Wishlist for future builds
Posted: Thu 08 Aug 2019, 18:16
Hello there!
I own multiple older computers that all run both Windows XP (for gaming) and Puppy Linux (for programming and accessing the Internet). Although I think Puppy Linux is an outstanding Linux distribution (small, elegant, fast), I have noticed some points of improvement.
For example:
1. For some reason, downloading and installing a program seems to be 10 times faster than removing a program. I would be waiting a minute to install something, and waiting 10 minutes to remove it. I don't know why this is, but I would appreciate it if the removing process could be sped up.
2. After using Kali Linux on my new laptop for a few years, I have noticed how convenient it is to install a program with a single Bash command ("apt install filezilla"). I thought: "Why doesn't Puppy Linux have this awesome feature?". It would be awesome if installing programs in Puppy Linux could be that simple as well: enter a simple command (preferably with "apt", since I am used to using apt) and install a program!
3. In Tahrpup, configuring the keyboard layout (US international with dead keys + Russian) while switching them with the right Ctrl-key and thereby lighting up the Scroll-lock LED, is possible, but a hassle. Sometimes, I configure everything the way I want, but when I test it, it's still the same, so sometimes I need to configure everything three times in a row to finally get it to work the way I want.
This is tedious, but manageable.
In later builds of Puppy Linux, however, (XenialPup and BionicPup), I don't see a possibility to do this at all. I can activate US International with deady keys, but once I add "Russian", the "dead keys" - part of the "US international" disappears, meaning that I can switch between US International and Russian, but I cannot produce letters like é, š and ž. If I don't add "Russian", I can use "US international with dead keys", but then I cannot quickly switch to Russian when I need it.
Not only would I like this bug to be fixed, but I would also like the menu of choosing your keyboard layout to be much simpler. For example, the way it is in MX Linux, is perfect. Puppy Linux could copy that style of simply choosing the layout. I would also like this system to be reliable. Once I have chosen something, I want it to work immediately. I don't want to reconfigure it another three times because it didn't work the first time.
Also, give the option for specific keyboard layouts in the beginning. Make sure that I can select "US International with dead keys" in the welcome screen. As it is now, I can only select "US international" in the welcome screen, after which I manually have to go to the advanced settings to be able to choose "US international with dead keys".
Make this process simpler, please.
4. Implement an option to "Restore default options". I have had multiple times in Puppy Linux that I accidentally changed something (like the font of the terminal). Then I thought: "Not good! Undo the changes!", but when I click on the font that the terminal window had before, it's still not the same as it was in the beginning, resulting in me, out of desperation, to make a whole new Puppy Linux saving file, just to have this single setting restored.
That is why I think it would be convenient to have an option to restore all defaults. In this case, if I do something stupid, I can just restore all defaults, meaning that all options (time, fonts, themes etcetera) change back the way they were, so that I don't have to create a whole new save file to revert one simple setting.
5. The process of copying and pasting text in the command line is pretty easy in Kali Linux, but it's a drag in Puppy Linux. I would appreciate it if you could implement the shortcuts "Ctrl + Shift + C" for copying texts in the command line and "Ctrl + Shift + V" to paste them.
6. HTOP and HardInfo don't agree with each other on RAM usage.
HTOP shows that only 66 MB of the 2011 MB RAM is used (which makes Puppy Linux more lightweight than Windows XP, which uses 107 MB), but HardInfo shows that only 1142220 KB of the 2059548 KB is free, meaning that far more RAM is being used than just 66 MB RAM. 66 MB of 2011 MB RAM is 3.3% of my RAM, while (2059548 - 1142220 = ) 917328 KB of 2059548 KB RAM is 44.5% of my RAM.
This doesn't make any sense to me. Which one of these programs do I trust? And why do they disagree with each other?
I don't know which program lies and which one tells the truth, but I know that at least one of them lies, so I would like to have this bug fixed as well. Either fix HTOP, or fix HardInfo (or both).
7. Make the RAM usage consistent.
Suppose that HTOP shows that only 66 MB RAM is used. Then I open a program. RAM usage jumps to 74 MB. After closing that program, the RAM usage drops to 70 MB, but not to 66 MB RAM, like it was before. Then I open and close GIMP (just to test) and then the RAM usage becomes 75 MB. :-/
I don't why why this happens and what causes this, but this behaviour is illogical to me. If I open a program that uses, let's say 50 MB of RAM, then why aren't all those 50 MB of RAM freed once I close that program? Why is only 45 MB freed? What happened to those 5 MBs? How can I get them back without rebooting the whole computer?
I would want this to be fixed in later builds: prevent the leak of RAM.
Windows XP doesn't have this sticky RAM problem. When I open and close a program, the RAM usage is back to its initial level (107 MB).
8. Don't make Puppy Linux resource-hungry.
I notice that with each and every version of Puppy Linux, my computer (running Puppy Linux) becomes a little bit slower. Puppy Linux Precise reacted faster than Puppy Linux Tahrpup. XenialPup became slower, and BionicPup became even slower still. I also notice the system requirements growing. First, an Intel Pentium II with 256 MB was advised to run Puppy Linux; then it became an Intel Pentium III with 512 MB of RAM, and now an Intel Pentium IV with 1 GB of RAM is advised.
I wonder: why is this happening? Why are you making Puppy Linux heavier?
One of the greatest features of Puppy Linux, is its light-weightiness and ability to run on older computer. Gradually, however, newer versions of Puppy Linux seem to require more RAM and faster processors. If this goes on, Puppy Linux will become unable to run on computers that it could easily handle in the past. There might even be a time that the newest version of Puppy Linux won't be able to run on my Intel Pentium IV 2.8 Ghz with 2 GB RAM any more, which would REALLY be a shame.
My request is: keep Puppy Linux as light as possible. Don't increase the system requirements any more than you already have. Make sure that in 10 years, my old computer can still run the latest version of Puppy Linux!
I own multiple older computers that all run both Windows XP (for gaming) and Puppy Linux (for programming and accessing the Internet). Although I think Puppy Linux is an outstanding Linux distribution (small, elegant, fast), I have noticed some points of improvement.
For example:
1. For some reason, downloading and installing a program seems to be 10 times faster than removing a program. I would be waiting a minute to install something, and waiting 10 minutes to remove it. I don't know why this is, but I would appreciate it if the removing process could be sped up.
2. After using Kali Linux on my new laptop for a few years, I have noticed how convenient it is to install a program with a single Bash command ("apt install filezilla"). I thought: "Why doesn't Puppy Linux have this awesome feature?". It would be awesome if installing programs in Puppy Linux could be that simple as well: enter a simple command (preferably with "apt", since I am used to using apt) and install a program!
3. In Tahrpup, configuring the keyboard layout (US international with dead keys + Russian) while switching them with the right Ctrl-key and thereby lighting up the Scroll-lock LED, is possible, but a hassle. Sometimes, I configure everything the way I want, but when I test it, it's still the same, so sometimes I need to configure everything three times in a row to finally get it to work the way I want.
This is tedious, but manageable.
In later builds of Puppy Linux, however, (XenialPup and BionicPup), I don't see a possibility to do this at all. I can activate US International with deady keys, but once I add "Russian", the "dead keys" - part of the "US international" disappears, meaning that I can switch between US International and Russian, but I cannot produce letters like é, š and ž. If I don't add "Russian", I can use "US international with dead keys", but then I cannot quickly switch to Russian when I need it.
Not only would I like this bug to be fixed, but I would also like the menu of choosing your keyboard layout to be much simpler. For example, the way it is in MX Linux, is perfect. Puppy Linux could copy that style of simply choosing the layout. I would also like this system to be reliable. Once I have chosen something, I want it to work immediately. I don't want to reconfigure it another three times because it didn't work the first time.
Also, give the option for specific keyboard layouts in the beginning. Make sure that I can select "US International with dead keys" in the welcome screen. As it is now, I can only select "US international" in the welcome screen, after which I manually have to go to the advanced settings to be able to choose "US international with dead keys".
Make this process simpler, please.
4. Implement an option to "Restore default options". I have had multiple times in Puppy Linux that I accidentally changed something (like the font of the terminal). Then I thought: "Not good! Undo the changes!", but when I click on the font that the terminal window had before, it's still not the same as it was in the beginning, resulting in me, out of desperation, to make a whole new Puppy Linux saving file, just to have this single setting restored.
That is why I think it would be convenient to have an option to restore all defaults. In this case, if I do something stupid, I can just restore all defaults, meaning that all options (time, fonts, themes etcetera) change back the way they were, so that I don't have to create a whole new save file to revert one simple setting.
5. The process of copying and pasting text in the command line is pretty easy in Kali Linux, but it's a drag in Puppy Linux. I would appreciate it if you could implement the shortcuts "Ctrl + Shift + C" for copying texts in the command line and "Ctrl + Shift + V" to paste them.
6. HTOP and HardInfo don't agree with each other on RAM usage.
HTOP shows that only 66 MB of the 2011 MB RAM is used (which makes Puppy Linux more lightweight than Windows XP, which uses 107 MB), but HardInfo shows that only 1142220 KB of the 2059548 KB is free, meaning that far more RAM is being used than just 66 MB RAM. 66 MB of 2011 MB RAM is 3.3% of my RAM, while (2059548 - 1142220 = ) 917328 KB of 2059548 KB RAM is 44.5% of my RAM.
This doesn't make any sense to me. Which one of these programs do I trust? And why do they disagree with each other?
I don't know which program lies and which one tells the truth, but I know that at least one of them lies, so I would like to have this bug fixed as well. Either fix HTOP, or fix HardInfo (or both).
7. Make the RAM usage consistent.
Suppose that HTOP shows that only 66 MB RAM is used. Then I open a program. RAM usage jumps to 74 MB. After closing that program, the RAM usage drops to 70 MB, but not to 66 MB RAM, like it was before. Then I open and close GIMP (just to test) and then the RAM usage becomes 75 MB. :-/
I don't why why this happens and what causes this, but this behaviour is illogical to me. If I open a program that uses, let's say 50 MB of RAM, then why aren't all those 50 MB of RAM freed once I close that program? Why is only 45 MB freed? What happened to those 5 MBs? How can I get them back without rebooting the whole computer?
I would want this to be fixed in later builds: prevent the leak of RAM.
Windows XP doesn't have this sticky RAM problem. When I open and close a program, the RAM usage is back to its initial level (107 MB).
8. Don't make Puppy Linux resource-hungry.
I notice that with each and every version of Puppy Linux, my computer (running Puppy Linux) becomes a little bit slower. Puppy Linux Precise reacted faster than Puppy Linux Tahrpup. XenialPup became slower, and BionicPup became even slower still. I also notice the system requirements growing. First, an Intel Pentium II with 256 MB was advised to run Puppy Linux; then it became an Intel Pentium III with 512 MB of RAM, and now an Intel Pentium IV with 1 GB of RAM is advised.
I wonder: why is this happening? Why are you making Puppy Linux heavier?
One of the greatest features of Puppy Linux, is its light-weightiness and ability to run on older computer. Gradually, however, newer versions of Puppy Linux seem to require more RAM and faster processors. If this goes on, Puppy Linux will become unable to run on computers that it could easily handle in the past. There might even be a time that the newest version of Puppy Linux won't be able to run on my Intel Pentium IV 2.8 Ghz with 2 GB RAM any more, which would REALLY be a shame.
My request is: keep Puppy Linux as light as possible. Don't increase the system requirements any more than you already have. Make sure that in 10 years, my old computer can still run the latest version of Puppy Linux!