Back to Windows for me

[samfissure]

It has been said in this post and elsewhere that Linux is not Windows. It has also been said that Linux is not ready to be an alternative as a desktop operating system. I think the comment that is missing is that the user is not ready for Linux.

Excellent observation, IMHO. I did my first Linux distro about 5 years ago (Mandrake 9.1) with which I kicked around for a bit, but the PC didn't have a nic so my use of it was limited, Back then I was thinking it was free windows, but soon realized I was wrong! So i kind of walked away from it. I installed puppy on an old Gateway 2500 laptop and it took a lot of reading and trial and error to get the 3com nic working. Then I decided I wanted wireless so I could get online while being in the same room as my wife. SO I got an Edimax wireless card since I had read it worked 'out of the box' with Linux. NOT QUITE! But I finally wrestled around with it and got it working though I'm still having problems when I try using encryption.

The point being Gary is correct - I wasn't ready for Linux 5 years ago, am I now? I believe so. But it takes a huge shift in your paradigm to make the switch from Windows and a LOT of learning.

I'd urge you to hang in there and ask many questions, that'show one learns.

Cheers!

[WhoDo]

what would aj say ?

"Ever heard of Google, ffs?!?"

[nap44]

Hello John biles,

What a great idea!

There must be a lot of ppl out there dealing with the same frustrations as me. Not everyone needs all the options built into the distros. Just a clean mean working machine. And those instructions could be posted in the forum. This could be a good base to then build knowledge and assist the learning curve. A good working platform. I stress working!

Also, I didn't say XP is great. Just good to me with what I do. Never fails, but maybe I'm just lucky and don't stretch the OS to it's limits.

My attraction to Linux and particularly Puppy is twofold.
1. It's the brainchild of one person, BK in particular. A thinker not a follower. And I like that.

2. The ability to run a complete operating system, together with personal configuration and space for files on a single CD/DVD or USB or SD card has to be a major plus. And all the other benefits too many to mention.

It's the portability that interests me.

Cheers

Hello Everyone and nap44,
Here's an idea? What if nap44 listed all his hardware and we tried to see if it would be possible to get it all working.
It might be easier than we think.

It might serve as an interest experiment to future Linux User's?

Also nap44 if Windows XP is so great, why are you trying out different versions of Linux?

[nap44]

Hi Mark,
It will take a while for me to find the German submenus as I just made a note of it on my CD cover, so when I get time I'll try to find it again. It was in ver 008 and it was the Minisys version. That I know, but you have released a later version, so it's now rather academic. Also was the EN version BTW.

Just had a look at ver 008.2 and it looks very nice. A little messy in bootup sequence compared to other Puppys and it autoconnects to my broadband which I like a lot. Have not spent a lot of time on it yet but a couple of things have surfaced on my setup. Installed a pet package which required a restart of X according to the dialogue box. But doing this crashed and hung my computer, needing a turnoff at the power point to recover. Also this happened with 008 so it may be something to do with my setup. But other puppies restart X server without problems.

Also,
Click->Multimedia->MultimediaPlayer-.GxineMediaPlayer....Nothing happens.
Click->Multimedia->xawtv.....nothing happens.
Click->Internet->Web Browser->SeaMonkey........nothing happens.

These are just the things I have noted but I have not tried all the various programs. Need a spare week to do that.

HTH,
Cheers

you need to provide more details, please.
If you have german submenus, there are 2 possible reasons:

a) this is a bug.
I would need more info, which program, and maybe a screenshot.

b) you use a "DE" Iso, not the "EN" Iso.
DE is for german only, EN is english.
You cannot use the DE Iso completely in english, as some programs have german hardcoded in it.
Please use EN.
I also would need to now which version you use (008 , 008.2), Standard or Mini.

Mark

[MU]

we will release version 008.3 hopefully next weekend.
It includes several improvements, e.g. no more "dead" entries in the menu.
Also the menu is updated without restarting X.
I just finished the draft of the german website for it, must still translate it to english.
http://dotpups.de/Minisys-Linux/draft/

I'll anounce that version in the derivates subforum, when it is ready.

Mark

[nap44]

Hi Mark,

Look forward to the new release. And just to make your distro near perfect, for me anyway, could you include:
Fotox viewer as in BK’s distro. Easy and simple and workable. User friendly. Please!

Latest Cups that includes my CanonPixma MP160. Yours only has MP150. There is a later Cups that also has MP170 printers as I’ve seen it in other distros. Pleeeese!

Skype installed and working and hopefully support for my Logitech Webcam. Also a bigger Pleeeese!
Ekiga as an alternative, but I’ve never got it to work. Am stopped at the message. “The detection of your NAT type is finished. Ekiga detected Symmetric NAT and it goes on from there with a long message none of which makes any sense to me and I don’t know what to do from there. Echo test to 500@ekiga.net fails obviously because it’s not set up correctly.

Wish list:- Options to Automount drives and auto connect to net via DHCP.

I’m sure these changes would endear your distro to many others out there who are having the same issues as me.

If you can’t accommodate any of these changes at this late stage, then congratulations anyway for a well thought through distro.

Ps. Icedock, whilst good eye candy seems a bit superfluous to me. It’s too small to be of any use and most of the info is already on screen anyway in a see through table.

Cheers

we will release version 008.3 hopefully next weekend.
It includes several improvements, e.g. no more "dead" entries in the menu.
Also the menu is updated without restarting X.
I just finished the draft of the german website for it, must still translate it to english.
http://dotpups.de/Minisys-Linux/draft/

I'll anounce that version in the derivates subforum, when it is ready.

Mark

[Sage]

auto connect to net via DHCP

Whatever you do, Mark, you probably don't want to do this! It's a curse. Writing auto dhcp can halt the booting process dead. It's been that way for many decades. Many Europeans and professionals in the USA benefit from StaticIP; this is the way it always was. Not sure about Oz & Asia. K.I.S.S.

[raffy]

I keep eth0mode in /etc and autoDHCP works at first bootup. In newer Puppy version, you press ENTER to halt the autoDHCP.

[Lobster]

Whatever you do, Mark, you probably don't want to do this! It's a curse.

OM YA HA HUM (nullifies any curse)

Most modern distros use DHCP quite successfully
to the delight and now almost expectation of users.
Bless the End User of Penguin Power to drive forward
the usability and ease of use . . .

Also I would have thought most Muppy users would be using
machines were DHCP was the norm?

Is Raffys point a fair one? Or is some sort of
command line interrupt required on the initial boot?

[Sage]

Sounds like you chose the wrong phone company! No need to suffer in the UK any longer, nor subscribe to BT's £18bn hole in their accounts? You can get StaticIP with Tiscali for no extra - they pay a premium in the USA for that, apparently.

[Pizzasgood]

Writing auto dhcp can halt the booting process dead.

Honest question: Does it actually lock up the machine, or just delay booting while it sits there waiting like a ninny? If the former, is it the dhcpcd command itself that freezes or does it lock everything up?

My gut feeling is that it's a delay, but I want to make sure. If it is a delay, there's a very simple solution: run it in parallel. Then if it works it works, and if it doesn't there's no harm done. (Or if there is harm, please tell me what it is, as we could try healing that harm after a failed attempt).

EDIT: I remember there was once a bug with running the network script in parallel. I think it got fixed. If not, a fix or workaround would need to be found.

[MU]

I think I made no changes here, this should be the same as in Puppy 3.
Puppy 3 backgrounds dhcpcd.
But on my system, it does not autoconnect.

For this reason in muppy-Server, I add such lines:

Code: Select all

rm -f /etc/dhcpc/dhcpcd-eth0.pid
rm -f /etc/dhcpc/dhcpcd-eth1.pid
ifconfig eth0 up
ifconfig eth1 up
dhcpcd &

Then I get connected immedeatly to my router.
But this is only in the Server-version, as servers are usually connected via eth0, and not via wireless.

------------------
skype:
will be in 008.3, and muppywebcam loads camera-modules (gspca and pwc).
So they should be immedeatly available in skype.
The rest I cannot promise yet.
I just hunt bugs now for the final release, and hesitate to add new stuff (that must be translated, too, for conistency).

Mark

[ttuuxxx]

Before making a "Back to Windows for me" section section and kind of stomping on people like myself who donates well over 1000hrs a year to Puppy, Maybe next time just ask?
I made this printer package for your model of printer back in Jan 2008 so install it and enjoy:)
Next I'll be releasing a version of Fire Hydrant retro 3.01 in the next few days, It will have tons of updated programs and yes I installed Fotox. I will have 2 releases of it 1 with java and one without, the one with java will have Skype with video, Fostwire and maybe a few small programs. Its going to big somewhat maybe 160MB without JAVA. Because I have video editing and few nice things Also I did some firefox tweaks that actually work excellent, I can now load up www.murga-linux.com under 2 seconds, and thats with firefox 2 series where before it would take around 10 seconds. Plus I added a multi-thread downloader so for example I was downloading one of bigbass packages from my server at 1200kb/s when usual its around 400kb/s anyways Its faster than any windows Internet Explorer. LOL
Most of the developers here do tend to help out if they can. Anyways here's the printer driver
http://www.puppylinux.ca/ttuuxxx/index. ... P160460%2F
And I'll try to include other things that you were looking for.
ttuuxxx

Ps if You give give a wish List point form that would help:) example
- printer drivers for Canon pixma 160
- skype with video
- Logitec cam drivers ????Which model do you have????

[nap44]

Thanks for taking my requests onboard. Whatever you can do will be appreciated.
Cheers

I think I made no changes here, this should be the same as in Puppy 3.
Puppy 3 backgrounds dhcpcd.
But on my system, it does not autoconnect.

For this reason in muppy-Server, I add such lines:

Code: Select all

rm -f /etc/dhcpc/dhcpcd-eth0.pid
rm -f /etc/dhcpc/dhcpcd-eth1.pid
ifconfig eth0 up
ifconfig eth1 up
dhcpcd &

Then I get connected immedeatly to my router.
But this is only in the Server-version, as servers are usually connected via eth0, and not via wireless.

------------------
skype:
will be in 008.3, and muppywebcam loads camera-modules (gspca and pwc).
So they should be immedeatly available in skype.
The rest I cannot promise yet.
I just hunt bugs now for the final release, and hesitate to add new stuff (that must be translated, too, for conistency).

Mark

[nap44]

Hi ttuuxxx,
I acknowledge the good work you and all the developers do in the Puppy environment, so please don't take offence. And thanks for the heads up on the printer package. Look forward to the next version of Fire Hydrant with all the bells and whistles. Might just be the complete package.

My camera is a Logitech QuickCam Express/Go and the driver version is 11.5.0.1145 according to the info in win. Unfortunately that's all the data I can find on it.

Cheers

Before making a "Back to Windows for me" section section and kind of stomping on people like myself who donates well over 1000hrs a year to Puppy, Maybe next time just ask?
I made this printer package for your model of printer back in Jan 2008 so install it and enjoy:)
Next I'll be releasing a version of Fire Hydrant retro 3.01 in the next few days, It will have tons of updated programs and yes I installed Fotox. I will have 2 releases of it 1 with java and one without, the one with java will have Skype with video, Fostwire and maybe a few small programs. Its going to big somewhat maybe 160MB without JAVA. Because I have video editing and few nice things Also I did some firefox tweaks that actually work excellent, I can now load up www.murga-linux.com under 2 seconds, and thats with firefox 2 series where before it would take around 10 seconds. Plus I added a multi-thread downloader so for example I was downloading one of bigbass packages from my server at 1200kb/s when usual its around 400kb/s anyways Its faster than any windows Internet Explorer. LOL
Most of the developers here do tend to help out if they can. Anyways here's the printer driver
http://www.puppylinux.ca/ttuuxxx/index. ... P160460%2F
And I'll try to include other things that you were looking for.
ttuuxxx

Ps if You give give a wish List point form that would help:) example
- printer drivers for Canon pixma 160
- skype with video
- Logitec cam drivers ????Which model do you have????

[MrToad]

Hi ttuuxxx,

Off topic but...

Any reason why you decided to go for a new version of Fire Hydrant retro 3.01 and not the standard 3.01? Just intrigued.

I am really looking forward to this new release from you. Your current 117 MB 3.01 with jwm (no java) is doing a smashing job on my boxen (and those of a fellow Puppy-enthusiast here in the same town) so I can't wait to try out your latest creation!

Regards,

MrToad

[ttuuxxx]

Hi ttuuxxx,

Off topic but...

Any reason why you decided to go for a new version of Fire Hydrant retro 3.01 and not the standard 3.01? Just intrigued.

I am really looking forward to this new release from you. Your current 117 MB 3.01 with jwm (no java) is doing a smashing job on my boxen (and those of a fellow Puppy-enthusiast here in the same town) so I can't wait to try out your latest creation!

Regards,

MrToad

Well the reason why I'm picking on the "Retro" version is because the retro version are produced for older PC's that don't run well with the latest Kernel, So with this in mind I decided to try to make the most advanced puppy to date, Well software wise, Plus some functionality, Like the Firefox fixes, Originally I had it planned to be around 90MB which I did succeed in doing, But then I figured "aaahhhhh next time:)" So I went to town, It has that dvd program you wanted included plus many more I'll include a screenshot
ttuuxxx

[MrToad]

ttuuxxx...

By any chance do you wear a red suit and a long white beard?

Thanks!!!

MrToad

[Sage]

the reason why I'm picking on the "Retro" version is because the retro version are produced for older PC's that don't run well with the latest Kernel

Not so sure. P4beta1 is about as good as we've seen for a very long while and runs on all my old junk. It's smaller, too, which has to be good news?

[ttuuxxx]

the reason why I'm picking on the "Retro" version is because the retro version are produced for older PC's that don't run well with the latest Kernel

Not so sure. P4beta1 is about as good as we've seen for a very long while and runs on all my old junk. It's smaller, too, which has to be good news?

Yeah I know what you mean Sage, People still have problems with the latest kernels, its like the retro kernel also, its the only kernel that doesn't work on my newest pc, but works fine on my 2 other dual cores amd am2's. Well I can say one thing, this version isn't small. really it should be installed on a harddrive or you'll need tons of ram to do video processing. When I tried it the temp file was using ram, so a 700MB movie would take 700MB of ram, I guess I should of had changed the temp location to the hard drive daaaaaa.LOL Never did video processing on puppy before
ttuuxxx