Alternative JWM desktop manager

Window managers, icon programs, widgets, etc.
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zigbert
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Alternative JWM desktop manager

#1 Post by zigbert »

This is a replacement of the old jwmconfig2 pack and a new theming structure for Puppy.
Some basic info and screenshots are found at nabble.com.
Please test on Slacko 6 - it won't work on older Puppies.
Please install ALL attachments
When installed, you find 'Desktop Settings' in the Desktop menu. Also reachable from Wizard-wizard (The main setup-gui).

About the attachments:

woof-extras is what you need to sync with my recent adds to Woof-CE. This is only required until the next Slacko-build.

ptheme is an extended version of the one found in Slacko 6.
- Nearly complete control over the desktop to build global themes including non-puppy trays.
- Including 4 global themes for mouse and touchscreen. more (heavier) themes here.
- We still miss the option to theme the desktop-drive-icons (eventmanager).
- supports pWidgets.

jwm_config is the rewrite of jwmconfig2, but gives more features compared to the original pack. This means:
- Define actions when mouse slides into screen corners.
- Powerful configuration of existing tray(s) or build new ones.
- Bookmark menu integrated with ROX and GTK.
- Define menu/action of mouse-clicks on desktop.
- Includes also an extended clock/calendar and a simple notepad.
Another important goal has been to build a more multiuser-friendly structure. That is why your existing JWM-themes are not found by the new theme-switcher. See /usr/share/jwm.

Please install jwm_config AFTER the other pets.
Attachments
jwm_config-0.3.1.pet
(44.07 KiB) Downloaded 729 times
ptheme-0.4.1.pet
(32.61 KiB) Downloaded 766 times
woof_extras-140902.pet
(23.29 KiB) Downloaded 716 times
Last edited by zigbert on Sat 20 Sep 2014, 06:09, edited 8 times in total.

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#2 Post by zigbert »

Not critical, but to see the alternative jwm-setup, jwm_config-0.1.pet must be installed AFTER the other pets.

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Re: Alternative JWM desktop manager

#3 Post by ASRI éducation »

zigbert wrote:Please test on Slacko 6 - it won't work on older Puppies.
I do not use Slacko.
So I tried with a Precise Puppy based on woof-CE-0.3 (master branch).
I hoped it could be compatible, but it is not (see screenshot).
I will test later with Slacko.
Attachments
invalid_tag_in_JWM.png
With Precise woof-CE-0.3 (this is not surprising because the packages are for Slacko)
(34.3 KiB) Downloaded 2953 times
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#4 Post by mavrothal »

Tried in slacko 6 and also had a scary list of warnings after installing (last) the jwm_config pet. Also JWM crashed at this point but after an X restart everything looked OK.
The one-stop theme change is nice.
However the windows theme makes my pre-existing top (jwm) panel disappear :? while in the other themes is replaced by the theme's one.
In the OS X theme the move of the panel at the top covers the top row of the PuppuPin icons and should probably be considered. Also the drive icons hang a bit high without the bottom tray.
A thing that I noticed is that ROX-filer takes for ever to open a window for the first time (over a minute for /usr/bin a a dual core machine). So maybe a good idea to cash icons in the background after a theme change to avoid such an "unpuppy" behavior.
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#5 Post by Moat »

I installed this set of .pets (jwm_config-0.1.pet last) on a fresh frugal USB install of Slacko 5.9.3 beta - all worked really well, OOTB. Just a quick play is all I had time for...

Very nice having an easy GUI for the addition, control and placement of panels/trays - as well as exposing the many other somewhat hidden features of JWM. So cool! Greatly expands the overall useability/desirability of JWM, for this not-too-techie user.

Two features I missed having access to, though, via the regular GTK theme chooser (as I couldn't find it - uninstalled itself with this set of .pets?) -

1) Fonts - I could not find a way to choose a theme's font type or size, as is available from the pop-up window when the button is pressed at the bottom of the regular GTK theme chooser. Did I miss it somewhere?

2) The regular GTK theme chooser previews the theme within the GUI's window automagically, as one highlights the available themes listed in the left pane... seems quicker/easier than having to select a theme from a dropdown menu, then click "apply" in order to see what it looks like.

Otherwise - fantastic work, Zigbert!! 8)

Bob

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Re: Alternative JWM desktop manager

#6 Post by zigbert »

ASRI éducation wrote:
zigbert wrote:Please test on Slacko 6 - it won't work on older Puppies.
I do not use Slacko.
So I tried with a Precise Puppy based on woof-CE-0.3 (master branch).
I hoped it could be compatible, but it is not (see screenshot).
I will test later with Slacko.
As long as your Puppy is built from a recent Woof-CE, there is no reason for this concept to fail. But for your unique build, it looks like your jwm is old. The reason for me to ask for Slacko 6, is that it will work there - I use it ;)

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#7 Post by zigbert »

mavrothal wrote:However the windows theme makes my pre-existing top (jwm) panel disappear :? while in the other themes is replaced by the theme's one
What would be the logic way to do it from your point of view?
mavrothal wrote:In the OS X theme the move of the panel at the top covers the top row of the PuppuPin icons and should probably be considered. Also the drive icons hang a bit high without the bottom tray.
As mentioned in the first post, the icons placement is not supported (yet?) in pTheme. You will loose your personal icons if we ship a unique puppypin in the global theme. This is also ONE of the reasons for not including the osX theme inside the pTheme pack. (Since the trays are placed out of sync with the puppy icon standard.)
mavrothal wrote:A thing that I noticed is that ROX-filer takes for ever to open a window for the first time (over a minute for /usr/bin a a dual core machine). So maybe a good idea to cash icons in the background after a theme change to avoid such an "unpuppy" behavior.
I have not been aware of this, and do not understand why. All the included global themes uses the standardSVG icon theme, so there shouldn't be any changes in the rox preview, or ???

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#8 Post by zigbert »

Moat wrote:1) Fonts - I could not find a way to choose a theme's font type or size, as is available from the pop-up window when the button is pressed at the bottom of the regular GTK theme chooser. Did I miss it somewhere?
True, there is no theme-module for gtk-font. I haven't thought of this. Maybe we should include it. But, the font can be set by the gtk-theme itself, and if you click on the 'more' button to the right in the GTK-line in pTheme.
Moat wrote:2) The regular GTK theme chooser previews the theme within the GUI's window automagically, as one highlights the available themes listed in the left pane... seems quicker/easier than having to select a theme from a dropdown menu, then click "apply" in order to see what it looks like.
As said above, you should find the 'more' button. pTheme is first of all a tool to easy switch between global themes. ie. to switch between mouse and touchscreen.

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Re: Alternative JWM desktop manager

#9 Post by ASRI éducation »

zigbert wrote:
ASRI éducation wrote:
zigbert wrote:Please test on Slacko 6 - it won't work on older Puppies.
I do not use Slacko.
So I tried with a Precise Puppy based on woof-CE-0.3 (master branch).
I hoped it could be compatible, but it is not (see screenshot).
I will test later with Slacko.
As long as your Puppy is built from a recent Woof-CE, there is no reason for this concept to fail. But for your unique build, it looks like your jwm is old. The reason for me to ask for Slacko 6, is that it will work there - I use it ;)
I followed your advice and I've updated JWM (v819 => v910).
Now everything is ok!
I have no error message and I can take advantage of all the improvements you've made ​​to JWM desktop manager.
Thank you zigbert.
Cordialement,
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utility to modifiy content of _root_.jwmrc

#10 Post by ASRI éducation »

@ zigbert

Note:
Usually, when I need an utility, I try to create it myself. But my knowledge is much more limited than yours, so let me ask you a creation.

Explanations:
I often use Puppy Linux with primary school children (4-10 years).
To prevent them get lost in a too complex main menu, I manually edit the file /etc/xdg/templates/_root_.jwmrc
I generally remove from root menu: puppy-desktop.menu, puppy-system.menu, puppy-setup.menu
This technique suits me, but it is obviously not suitable for novice users.

What would be really nice, it's a GUI that allows (via checkbox) to choose the categories listed in the main menu.
The script should be able to remove/add lines to /etc/xdg/templates/_root_.jwmrc

Code: Select all

	PUPPYMENU jwm-xdgmenu /etc/xdg/menus/puppy-desktop.menu
	PUPPYMENU jwm-xdgmenu /etc/xdg/menus/puppy-system.menu
	PUPPYMENU jwm-xdgmenu /etc/xdg/menus/puppy-setup.menu
	<Separator/>
	PUPPYMENU jwm-xdgmenu /etc/xdg/menus/puppy-utility.menu
	PUPPYMENU jwm-xdgmenu /etc/xdg/menus/puppy-filesystem.menu
	PUPPYMENU jwm-xdgmenu /etc/xdg/menus/puppy-graphic.menu
	PUPPYMENU jwm-xdgmenu /etc/xdg/menus/puppy-document.menu
	PUPPYMENU jwm-xdgmenu /etc/xdg/menus/puppy-calculate.menu
	PUPPYMENU jwm-xdgmenu /etc/xdg/menus/puppy-personal.menu
	PUPPYMENU jwm-xdgmenu /etc/xdg/menus/puppy-network.menu
	PUPPYMENU jwm-xdgmenu /etc/xdg/menus/puppy-internet.menu
	PUPPYMENU jwm-xdgmenu /etc/xdg/menus/puppy-multimedia.menu
	PUPPYMENU jwm-xdgmenu /etc/xdg/menus/puppy-fun.menu
Then relaunch the windows manager would update the main menu.

To go further, it would also be possible to save user preferences. In order to easily create a menu for children, another for novice users, another for expert users, etc.

I think these options would be appreciated by users. But this is only my humble opinion.
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#11 Post by Moat »

zigbert wrote:... you should find the 'more' button.
Ah, yes - got it now. I had ignored that button, as it has the letters "www" to it's right (whatever that may mean...?) - so therefore assumed it was a link to a web download.

The ability to deep tweak and then save as a global theme is really great! As well as the addition of the bookmarks>tray add-on - very handy.

Bob

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Re: utility to modifiy content of _root_.jwmrc

#12 Post by RSH »

ASRI éducation wrote:@ zigbert

Note:
Usually, when I need an utility, I try to create it myself. But my knowledge is much more limited than yours, so let me ask you a creation.

Explanations:
I often use Puppy Linux with primary school children (4-10 years).
To prevent them get lost in a too complex main menu, I manually edit the file /etc/xdg/templates/_root_.jwmrc
I generally remove from root menu: puppy-desktop.menu, puppy-system.menu, puppy-setup.menu
This technique suits me, but it is obviously not suitable for novice users.

What would be really nice, it's a GUI that allows (via checkbox) to choose the categories listed in the main menu.
The script should be able to remove/add lines to /etc/xdg/templates/_root_.jwmrc

Code: Select all

	PUPPYMENU jwm-xdgmenu /etc/xdg/menus/puppy-desktop.menu
	PUPPYMENU jwm-xdgmenu /etc/xdg/menus/puppy-system.menu
	PUPPYMENU jwm-xdgmenu /etc/xdg/menus/puppy-setup.menu
	<Separator/>
	PUPPYMENU jwm-xdgmenu /etc/xdg/menus/puppy-utility.menu
	PUPPYMENU jwm-xdgmenu /etc/xdg/menus/puppy-filesystem.menu
	PUPPYMENU jwm-xdgmenu /etc/xdg/menus/puppy-graphic.menu
	PUPPYMENU jwm-xdgmenu /etc/xdg/menus/puppy-document.menu
	PUPPYMENU jwm-xdgmenu /etc/xdg/menus/puppy-calculate.menu
	PUPPYMENU jwm-xdgmenu /etc/xdg/menus/puppy-personal.menu
	PUPPYMENU jwm-xdgmenu /etc/xdg/menus/puppy-network.menu
	PUPPYMENU jwm-xdgmenu /etc/xdg/menus/puppy-internet.menu
	PUPPYMENU jwm-xdgmenu /etc/xdg/menus/puppy-multimedia.menu
	PUPPYMENU jwm-xdgmenu /etc/xdg/menus/puppy-fun.menu
Then relaunch the windows manager would update the main menu.

To go further, it would also be possible to save user preferences. In order to easily create a menu for children, another for novice users, another for expert users, etc.

I think these options would be appreciated by users. But this is only my humble opinion.
Hi.

This sounds exactly like the Menu Suite and the User Modes in LazY Puppy 2.0.2-005 which can have Menu etc. for Kids, Beginner, Intermediary and Advanced. I've had created this by a suggestion of Diggs, a former Puppy Forum member who has left Puppy a long time before I could finish LazY Puppy and its User Modes.

For your purposes/needs as a teacher such functions of course could be very useful, though I've never ever heard of users using the user modes in LazY Puppy, except one member who did setup LazY Puppy for a friend and did ask for a renaming of the user modes.

Even I do not use this in any of my LazY Puppy Systems. I try to keep this functions but did not develop anything on that for a long time - and there is still stuff to do.

To release such functions will be a huge effort, maybe not worth generally. And you would need to do it separately for each WM installed and/or provided by a repository.
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Re: utility to modifiy content of _root_.jwmrc

#13 Post by ASRI éducation »

RSH wrote:This sounds exactly like the Menu Suite and the User Modes in LazY Puppy 2.0.2-005 which can have Menu etc. for Kids, Beginner, Intermediary and Advanced. I've had created this by a suggestion of diggs, a former Puppy Forum member who has left Puppy a long time before I could finish LazY Puppy and its User Modes.

For your purposes/needs as a teacher such functions of course could be very useful, though I've never ever heard of users using the user modes in LazY Puppy, except one member who did setup LazY Puppy for a friend and did ask for a renaming of the user modes.

Even I do not use this in any of my LazY Puppy Systems. I try to keep this functions but did not develop anything on that for a long time - and there is still stuff to do.

To release such functions will be a huge effort, maybe not worth generally. And you would need to do it separately for each WM installed and/or provided by a repository.
Thank you RSH for your comments/opinions.

For older versions of puplet "ASRI Edu" (based on Puppy 2.1.7, 4.3.1, 5.2.8 ), I offered to users a GUI that allowed save customized visual interfaces (main menu + background + theme color + mouse cursor + theme icons).
As said RSH, my script was not compatible with all window managers. In addition, I found it was poorly written script.

Because users liked and used this feature, I was hoping we could gradually introduce it in Puppy (hence my request to Zigbert). This requires substantial work, but it seems interesting/necessary.

I trust RSH. He says it will be too complicated to write, so I will put this project in my suggestion box ...
However, I have not lost hope and I intend to succeed one day to create a script that allows the selection of the categories listed in the main menu.

:wink:
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#14 Post by zigbert »

Moat wrote:
zigbert wrote:... you should find the 'more' button.
Ah, yes - got it now. I had ignored that button, as it has the letters "www" to it's right (whatever that may mean...?) - so therefore assumed it was a link to a web download.

The ability to deep tweak and then save as a global theme is really great! As well as the addition of the bookmarks>tray add-on - very handy.

Bob
I will remove the www (buttons). These belong to the apps you go to by the 'more' button.


Sigmund

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#15 Post by zigbert »

ASRI éducation
Your idea is ok, but I don't see how to implement it in an easy way. My alternative JWM-configuration tool does not support all twists, as my goal is to make things powerful without making them complex. The new tray-manager is not that simple, and it could be better to skip some features to not scare a newbie.


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#16 Post by ASRI éducation »

zigbert wrote:ASRI éducation
Your idea is ok, but I don't see how to implement it in an easy way. My alternative JWM-configuration tool does not support all twists, as my goal is to make things powerful without making them complex. The new tray-manager is not that simple, and it could be better to skip some features to not scare a newbie.
Hello Sigmund,
I admit I'm a little too ambitious.
Anyway, thank you for all your efforts.
Cédric
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#17 Post by zigbert »

More work is done - info here.
Your thoughts are welcome


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#18 Post by john biles »

Hello zigbert,
While it's relativity easy to create a stunning default default desktop that gives a good first impression, once you click on the start menu and start selecting applications that first impression is quickly replaced by the same old looking Puppy desktop that has served Puppy users for years.

As an example, let's look at the calculators included in Puppy 5.7 Some are gtk2 based (theme-able) while others look just plain ugly and should not have been included.
A number of apps have been left out or modified solely on their looks in recent Legacy OS releases because of the impression they leave in the users mind. Humans are visual creatures and the better something in their minds look the more interested they are in using it and here lies a common problem. What one user sees as a beautiful desktop others see as ugly. I know Legacy's Desktop hasn't always had the response I was hoping for in relation to its look.
The " My Puppy is more gorgeous than yours!" thread only highlights what I'm talking about. I'm sure we've all seen someone's desktop posted and thought that's ugly what were they thinking. To the user posting their desktop it's just wonderful to others it not.

Your theme changer is a great addition which would allow users to create some great personal themes. These personal themes could be posted and in time voted on to become default themes for later releases.

Over the years your created "P" apps have found their way in to default releases of Puppy improving usability. The work you've created here brings the freshness needed to move Puppy forward and I hope it is adopted in to future Puppy releases.

I really believe you have the programming skill and knowledge to turn the visual and usability elements of future Puppy's in to something unique in the Linux world.

A personal hate I've always had is when there's say a "Control panel" and you click on a setting a new window opens instead of staying within the control panel. Wouldn't it be nice to have all of Puppy's Wizards in one cool control panel opening within this panel like the bigger Linux's distro's do.
I know this would be a massively big task to created so this isn't a request, it's just food for thought.

zigbert this forum and Puppy have benefited greatly from the work and apps you've provided over the years and it's great to see that enthusiasm is alive and strong. Long live zigbert :wink:
Legacy OS 2017 has been released.

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#19 Post by mavrothal »

zigbert wrote:
mavrothal wrote:A thing that I noticed is that ROX-filer takes for ever to open a window for the first time (over a minute for /usr/bin a a dual core machine). So maybe a good idea to cash icons in the background after a theme change to avoid such an "unpuppy" behavior.
I have not been aware of this, and do not understand why. All the included global themes uses the standardSVG icon theme, so there shouldn't be any changes in the rox preview, or ???
Unfortunately I have no time to look at it but finally I removed all the pets and now big-folder windows draw way much faster.
All I can add is that is not a theme related issue.
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#20 Post by zigbert »

See main post for updated versions of these alternative desktop configuration tools.

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