Suggetion List
Forum: DSL Ideas and Suggestions
Topic: Suggetion List
started by: somerville32@hotmail.com
Posted by somerville32@hotmail.com on Oct. 12 2004,20:54
Here is a list of things that I have noticed that could be improved upon (note how small it is?) If you can already do that or has already been discussed and refuted, let me know :). Feel free to add your thoughts and wishes too! :)1) The control pannel good be redone to offer more options and better look and feel.
2) The MyDSL Gui should be redone. An idea might be to have a server that keeps a list of all the MyDSL files and the MyDSL Gui queries it. This would allow for MyDSL extensions that aren't on the main server to be shared. The interface defiently has to be redone for the MyDSL Gui to offer all the neat information that the date.html does. This is my biggest pet peve! Also have it so that the GUI checks to see which DSL's you have installed so that it changes the "get" button to remove (easier extension management!! Woot! Also helps you from downloading the same file twice!) Anyhow, I am just nit-picking now... but if you choose one of my whishes to grant, pick this one!
3) Fix sndconfig. My sound card worked before I used it (I had to reinstall to get it to work again!). :)
4) Continue to develop hardware support. So far everything on my box works (had to replace the network card though).
5) Could there be a HD install edition of DSL. An ISO that is a bit bigger. I really enjoy the fact that DSL is small so nothing more 100mb. I could care less if you do this or not, it's just an "idea". Somethings that this bigger ISO could have includes: Common MyDSL files (such as gcc1.dsl, iptables.dsl, maybe a few extra games, goodies, more documentation, ect.) This ISO would move more towards an ISO replacement (I use DSL as a replacement anyways).
6) I know I said that I would keep this small but ideas keep a flowing :) What if we had a GUI login screen? :D It would make DSL feel more like home (maybe this would be a good for the HD ISO??)
7) I promise I won't go over ten :D But... What about Windows ICS. I haven't actually tried to use it yet beucase I am short a network card (My 3Com EtherLink III doesn't work (but then again it isn't supported by Windows XP either!)) but I would so love support for this! Infact, I would marry DSL if it did :) If it is already support, then consider us hitched :)
8) Documentation is a bit sketchy. I would love to maybe help get some solid documentation writen up :) I promise I am a better writer when I am not using links and have a spell checker :).
9) This is just nit picking now... What if DSL came with a better ssh and telnet client? (Ie. Putty!)
10) Easier managment of desktop icons and startmenu! This is another pet peve! If you decide to do two or three of my wishes, pickt this one :)
There... I filled my quota. I love this distro and I want to help out as much as possible. I have coding experince and have the coding concepts down pat, so maybe I'll learn C, python, or other languages that could be assistive ^_^
I want to say more to show that I really want to help with this distro and that I'll be around for a while, but I am pretty dry now So I will say good bye :)
Good Bye
~me :)
Posted by SaidinUnleashed on Oct. 12 2004,21:14
1) No. Its great. you should have been around before it cam about. besides, if it was made to look nicer, it would take up too much space. 2) It already does this. It will automatically list all the .dsl on ibiblio's server, which is the primary DSL mirror.
3) sndcardconfig is only for people who have soundcards that aren't auto-detected. If your soundcard works, don't use sndcardconfig. Simple.
4) Once again, you should have been around in the old days. Hardware detection is much improved. Except for the not auto-detection Broadcom NICs that use the b44.o module, there aren't any major problems.
5) You can do a HD install of DSL and add extensions to your heart's content. The 50 MB limit will NEVER be broken. John has said so many times.
6) Don't count on it. Size restrictions, remember. besides, terminal login is teh win.
7)I'm not sure what ICS, and google is no help for once. Please explain this.
8) In progress, you're talking to the "writer of thefaq" here. i'll start posting it piece by piece over the next few weeks/months. college is killing my time right now.
9) never. the ones that are in DSL are the industry standard baseline. again, size restrictions.
10) you can search the forum archive for how to do this. it's not that hard.
-J.P.
SaidinUnleashed
Posted by DaCuBaN on Oct. 12 2004,21:42
| Quote |
| 5) Could there be a HD install edition of DSL. An ISO that is a bit bigger |
As far as I understand it - and I could be utterly mistaken, as i've not had a chance to use mydsl yet - you could just build your own DSL iso with the necessary extensions there, ready to load. I'm certainly going to give this a shot, as for the meantime the laptop I've installed dsl on is 'all alone'
At least I remember reading something on that in the forums somewhere...
| Quote |
| 8) Documentation is a bit sketchy |
*cough* Yes, well this may be true
but it's good to exercise your mind sometimes, and let's be fair: noone really likes writing docs. In all honesty, anything 'dsl specific' you can pretty much find here on the forums (or so it seems) and you can patch a lot together from the knoppix/debian documentation.
Posted by ke4nt1 on Oct. 12 2004,22:07
somerville32 :1. The control panel is continuously being revised and improved. There have been additions and changes with each release..
If your speaking of eye candy, with <50MB to play with, it's not a priority.. but feel free to offer improvements..
What would suggest to add to it ?
2. ibiblio is limited in what "server" we can run for this.
While 30-60 days ago, when there were 1/4th the amount of extensions that there are today,
categorizing was not even a neccessity.. This is work in progress..
As far as a "remove" tool, this gets into "package management".
DSL does not wish to be engaged in package management at this time..
The myDSL system, and the myDSLgui is simply a way to add
and retain snapshots of an apt-get package normally installed to a Hard Drive..
The myDSLgui does see your extensions loaded to a directory called " /optional " ,
as well as the extensions in the main repository ..
The extensions in the "testing" area will never be available thru the myDSLgui, since they aren't "tested" yet.
As they are "approved" to be safe and stable, with users having success with using them, they are moved from the testing area to the main repository.
They will then "appear" in the myDSLgui ..
3. The sndconfig package IS in need of an upgrade..
4. Over the last year, this area has improved vastly, and has
seen the most time and effort of any other area in DSL.
5. Nope.. 50MB is it.. Officially ..
Now the beauty of myDSL is that you can easily make
your own LiveCD's which contain any extensions
you want in them. Have it your way..
6. It would simply eat up more space which could be for more
autodetected hardware support..
7. Sharing your windows connection with DSL is not an issue.
Setting up windows to be a net server can be a challenge.
8. Check with Saiden. No need to duplicate efforts here..
9. Please feel free to make a putty extension
to share with us all, but the fact remains that if your
running a 486 box with 32MB ram, you want the leanest
apps you can get + the 50MB limit we're working with here.
While there are a lot of "upgraded" apps in the repository,
DSL will always have the leanest,meanest in the 50MB .iso .
We see so many folks, especially in other parts of the world,
that need the lighter,faster, less bloated apps to operate
with any sanity.. It's super easy to ADD apps, but it's hard
to get started with limited connectivity, hardware, etc..
when your dealing with fat apps and bloatware..
10. The menu is a one-file operation.. ~/.fluxbox/menu
It's super light and easy to edit/add to ..
Same with icons, they are in the ~/.xtdesktop directory.
Feel free to edit and/or replace them at will..
73
ke4nt
Posted by somerville32@hotmail.com on Oct. 13 2004,21:40
Thank you so much for the responces :) I now understand why somethings are the way they are, which is gone. Now I will respond to your questions and comments.1) I am not really looking for the eye candy, just more functionality and better organization.
A) Use Icons or atleast less cryptic names.
B) Add function to edit desktop and menu
C) Add function to display hardware
D) Add function to show network information
E) Etc. Etc. A major part is just to add the "links" in the control pannel to access the application. Ie. Xsetup
Maybe I could draw something out?
2) I think package managment is important, maybe add it in the future?
3) Agreed... the printer setup program is very interactive but doesn't work the best (ref. my post in the printer forum)
4) I don't have a problem with hardware support, it's just something that always needs to be worked on. I did have to replace a network card but that ok becuase XP doesn't even support it (ie. It old!) but maybe that's what linux is partialy about? It would have been nice to be able to use all three networks and not be short one but oh well, I bought another network the otherday, I'll just go pick up another one of those becuase it's cheap and works excellent (Ie. It worked on 98, 98se, XP, and DSL)
5) It was just an "idea". I see you guys have your hearts set on less then 50mb, and expansion is very easy once your on the net :)
6) I really like this idea, but it defiently isn't needed. Maybe it could be an MyDSL expansion?
7) If I just use the Internet Connection Sharing in WinXP Pro, will it work? If you don't have an answer, I'll try it out as soon as I buy a new network card and report my findings back here :)
8) Ok, :)
9) I feel putty is an excellent client that included telnet, ssh, raw, and rlogin and it is very very small. I will try my hand at making a MyDSL file for putty and report my findings back :) You also make a very very very valid point, ke4nt1.
10) Thank You :)
I am not one to complain and not help myself. So I will do some research and see how maybe we could implement some of these ideas in the specifications and limitations that you have provided me.
Thanks,
~Me
Posted by ke4nt1 on Oct. 13 2004,21:48
Thanks for your feedback, and an interesting thread..Always nice to see some fresh ideas, even if we have
been "around the mill" on 1 or 2 of em' ..
Are you requesting a "putty" extension..
These guys around here are pretty fast !
Curious...
Where does the 'somerville' in your username
somerville32@hotmail.com come from?
73
ke4nt
Posted by somerville32@hotmail.com on Oct. 13 2004,22:40
*chuckles* I guess I am requesting a putty extension 
My username is actually a mistake, I put my email address in! (Though I would have used somerville32 as my username if I had typed it correctly.)
To answer your question: My last name is somerville.
And thank you for the feedback on my feedback
~Me
Posted by ke4nt1 on Oct. 13 2004,22:54
You might want to re-register as a new user,using your preferred name of choice ..
The account/name you are using now will simply sit dormant ..
I have property in Somervile, Texas..
My grandkids all live near Somerville, Texas..
Thar's why I asked the question..
73
ke4nt
Posted by Grim on Oct. 13 2004,23:24
>> A) Use Icons or atleast less cryptic names.>>B) Add function to edit desktop and menu
>> C) Add function to display hardware
>> D) Add function to show network information
>> E) Etc. Etc. A major part is just to add the "links" in the control >>pannel to access the application. Ie. Xsetup
>>Maybe I could draw something out?
A) This is a matter of opinion. I don't think the names are cryptic and icons would be a waste of space.
B) Vi, nano (insert favorite editor here) and bsetbg should have you covered
C) lspci -vv
D) ifconfig
It sounds as if you're looking for a duplicate of the Windows Control Panel and that just isn't gonna happen anytime soon (or quite possibly ever).
>>2) I think package managment is important, maybe add it in the future?
Search through the forums for apt, synaptic, dpkg-restore. There's already package management (and the DSL packaging scheme). The only area I could see room for improvement is if the default compiled applications used checkinstall so that somebody could go and remove aplications they didn't want that came with a vanilla install, but even that isn't a big deal.
>>3) Agreed... the printer setup program is very interactive but
>>doesn't work the best (ref. my post in the printer forum)
If you're installing to hard drive, you'll only need to set up your printer once (unless a hardware catastrope occurs) just download and compile CUPS. It's a little easier to use and there's TONS of existing documentation for it.
>>5) It was just an "idea". I see you guys have your hearts set on less
>>then 50mb, and expansion is very easy once your on the net
That's why it's called Damn Small Linux. There's plenty of distro's out there that cram a ton of bloatware onto a CD, how many can say that they provide the same amount of functionality provided from DSL at a scant 50MB?
>>7) If I just use the Internet Connection Sharing in WinXP Pro, will it
>>work? If you don't have an answer, I'll try it out as soon as I buy a
>>new network card and report my findings back here
Why don't you try to < set up a proxy server >?
>>9) I feel putty is an excellent client that included telnet, ssh, raw,
>>and rlogin and it is very very small. I will try my hand at making a
>>MyDSL file for putty and report my findings back
You also make a>>very very very valid point, ke4nt1.
Putty sucks. The only reason putty exists is because of Windows lack of a real terminal program (which Redmond's supposedly fixed in Longhorn). Telnet and rlogin are security hazards and are, therefore, worthless. And I've yet to find a use for raw. Learn to use the terminal for Secure Shell. It's better, in any number of ways, than putty.
>>10) Thank You
No problem.
Posted by mikshaw on Oct. 13 2004,23:28
| Quote |
| 2) I think package managment is important, maybe add it in the future? |
If you feel that package management is important, perhaps you should consider using Apt or installing from DEB packages instead of using extensions. The extension system is meant to be an easy way to load programs into a LiveCD, and is not ideal for a harddrive install (the only reason I can think that you'd want package management is if you've got a HD install...with a liveCD a simple reboot is all that is necessary).
Not only do you miss out on documentation in extensions, but sometimes there are features disabled just to get it working on a standard liveCD. Using Apt allows you to find your dependencies as well, so these packages are not subject to the same limitations as DSL extensions.
Posted by cbagger01 on Oct. 13 2004,23:45
FYI,If you want a DSL menu editor, download and install the "whitebox" mydsl extension. It is a graphical menu editing program and allows you to adjust other fluxbox settings and create your own styles or "themes".
Posted by somerville32@hotmail.com on Oct. 14 2004,00:03
Reply to Grim:I'm sorry, but a smart-ass responce wasn't on my wish list :)
I would rebuke you but I don't have the energy right now :)
But maybe you should actually read the posts before replying? IT would most defiently help...
I could make a very cynical reply and almost did but lucky, for you, I have enough brain power to tell me to ignore people like you.
Hopefuly you can be more productive and assitive in the future. Some tips might be:
1) Read all the posts, check to make sure topics haven't already been covered and dismissed.
2) If you wouldn't want to recieve a similar dis-tastful post to a pretty positive thread that you started, then don't post it.
3) Learn some social skills, people don't like their ideas being torn apart (or attempted to).
Thanks and have a good day,
~Me
P.S. If you ever need some more help, just give me a ring :)
Posted by SaidinUnleashed on Oct. 14 2004,01:57
hey, actually, his post was rather light compared to some of the noob bashing that goes on sometimes.and he did make a few decent suggestions.
I think Grim had a bit of a sadistic sense of humor ^_^ but he's usually cool.
-J.P.
Saidinunleashed
Posted by Grim on Oct. 14 2004,03:33
>>I'm sorry, but a smart-ass responce wasn't on my wish list I really wasn't being a smart ass. Being a smart ass is my freak, mutant gift, but I really wasn't employing it this time, honest.
>>I would rebuke you but I don't have the energy right now
But I've been very naughty, rebuke me really, really hard.
>>But maybe you should actually read the posts before replying?
>>IT would most defiently help...
Look, I read all of the posts and I've already said that I wasn't trying to be a smart-ass (okay, so the spanking bit was a bit uncalled for) but I did help. My best bit of help was to make sure that you were coming into DSL with the correct perspective.
I've played around with a whole slew of computers AS/300, Mac IIc&IIe, MS-DOS (from around 3.somethingoranother), DR-DOS, Win 3.1, 95,98,ME, NT4, 2000 & XP, Macintosh System 7.x,8.x,9.x and OSX, OpenBSD, BeOS, Linux RedHat, Mandrake, SuSE, Debian, Slackware and DSL. I got to bang around on an HP-UX terminal once or twice.
What did I learn from all of those operating systems? That each one is different and each has their own way of approaching problems and dealing with them. Old school Macs supported only certain hardware, usually the best. That's why hardware conflicts are unheard of in the Mac world. Pretty good idea, huh? Everything has it's strengths and to learn to be the most productive in each environment you may have to adapt your perceptions to the operating system's "way of thinking".
The thing is, if you come into something with preconceptions as to how you think it should work, you miss the opportunity to learn how else it could work. If you're coming from a Windows world and wish Linux were more like Windows, you're going to try to find solutions in a manner that would fit into a Windows framework and become uber frustrated. It would be better to try to wrap your mind around the Linux way of doing things if you intend to run Linux, doesn't that make sense to you?
>>I could make a very cynical reply and almost did but lucky,
Oh no. I shudder with relief at the tounge lashing I was spared. (See, now that's me being a smart ass, well, just a little bit).
>>for you, I have enough brain power to tell me to ignore
>>people like you.
Why should you have ignored what I told you? Because I said putty sucks? Putty does suck. Telnet and rlogin are huge security risks. Name one use for raw. Just one.
>>Hopefuly you can be more productive and assitive in the future.
>>Some tips might be:
>>1) Read all the posts, check to make sure topics haven't already
>>been covered and dismissed.
>>2) If you wouldn't want to recieve a similar dis-tastful post to a
>>pretty positive thread that you started, then don't post it.
>>3) Learn some social skills, people don't like their ideas being torn
>>apart (or attempted to).
1) I did that. I offered information that wasn't provided by those other posts.
2.) I have received much worse responses to far more intelligent questions. I could have told you that you were too stupid to understand the answers or that you have no right using Linux and go back to your Windows world. I was polite and a little bit flippant but I'm like that with everyone.
3.) Social skills also comes from being able to take criticism and being able to admit when you were wrong. I apologise if you took it the wrong way but, I was trying to help. Also, for the tearing apart of ideas bit, would it be better if I let you waste you time on something so trivial when you could have the information you needed and got on with your life?
>>Thanks and have a good day,
You too buddy.
~Me
-Philip McClure
>>P.S. If you ever need some more help, just give me a ring
No thanks, I can pee all by myself now, thanks.
(see, that was also smart ass ;)
Posted by somerville32@hotmail.com on Oct. 14 2004,19:31
*smirks* It wasn't the putty comment, it was the fact that you were going on about doing stuff in the shell when really I could everything in the control pannel from the shell. The CP is just to make life faster and simpler And I think that adding a few of those ideas would be cool though the ones that you dissed were ones that were already nicely turned down. You know, it may have just been the way I read it or you might have been in a bad mood becuase you sure seem pretty nice (and a tad bit funny) in your reply. As I said before, I think you misinterpeted the printer setup comment...
Then telling me that the reason DSL had the word small in it was becuase of it's size was a little much
100mb for an HD install distro wouldn't be too big, but I understand the goal to keep it under 50mb (besides, you can create your own DSL cd )I just like putty becuase it incorps all those features (though your right about some of their uses and security flaws but I still have to use them to do the things I want)
So, I am glade we got this sorted out. I can see that you really are pretty cool and I hope we can be friends
And yes, you better watch out! I sharpen my tongue daily :P
Have a good day
Me