What should be included in the firmware?

[Klumpen]

Since we got more room now:

LibreOffice

Gimp

Ginge

Timidity

OpenJDK

Deadbeef

SMPlayer2

Radiotray

Firefox or Chromium

The Tube (if we still need it then, which I highly doubt)

Xfce + Mate

Synaptic

Pidgin

More wishes? Comments?

 

[Wally]

I don't think anything readily available in a package should be part of the firmware as its requires more effort to keep updated and working.

 

[God Ginrai]

Added my thoughts on your list:

Since we got more room now:

LibreOffice

Gimp Not everyone will use Gimp. Better to install it from the repo.

Ginge I'm not so sure Ginge needs to come pre-installed

Timidity

OpenJDK

Deadbeef

SMPlayer2

Radiotray This is another thing that would be a nice-to-have for certain users, but isn't really needed pre-installed.

Firefox/Chromium Better to have a lighter browser for the default. Firefox and Chromium can always be installed from repo. Also, this way we can prevent any Firefox vs Chromium wars that would arise from deciding which to include. (because we certainly should not include both as default)

The Tube (if we still need it then, which I highly doubt) This is a youtube app, right? Shouldn't be needed. And if it is, people can install from the repo.

Xfce + Mate Only need one DE pre-installed all of the rest can be installed from the repo.

Synaptic

Pidgin

More wishes? Comments?

Also, Minimenu or some Gmenu2x-style menu-system should still exist in the system as an alternative to the desktop for those who are more gaming-oriented.

-God Ginrai

 

[Fzero]

Quassel.

Seeing as Pandora f/w came bundled with a client in the form of X-Chat, and it seems the general opinion is that Quassel is a nicer client with smarter features

 

[Grench]

Q:  "What should be included in the firmware?"

A:  As little as possible.

Why?  Keep the Pandora and it's firmware OS as slim as possible to ease installs and updates.  The end user should be able to use apt or synaptic to grab other/more software.

 

[ZXDunny]

Q:  "What should be included in the firmware?"

A:  As little as possible.

Why?  Keep the Pandora and it's firmware OS as slim as possible to ease installs and updates.  The end user should be able to use apt or synaptic to grab other/more software.

This. And a very simple (like we have now) method of reflashing in case someone manages to screw up their NAND.

D.

 

[God Ginrai]

Q:  "What should be included in the firmware?"

A:  As little as possible.

Why?  Keep the Pandora and it's firmware OS as slim as possible to ease installs and updates.  The end user should be able to use apt or synaptic to grab other/more software.

Agreed. Only things that will get used often should be included. Java is an example of something that is worth considering, for example. Multiple web browsers? No.

-God Ginrai

 

[benoitb]

Q:  "What should be included in the firmware?"


A:  As little as possible.


Why?  Keep the Pandora and it's firmware OS as slim as possible to ease installs and updates.  The end user should be able to use apt or synaptic to grab other/more software.

This. And a very simple (like we have now) method of reflashing in case someone manages to screw up their NAND.


D.

Agreed.

No need to bundle Libreoffice, Pidgin and the like. The system should come with a DE (XFCE or similar light but quite complete DE) and a way for noobs to install packages without apt-get (Synaptic or another sort of GUI for apt-get).

Eventually you could have a link on the desktop to a script that installs a set of packages as listed in the OP. That link could be named "install full desktop suite" or something like this.

 

[risho]

agreed. kiss philosophy please. base install and then people can just grab whatever it is that they want.

 

[levi]

I'd like to see vim compiled with the 'gvim' options myself.  We've already got the majority of vim installed in the Pandora image, and sometimes it's nicer to edit stuff in a resizable window and have your terminal and editor visible at the same time.

 

[bzar]

Both Qt4 and Qt5

 

[Trezker]

Definitely as little as possible, but no less.

I hate having to remove tons of stuff I don't want right after a fresh install.

If you include unneccesary things there's also the risk of integrating things too much so even if people don't want it they're unable to remove it without breaking other significant parts of the system.

*glares at Ubuntu*

 

[Askarus]

No need to include a lot more than on Pandora.

Full Debian with Synaptic and XFCE/Openbox/LXDE is enough.

Synaptic has it all.

I don't want to have everything shipped by default as I don't want to waste NAND space for stuff I don't need.

 

[tsh]

A minimal base install, but some very trivial method of allowing a user to bring this up to a 'typical' install. It should work out of the box, and it should be easy to (online or offline) customise broswer, media player, etc from a sensibly small list.

 

[elvissteinjr]

Can SMPlayer2 and Deadbeef be included at all actually? Wasn't there a licensing issue with shipping the firmware with software that is able to play MP3s?

Apart from that, a smaller base system would be my preference as well. My internet is one of the slower kind so I'd appreciate not needing to download applications I never use when I reflash the firmware someday.

 

[TrashyMG]

^ They could be bundled, the codecs to decode these audio/videos files are another story.

 

[Grench]

Unwritten rule of Linux...  NEVER uninstall anything.

Although the package managers do a great job of -installing- packages and figuring out dependencies to add in, they're notoriously bad at figuring out what can be removed without crashing other software with similar dependencies.

As such, forcing images for applications into the OS install is the same thing as commercial bloatware.  Make the OS install 100% clean.

Personally I don't think the OS should even package in a browser.  Just the Debian OS, xfce DE, and a package manager (synaptic?).

Can SMPlayer2 and Deadbeef be included at all actually? Wasn't there a licensing issue with shipping the firmware with software that is able to play MP3s?

Apart from that, a smaller base system would be my preference as well. My internet is one of the slower kind so I'd appreciate not needing to download applications I never use when I reflash the firmware someday.

Everyone has their own favorite audio players.  I dislike DeadBeef but love Audacious personally.  Those are personal preferences - should not include -any- players in the stock image.  Let them download the one they want - don't force feed them your favorite.

^ They could be bundled, the codecs to decode these audio/videos files are another story.

Which is another reason to leave application installs to the end user.

I know...  someone is going to call out, "What about the noobs who can't install anything on their own?!?!"

They can be kindly pointed to the package manager and allowed to install, or not, whatever they want.  It isn't hard to understand.

 

[Askarus]

I like a Linux that comes with nothing.

But a new user that wants the Pandora to just work for basic stuff like web browsing and music/video or Text editing might think differently.

Maybe we should make some downloader installed like it's done fir PND manager on Pandora.

It executes apt-get install deadbeef, iceweasel, Libreoffice, JDK, whateverweconsiderimportantfornewuserstohaveaneasystart
 

 

[Klumpen]

So we aggree, that some browser, some media player, java, midi, synaptic and one nice looking but basic desktop environment would be good to have from the start for most customers?

Would only have to aggree on which ones then and if they should be shipped or installable via simple script in form of what Askarus mentioned again in the last post.

No OfficeSuite at all? I thought, that it partly defines this system and lets it stand out, so maybe would be good to have it from the very beginning?

 

[TrashyMG]

No OfficeSuite at all? I thought, that it partly defines this system and lets it stand out, so maybe would be good to have it from the very beginning?

If one can be installed easily enough from a software repository I see no reason to bundle it on the firmware by default.. many users don't need an office suite on a handheld.. so make it optional..


The base install should be minimal, but capable enough to do normal tasks.. the rest can be installed from a repo, package manager or whatever by the user..