(old)Puppy Linux Discussion Forum

Ive not had a lot of time to test Woof in detail...Im sorry. Im a fan of many of the technical concepts which are being introduced, especially ubuntu package compatibility. I dont want to come across as derisory or spoil anyones enthusiasm for the project at all....and I feel I must report this.

I did give it a quick download and test at my friends house, and showed it to a few "linux newbies" who were round visiting. The first thing one of them said was:-

Whats the matter with the monitor...why is it only showing in black and white?

Now Im not suggesting "blinging" woof out with extra pSeries apps, and I know that using a more attractive colourscheme would add a lot to Puppies acceptance by "linux newbs" without adding extra bloat. Just from the reactions I have got showing previous "Win98 style" puppies, I know this makes a bug difference to whether or not they are prepared to continue to learn more about Linux or return to "teletubby land" (Windoze XP). Puppy 4.2 has received a lot of praise for its aesthetics over previous puppies too, its was just the pApps that were controversial.

Could we hire the services of a UI artist, or even re-use the JWM themes from DeepThought?

A quick mention...a high contrast them (not default) for vision impaired users would be nice if it were included. Puppy has got a rather aging user base.

Hello,
Try my BlueJay theme and icon set...
See here...
http://www.murga-linux.com/puppy/viewto ... &start=240

The theme is high contrast with enlarged fonts, (so I can see it..LOL)

Screenshots:
Menu:
http://puppylin.freehostia.com/img/bluejay.jpg
Icons:
http://i41.tinypic.com/10z6yow.jpg
Usually I set the icon names in a better font, but havnt gotten a "round tuit" on my UPup yet..

ecomoney,
Instead of bickering all the time, you should have read closely Barry's blog and you would have know why this is as it is and what will be in the final product.

So please stop annoying the developers.

ecomoney wrote:

Whats the matter with the monitor...why is it only showing in black and white?

were you able to give them an answer?

if yes, then what's the problem?

if no, consider another line of work...

Oh good grief someone tell him !!!


Woof is in development, not for general release or use yet. It's just up to Alpha stage.

So to keep it identified as such Barry kept it shades of grey to distinguish it.

No 'bling' yet, maybe later when it's tested properly.

How did I know I was going to get this kind of response?

I wont be there the majority of the time people try puppy....and if we are to get new users then it needs to look as good as it actually is.

I hadnt read the blog, sorry I have been very busy with the mission etc.

This post made my day.

It is pretty obvious that this section is for "Next Puppy Development", emphasis on "Development".

I also notice the word "Alpha" being quite prominent as well.

Pretty darn obvious that Upup, and other Alpha releases are not ready for daily use, but you should know that.The idea is to find real "bugs", not every little thing ecomoney doesn't like.

Who chose you to speak for Puppy users anyway?

Who chose you to speak for Puppy users anyway?

erm....

Puppy users actually

I look after about 100 of them...theyre ask me all the time *in real life* to try and get through to you guys about the things that keep people using closed systems. So I try

If the colourscheme issue was temporary to make it easily differentiated, then please accept my apologies for having missed Barrys post, and mark it resolved...but please dont make it look like Windows 98 again!

ecomoney,

I've no axe to grind with you. I thought someone should have explained properly.

I would suggest that for your Puppy users you stick to 4.1.2 or 4.2.1 which are for now the official releases. Until such times as woof releases are deemed stable.

If not, explain very carefully to your users that they are taking part in 'secret' tests. That should explain the grey theme to them and make them feel special. .

Rob Lane

I have been tested and found erroneous!

Better to mention it and be wrong than not to mention it at all

Where is the link explaining explaining Barry's colourscheming of Woof

Has anyone been assigned to work out an attractive theme for the final release of Woof...I hope this important feature hasnt been forgotten about in all of the rush to produce such a great architecture. Its probably one of the easiest things to do to attract new users to Puppy, without slowing it down or risking introducing bugs.

There are still themes available in 471 and 473 just use menu Desktop at startup to change them.

It was a while ago that Barry posted, can't remember whether it was his blog or in a post.

Further themes will evolve, I have two 'garish' ones I made. Rouge and Vert.

That's Red and Green for those not aware. They tend to appeal to kids.

Rob

Thanks you tasmod for making bringing the first positive contribution to this otherwise unconstructive thread! Its a fine example.

Since this section is about "usability issues", and an "attractive theme", I will follow your lead and start a thread asking for theme contributions. I will also contact all of Puppy Linux's artistic types to ask for suggested themes.

Yes I will be sticking to .1+ editions in future for my users........the ones that arnt "special" at least

puppyluvr wrote: Screenshots:
Menu:
http://puppylin.freehostia.com/img/bluejay.jpg

Errr, freehostia doesn't let you point to image directly, here it is wraped into html page:
http://puppylin.freehostia.com/jwmbluejay.htm

Hmmm......that was shortlived

Thread is now locked

I tagged an invite on all of the "artistic" puppy threads, inviting people to come and contribute. Seems they will once again be treated to some quite frank and open feedback about my similarity to the male member from Ttuxxx!

It seems he already had his heart set on being the one to contribute the theme (and an untested version of the file manager Rox 2.9) to Puppy 5

http://www.murga-linux.com/puppy/viewto ... 7&start=15

Was just in time.....seemed he was going for the windows 95 look again, just at a time when most people are changing from Windows XP!

Ttuxxx, it looks like you did that wallpaper with the "Wordart" feature in Openoffice!

Puppy has long struggled to look as good as it actually is, the massive number of downloads of 4.2.0 (the one with the untested wordprocessor/printing system from Ttuuxxx) were down to its great theme and looks. From what I have seen, the theme is the single biggest issue that has stopped new users coming over to Puppy Linux and free software for some time. If Woof is going to be downloaded, used and it great technical overhaul appreciated, it needs to look great too!

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

Rob

You are right Tasmod....

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?

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.

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.

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