directory with the theme's name. Inside that directory is one called MIME, which has the icons. /usr/local/apps/ROX-Filer/ROX/ is basically another theme, with it's own MIME directory. So you can actually copy the contents of an icon theme's MIME directory into /usr/local/apps/ROX-Filer/ROX/MIME to completely change the default icons.

I posted the bcTangoKDE themes I used here:
http://www.murga-linux.com/puppy/viewtopic.php?t=16220
Note: the one with the actual icons is the orange theme. The others just have symlinks, except for their folder icon. That way they don't use extra space.

You can directly copy any that you like into /usr/local/apps/ROX-Filer/ROX/MIME to replace the default. I'd suggest trying to stick with they style you're already using when possible though. Shining KDE, right? It fits the glossy look of everything else. These are just a quick and simple "pre-cooked" replacement for the ones you don't do, so they don't look so bad.

What I meant by "other" icons was stuff like mp3, ogg, etc. They're still using the standard not-so-great ones. I didn't bother compiling a list since I figured you just hadn't finished. As for the ones in the toolbar, those are part of the GTK theme, as far as I know. Many apps use the icons from a GTK theme for consistency.

As for GTK-1 apps, I'm not sure. Not many, because I didn't notice it until I right-clicked XMMS. I'm not suggesting dropping the GTK2 theme, it's great. Just giving GTK-1 something, in case someone stumbles across a stray GTK-1 program. Even giving it the default theme it used to have would be better than nothing. I'll look through my collection to see if I have anything similar to Linsta, but I don't have many. I don't know a whole lot about GTK themes though. You might want to consult Dougal about it. He did a bunch of research into GTK themes. He pm'ed me a link to a bunch of them, but it's broken and I haven't had time to ask him for a new one.

[metre9dmt]

Several thoughts:
1. It is inevitable that we might see two versions of the ViZ: a regular one and extreme version. The regular one should include all the applications contained in version 2.14 but with all the enhancements, e.g. all the plug-ins for abiword. The extreme version should include OpenOffice.org, Inkscape version 0.45, GIMP, project management software such as Planner or GanttProject, Java and 1-2 better games (e.g. kraptor and supertux?). We can then use the two versions to showcase the power of Puppy Linux, one for "old computers" and one for "new computers".

2. Easier network connection. I am still experiencing problems connecting to the office network. I have seen how Linux Mint connects and I hope that we could connect in such manner, seamless.

3. Centralized repository. I normally download softwares from the Internet (I have to use Windows coz Puppy Linux still wont connect) and then install it later to my computer running in Linux. I really wished that we can have a central repository to get dotpups, dotpets & other packages so that it is easy for us to download and track down the packages.

I wish to thank Barry and the rest of the Puppy Linux community for creating and continuously developing Puppy Linux. Mabuhay kayo!
As I said Puppy Linux is the best coz it works the first time, with any computer and with complete software complement. Thanks!

[Pizzasgood]

Here's the small (filesize-wise) version of the green shining wallpaper that I promised, along with the .png versions in case you want to make changes:
http://www.murga-linux.com/puppy/viewtopic.php?t=16228

[WhoDo]

Here's the small (filesize-wise) version of the green shining wallpaper that I promised, along with the .png versions in case you want to make changes:
http://www.murga-linux.com/puppy/viewtopic.php?t=16228

Thanks, PG. I'll push them into Beta2 this weekend. Thanks for making a couple of darker ones on spec in case we use the frosted glass icon series. Much appreciated.

Cheers

[puppyfan12]

WhoDo - as a puppyite on 56k dialup, I would have to set up my system to do a download of - v2.15CE "Viz" - or even the - v2.15CE "standard" - iso's to be able to do it over several hours UNINTERRUPTED..

However, with the present state of my telephone line ( debatable ) and my ISP link ( max 4 hour sessions ) - I don't think that this is going to be successful without a lot of hassles - SO - I ask will either or both these "iso's" be available on CD for us who are on dialup to purchase ..?

Please..PLEASE..

A solution for resuming the file downloads every time you connect is to download the firefox dotpup and use flashgot with any of the download managers on the flashgot site. That way you can resume your download the next time you connect (and being disconnected won't affect the download).

When CE is done I'd be happy to burn and mail you a copy if there's noone else offering. It doesn't make sense to do it with a beta though as there's a lot that has to be worked out still and new releases come out so fast.

- I think a CE release must have a really reliable multimedia support and from what i have read last days, it takes MB of space to add the fine libraries for it plus the right codecs. Why not choose VLC instead of gxine+XMMS+mozilla libs+codecs ? ...Moreover a firefox/mozilla plugins exist of VLC.

Also, I agree with the earlier post that VLC is a great lightweight multimedia player that should be considered. It does streaming, supports many codecs and has plugins for webpage video streams in FF. I use it in windows, linux and OSX as my primary media player and even stopped using winamp v2.x/xxms in favour of VLC (it also supports playlists). I was never an itunes fan. VLC may or may not be lighter than mplayer/xine with their codec files...I'm not sure...it'd have to be looked into more.

[Pizzasgood]

Actually, the red and spotlight versions were accidents. I was experimenting with the best way to turn it green and during the process made one that looked like it was floating on lava, and another that looked like the bat-signal, except for Puppy

[WhoDo]

Actually, the red and spotlight versions were accidents. I was experimenting with the best way to turn it green and during the process made one that looked like it was floating on lava, and another that looked like the bat-signal, except for Puppy

Serendipity.

[craftybytes]

WhoDo - would it be possible if you could post a copy of the latest boot 'init' file(s) you have used to this forum - so us puppyites who are on 56k dialup (who probably won't be downloading soon v2.15CE - as it be big) can at least see how you have got the 'boot-up' for multi pup_save & other .sfs files to work .. PLEASE..

Till the v2.15CE 'final' comes out and is available as an "Unleashed CD" which we can purchase from Barry - we can only sit back and "drool" from afar as to just what v2.15CE is really like ..

Fortunately - we can still keep up some of the way by reading these forums - BUT - it is not the same as having the REAL thing to play with..

Hope this is not too over the top to ask ..

[richard.a]

Puppy 2.15CE in virtualbox emulator.
keyboard and xorgwizard run then stops at this

1>Type 'xwin' to start Xvesa graphics sever.
2>cat: /ect/videomode: no such file or directory
3>cat: /ect/videomode: no such file or directory
4>Starting X with video mode and mouse psaux...
some time passes about 20-30 sec.
5>Exited from X. Type "xwin [fvwm95: jwm]" to restart X ([] mean optional).
6>(To shutdown PC type "poweroff', to reboot PC type "reboot')
7>
8>cat: /ect/TZ: No such file or directory

line 8 also appears just before the keyboard selection wizard starts.
I can start X by typing xwin but this is annoying.
might leave a noob bewildered. Has this occured out side an emulator?
this occured in the alpha as well. not in 2.14 or 2.12 that I recall.
not an issue after there is a pupsave.2fs file
but the error sill appears while puppy is loading.
hope this helps,
cb88

You are right. There is no such directory as /ect/
It is /etc

[mlamelas]

Hi all,

I would like to offer the following comments/suggestions for the next release of this version:

1 - I think that Firefox should be included in the base install and be the default browser. I think it is the de facto alternative to IE, and third party developers are creating add ons for Firefox which they are not doing for other mozilla flavors.

2 - I also think that Flash 9 and Java runtime should be included in the base package. Almost any website visited today uses one of those two plug ins. I know it increases the size of the installation, but I think most users are adding them now.

3 - A davfs filesystem option in the base package. This way data storage is not limited to the size of the usb drive. One can mount a davfs server so that it looks just like a regular drive, and as long as there is an internet connection, file storage can be unlimited. I am using Amazon's S3 service ($0.20 per gig per month) with my Kubuntu work setup, but even connecting to a home davfs server would work.

4 - You may want to look at Kopete rather than Gaim for IM. I was not able to configure Gaim to work with MSN in Puppy. I have not tried Kopete in Puppy, but in Kubuntu it connected to MSN without a problem. I also saw some statistics in a web posting that Kopete uses less memory than GAIM.

5 - Depending upon the size of Thunderbird, serious consideration should be given to including it in the base distro as the mail client. Main reason is that, like Firefox, a lot of third party add ons (e.g., Palm Synchronization, Plaxo synchronization) are being developed for Thunderbird. It is becoming the de facto alternative to Outlook.

Just some thoughts for consideration. Puppy Linux is a great product.

Best regards,

Mel

[richard.a]

4 - You may want to look at Kopete rather than Gaim for IM. I was not able to configure Gaim to work with MSN in Puppy. I have not tried Kopete in Puppy, but in Kubuntu it connected to MSN without a problem. I also saw some statistics in a web posting that Kopete uses less memory than GAIM.l

I would agree. I use it in SuSE 9.3 on a 2 year old machine, and in SuSE 9.1 on an old PII and it runs faultlessly.

I've also had to abandon my wife's use of Gaim as a single IM client on her laptop which uses XP as a platform, mainly because of her MSN account which won't run in it. My gut feeling is that MS have done something to the protocol to make it difficult to use anything but their product. Surprise, surprise

I was able to access her MSN account by adding it to both of the Kopete clients I have, described above.

Glad you raised that point, and am happy to concur with you

Slightly off topic. I've mentioned in a number of forum threads (without any comments returned) that the Puppy 2 default desktop icon for Gaim is actually the Kopete icon. Now if you substitute Kopete for Gaim in the build, you won't get any more whinges from me about the wrong icon.

Unless by now the icons have been swapped over, when it'll still be wrong

Richard on a quite cool morning in Adelaide

[WhoDo]

4 - You may want to look at Kopete rather than Gaim for IM. I was not able to configure Gaim to work with MSN in Puppy. I have not tried Kopete in Puppy, but in Kubuntu it connected to MSN without a problem. I also saw some statistics in a web posting that Kopete uses less memory than GAIM.l

I would agree. I use it in SuSE 9.3 on a 2 year old machine, and in SuSE 9.1 on an old PII and it runs faultlessly.

I'm sure someone will correct me if I'm wrong, but doesn't Kopete require KDE? If it does then we won't have space for it in Standard Edition, and at the moment there are no plans for a third WM in Office Edition. That doesn't mean you can't add one later.

AMSN may be a better choice for those who specifically need MSN access, and it is available as a dotpup download.

BTW, I was recently told that desktop icon is actually the intellectual property of AOL, and as such it won't appear in Puppy CE again, anywhere.

Hope that helps.

[mlamelas]

I have seen deb and rpm and slackware packages for kopete so I would assume it doesn't require kde. I would think the preference would be to have one IM client, rather than having to install an MSN specific one as well. Or of course not have an MSN address at all If M$ won't play nice, why support them at all, but sadly too many people only have an MSN IM account.

Kopete depends on an ORTP-0.7.1 library, which also has a deb package. I will try to create a test environment of Puppy to see if installing Kopete and the dependency works and doesn't mess up anything else.

[rarsa]

I have seen deb and rpm and slackware packages for kopete so I would assume it doesn't require kde.

And I've seen red cars which implies they run on ethanol...?

Same thing here. One thing has nothing to do with the other. Kopete is a KDE application.

You may be doing something wrong in Gaim. I've used it in all versions of puppy from diferent computers and it always works in MSN.

Or are you telling me that some acounts work and some other acounts don't?

[richard.a]

I was recently told that desktop icon is actually the intellectual property of AOL, and as such it won't appear in Puppy CE again, anywhere.

I would suggest that Gaim (Gnome? AIM) which uses both of the AIM running men type icons must have had approval to use it, and while not a lawyer, I would suggest that start emblems provided to start the product must be just as legal as the application itself is.

That is notwithstanding the disclaimer on the front page of the Gaim site at Sourceforge which says

Gaim is NOT endorsed by or affiliated with AOL

Those icons are packaged everywhere, including in commercial (for sale) Linux and BSD Unix versions, as well as the ones where money doesn't change hands.

Edit
I was wrong. The G stands for GTK in all probability. Sorry.

[WhoDo]

Those icons are packaged everywhere, including in commercial (for sale) Linux and BSD Unix versions, as well as the ones where money doesn't change hands.

While that may certainly be true, it costs nothing to err the side of caution.

Anyone wanting to sue for breach of copyright or infringement of trademark will take individuals to task if they can't find a corporate entity. I'd rather not risk it myself.

Cheers

[mlamelas]

Let me withdraw my initial recommendation about using Kopete instead of Gaim. When I first started using Puppy (v. 2.10), I could not get Gaim configured for MSN. I checked the forum and the faqs, which said some ssl library had to be installed, which I did and still could not get to work. AIM and Yahoo were working great, so I gave up on trying to connect to MSN.

One of the posters here noted they had been able to access MSN via Gaim, so I tried again this morning with v. 2.14, and was able to access my MSN account. The basis for my suggestion does not exist anymore.

Kopete might be made to work with Puppy by copying the required KDE libraries (e.g., libktextedit...,libkabc...), but there is no point in doing it since Gaim functions just as well.

I apologize for having led the discussion sideways on this point.

Best regards,

Mel

[WhoDo]

I apologize for having led the discussion sideways on this point.

No apologies necessary. The thread is for development ideas/requests and you had one. Please feel free to add any further requests or suggestions you may have as time progresses.

Cheers,

[zsero]

Beta1 unusable!

I've just DL-ed beta1 office, which is a release I would like to use for a long time and build a remaster from it, so I had strong illusions before trying it.

Actually I tried it in VMware: it's HORRIBLY slow, takes minutes till I got to the keyboard selection screen, takes ages till the xorg / xvesa with VERY strong HD activity, and it cannot boot into X when I select xvesa like I used to do before on all puppy verisons. It was not the case with ANY puppy before!

Next I tried booting directly from a cd with no sfs file on HDD. It was still MUCH slower than puppy 2.14, finally I got to the xorg screen, I selected xorg and it booted into x, but the monitor was blurry because of wrong refresh rate, so I tried to switch xorg using xorgwizard, but when I clicked on it, it actually SHUT DOWN instead of starting xorgwizard. At that time I went back to 2.14 stable.

Guys, Puppy is the nicest project I've found for a long time, so good that I started to make an remaster for my school! Please don't let it go that way like many other projects and commercial products like MS Vista went! It's very important to have a good and compact linux distro with Firefox 2 and Flash and OO, but be very careful about making a huge fat linux, or we will get a Vistapupp... And I'm running it from a Core Duo laptopwith 1 gig of ram and 7200 rpm hard drive, I think when a product is slow on that system then it's unusable on older hardware.