YAPR

[Caine]

Simple. Not only can it do many things that a netbook (and even some larger computers) can do, but it can play many games very well.

You clarified the wrong statement, but don't mind it's not important.

 

[Prometheus]

Just checked Snes9x. Yes, it reuses a standard GUI library (GTK) rather than implementing its own, so it WILL look like your desktop environment (which is based on GTK widgets). It's not really Xfce you see, snes9x just looks like that.

I may be misunderstanding this statement, so please pardon me if I am, but if you're seeing that you're using an out-of-date version of Snes9x4P - the file-picker was changed to PickleLauncher a while ago.

 

[Caine]

I may be misunderstanding this statement, so please pardon me if I am, but if you're seeing that you're using an out-of-date version of Snes9x4P - the file-picker was changed to PickleLauncher a while ago.

That could very well be true as I haven't actually played any snes games on my Pandora yet. Thanks for the heads up.


We really need a package manager for those PNDs...


[edit]Yep, you were right. I now get a launcher GUI which looks ugly as hell in my opinion (sorry Pickle, not my taste). It still opens a GTK dialog to select the proper file to extract from the compressed archive


I preferred the previous version.


[/edit]

 

[SNESFAN]

I found a video of the upcomming xperia play running a 3rd party emulator that really demonstrates what I'm talking about in the standardization & polish. A thing to note, all the emulators I've seen have extremely similar menu setup and behave very similarly as far as what you can modify and how you can modify them. Menu always brings up a menu, home always takes you home. Note the option of using the touch screen or physical controls for menu/app navigation is a user's choice not the programmers. This is a standard across the OS. I feel this to be the biggest downfall of the pandora.


Anyway, watch the video to see what I'm talking about.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zf2QsSQzsiY


oh and a thing to note, just in case you are wondering, you can set the device to only use landscape mode, he doesn't demo this in the video, but believe me, it's there. (except for instances where the programmer of the app explicitly says portrait only)

 

[Caine]

I found a video of the upcomming xperia play running a 3rd party emulator that really demonstrates what I'm talking about in the standardization & polish. A thing to note, all the android emulators have extremely similar menu setups.

I'm not too familiar with the Android development environment, but I'm guessing that Androids Widget toolkit is quite an important factor in forcing the uniform look and feel of its applications. On the Pandora GTK is the standard widget library (due to the choice for Xfce, which is GTK based). GTK is a typical widget library for desktop software and therefore all software tends to look and function like that as well.


My personal opinion is that all emulators which are currently rolling out their own look (e.g. like PickleLauncher does) are at fault and breaking with the platform native look. Then again, I don't use mini-menu and prefer the desktop interface instead.


The fact that the Pandora has the problem of having two user-interfaces with quite a different and perhaps even conflicting view on interaction doesn't help here. I don't think that adding a third (Android) will improve this situation at all.


So between Mini-menu, Xfce and possibly Android (if some developer chooses to act as its champion), the userland of the Pandora is quite splintered.

 

[sporkbox]

I found a video of the upcomming xperia play running a 3rd party emulator that really demonstrates what I'm talking about in the standardization & polish. A thing to note, all the android emulators have extremely similar menu setups.

I'm not too familiar with the Android development environment, but I'm guessing that Androids Widget toolkit is quite an important factor in forcing the uniform look and feel of its applications. On the Pandora GTK is the standard widget library (due to the choice for Xfce, which is GTK based). GTK is a typical widget library for desktop software and therefore all software tends to look and function like that as well.


My personal opinion is that all emulators which are currently rolling out their own look (e.g. like PickleLauncher does) are at fault and breaking with the platform native look. Then again, I don't use mini-menu and prefer the desktop interface instead.


The fact that the Pandora has the problem of having two user-interfaces with quite a different and perhaps even conflicting view on interaction doesn't help here. I don't think that adding a third (Android) will improve this situation at all.


So between Mini-menu, Xfce and possibly Android (if some developer chooses to act as its champion), the userland of the Pandora is quite splintered.

What you are citing as a liability (different interfaces) is what makes the Linux desktop experience as good as it is. If we enjoyed having only a single UI, we'd stick with Windows or OS X. Sure, having only one allows for standardization, but it also invites bloat (excessive features) and a one-size-fits-all mentality. The latter is never true. The "splintered"ness of it is what gives users choices in what they want to run. Choice is good, not bad!


That's why I'm probably putting Fluxbox and awesomewm on my Pandora when I get it, and nixxing XFCE if I can reproduce the input controls.

 

[Caine]

What you are citing as a liability (different interfaces) is what makes the Linux desktop experience as good as it is. If we enjoyed having only a single UI, we'd stick with Windows or OS X. Sure, having only one allows for standardization, but it also invites bloat (excessive features) and a one-size-fits-all mentality. The latter is never true. The "splintered"ness of it is what gives users choices in what they want to run. Choice is good, not bad!

Hmmm. Maybe I phrased my point wrong. I don't think it is a liability at all. I was merely trying to explain why interfaces aren't uniform which appears to be bothering johnsongrantr quite a bit. He thinks that Android is a solution to that. I think it is not for the reason I stated, it will only add to the diversity.


I agree with you, more software is always good. I just don't think people should expect all software to come with several different user interfaces. As is always the case on our beloved Linux, some applications will feel native and some will be a bit foreign. It's quite simple really: use the ones you like.

That's why I'm probably putting Fluxbox and awesomewm on my Pandora when I get it, and nixxing XFCE if I can reproduce the input controls.

Nice. I'm an awesome user myself. I expect it will suit the Pandora perfectly (at least, with some proper keybindings and a bit of tweaking). I haven't tried it yet since A: I'm too busy with gaming and B: I want to do this on a separate bootable SD card instead of my NAND.

 

[sporkbox]

Ah, forgive my assumption then. You're right that adding Android to the mix, while it may be useful to those interested, would just add to the very problem that guy was complaining about.


Porting fluxbox and awesomewm (if they're not already) will be my top priorities for the Pandora, complete with a well-featured default config. I don't plan on leaving the Pandora community anytime soon. I just wish mine would get here already!

 

[Blue Protoman]

Did you order a Premium, spork?