Pandora Ui Mockup...

[mazza558]

Hi all,

I've been lurking around here for about 2 months, and was wondering about what the Debian UI on the Pandora would be like. Would the Pandora use Gnome/KDE, or would it go more lightweight?

Either way, I created a quick mockup of what would probably be possible (at least in Gnome). Have a look...

Clicky

 

[TaG]

Welcome.

The GUI has not been spotted yet; many are waiting. It is likely to be based on kdrive, much more than that is unknown.

Have a search through some of the posts to get a better idea. There have also been some interesting GUI suggestion threads.

 

[CoMiKe]

Since most potential customers seem to want a more advanced GUI as standard it's likely the default will be kDrive (X11 derivative) and any CPU intensive apps/games/emus can just kill kDrive when ran, set their CPU speed, have the system to themselves and just reload kDrive on exit.

About your mockup, you'd better post the image in JPG or PNG format, so it doesn't weight that much.

In addition, make your tests at 400x240, and you will get a better idea on how the fonts will look on the Pandora screen.

 

[DaveC]

That is a GUI? It looks more like an internet browser to me.

Anyway from what I heard it is going to be as default a complex windowing GUI. I think that is a big mistake as a default as you won't be able to get to your apps without using the stylus or fingering up your screen. It will also require flipping between windows resizing things and fiddling around to load an app. It will also be more CPU and memory intensive than a simple GMenu type launcher. Supposedly you can load a simple launcher but will not be default. I think that will confuse many non-computer power usertypes that just want to play games or music etc.

To me I thought it should be a fast and quick PDA type launcher that can easily and quickly be used with the d-pad as well as a stylus. It would load faster, take up less RAM and CPU as well. Then if you want something more complex you could install one as an option.

 

[Null]

fingering up your screen.

:lol:

 

[PoisonedV]

DaveC, I agree. Like on cellphones, each dpad direction could bring up a submenu, one you are in a submenu you can navigate with teh dpad, etc

 

[CronoTrig]

Doesn't the Pandora run any ARM Linux distro? If so, the UI would be different for each one.

 

[al3xisonfir3]

i was kind of hoping for something like this

http://www.whatisnew.com/wp-content/uploads/midui.JPG

(without the camera obviously)

 

[Squidge]

Doesn't the Pandora run any ARM Linux distro? If so, the UI would be different for each one.

Any ARM Linux Distro which can fit in memory, and has appropriate drivers.

 

[sindbad]

Angstrom is an interesting choice for a(n alternative) distro. There's an e17 environment with firefox3 and most things people need that already works on the beagleboard, so it's pretty much ported.

 

[CronoTrig]

Doesn't the Pandora run any ARM Linux distro? If so, the UI would be different for each one.

Any ARM Linux Distro which can fit in memory, and has appropriate drivers.


Ah cool, I guess you could just start with a base Debian or Arch distro and add just the drivers it needs, then, right? I hate running with useless garbage I don't need, heh.

 

[TaG]

Just to add my own emphasis to Squidge's reply:

Doesn't the Pandora run any ARM Linux distro? If so, the UI would be different for each one.
Any ARM Linux Distro which can fit in memory, and has appropriate drivers.

I can't recall all the details but there are various components that require non-opensource blobs etc, so I doubt that you just download a standard ARM distro and everything runs perfectly. If you have been tracking progress on BeagleBoard, which uses the same SoC, then although there are different OSes they haven't 'just worked', somebody or several people have had to make them work. I see no reason why Pandora will be any different.

Although I emphasised the drivers, that is not to belittle the "fit in memory" part of the reply.

Will it run other ARM distros - yes if somebody makes it.

 

[fusion_power]

Welcome.

The GUI has not been spotted yet; many are waiting. It is likely to be based on kdrive, much more than that is unknown.

Have a search through some of the posts to get a better idea. There have also been some interesting GUI suggestion threads.

ED mentioned something in our german forums:

Die GUI wird auf einem erweiterten gmenu2x basieren.
Man muss aber nicht mehr alles von Hand hinzufügen

"The GUI will be based on a extended Gmenu2X. But you don't need to add everything per hand anymore."

Gmenu2X sounds good to me.

 

[Squidge]

Ah cool, I guess you could just start with a base Debian or Arch distro and add just the drivers it needs, then, right? I hate running with useless garbage I don't need, heh.

Kinda, as long as you don't mind recompiling stuff (unless of course your new dist is running exactly the same kernel version). As Tag says, some modules will be closed source binary blobs, but it has been said that even these will be recompilable to work on different kernel versions.

 

[TaG]

Welcome.

The GUI has not been spotted yet; many are waiting. It is likely to be based on kdrive, much more than that is unknown.

Have a search through some of the posts to get a better idea. There have also been some interesting GUI suggestion threads.

ED mentioned something in our german forums:

Die GUI wird auf einem erweiterten gmenu2x basieren.
Man muss aber nicht mehr alles von Hand hinzufügen

"The GUI will be based on a extended Gmenu2X. But you don't need to add everything per hand anymore."

Gmenu2X sounds good to me.
Interesting. Was any more said? Please keep us informed, as ED seems to be making more interesting statements at the moment.

 

[nubie]

That is a GUI? It looks more like an internet browser to me.

Anyway from what I heard it is going to be as default a complex windowing GUI. I think that is a big mistake as a default as you won't be able to get to your apps without using the stylus or fingering up your screen. It will also require flipping between windows resizing things and fiddling around to load an app. It will also be more CPU and memory intensive than a simple GMenu type launcher. Supposedly you can load a simple launcher but will not be default. I think that will confuse many non-computer power usertypes that just want to play games or music etc.

To me I thought it should be a fast and quick PDA type launcher that can easily and quickly be used with the d-pad as well as a stylus. It would load faster, take up less RAM and CPU as well. Then if you want something more complex you could install one as an option.

Why can't it be both? Linux loads and launcher loads. Launcher can load apps (like GP2X, no multitask), or can load a desktop so that you can PDA/compute to your hearts content.

 

[Megamixman]

I'm assuming Gmenu2X forgoes X11 and directly works with the FB?
That seems like it would be quite lightweight, but I wonder how that compares to matchbox which is also very lightweight. Matchbox is also the most popular WM for portable devices and is what the Nokia Tablets use.

 

[rmm2131]

That is a GUI? It looks more like an internet browser to me.

Anyway from what I heard it is going to be as default a complex windowing GUI. I think that is a big mistake as a default as you won't be able to get to your apps without using the stylus or fingering up your screen. It will also require flipping between windows resizing things and fiddling around to load an app. It will also be more CPU and memory intensive than a simple GMenu type launcher. Supposedly you can load a simple launcher but will not be default. I think that will confuse many non-computer power usertypes that just want to play games or music etc.

To me I thought it should be a fast and quick PDA type launcher that can easily and quickly be used with the d-pad as well as a stylus. It would load faster, take up less RAM and CPU as well. Then if you want something more complex you could install one as an option.

Wholeheartedly agree. That hokey, skewered GUI poll awhile back confused many into believing it was firmware related so now we have a flashy default GUI to look forward to. It would of been better if the user could just install the complex GUI later per choice, but that idea got washed down the drain.
It's the ONLY mistake i've seen from Craig and the devs though. :rolleyes:

 

[nubie]

Wholeheartedly agree. That hokey, skewered GUI poll awhile back confused many into believing it was firmware related so now we have a flashy default GUI to look forward to. It would of been better if the user could just install the complex GUI later per choice, but that idea got washed down the drain.
It's the ONLY mistake i've seen from Craig and the devs though. :rolleyes:

Is there any technical reason that we need to load the GUI?

Or even fear the GUI? We have more than enough resources, and the GUI can be killed when an app loads.

I honestly think you get the mistaken impression we will have KDE or Gnome, I think a tiny implementation of X is perfectly acceptable.

 

[kloplop321]

nubie is right, a tiny implementation of X is perfectly acceptable.
But still if there were to be a GUI on launch, I would like to see the details