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charlieg
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Joined: 30 Jul 2002
Posts: 2149
Location: Manchester UK
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 Posted: Wed May 07, 2003 1:15 pm Post subject: Gentoo Desktop Project |
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The goal of this project is to enhance the desktop experience for Gentoo. Not graphically, but functionally. The idea is to automate or ease any issues which unnecessarily frustrate the user.
Here are some of the suggested sub-projects in the order of which I'm interested in working on them:
- Menu Generator
Generates menus file for all supported WMs and is easy to customise
- Login Manager
Modification of GDM or KDM to allow multiple logins on one computer (think "switch user" on XP)
- Theme Installer and Switcher
Global theme installation and switcher for all supported toolkits
I've started work on the Menu Generator and will release some code to the forums this week. I'm writing it in python and using xml to store the information needed for menu generation. The goal:- No modification to portage required, the script interrogates the world file and cross references that against the xml files to determine what applications need entries in the generated menus
- 2 xml files for menu configuration that can be generated by the Gentoo devs, creating a general Gentoo menu that will satisfy the majority
- The 2 xml files are 1 dictating menu structure and 1 dictating applications and their positions within the menu structure
- Application file shouldn't be too big as many / most items in portage do not belong in the menu
- Can use an overlay either xml file for customisation; entries in the overlay file are disregarded in the file it overlays
- Is flexible and can be customised according to user and according to WM/DE; applications may appear in different places in the menu according to the user or WM/DE for which the menu was generated or may even not appear at all
- Uses DTDs to aid customisation
I aim to release some working code and sample xml files to the forum within a week or so that demonstrate a few of the above properties. To be honest, I've been meaning to do this for months (actually mentioned it in the forum previously) but have only now have the time available to do it.
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Lovechild
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Joined: 17 May 2002
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Location: Århus, Denmark
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| Posted: Wed May 07, 2003 1:30 pm Post subject: |
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I think the menu generation stuff is already being developed using the freedesktop.org guidelines, but sure proof of concept code can't possibly hurt.
As for user switching, that's going to be hard I think.
Theme installer and switcher, I think there's an freedesktop.org standard for this as well, and both gtk and QT conforms to it.
I suggest that for the desktop effort there be focused on true DEs, KDE and GNOME, untill such time as the various other projects conform to freedesktop standards. |
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pjp
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Joined: 16 Apr 2002
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| Posted: Wed May 07, 2003 2:42 pm Post subject: |
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I thought I'd heard people claiming KDE did the "switch user" thing...
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Lovechild
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Location: Århus, Denmark
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| Posted: Wed May 07, 2003 2:59 pm Post subject: |
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| pjp wrote: | | I thought I'd heard people claiming KDE did the "switch user" thing... |
Not to my knowledge |
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idl
Retired Dev
Joined: 24 Dec 2002
Posts: 1728
Location: Nottingham, UK
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| Posted: Wed May 07, 2003 5:40 pm Post subject: |
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Some of those ideas were discused in the GEA (Gentoo Environment Agency) thread. I made an info page for the website and PM'ed klieber as he offered hosting but I never got a reply 
I leave school in 2 weeks and then i'll crack on with the GEA and have it up and running.
Search for the thread and read some of the other ideas 
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yokem55
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Joined: 18 Apr 2002
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Location: Oregon
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| Posted: Wed May 07, 2003 6:02 pm Post subject: |
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| Fast user switching was kind of hacked together by running X on different screens. See this thread here. |
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dice
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Joined: 21 Apr 2002
Posts: 577
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| Posted: Wed May 07, 2003 6:13 pm Post subject: |
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| Whenever I want to pop into a different GUI/user account I use use Xnest. I have a "System->Nested login" item in my Waimea menu that runs gdmflexiserver --xnest |
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PARENA
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Joined: 06 Jan 2003
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| Posted: Wed May 07, 2003 6:48 pm Post subject: |
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Concerning User Switching: I just start X twice. One for me, one for my wife. She logs into her KDE, I log into my Gnome and CTRL-F7/F8 is the Switch.  |
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charlieg
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Joined: 30 Jul 2002
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Location: Manchester UK
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| Posted: Thu May 08, 2003 8:21 am Post subject: |
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| yokem55 wrote: | | Fast user switching was kind of hacked together by running X on different screens. See this thread here. |
Thanks for the link.
However, I don't like hacks. It's better to have something that just works like it should do, if you get what I mean.
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drakonite
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Joined: 02 Nov 2002
Posts: 768
Location: Lincoln, NE
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| Posted: Thu May 08, 2003 8:44 am Post subject: |
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| charlieg wrote: | | yokem55 wrote: | | Fast user switching was kind of hacked together by running X on different screens. See this thread here. |
Thanks for the link.
However, I don't like hacks. It's better to have something that just works like it should do, if you get what I mean.
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Er... Just run gdm more than once.. IIRC it will automatically grab a new virtual terminal for each time you run it... Thus you can simultaneously log multiple people in, and near instantly switch between users (using ctrl+alt+F7,ctrl+alt+F . Each user can also have whatever environment they want running. This is a lot more "like it should be" than how XP handles it IMO.
Linux has been a multiuser environment far longer than windows...
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charlieg
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| Posted: Thu May 08, 2003 9:16 am Post subject: |
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| drakonite wrote: | Er... Just run gdm more than once.. IIRC it will automatically grab a new virtual terminal for each time you run it... Thus you can simultaneously log multiple people in, and near instantly switch between users (using ctrl+alt+F7,ctrl+alt+F. Each user can also have whatever environment they want running. This is a lot more "like it should be" than how XP handles it IMO.
Linux has been a multiuser environment far longer than windows... |
I didn't know that... that's seriously cool if it does. I'll check it out when I get back home. All that would need to be implemented is a generic 'switch user' option.
Linux... nay... Unix has been a multi-user environment far longer than Windows. However, Microsoft have provided the best* implementation of a login manager I've yet to see.
* Hmm... best? Fanciest maybe.
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drakonite
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Joined: 02 Nov 2002
Posts: 768
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| Posted: Thu May 08, 2003 9:38 am Post subject: |
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| charlieg wrote: | | drakonite wrote: | Er... Just run gdm more than once.. IIRC it will automatically grab a new virtual terminal for each time you run it... Thus you can simultaneously log multiple people in, and near instantly switch between users (using ctrl+alt+F7,ctrl+alt+F. Each user can also have whatever environment they want running. This is a lot more "like it should be" than how XP handles it IMO.
Linux has been a multiuser environment far longer than windows... |
I didn't know that... that's seriously cool if it does. I'll check it out when I get back home. All that would need to be implemented is a generic 'switch user' option.
Linux... nay... Unix has been a multi-user environment far longer than Windows. However, Microsoft have provided the best* implementation of a login manager I've yet to see.
* Hmm... best? Fanciest maybe. |
Hmmm... I just tried it to make sure and for some reason it won't do it how I thought it did now. Editing /etc/X11/gdm/gdm.conf can be used to easily make it start up multiple vt's when started though (tested just to make sure...)
I must have been thinking of a different login manager... GDM can still do it if you edit the config file.
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