Just my $.02 -
Having gone thru and discarded several other small distros of Linux
(Xubuntu, DSL, etc.) I settled on Puppy because of ease of
installation and the ability to run on my aged (2000) Toshiba laptop.
I have a newer laptop dual-booted with Vista and Ubuntu - I
haven't used the Vista side for about a month now. I like the
speed and reliability of the Linux platform. Why go back ?
I am not unfamiliar with programming, having done so since DOS,
then BASIC, then a little Fortran, C+, etc. BUT - I find myself asking
the WHY NOT LINUX question at times (I love it). From an ex-Windows
user since 3.1, things which SHOULD be simple are made more
complex by those of us brainwashed by the Windoze systems of
the past decades.
From my perspective, and my experience with Puppy, here goes:
1. Awesome distro (4.3). Installed to my old laptop with no prob.
Found and ran all my devices great. After a brief tryout running
in RAM, I decided this was the one for me. Painless HDD install.
2. Auto-mounting of drives was a big plus here, not to mention
stupidly-easy internet setup. Kudos for sure - this will be of
major attraction to ex-windows users.
Now for the WHY NOT LINUX side -
I assume that 99.7% of home computer users just use them for
internet and E-mail. As such, I also assume that many of them
used Firefox for Windoze. Those users would then expect that
Firefox would be pretty much the same in Linux (Puppy).
And it is, if you have good eyesight, unlike me. However,
once you install Firefox and open it, you can hardly see the text
in the menu bars, address bar, etc. This one item is probably
the first and most noteworthy item a new user will notice -
if they are not happy with the internet display, they will shy away.
Given the popularity of both Puppy and Firefox, it would be a
great enticement to new users if someone could develop a package
whereas "IF you have Puppy and IF you have Firefox, click this LINK",
which will set up the fonts so someone with worse than 20-10
vision can read the menus, etc.
I for one have spent a great deal of time trying to fix the font size on
my Puppy/Firefox combination just so I could read the menu bar, etc.
Many new users would not be so willing....BUT -
This is the ONE and only problem I have had with Puppy....
As for documentation - the Puppy CD (ISO) is only 107MB or so -
lots of room for docs, which would only need to be loaded if the
user chose 'full' install.
Bottom line -Puppy is GREAT! I love it. Once I learn how to set the
fonts in Firefox I will be done. THen will come the experimentation,
and maybe I can get my old programming brain re-engaged - I can't
possibly hurt my old laptop - reinstall takes very little time !
Newbies - Puppy needs YOUR help too!
-
puppyite
Re: Another fans views.....
IMO that’s a shaky assumption but we’ll let it ride.out_fisherman wrote:I assume that 99.7% of home computer users just use them for internet and E-mail.
IMO that’s a very shaky assumption.As such, I also assume that many of them used Firefox for Windoze.
Those assumptions are beginning to pile up now aren’t they? RE: Firefox working as it did in Windows.Those users would then expect that Firefox would be pretty much the same in Linux (Puppy). And it is, if you have good eyesight, unlike me.
IIRC there is a Firefox SFS file for a frugal install. IIRC there is a Puppy derivative that comes with Firefox preinstalled. Maybe Firepup (guess)?However, once you install Firefox and open it, you can hardly see the text in the menu bars, address bar, etc. This one item is probably the first and most noteworthy item a new user will notice - if they are not happy with the internet display, they will shy away.
Given the popularity of both Puppy and Firefox, it would be a great enticement to new users if someone could develop a package whereas "IF you have Puppy and IF you have Firefox, click this LINK", which will set up the fonts so someone with worse than 20-10 vision can read the menus, etc.
I for one have spent a great deal of time trying to fix the font size on my Puppy/Firefox combination just so I could read the menu bar, etc. Many new users would not be so willing....BUT - This is the ONE and only problem I have had with Puppy....
You didn’t say why you don’t use SeaMonkey. I find it acceptable.
Disclaimer: I have never used Firefox so take anything I say about it with that proviso.
I assume (risky) you tried this: Go to: Menu > Desktop > Set global font size. Another thought, might not be ideal but you could lower the screen resolution.
PS: I was being facetious about the assumptions so please don’t be offended
PS: You don’t need to put hard returns at the end of every line in your post. The forum software will wrap it for you. It automatically trims off empty lines from the bottom too. Rather than a bunch of spaces you could use a list in the post composition screen (just thoughts).
hello new user
just wanted too say the easiest have tried.love the java easy install this has been a problem for me on all the linux i have tried.The desk top great too .not commited too convert all the way because certain programs i use alot havent seen here yet(paint shop pro jasc animation and so forth ).but i am on a pentium 2 computer works great on the net for surfing,but not strong enough for the java sites i use all the time,online gaming .when i get my lap top back ill try it on there.great work so far.
language of Puppy
If you go to ibiblio there are lots of PETs but no descriptions of what they do.
is there a dictionary of puppy words?
PPM seems to fail me
I can access the net
go to PPM select a PET say- fbpanel- then more info
Wikipedia calls fbpanel an orphan so PPM connected
click install try any url
PPM fails to connect and generates an error report
Why does one part of the PPM connect but the other part wont
I connect thru Internet by network or wireless LAN
In DOC The ADSL/Broardband
This section was written ages ago and needs updating (i agree)
Oh well
is there a dictionary of puppy words?
PPM seems to fail me
I can access the net
go to PPM select a PET say- fbpanel- then more info
Wikipedia calls fbpanel an orphan so PPM connected
click install try any url
PPM fails to connect and generates an error report
Why does one part of the PPM connect but the other part wont
I connect thru Internet by network or wireless LAN
In DOC The ADSL/Broardband
This section was written ages ago and needs updating (i agree)
Oh well
Liking Puppy, but getting frustrated.
I am new to Linux and new to Puppy. I have wanted to try Linux for a while, but never had a system I could mess with. Now I have an old system that I can kill and not care, but I'd like to make it work.
It is an old laptop, pentium I model, with 64MB of RAM. I went looking for small Linux distos and chose Puppy over DamnSmallLinux because Puppy looks nicer. I loved the way my laptop booted quickly. The installation was a bit overwhelming, but not too scarry. Then I got into the software.
The assortment of software is very nice, very usefull, and for freeware, very impressive. I've found programs to do almost all the things I wanted---or so I thought---and somethings I didn't think I would need. I loved it.
Now I am frustrated because the things I really want to do---program, compile, and run in Java; write, compile, and view LaTeX documents; get rid of all the software I don't use so that I have a clean, stripped down system---I can't seem to do. I have been through the Forums and done a Google search to find the information that I want, but to no avail.
LaTeX still does not compile. I downloaded the LaTeX .sfs file (http://puppylover.netsons.org/dokupuppy/programs:latex) but I couldn't get it to load as it kept telling me that my .sfs version was too old. I can't figure out how to install it.
Java does not compile. I'm not even sure how to load it. I got the java jre.bin and jdk.bin from Sun thinking that would be easiest, but I don't know where to put them and clicking on them doesn't seem to work.
I have no idea how to delete programs like Seamonkey. I like the Puppy HTML viewer and I'm not sure why I need SeaMonkey. I don't have an internet connection and only need an HTML viewer to write code. I'd also like to change some of the desktop icons to point to different applications, but I haven't figured that one out.
I can understand why you might want online documentation as everyone has a connection to the internet, but as you can see this assumption is false. I can't access the internet with this laptop and trolling through the website to find what I want is not getting me anywhere quickly.
You can see why I am frustrated. I love the speed and tiny nature. Loading in 64MB of RAM is no mean feat, but my frustrations are mounting causing me to look for larger alternatives.
It is an old laptop, pentium I model, with 64MB of RAM. I went looking for small Linux distos and chose Puppy over DamnSmallLinux because Puppy looks nicer. I loved the way my laptop booted quickly. The installation was a bit overwhelming, but not too scarry. Then I got into the software.
The assortment of software is very nice, very usefull, and for freeware, very impressive. I've found programs to do almost all the things I wanted---or so I thought---and somethings I didn't think I would need. I loved it.
Now I am frustrated because the things I really want to do---program, compile, and run in Java; write, compile, and view LaTeX documents; get rid of all the software I don't use so that I have a clean, stripped down system---I can't seem to do. I have been through the Forums and done a Google search to find the information that I want, but to no avail.
LaTeX still does not compile. I downloaded the LaTeX .sfs file (http://puppylover.netsons.org/dokupuppy/programs:latex) but I couldn't get it to load as it kept telling me that my .sfs version was too old. I can't figure out how to install it.
Java does not compile. I'm not even sure how to load it. I got the java jre.bin and jdk.bin from Sun thinking that would be easiest, but I don't know where to put them and clicking on them doesn't seem to work.
I have no idea how to delete programs like Seamonkey. I like the Puppy HTML viewer and I'm not sure why I need SeaMonkey. I don't have an internet connection and only need an HTML viewer to write code. I'd also like to change some of the desktop icons to point to different applications, but I haven't figured that one out.
I can understand why you might want online documentation as everyone has a connection to the internet, but as you can see this assumption is false. I can't access the internet with this laptop and trolling through the website to find what I want is not getting me anywhere quickly.
You can see why I am frustrated. I love the speed and tiny nature. Loading in 64MB of RAM is no mean feat, but my frustrations are mounting causing me to look for larger alternatives.
Thanks, folks, and welcome!
oigle - manuals - pending in-progress updating of the index in this section, see
http://www.murga-linux.com/puppy/viewto ... &start=171
mathom et al - yes, in particular the issue of offline (built-in) documentation needs to be readdressed - the high standard of this in early versions of Puppy has IMHO been slipping somewhat, and that's a shame.
oigle - manuals - pending in-progress updating of the index in this section, see
http://www.murga-linux.com/puppy/viewto ... &start=171
mathom et al - yes, in particular the issue of offline (built-in) documentation needs to be readdressed - the high standard of this in early versions of Puppy has IMHO been slipping somewhat, and that's a shame.
Horrible Help
One of the worst problems is the help available. Not the accuracy, or completeness so much, more the utter disorganization. Just for instance, on page 1 of this thread, Ecomoney posted a link to "the wiki". Following that link takes you to a Wiki all right, with a great big notice to go to another, newer wiki. The new one is so incomplete that you'd think that it's brand new. but alas, a lot of the material is old. Why the duplication of wikis?
Puppy changes very quickly and must of the information seems to be struggling to catch up with the version before last. It is also a pain to wade through pages of data and then find it refers to 2 or even 1 series Puppy and you are on 4.3.
Wiki to me implies custom-written articles. A collection of links to these forums is not a proper wiki page. Its easier to go direct to the forum.
Since so much seems to require the use of the Command line, decent Bash help would be a godsend for a Linux newbie. Puppy is not the only distro to cut local documentation to save space. However the link to Wikipedia is a horrible choice. The Buzybox online manual would be a lot better, but that is still pretty terse compared with the full tldp docs. Since Buzybox is not true bash maybe the Buzybox manual may have to do.
The man page link covers hardly any commands I have tried. It has attracted the derision of at least one reviewer.
Puppy changes very quickly and must of the information seems to be struggling to catch up with the version before last. It is also a pain to wade through pages of data and then find it refers to 2 or even 1 series Puppy and you are on 4.3.
Wiki to me implies custom-written articles. A collection of links to these forums is not a proper wiki page. Its easier to go direct to the forum.
Since so much seems to require the use of the Command line, decent Bash help would be a godsend for a Linux newbie. Puppy is not the only distro to cut local documentation to save space. However the link to Wikipedia is a horrible choice. The Buzybox online manual would be a lot better, but that is still pretty terse compared with the full tldp docs. Since Buzybox is not true bash maybe the Buzybox manual may have to do.
The man page link covers hardly any commands I have tried. It has attracted the derision of at least one reviewer.
snail
You don't say which man page you tried
bash man
http://www.gnu.org/software/bash/manual/bashref.html
different version
http://linux.die.net/man/1/bash
bash A-Z
http://ss64.com/bash/
& try this; busybox man page
http://man-wiki.net/index.php/1:busybox
busybox FAQ
http://www.busybox.net/FAQ.html
HTH, documentation review is well known & underway, AFAIK
Aitch
You don't say which man page you tried
bash man
http://www.gnu.org/software/bash/manual/bashref.html
different version
http://linux.die.net/man/1/bash
bash A-Z
http://ss64.com/bash/
& try this; busybox man page
http://man-wiki.net/index.php/1:busybox
busybox FAQ
http://www.busybox.net/FAQ.html
HTH, documentation review is well known & underway, AFAIK
Aitch
OOPs it's not as bad as I thought. If I type "man command " in a 430 rxvt console, I get taken to die.net, which seems to work fine, except that it is, I suspect about GNU bash, rather than Busybox ash.
What confused me, and the reviewer I think, is that the Help command in rxvt is very lacking and when you type "help grep", for instance, you get advised to type info grep or man -k grep. The latter searches die.net for -k and results in the ridiculous "HMMM--" message. The former results in something like "info command not found". Very misleading message for a tyro.
One of my Puppy distros, possibly Pupeee 4.2.1 takes you to a Wikipedia page about the command, which is useless, no real detail at all
What confused me, and the reviewer I think, is that the Help command in rxvt is very lacking and when you type "help grep", for instance, you get advised to type info grep or man -k grep. The latter searches die.net for -k and results in the ridiculous "HMMM--" message. The former results in something like "info command not found". Very misleading message for a tyro.
One of my Puppy distros, possibly Pupeee 4.2.1 takes you to a Wikipedia page about the command, which is useless, no real detail at all
-
the dammed one
- Posts: 8
- Joined: Sat 31 Oct 2009, 17:08
newbe feedback
The topic i see is feedback. I realize that puppy has some of these qualifications. I have came back again and again to puppy. because of its charm and size.
I am looking to connect to a network behind a router. i am looking to have full file access to all files and devices on my network. 2000, xp, vista, umbutu, debian, mac, etc.
I dont want to deal with authorizations. Im not worried about root access. i am the only one that beats on the keyboard. if i crash it. i got a cd.
I am not interested in bloat ware. like microvirus windoze. An operating system should not be 40 gig on a hard drive. it should be the layer to put all devices on the computer in a addressable form. My preference is to put a card in the machine and have the os be a de-facto extension of the bios. For a thought we got away from the 8 bit computers that had a standard io set and software we wanted to use was optional, and now we have a glossy bloated virus ridden unsecured computer that you could hook to a hot water heater as the heating element. where your privacy is violated by the operating system that logs what you do, and for all practical purposes the same classes of devices and software and almost the same shortcuts, just faster. ever boot a old dos sys disk on a quad core computer speed!!! sorry im ranting.
I am interested in installing software to the system and in some cases removing this software. easily and clearly simply. yes i know how to get software off of the windows system. i can even get the software specific registry entry's and reinstall it elsewhere. but im going to need some serious hand holding to make the jump to Linux and or puppy with the same skill level. I don't see the hand holding. understand im not criticizing im observing. The level of skill assumed is higher than im at. And im handicapped as i have used windows and have that mindset.
to be practical shared networking is real fun, shared printer is even more fun. I love waisting a box of paper and three weeks looking for a driver for the printer. software like amule or suns virtual box is impossible for me to install and make working. I have installed puppy with the intention of utilizing this computer on my network as separately and jointly those functions. I have been able to use umbutu as a p2p server and printer server. I would prefer not to have the software that comes with umbutu but i can play with it long enough to make it work.
I would like to see a user manual like the old dos manuals. dare i make the comparison. But the manual needs to define the terminal commands and what they do. further maybe identify conventions such as where the desktop , trashcan, device drivers, start menu, my documents, are under the directory tree, and where the actual files are for xxx program. I need to find the newbies general overview with enough dummied down explanations to make me understand how it works.
The issue i have is conflicting sources and no real good source to begin with.
puppy is different as it is root only access so most documentation is mute.
I am looking to connect to a network behind a router. i am looking to have full file access to all files and devices on my network. 2000, xp, vista, umbutu, debian, mac, etc.
I dont want to deal with authorizations. Im not worried about root access. i am the only one that beats on the keyboard. if i crash it. i got a cd.
I am not interested in bloat ware. like microvirus windoze. An operating system should not be 40 gig on a hard drive. it should be the layer to put all devices on the computer in a addressable form. My preference is to put a card in the machine and have the os be a de-facto extension of the bios. For a thought we got away from the 8 bit computers that had a standard io set and software we wanted to use was optional, and now we have a glossy bloated virus ridden unsecured computer that you could hook to a hot water heater as the heating element. where your privacy is violated by the operating system that logs what you do, and for all practical purposes the same classes of devices and software and almost the same shortcuts, just faster. ever boot a old dos sys disk on a quad core computer speed!!! sorry im ranting.
I am interested in installing software to the system and in some cases removing this software. easily and clearly simply. yes i know how to get software off of the windows system. i can even get the software specific registry entry's and reinstall it elsewhere. but im going to need some serious hand holding to make the jump to Linux and or puppy with the same skill level. I don't see the hand holding. understand im not criticizing im observing. The level of skill assumed is higher than im at. And im handicapped as i have used windows and have that mindset.
to be practical shared networking is real fun, shared printer is even more fun. I love waisting a box of paper and three weeks looking for a driver for the printer. software like amule or suns virtual box is impossible for me to install and make working. I have installed puppy with the intention of utilizing this computer on my network as separately and jointly those functions. I have been able to use umbutu as a p2p server and printer server. I would prefer not to have the software that comes with umbutu but i can play with it long enough to make it work.
I would like to see a user manual like the old dos manuals. dare i make the comparison. But the manual needs to define the terminal commands and what they do. further maybe identify conventions such as where the desktop , trashcan, device drivers, start menu, my documents, are under the directory tree, and where the actual files are for xxx program. I need to find the newbies general overview with enough dummied down explanations to make me understand how it works.
The issue i have is conflicting sources and no real good source to begin with.
puppy is different as it is root only access so most documentation is mute.
fonts
I found the fonts in both sea monkey and firefox to be horrible.
My vision is pretty good for an old toad my age, but anyway I could deal with the fonts if not for the other issues.
No Java.
Flash - finally available in version 4.3.1, but the resolution is poor and choppy. Still needs work.
WPA2 support - still waiting
Streamtuner/XMMS - where?
Supertux- where?
Chess software - where?
Open office - a huge hassle but finally, in version 4 the .sfs model is working for me. I could not get it to work in previous versions.
I'm not quite a noob, but apparently the older puppy gets the more it leans towards the debian model (nothing works without some tinkering) rather than the "just works" goal. And that's frustrating.
Noobs and regular people like me need an easy button. I want Puppy to be my primary operating system. But at the rate things are going, that will never happen. Couple more versions and people will be comparing puppy with vista's lack of functionality.
My vision is pretty good for an old toad my age, but anyway I could deal with the fonts if not for the other issues.
No Java.
Flash - finally available in version 4.3.1, but the resolution is poor and choppy. Still needs work.
WPA2 support - still waiting
Streamtuner/XMMS - where?
Supertux- where?
Chess software - where?
Open office - a huge hassle but finally, in version 4 the .sfs model is working for me. I could not get it to work in previous versions.
I'm not quite a noob, but apparently the older puppy gets the more it leans towards the debian model (nothing works without some tinkering) rather than the "just works" goal. And that's frustrating.
Noobs and regular people like me need an easy button. I want Puppy to be my primary operating system. But at the rate things are going, that will never happen. Couple more versions and people will be comparing puppy with vista's lack of functionality.
-
trailblazer_1988
- Posts: 2
- Joined: Tue 03 Nov 2009, 12:48
Hats off
I've been a puppy user since 4.0... I liked it fairly then
Recently I have been a ubuntu user, but the puppy 4.3 release really made me wonder how much efforts have been put into it. The notable improvement which helped me are:
1. Full screen mode for swf video viewing in browser
2. Firefox 3.5.pet provided by a community member here, finally worked without any depandency problems
.
Currently I use both ubuntu and puppy linux
Recently I have been a ubuntu user, but the puppy 4.3 release really made me wonder how much efforts have been put into it. The notable improvement which helped me are:
1. Full screen mode for swf video viewing in browser
2. Firefox 3.5.pet provided by a community member here, finally worked without any depandency problems
.
Currently I use both ubuntu and puppy linux
Newbies - Puppy needs YOUR help too!
Installed Puppy on older Gateway laptop. All functions seem to work and install went better than 80% smooth. At one point ended up with 2 installs - not sure how. Questions I have, since Y-e-a-r-s ago I played with UNIX - Do I need/want to add users? Do I need/want to define the subdirectories that Linux normally has? And there are a couple of programs I'd like to install but am not sure how. Mainly amateur radio applications such as XASTIR.
I originally bought a book that contained Ubuntu and Fedora, but they would not install, so I tried Puppy.
One other question - how close is Puppy's kernel to current state of the art?
Hope this feedback helps. Thanks and all the best!
Steve
I originally bought a book that contained Ubuntu and Fedora, but they would not install, so I tried Puppy.
One other question - how close is Puppy's kernel to current state of the art?
Hope this feedback helps. Thanks and all the best!
Steve
Puppy is great!
I've put it on an old Compaq Presario 6000 and now on an old HP Pavillion a296n, and both boot fast and work great.
I have a lot of experience with Dos and Windows, and a small amount of programming experience (Qbasic, Visual Basic, VBA) but very little exposure to Linux.
Puppy's working good for me. The package manager is great, and I'm trying to figure out how to install apps on my own from the command line, but haven't quite gotten it yet. But, I only just now started exploring this forum so I know I'll find the answers!
Anyhow, I love the Puppy! Right 'out of the box' (so to speak) it's fairly easy to get going and not too intimidating.
Thanks!
I've put it on an old Compaq Presario 6000 and now on an old HP Pavillion a296n, and both boot fast and work great.
I have a lot of experience with Dos and Windows, and a small amount of programming experience (Qbasic, Visual Basic, VBA) but very little exposure to Linux.
Puppy's working good for me. The package manager is great, and I'm trying to figure out how to install apps on my own from the command line, but haven't quite gotten it yet. But, I only just now started exploring this forum so I know I'll find the answers!
Anyhow, I love the Puppy! Right 'out of the box' (so to speak) it's fairly easy to get going and not too intimidating.
Thanks!
New User in Forum - New User in Puppy
Hi to all
For the first time i wanna excuse me for very bad english, i don't study this language in my life... But i can understand the technical english very well, so speaking very bad! LOL!
If this is not a problem, i need an help for first installation (i have a little xp - new Ubuntu 9.10 with Grub2) and i wanna installed Puppy near that systems!
Can i have support if i open a dedicated 3D?
For the first time i wanna excuse me for very bad english, i don't study this language in my life... But i can understand the technical english very well, so speaking very bad! LOL!
If this is not a problem, i need an help for first installation (i have a little xp - new Ubuntu 9.10 with Grub2) and i wanna installed Puppy near that systems!
Can i have support if i open a dedicated 3D?
Welcome, Diabo84, and please do not worry about English.
I'm not sure if I understand your question correctly, but if you mean to set up a system to boot XP, Ubuntu or Puppy that should not be a problem. (Of course if you have a burn-capable drive you could just run Puppy in multisession mode until you're hooked and don't want the other two ... ;-) ...).
If you still need help after trying the Puppy search engines, please open a new thread and be sure to give details of your computer and Puppy version so that it is easier for people to give you accurate information.
I'm not sure if I understand your question correctly, but if you mean to set up a system to boot XP, Ubuntu or Puppy that should not be a problem. (Of course if you have a burn-capable drive you could just run Puppy in multisession mode until you're hooked and don't want the other two ... ;-) ...).
If you still need help after trying the Puppy search engines, please open a new thread and be sure to give details of your computer and Puppy version so that it is easier for people to give you accurate information.
Kinda New. Not a puppy expert. Wrote a small Tutorial a while back below
http://yatsite.blogspot.com/2008/09/com ... ws-95.html
I don't post much here, but have been a Linux only user for some time. Hope I can contribute as I learn the ins and out of Puppy Dingo which I am running as a dual boot with Xubuntu 8.10 on a IBM A22. Happy Trails, rok
http://yatsite.blogspot.com/2008/09/com ... ws-95.html
I don't post much here, but have been a Linux only user for some time. Hope I can contribute as I learn the ins and out of Puppy Dingo which I am running as a dual boot with Xubuntu 8.10 on a IBM A22. Happy Trails, rok