[Issue]Woof "colourscheme" makes monitor appear "broken"

This is where you post about usability issues (not bugs) in pre-release versions of Puppy 5.x (alphas, betas, rcs). Usability issues are things like poor contrast in the themes, non-ergonomic button layouts, unintuitive application behavior, etc.
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tasmod
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#16 Post by tasmod »

ecomoney, if you're getting bombarded, then don't bother with them.

If you have a particular theme in mind then please pm me and I will do my best to make it for you.

Dejan is also a kind host for many themes and icons, you should perhaps look at the 'eye candy' threads in Additional software sub forum. Bet there's one there you will like.

Set up theme then remaster. new CD with your theme.

I think Barry is right to continue on with grey theme to distinguish the test phases of the Woof builds.

I have two laptops running the test versions at moment in other room, unfortunately the one PC I want to test on has a wireless keyboard which isn't recognised at boot :(

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ecomoney
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#17 Post by ecomoney »

You are right Tasmod.... :cry:

Im not so concerned about the theme from solely my own point of view, I know from 4.2 series that an attractive theme does much to draw new users in mainstream puppy, this is very worth bothering with IMHO. I understand (now) about the colourscheme being used to differentiate during the testing process.

USB keyboards (which I assume the wireless one is) are not recognised by GRUB as it just does not have that technical capability AFAIK, is this not recognized by the xorgwizard script also?
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#18 Post by sikpuppy »

GRUB is the Grand Unified Boot Loader. It's function is to bridge the gap between the disk drive being initialised and the drive being useful.

Grub does not do anything else. It does not cook your breakfast, it will not ever make you happy; In short it has no function worthy of making your keyboard, mouse, graphics tablet or anything even remotely resembling your input mediums make sense to Puppy.

You need Xorg for that. And your BIOS.

Set your BIOS to register Legecy (or any) USB Mouse/Keyboard. Your fans and detractors will love you for it.

And so will I.
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#19 Post by ecomoney »

sikpuppy wrote:Set your BIOS to register Legecy (or any) USB Mouse/Keyboard
Ahhh! so thats what is for! Its still a pain to have to set this though....about time it was non-legacy.
Last edited by ecomoney on Thu 04 Jun 2009, 16:26, edited 2 times in total.
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#20 Post by ttuuxxx »

The Black & White Theme It also bothers me also :), But If you ever read Barry's Blog, He really likes it, and the last time I check he's the boss, Change the theme and do a remaster. Thats all it needs.
ttuuxxx
Last edited by ttuuxxx on Sat 06 Jun 2009, 04:57, edited 1 time in total.
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#21 Post by ecomoney »

Ttuuxxx, when it comes to some things, you can be such a N00B!

Theme/icons/wallpaper its all the same to the Linux newbie, its how good it looks overall that decides whether they write it off or continue to use and learn about it. My work off the forum/console puts me in a position where I come into contact with a great many new Linux users....I feed that back to the developers, who may or may not choose to do something about it.

Puppy Linux is an extremely important project, technologically, politically, environmentally and socially. If something looks as if its been slammed together in two minutes with any package, and feedback/bug reports not gathered from Puppies intended audience(newbies), then its not worthy to be included....whether thats a theme, a word processor or anything else. Puppy Linux IS an upgrade to a windows computer, and needs to look like one.

The icons...fine, the wallpaper? No. I know from your icewm themes in 4.2.x, and the GUI layouts you have done you have a good eye for the aesthetic. I know you can do better, so why dont you on such an important project? Take CARE! Each error on your part as a major player in puppy development translates into countless dumped computers, and people thinking there is no alternative to being exploited by Steve Ballmer.

P.S. Yes I could do that, after about 3 years of using Puppy Linux, but then again Im not a newb.
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#22 Post by ttuuxxx »

Your the one not getting, That wallpaper wasn't for a Official puppy anything, it was a quick filler that I figured would be dropped. The theme on the other hand was a lot of work, trust me, hundreds of mimes/icons I made up backgrounds etc,recoloured, built from scratch etc.
compare the libs below to puppy's defaults, I kept the shape of the libs, but I made a gradient and re-outilined the whole mime, that way it would look like the older one, but much clearer and newer looking, I did have some radical new ones, but when your used to something and you can get hundreds on one page, sometimes in that sort of situation older/simpler is better and the sfs mime which we never had before, tons of stuff like that.
Anyways the background was nothing. I'm a lot better with Photoshop than Gimp, but its still a learning phase.
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Attachments
x-squashfs-image.png
(2.95 KiB) Downloaded 1314 times
mime2.png
(775 Bytes) Downloaded 1315 times
mime1.png
(748 Bytes) Downloaded 1312 times
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bugman

#23 Post by bugman »

ecomoney wrote:Take CARE! Each error on your part as a major player in puppy development translates into countless dumped computers, and people thinking there is no alternative to being exploited by Steve Ballmer.
egomoney, does the hysteria ever stop?

[ps - it's really easy to make themes for jwm and gtk, maybe you should give it a try]

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#24 Post by `f00 »

Nice job on that sfs icon, ttuuxxx! .. now if it could just be incorporated into the overlay schema of the driveicon thingie (greenball=mounted usw .. btw, red for bootlock is my pref rather than the blue), I might not 'forget' a click-mounted sfs!

:lol:, BK threw a snack into testing with that departure from the bw rationale (it does make some sense, but the alternative is understandable as well)

@bugman
jwm is dead easy, but some of us struggle with gtk in various forms (all relative of course..)

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#25 Post by bugman »

`f00 wrote:@bugman
jwm is dead easy, but some of us struggle with gtk in various forms (all relative of course..)
point taken, but really, if he's gonna whine forever about the thing . . .

:roll:

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#26 Post by ecomoney »

Ok, I get you on the icons, and I think its well overdue that basic puppy files (pup_save.2fs as well as sfs's) should have their own icons. I didnt notice the icons, as the screenshot you gave was too small, and only the wallpaper was visible.....why spend (well) so much time re-doing the icons, and then present it with a 2 minute knocked together wallpaper? :? You didnt explain about the wallpaper being "disposable" on the release you made.

One note about the sfs mime..."sfs" is a puppy codeword, not something a new linux user would recognise by its picture as an "addon program package" (a.p.p.?). I suppose I shouldnt "moan", it *actaully has* an icon now.

@Bugman

If I spent all my time creating themes, I wouldnt have the time to be showing the many hundreds of existing themes/wallpapers/gtk themes to Puppies intended audience, getting the feedback like I explained at the start of this thread....then loads of people would think their monitors were broken! It takes more than good coders to make good software.
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#27 Post by puppyluvr »

:D Hello,
I`m confused..If I want a specific Puppy for a specific need or user group, I make my own....I dont expect the "Official" Puppy to cater to my needs...
I thought that was the point...
At 100mb, it cant be everything to everyone..
Hence the "re-master" option...
No offense, but...am I missing something????

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creating/showing/sharing

#28 Post by raffy »

@puppyluvr: No, you're not. Development of free software runs along creating/showing/sharing, and not telling, like "Hey, here's what I think is good, now do it".

Any attempt to join such direction is a waste of time. Or in the case of ttuuxxx, wasted typing - he could have kept practicing his skills with GIMP and be better off.

@tasmod: Appreciate your fresh approach to the questions asked. Hope you'll be able to work something out together.

Now please humor me: Wordart in Openoffice - why, I havent thought of that before. :lol:
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#29 Post by ecomoney »

Heres a quote from a new puppy user
historymaker118 wrote:When I first started to use puppy, I almost immediatly wanted to run away. It looked horrible, like something from the early 90's that had got lost in a time capsual and was put on the internet for a laugh.
from here

Is this the way to get people to ditch windoze and use Linux? Linux's problems are caused by the fact that not enough people use it yet. As a result device drivers are not available from the manufacturers, or for all hardware, certain technologies dont support it, there is a lack of software etc etc. In the meantime a certain company in Redmond is coining it in, limiting access to the internet and creating computer waste prematurely in order to increase their profits...not to mention allowing the government to spy on its citizens communications and using their money to prop up crooked politicians.

Yes, of course I can remaster Puppy with an attractive theme....who is that going to help?..me and the relatively few people around me. An attractive theme is the thing that Ive seen gains Puppy Linux the most users with the minimum amount of effort. Having the official Puppy linux look good is a very simple and easy way of increasing Linux take-up generally, and making every linux users life easier.

Simply pick one of the many existing attractive themes/wallpapers/gtk's and add it to the official puppy. (AFAIK) Im nothing (officially) to do with Woof so the decision isnt mine, so all I can do is say "Hey, here I when I *know* to be a major barrier to Linux's take up rate....now do it".

[/url]
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pick the good and add something better

#30 Post by raffy »

What's un-Puppy about your ways, Robert, is that you pick negatives which are in fact history just to make your point. You know that 4.2 is already looking good. And you know (if you've been reading) that Barry generally listens to what looks good to enthusiasts and even turns over the reins to the community to produce a good-looking Puppy.

So why rock the boat at all?

And you quoted historymaker118 out of context. Why did you not continue with what she said?
.. if you're going to keep complaining that it doesn't look how you want then either do what I did and customise it yourself or find another distro. Its not that hard to do, and if you're as computer savy as you try to make out you are then you should have no problem making it look how you think puppy should. (ie make your own puplet.)
I don't know who she was talking to, but what she said was similar to the points already made in this discussion.
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#31 Post by Béèm »

ecomoney wrote:Heres a quote from a new puppy user
historymaker118 wrote:When I first started to use puppy, I almost immediatly wanted to run away. It looked horrible, like something from the early 90's that had got lost in a time capsual and was put on the internet for a laugh.
from here

Is this the way to get people to ditch windoze and use Linux? Linux's problems are caused by the fact that not enough people use it yet. As a result device drivers are not available from the manufacturers, or for all hardware, certain technologies dont support it, there is a lack of software etc etc. In the meantime a certain company in Redmond is coining it in, limiting access to the internet and creating computer waste prematurely in order to increase their profits...not to mention allowing the government to spy on its citizens communications and using their money to prop up crooked politicians.

Yes, of course I can remaster Puppy with an attractive theme....who is that going to help?..me and the relatively few people around me. An attractive theme is the thing that Ive seen gains Puppy Linux the most users with the minimum amount of effort. Having the official Puppy linux look good is a very simple and easy way of increasing Linux take-up generally, and making every linux users life easier.

Simply pick one of the many existing attractive themes/wallpapers/gtk's and add it to the official puppy. (AFAIK) Im nothing (officially) to do with Woof so the decision isnt mine, so all I can do is say "Hey, here I when I *know* to be a major barrier to Linux's take up rate....now do it".

[/url]
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Don't like it? Run away then.

Ecomoney, explain to your correspondents the difference between alpha releases and finished products. Making comments without specifying specificities is really trolling.

We don't need trolls here.
Also we don't need people who feed the trolls, if you see what I mean.
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#32 Post by DaveS »

I see the 'How to Win Friends an Influence People' classes dont seem to be working out too well for you ecomoney :D
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#33 Post by ecomoney »

:shock: :?

"Trolling" would be putting a comment like the title of this thread, without it actually having happened. Specifically, it was made by someone who I have worked with as a software tester on the HSB kids puppy project, who has turned out to have a considerable knack for software testing. She has actually just called in briefly, read this thread, and will be starting her own forum account tomorrow to confirm she made these comments "in person". Its a puppy/open source users "responsibility" to report where improvements can be made, and its a puppy/open source developers "responsibility" to react to that feedback. Thats how open source works.

Whats happened here is simple, Ive passed on some feedback from an actual "Linux Newbie", taking care not to offend...its turned out that the theme is only for alpha releases, Ive acknowledged I was unaware this, apologised, and tried to organise some specialist theme developers (which Im not) to a thread to create an attractive theme for Woof. How is this not making a positive contribution?

Ttuuxxx, I suspect not welcoming the competition for his own "2 minutes with the Gimp" wallpaper for woof, swore like hell at me on it...which all of puppies graphic artists will now have read at my invitation. It was then locked by persons unknown.

@ DaveS, Never mind me reading "how to make friends and influence people", how about some puppy developers reading this...

http://zenhabits.net/2007/09/how-to-acc ... reciation/

@ Raffy, I agree...for all of BarryK's "Dictatorship", beneficial though it is...he has always been extremely open to and accepting of real-world feedback. It would therefore be "un-puppy"..and "un-opensource" to be otherwise.

Ive already answered the point about me doing my own remaster and the good it would do. Quoting a point someone made on the forum that is relevant to the title of this thread, with a link to the complete post is not "out of context".

What Im saying is...if your going to spend hundred/thousands of hours collectively working on huge technical improvements, consulting experts from every field of linux technology, and not involve someone with good aesthetic skills to package that technology attractively.
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#34 Post by WhoDo »

ecomoney wrote:Whats happened here is simple, Ive passed on some feedback from an actual "Linux Newbie", taking care not to offend...its turned out that the theme is only for alpha releases, Ive acknowledged I was unaware this, apologised, and tried to organise some specialist theme developers (which Im not) to a thread to create an attractive theme for Woof. How is this not making a positive contribution?
I'm not trying to be offensive here, Robert, so please read this response with that in mind. I think you may still be having trouble accepting the ethos in Open Source development, especially as that relates to Puppy.

We have tried to help you understand, several times in fact, that Puppy is a FUN project. Sure it has other more serious applications, some of which involve you and your community intimately. That doesn't change the fact; Open Source developers do NOT like being "organised" by anyone to do anything! Simple.

I consider both Puppy 4.2x and 2.15CE to have been very successful projects. As their coordinator, I believe their success was born of a fundamental understanding of that principle of Open Source development; it has to be "fun" and the developers do not like to feel "organised" or "put upon" in any way, even if that is the ultimate outcome.

The bottom line is this: if you want to get things done around here, STOP telling people what to do! It doesn't matter how right you feel you are, or how passionate you are about the causes for your actions and requests, "organisation" is simply the WRONG way to go because it doesn't fit with the ethos of Open Source or this community. Trying to be an "organiser" around here is about as useful as being an ice salesman in Antartica! Have I made my point? I certainly hope so!

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#35 Post by 01micko »

Um.. since BK is in charge of Puppy 5 I don't think he is going to care an iota about what we want as the theme. He peruses the wallpaper and icon threads and picks what he likes. Good too. Who doesn't change it (if they care about themes :wink: ) in the first five minutes anyway?

As a matter of fact, in testing of upup-476 on my lappy I haven't cared a bit about the theme, default all the way. A good thing about that, and I think BK is on to it, is that I instantly know what version is up and running for testing.

Different story on my main system, I made my on wally for upup, it's in the wallpaper thread. It's plain and simple, but also instantly lets me know what system I am in.. (I have 9 systems on this box, seven of those Pups, doze and Slackware)

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