Ecopup 0.7.3.2 - Beta release now with AUTOMATED INSTALLER!

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richard.a
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#16 Post by richard.a »

Robert, I have downloaded the ISO but as yet haven't had the time do anything about it.

I'm looking at seeing if I can offer a mirror download for you but nothing set up as yet.

There is a suggestion I'd like to make for better compatibility. Desktop icon size on MS Windows has always been 32px x 32px.

I've created a directory of 32x32 and 24x24 for use with older laptops, and I'm wondering if when I get yours up and running if you'd like me to create a 32x32 icon directory for your desktop icons, and send it to you?

Get back to you later as I'm headed for bed right now, and I'm a bit busy for the next week or so. I should also take a further look at the menu idea we were discussing some months ago. Nobody ever switches window managers in the environments you and I talk about, so editing the IceWM menu should be straightforward.


Enjoy :)

Richard
[i]Have you noticed editing is always needed for the inevitable typos that weren't there when you hit the "post" button?[/i]

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jamalexa
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installer video

#17 Post by jamalexa »

ecomoney wrote:While all this talk of installers was going on, our Lead Developer, (a very talented programmer from Australia) has been working on something that I think is a bit of a first for any linux distro (correct me if Im wrong). This is what will happen when the next ecopup cd is inserted into a running windows machine (95,98,98se,me,2000,NT,xp and Vista). :D

http://ecomoney.eu/ecopup/screenshots/i ... review.avi

This is still testing, and already weve altered the final screen to give instructions. Any more suggestions would be very helpful.


I was curious what happened to the planned installer?

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ecomoney
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#18 Post by ecomoney »

Hi jamalexa - Im afraid we didnt posess the resources to keep gekko on long enough to finish it. We do have the origional files to update, but its been that long since Ive programmed windows to do anything with them (I used to be a professional VB/Access programmer....before I saw the light). They are stored on an old hard disk somewhere and I will upload them...once I have a perminant desktop development computer again....I keep selling them :-)

Richard...yes I didint realise about the icon size but do now you mention it. A change of icon size would necessitate a change of default wallpaper (as it has the catagory stripes). Many of our users have problems with their eyesight so I think the bigger icons would suit them. Generally speaking as long as customers see the "teletubby" wallpaper and the blue and green theme then theyve got what they expect and pay up :-)

Something that would be useful for you to do is if you would go through the menu listings in /root/.icewm/menu and organise them a bit better. One of the big problems for "linux newbs" is knowing which package does what. I think that the form of [purpose] - [function] would be the most easily understood. for example

[Addressbook - Seamonker]
[FTP Server - BetaFTP]
..etc etc

The multimedia menu is particularly large and could do with some subdivisions.

Ive done a quick and nasty update to the restore function for the next version, hopefully this will eliminate the bug where the eco_save.2fs file is deleted before it is discovered there is no backup to restore from!!!!

Code: Select all

### Restore eco_save.2fs file
### 2008 - Rob Simpson/Ecomoney Systems

# Check to see if there is something to restore from
if [ -f /initrd/mnt/dev_save/ecopup.zip]
  then
    gxmessage "Restore is about to start - DO NOT INTERRUPT THIS PROCESS!!!! Computer will restart when complete"
    # File exists, do the restore procedure
    rm /initrd/mnt/dev_save/eco_save.2fs
    unzip /initrd/mnt/dev_save/ecopup.zip 
fi
reboot
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ttuuxxx
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#19 Post by ttuuxxx »

Since your pup is so large maybe include gnome, then you could have the full XP menu :) you can get the menu from-->
http://www.gtk-apps.org/content/show.ph ... tent=93807


ttuuxxx
Attachments
93807-1.jpg
(54.09 KiB) Downloaded 1379 times
Last edited by ttuuxxx on Thu 08 Jan 2009, 14:08, edited 1 time in total.
http://audio.online-convert.com/ <-- excellent site
http://samples.mplayerhq.hu/A-codecs/ <-- Codec Test Files
http://html5games.com/ <-- excellent HTML5 games :)

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ecomoney
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Menu

#20 Post by ecomoney »

Supurb! But does this really require all of the gnome libraries to work? It is apparently a gtk/python script, could it be got working in XFCE? I for one would be very interested in getting it going.

The trick is here is to get something saleable out of an old computer that redmund have decided in their wisdom to force users to replace, thus denying them a sale! If we give what the customers expect (i.e. a menu like this) without all the virus/slowdown hassles they are going to totally go for it.
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Sage
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#21 Post by Sage »

Someone continues to violate the Prime Directive with his oversize pictures. This is unmutual - it makes life uncomfortable for the silent majority. Please desist.

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ttuuxxx
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#22 Post by ttuuxxx »

Thats why they made a scrollbar sage enjoy :)
I really hate that 600 max thing, life was good until it was changed for a few minorities the majorities suffer. But once and awhile we sneek one in. LOL
ttuuxxx
http://audio.online-convert.com/ <-- excellent site
http://samples.mplayerhq.hu/A-codecs/ <-- Codec Test Files
http://html5games.com/ <-- excellent HTML5 games :)

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Fossil
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#23 Post by Fossil »

ttuuxxx
I really hate that 600 max thing, life was good until it was changed for a few minorities the majorities suffer. But once and awhile we sneek one in. LOL
Speaking as one of the "few minorities" who still utilize a normal monitor - and as one who has problems with eyesight - which make scrolling back and forth to read extended text a pain in the ass, I consider your statement to be not only inconsiderate of others, but verging on the arrogant!

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richard.a
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#24 Post by richard.a »

Actually I agree with fossil and sage.

I tend to avoid lists where images wider than 800 are posted. I also resize images for webpages I create to a maximum of 800 for the same reason.

And this specific thread is about utilising perfectly functional hardware that isn't state-of-the-art, actually.

So maybe if whoever posted those huge images likes to resize them it'll stop us all from abandoning Robert's thread which I personally find interesting.

That's where moderators who actually moderated could do something... redirect the links of over-sized images to be thumbnails with a click to open in another window/tab.

Just my thoughts. I am occasionally wrong, lol <grinz>
[i]Have you noticed editing is always needed for the inevitable typos that weren't there when you hit the "post" button?[/i]

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ttuuxxx
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#25 Post by ttuuxxx »

frig guys, you think I have nothing better to do then to go back to a website, download the image, resize the image, upload the image and respond to back to all your cry baby like attitudes over a stupid image size, really I have much better and productive things to do for puppy then sit around here and run when you bark.
ttuuxxx
ps your welcome and I only resize the image for ecomoney because I wouldn't want to harm any of his efforts.
http://audio.online-convert.com/ <-- excellent site
http://samples.mplayerhq.hu/A-codecs/ <-- Codec Test Files
http://html5games.com/ <-- excellent HTML5 games :)

Sage
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#26 Post by Sage »

Thank you for your cooperation, on behalf of all those less fortunate in one respect or another.

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Lobster
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#27 Post by Lobster »

your welcome and I only resize the image for ecomoney because I wouldn't want to harm any of his efforts.
Thank you for your cooperation, on behalf of all those less fortunate in one respect or another
Some of us use Puppy because of the courtesy.
It is a mark of respect

Whatever it costs.
It is worth it.
Thanks guys.

Let us bring Phoenix back from the dead
http://puppylinux.org/community/puppy-c ... ck/phoenix
Whatever it costs.
It is worth it.
Thanks guys.
Puppy Raspup 8.2Final 8)
Puppy Links Page http://www.smokey01.com/bruceb/puppy.html :D

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Fossil
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#28 Post by Fossil »

This lachrymose and myopic mortal extends grateful thanks to all interested parties. :)

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richard.a
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#29 Post by richard.a »

ttuuxxx wrote:frig guys, you think I have nothing better to do then to go back to a website, download the image, resize the image, upload the image and respond to back to all your cry baby like attitudes over a stupid image size, really I have much better and productive things to do for puppy then sit around here and run when you bark.
Do you think I have nothing better to do than to go through what are often pages of slide right and then left on not a 14-inch, but a 19inch monitor, while following a thread? No, I scroll directly to the bottom and remove myself from the thread.

I have better things to do with my time.

Those suggested practices (rules on some forums) are so that we can all get along, thank-you. Called courtesy. What the poster is happy doing during his or her spare time is irrelevant to the people who are browsing from the top of the page downwards.
ttuuxxx wrote:ps your welcome and I only resize the image for ecomoney because I wouldn't want to harm any of his efforts.
That's why I'm still here.

BTW thank-you for considering someone else and resizing the image. Saying thank-you is also old-fashioned courtesy.

If Firefox's handy trick of sizing images to fit the browser window also worked in phpBB forums, this problem wouldn't have occurred.

I've posted this link to the larger image I saved last night just in case.
[i]Have you noticed editing is always needed for the inevitable typos that weren't there when you hit the "post" button?[/i]

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ecomoney
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Squabbles

#30 Post by ecomoney »

Hi all, going by our customers, most use a 1024x800 screen, and a broadband connection of a minimum 512kb/s. I realise a lot of people in other countries are on dialup and this can be a problem to them. Im assuming most ecopup users are also broadband users (judging by the size of the ISO!). Weve had 444GB of download THIS WEEK mostly from the release so we must be doing something right - "linux newbs" very rarely post on linux forums believe it or not. "Newbs" are, in our considerable experience of them, quite superficial and like lots of pretty pictures of what they expect a computer to look like...hence the xp "teletubby" theme of Ecopup. Its what gets us paid.

Going even further off topic for a moment...Ive always had the philosophy that technology when used correctly can overcome any problem, and make sure that all "minorities" (i.e. the majority) are catered for. As former phpbb board designers Ive often thought that what would help the puppy community considerably is if we added some modifications to this board. I did mention this some time ago when I first joined. Phpbb message board is an open source project and like firefox can have a great many customisations added to it, including one that will allow photographs to be uploaded easily, with a setting in the users control panel to let individual users choose to see only previews of an image if they require..

Perhaps this time and effort would be better spent being put into making this happen?

I will get everyone started by starting the discussion thread here

Now...back to Ecopup!

Weve also found since then that setting up the internet to connect automatically at bootup via the internet connection wizard does not work, and the user must run the wizard each time they load. it seems the cause of this is the eth0mode file in /etc seems to be deleted at each boot. We dont know why this is happening.

We havnt had the time to implement the above updates/bugfixes to the alpha package, if anyyone would like to volunteer we would be very grateful (and perhaps even pervert the natural course of open source development by offering a small incentive for someone to do it!). We would much rather spend a few hours recycling a computer and selling it to earn the money to pay someone to fix these problems.

Currently were working on an alternative currency application for facebook which considering the current financial situation at the moment is pretty urgent :-)

Thank you all for your interest.
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Libretto100ct
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#31 Post by Libretto100ct »

I have had some computers that did not appear to save the Network config info, when in reality it does. But for whatever reason it doesn't connect back up at reboot. The way I solve this in Puppy 3 & 4 series is to find the config file for the wifi card or etho and copy it on to the /etc/rclocal file.


#Libretto100ct ADDS............
/etc/network-wizard/wireless/profiles/"my wifi card Mac address"

You just need to find where that specific file is for the wireless or ethernet card is. In another words it would have to be set for each computer. I've yet to find a universal fix, though I keep trying anyway.

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ecomoney
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#32 Post by ecomoney »

Hi Libretto....I think this is what I will have to do, opy the eth0mode file to the end of etc/rc.d/rc.local. In fact, I think it might be even better to have ecopup try to connect automatically via dhcp on eth0 anyway, since this is the configuration with approx 4 out of five of our clients. I know other distros do this and it has been suggested for puppy also.
Some clients use wireless laptops (increasingly so) so I would have to set these up manually.

Increasingly Ive had to install puppy 4.1.2. for people, just because this gets them online with various problems of wireless/screen compatibility and such like. I would really like to try and upgrade ecopup's "core" to puppy (or even puppy 4.2CE when it comes out). Ive had a few attempts at doing the automatic upgrade (after renaming the eco_save.2fs pup_save.2fs) but it tends to go horribly wrong.
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AnewJeff
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#33 Post by AnewJeff »

Eco$,

I tried visiting your website today and received "Site Attack" warnings. Any idea what's going on there? I visited your website hoping to get a better idea of what Eco$ystems is all about.

I have a e-cycling company in the States and am utilizing puppy to achieve a similary mission. I'm using Muppy 084 as a base and have customized it from there with: FF3, OO3, Compiz, etc. I had a similar idea as you and added an educational suite; however, I used KDE's Edutainment Suite instead of GCompris (after reducing KDE to about 100MB). In total, it's about the same size as Ecopup and is running on P3-500+. Still working out some bugs though...

I'm downloading your pup now and am anxious to see it. I haven't published my pup yet, but I'd be open to sharing if you're interested in comparing notes.

Jeff

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ecomoney
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#34 Post by ecomoney »

A new useability bug.... powerpoint .ppt files are not opening with openoffice. Will add to the list of updates.

Flash is still causing problems, there are basically three versions of flash 9 as far as I can tell. One will do full screen, one will work better on older computers, some skip frames, another works well but crashes firefox frequently. There are other problems as sites like facebook will only accept the latest flash (9.0.114 I think). Flash has always been a royal PITA due to its closed source, resource hungry nature. Im thinking of attempting to write some sort of script that will allow ecopup to switch between the different versions with a click of a button, but I need to do some more testing and evaluation of all three versions (and maybe even beta10).

Hi anowjeff, I would definetely be interested in comparing notes. Have you tested your pup and researched it on real newbs? Having real-life access to any computer programs eventual users is critical to its success. Its also a painful fact that end-users are used to the limitations of Windows, and when they "buy" ino a new operating system they want it to be as much like their expectations as possible (the teletubby wallpaper works wonders here).

Yes, sorry about the website, our servage account got hacked (as did puppy linux's own servage site, I cant find the link in the search though). Ive cleaned the site up again but google still blacklists it. Im a bit stuck actually as to how to fix it. I did have interviews planned for linux.com and other publications, but theyve shunned me while our website is still in this state.
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Truth Seeker
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http://www.ecomoney.co.uk/

#35 Post by Truth Seeker »

When I try to go to this web site: http://www.ecomoney.co.uk/ I get a page warning that it has been reported as an Attack Site.
Using Firefox 3.0.5 with NoScript and Adblock Plus and Downloadhelper and Foxmarks addons installed. Have not seen this warning before.
Is this a joke or what?

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