If a default choice is set, which desktop environment the Pyra OS should have ?

[Silent-Hunter]

Who knows... It may come down to a vote and how it seems with the results of most of the polls here we'll end up with something horrible by default.

It seems to me like the default is gonna be MATE, or possibly XFCE. Are either of those horrible? Maybe we could have a choice on first boot, and the one the user DOESN'T select gets uninstalled?

 

[ClockworkCoder]

So is it likely to be the default when the Pyra starts shipping? Even if I don't use it I may keep it in case I need to look at what others are seeing when trying to help them out. I wish I had my Pyra so I could figure out what I will use. Although I want KDE I will probably go with something that isn't a resource hog. I don't understand how Windows users can do it.

KDE isn't half as bad as it used to be, but unfortunately perhaps still not quite good enough. I might try it though.

 

[comradekingu]

If we could have unlimited choices I am sure we would. Maybe it is time to make another poll to narrow it down. Pretty sure I know what would win.

Out of curiosity, do you also prefer Mate (the DE)? I think I am going to go check it out now.

I use mate 1.16.1 day to day. But i also have Xfce 2.10 on a laptop, because the newer version is hard to get to work without systemD.

Both of those get out of the way for me. They are fully translated to Norwegian Bokmål. I prefer Xfce for its visuals and systematic control / system settings.

I like qt better than gtk+

 

[FBnil]

I use icewm and KDE. Of course I know Gnome, but meh... rather have Xfce.
The problem is that when you chose a desktop, you also chose part of the programs. Thus, if you have Gnome, with caja/nautilus and you want say, dolphin... then be prepared to download a whole lot of libraries to support that particular file explorer. So you might as well stick to only 1 lib set.

 

[AnimatedFreak]

Really knowing that I will be able to replace the DE with whatever I want (cus it's Debian). It really doesn't matter to me what I get as default. What matters more is that people who have never used Linux gets one that is functional. I think Xfce and Mate both provides this, however Xfce should be changed to look a bit better (like the Pandora one was) I also think it would be good to have a minimenu like GUI early on for those who are not into the desktop aspect of the Pyra.

 

[levi]

I use icewm and KDE. Of course I know Gnome, but meh... rather have Xfce.
The problem is that when you chose a desktop, you also chose part of the programs. Thus, if you have Gnome, with caja/nautilus and you want say, dolphin... then be prepared to download a whole lot of libraries to support that particular file explorer. So you might as well stick to only 1 lib set.

When I set up this particular build of Arch on this machine, I went for the gtk3 spin of LXDE rather than the gtk2 version mainly because it had fewer dependencies. Only problem with it thus far is that I've not got the fancy plug-in for html email in claws-mail to load successfully (wrong versions of libs) so I'm viewing my html emails as source for now, and opening stuff I can't grok (and need to) in firefox.

 

[slaeshjag]

Well. For a decently functioning desktop system. GTK2/GTK3/Motif/Tk/Qt are pretty much required. So it won't really matter which DE to go for regarding those libs, they'll all have to come along anyway...

 

[rygD]

Who knows... It may come down to a vote and how it seems with the results of most of the polls here we'll end up with something horrible by default.

This is probably one of those situations where a poll won't give the best choice. Even though I tried to pick what would be best for newbies, based on my experience and preference, my experience is limited, and what I like does get in the way (KDE is one of the ones I chose back when this poll was started).

Maybe poll results could be used to bring attention to certain choices, and one person (ED, aTc?) should make the call. I still think it is important to consider usability for those experienced primarily with Windows, or maybe even Android now, when making the decision.

 

[FBnil]

Well, I've used XFCE on Debian for a while on my desktop. These are the things I dislike:


* no typeahead/search
We can see that now on the Pandora, finding an app is hard (if you got many).
Although you can put your favourites on the desktop, KDE has these "favourites" area

* hm... will need to think more on this... TBC

 

[elvissteinjr]

* no typeahead/search
We can see that now on the Pandora, finding an app is hard (if you got many).
Although you can put your favourites on the desktop, KDE has these "favourites" area

The whisker menu has a well working search field, a favorites area, as well a recently used menu.
Not available on Pandora, but for 4.10 it was an installable plugin and with 4.12 it's part of the core distribution.

 

[levi]

On a normal XFCE machine, I usually have a few shortcuts set up on the main panel, and everything I launch from the command line where I have tab completion in bash, which is a substitute for type-ahead search except it only searches when you press tab. That doesn't work on the pandora because pnd's aren't configured as executable and aren't in the path, but there are various launchers around I believe. I might have to try some out actually, as sometimes finding the app I just installed in pndmanager of from ptitseb's beta lair can take a bit of guesswork.

 

[bzar]

Well. For a decently functioning desktop system. GTK2/GTK3/Motif/Tk/Qt4/Qt5 are pretty much required. So it won't really matter which DE to go for regarding those libs, they'll all have to come along anyway...

FTFY

 

[Bokkertoff]

Hi Guys

The only environment that stands out for me in the list is minimenu.

All the others we have all seen 1000 times before. Sometimes with very nice themes etc.
Also as mentioned a couple of times in this thread is that it is easy to install most (if not all) of them.

The only one for me that has the potential for a novelty and wow factor is minimenu.

When I looked at it on the Pandora wiki, I immediately wished I could start navigating and see what is going on.
None of the other environments manage to evoke that novelty factor.

I never owned a Pandora and so I am not familiar with minimenu.
So I dont know what is to like or not about it or if there are issues.
Maybe current Pandora owners are tired of the interface ?

Is minimenu open source ?
If so, where can I get hold of the sources so I can take it for a spin ?
(I came up empty with a few google attempts)

 

[Linux-SWAT]

Take a look at this search (may not help):
http://git.openpandora.org/cgi-bin/...a.oe.git&a=search&h=HEAD&st=commit&s=minimenu

 

[TrashyMG]

Take a look at this search (may not help):
http://git.openpandora.org/cgi-bin/...a.oe.git&a=search&h=HEAD&st=commit&s=minimenu

I think those are all supporting scripts not the source of minimenu itself. I don't see it in skeezix github page either.

Minimenu most likely would need a bit of work to play nice in a non-Pandora/PND environment. It's also not a multitasking desktop It's meant to only launch one program at a time. It's supposed to be an easy game/application launcher easily navigable with the d-pad and buttons or touchscreen.

 

[frefol]

Is this it?

https://github.com/skeezix/libpnd-clone/tree/master/minimenu

 

[_jr_]

IIRC it is part of the normal libpnd tree. IMO the code is actually good work by skeezix, but it was a quick hack in C so there are some crash situations left as an exercise for the user (that's why I looked at it; there is a thread with some patches around somewhere). It is also somewhat tied to the pnd implementation, but shouldn't be too difficult to change that.

 

[Grench]

If someone decides to make a minimenu like simplified DE at some future point, no problem.

However, for at least the first wave or 3 of Pyras coming out, having XFCE as a default makes more sense. As new & newb users ask questions of, "How do I XYZ?", having a known default enables the community to help them by saying, "click on P then D then Q" rather than having to ask, "What is your DE?", to which the new & newb would reply, "What's a DE?"

Worse is if the community replies with a pile of code to be entered into a shell (normal Linux forum response) instead of point & click specific to the Pyra's default DE. For better or worse, the world is full of people who see entering text commands as something to be feared but are perfectly willing to click on pretty icons without concern over what they actually do.

So, from a support and community cohesion aspect, keep the default installed software model simple. Debian with XFCE as default.

 

[ible]

i'll make sure to upload a "sudo rm -rf /" program to the repo, as long as it comes with a pretty icon... maybe a picture of a flower?

Spoiler

 

[ClockworkCoder]

i'll make sure to upload a "sudo rm -rf /" program to the repo, as long as it comes with a pretty icon... maybe a picture of a flower?

Spoiler

Only last year some guy lost his entire business (website hosting) with a script that ran pretty much that. Apparently it expected an argument to tell it which path (website) to purge, but clearly had no sanity checks.

Edit: Source (seems it wasn't entirely true - there wasn't the comment at the bottom when I first read the article) http://www.independent.co.uk/life-s...mpany-with-one-line-of-bad-code-a6984256.html