[IDEA] First Boot Setup GUI

[trio]

I am thinking of creating a GUI that pops up only at first boot (along with woof woof welcome note) so Newbs don't need to click around and looking here and there, just follow the buttons...I need Inputs though:

1. Do you think It's necessary? -- edit: NO!
2. I need to know what triggers the woof welcome note so it's only activated once on first boot only -- Edit, I know -->/usr/sbin/delayedrun

just do like this in that file (for remasters):

line 60:
$BAREVIEW file:///usr/share/doc/welcome1stboot.htm
pcp &

3. If you ever use TinyMe, then you know exactly what I mean..so I also needs inputs for the priorities:
a. Network setup
b. Sound setup
c. Locales and timezones and mouse
d.?
e.?

Thanks

[ecomoney]

Ive done some research and some mockups here

http://www.murga-linux.com/puppy/viewtopic.php?t=39091

[trio]

Thanks for your input ecomoney, but that's not what I mean. Making a Gui before X starts is far from my league, what I mean is, a gui along with woof woof welcome note, so it won't include the xorg wizard and kkeyboard setup, because they've been setup before X starts. Have you ever use, tinyMe linux? It's kinda official/professional looking..

[Max Uglee]

I really like that idea. One thing that would be nice to include in the GUI would also be test buttons. Play the dog barking to test sound, test eth0 or whatever its called for network, ping google.com to test internet, etc

This is kind of off topic but not completely. Every other distro, or OS for that matter, are better at detecting your network settings automatically. I think that if Auto DHCP were enabled by default it would spare 90% of new users from having to figure out the network settings. Maybe there is a reason why this isn't done?

I might have a look at TinyMe if I get some time.

Keep us posted, I would definitely be willing to test something like this.

[floborg]

I really like that idea. One thing that would be nice to include in the GUI would also be test buttons. Play the dog barking to test sound, test eth0 or whatever its called for network, ping google.com to test internet, etc

This is kind of off topic but not completely. Every other distro, or OS for that matter, are better at detecting your network settings automatically. I think that if Auto DHCP were enabled by default it would spare 90% of new users from having to figure out the network settings. Maybe there is a reason why this isn't done?

I might have a look at TinyMe if I get some time.

Keep us posted, I would definitely be willing to test something like this.

I think the logic behind no autoconnection might be that Puppy won't necessarily know whether it should try wireless, LAN, or dial-up. Also to shave a few seconds off of the boot time. Still, most other distros take a stab at making a wired LAN connection automatically. I'm not sure why we couldn't have that in an ultra-newbie-friendly Puplet.

Automagic is the easiest for newbies, as long as there's a quick way to try and fix things that didn't work once the desktop is up. I like the approach of Slax - at least when it comes to keyboard and video settings. It just goes for a default, but offers an ultra-quick keyboard layout switcher and video tuner right in the taskbar.

[ecomoney]

Thanks for your input ecomoney, but that's not what I mean. Making a Gui before X starts is far from my league

That depend what league you put yourself in!

Just make X start (automatically 800x600x16, detected mouse and US keyboard), then present a dialogue to edit these default settings. This is much more simple, and smaller.

An puppy pfix=textsetup boot parameter would provide a return to the origional behaviour. PG can help with this.

A worthy demonstration of your talents Trio, I would be happy to Test In Puppy 2.14ce Phoenix

For the setup of wireless, I suggest that a check in the scripts "defaultchat"/"defaultbrowser" be made using a "ping www.google.co.uk", if no connection present, then offer to run the internet connection wizard. This is an observation from watching a great many linux newbies....they are already used to this behaviour from Mac/Windoze, and it is used in many other distros too.

Remember, the best developers are the ones that make the things that Puppy most needs

[amigo]

You may find one of these programs useful for setting up or testing X setups:
http://distro.ibiblio.org/pub/linux/dis ... gTest/0.3/

http://distro.ibiblio.org/pub/linux/dis ... testx-0.1/

XorgTest is a hacked version of an old redhat program which uses a TUI program to step the user through configuring the xorg.conf file and lets them test the settings before finalizing or lets them try new settings.

testx is just the xorg tester which I split out from the main program. It can be used with other settings programs. This program allows for testing without having to have the user press CTL-ALT-BACKSPACE to kill the xserver. It also allows you to test new settings while still running your main session. It does this by running the tests on a new virtual terminal/display.When run, it tries to start a session on VT :9 and shows a small gtk prompt/program which says something like:
Can you see this? If so, click OK.
The test program is waiting for this OK to know that the test has succeeded. Otherwise it times out an returns control to the program/script which called it.

[jamesjeffries2]

i am looking at doing a similar thing for my thinpup puplet. just a basic gui asking whether thay want ot set up, net work etc.

could even just add the puppy setup wizard to the programs that boot on the first run. shouldnt be too hard to add that in.

I am also looking at making a command line set up for these on first run, in the same way that the X setup etc. works. again shouldnt be too hard, just need to examine the boot scripts

[Max Uglee]

Just make X start (automatically 800x600x16, detected mouse and US keyboard), then present a dialogue to edit these default settings. This is much more simple, and smaller.

An puppy pfix=textsetup boot parameter would provide a return to the origional behaviour. PG can help with this.

I think that is a very good idea. It would be much less intimidating for new users. Others that already know Puppy could use the pfix=textsetup if they feel the need and couldn't complain about it being "dumbed down."

This is an observation from watching a great many linux newbies....they are already used to this behaviour from Mac/Windoze, and it is used in many other distros too.

I agree, they like shiny things and get scared off by text based setups. I have seen it first hand many times myself. They automatically think it is something from 1995. I know that XP has a text based installer but that is to install it to a hard drive and it is really only text based throughout the partitioning part and copying the files over. The actual setup uses a GUI.

[ecomoney]

They automatically think it is something from 1995

In my experience they automatically think its the Windows Blue Screen of Death!!! Not a good way to start a puppy career.

If I can a developer willing to code this up, I will be including it in the official community edition Im working on now. If it already exists and is tested, then there really would be no reason not to include it in Standard puppy too.

"Concealing" the more advanced features of linux to avoid newbie confusion, does not necessarily mean taking out the "bells and whistles" that developers like!