The future of Porteus

New features which should be implemented in Porteus; suggestions are welcome. All questions or problems with testing releases (alpha, beta, or rc) should go in their relevant thread here, rather than the Bug Reports section.
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tmsg
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Re: The future of Porteus

Post#136 by tmsg » 27 Nov 2015, 12:53

Bogomips wrote:
tmsg wrote:Actually, it is debatable whether even a stable OS (let's remember here that OS stands for Operating System and not for Giant Collection of Apps) needs a big amount of pre-installed apps anyway. For me, one of the great attractions of Porteus is that it comes almost bare-bones (indeed, for my taste there's already too much "app stuff" in there).
IMHO we are talking distro here and not os. Distro needs sufficient apps preinstalled for one to give it a second look.
Hm... not sure I agree. I'm old-skool and have always preferred to build my systems exactly as I wanted them. This, actually, is one reason why I've stuck so long with Windows... I know this OS in and out (having compiled my first Win16 app in the mid-80s). My productivity definitely will take a hit if I switched full-time to a Linux system (BTDT).

And as I said... if I really want a full-blown distro with all the stuff and kitchen sink I know where to look. There is certainly a niche (perhaps a significant niche) for, OK let's say, a VERY SMALL distro if the word OS is too loaded. Or rather, not loaded:-)

The way one clicks together one's own ISO on the Porteus website might be the way to go. Some get just the core, others add browser, office apps and what have you. Plus, as mentioned, a good repo system can take away a lot of pressure to include everything in the base distro.

aus9

Re: The future of Porteus

Post#137 by aus9 » 27 Nov 2015, 22:31

Distro needs sufficient apps preinstalled for one to give it a second look
Bogomips....That is a matter of opinion and not a fact. In fact, its rare for me to agree with a Windows user but I have to agree with tmsg when he says he is not sure he agrees with you.
A Linux distribution (often called a distro for short) is an operating system made as a software collection based on the Linux kernel
Linux distribution

I don't have a problem with you asserting what apps/software you believe a distro needs to satisfy you, but the problem is the development team do not have sufficient staff to satisfy everyone without a huge cost to their time, alternative costs to learn things etc etc

It seems to me, one of the reasons why distros die is the dev team grow tired of attempting to respond to lots and lots of member requests. I share the blame here. :oops:

It may help if an experienced member here....re-write some material to make it more transparent on what ....say a Windows user can expect to get out of the new product=Nemesis. (Opinion alert) Most smallish distros suffer from poor or misleading documentation.

I am attracted to Nemesis due to its bootup speed, the flexibility to add/remove/config software but I also use a bloatware Linux distro and sleep quite well.

:D

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Re: The future of Porteus

Post#138 by Ed_P » 27 Nov 2015, 22:47

Bogomips wrote:Distro needs sufficient apps preinstalled for one to give it a second look.
I agree, not a lot of apps but a sufficient number to keep the new user interested. Plus helpful admins like Porteus had when I, a Linux newbie, happened upon it. Patient, like a parent teaching a child to ride a bicycle. :) :friends:
aus9 wrote:I am attracted to Nemesis due to its bootup speed, the flexibility to add/remove/config software
The original Slackware Porteus is that way also.
Ed

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Re: The future of Porteus

Post#139 by Jack » 28 Nov 2015, 00:01

Hi all,

All the live Distro I check out so far Porteus beat them all. I like to use Porteus in ext4 and all the rest that can't be done. So I will use Porteus 3.1 (Mate) tell I can't anymore and that should be a long time from now.

I will update package when I need to. I think Firefox and flashplayer-plugin might be the only 2.

Jack
I just like Slackware because I think it teach you about Linux to build packages where Ubuntu is like Windows you just install programs you want.

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Re: The future of Porteus

Post#140 by brokenman » 28 Nov 2015, 03:35

What are the minimum expected applications on a lightweight distro?

For me it would be:

browser (lynx or ff)
something to write in (leafpad)
media player (mplayer)
image viewer (gpicview)
screenshot
calculator
torrent client
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Re: The future of Porteus

Post#141 by Ed_P » 28 Nov 2015, 04:37

For me it would be:

browser (ff)
something to write in (leafpad)
media player (mplayer)
image viewer (gpicview)
screenshot
calculator
-plus-
Much hardware support: harddrives, USB, video, sound, networks
BIOS/UEFI/ISO booting support
GUI DE like RazorQT or LXQT
Network Manager with WiFi support
USM or something similar
Persistence capability
GUI File manager
-and-
VNC Viewer
GParted
Easy to adapt to
Great Admin support
User Friendly forum :wink:
Ed

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Re: The future of Porteus

Post#142 by ralcocer » 28 Nov 2015, 10:23

I think that for a live Distro either FF or Chrome are the way to go, they keep your settings and every time you log in all your history is loads, Since I run 3D printer software Python is a must plus GTK, some of the software refuses to work in KDE or LXQT, For writing I prefer Geany it works with everything also a good PDF writer/reader, Printer support, good Network support , Package Management, USM is Good but if you could make it work with RPM and DEB it will be better. most of the dependencies I get from either one of them. also one program per application for example I like VLC as an all purpose player also works with any platform, but not 3 applications to do the same thing, there a a lot more thing you can add to the Setting, so all you need is run it the first time you run Porteus, you can setup printer, Browser and other variables like replacing the Porteus name to the user's name, all in one neat screen. These are personal preferences I don't know if they work for everybody, I am using XFCE, LXQT didn't work for me.

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Re: The future of Porteus

Post#143 by tmsg » 28 Nov 2015, 15:04

Igor wrote:Only a gui-frontend for Pacman (Pamac, Octopi) with wrapper (pman) in separate module. Nothing more. Nothing at all, Carl!
That's basically my stance as well.

Having said that, I'd be happy if the dev(s) throw(s) in a browser (in my case that would be Palemoon), a good editor (SciTE), complete development toolchain and a usable diff/sync tool (for me, kdiff3).

As to imageviewer I'd take XnViewMP with me (as this also works under Windows). For a calculator I'd try to get Kalkulon up and running. And so on...


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Re: The future of Porteus

Post#145 by roadie » 28 Nov 2015, 17:28

Igor wrote:Only a gui-frontend for Pacman (Pamac, Octopi) with wrapper (pman) in separate module. Nothing more. Nothing at all, Carl!
You can get almost anything you want with pacman, as you know, you can start with a console base and add whatever you want/need. It works for Arch, Slackware isn't quite as easy.

I never look at a distro that comes with 2 browsers, 3 text editors and 2-3 media apps...just wasted bandwidth for me. I also think it defeats the purpose of a live usb/cd distro. They were not designed for desktop usage, they're a distro you can carry in your pocket.

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Re: The future of Porteus

Post#146 by Ed_P » 29 Nov 2015, 15:23

Ed

aus9

Re: The future of Porteus

Post#147 by aus9 » 29 Nov 2015, 23:56

It would seem there's a totally reverse understanding of what lightweight means
brokenman seems to advocating FF web browser?
browser (lynx or ff)
And that dear friends takes it out of light and into bloat.

In terms of terminal web browsers, I like elinks as it has a status bar....so if you connect to a https site it shows a big fat S in the status bar,
meaning Secure connection established. The other 2 main status letters are
J = Javascript error
P = Popup window blocked
Page 28
http://elinks.or.cz/documentation/pdf/manual.pdf

Image

Just my aussie 2 cents worth.

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Re: The future of Porteus

Post#148 by brokenman » 30 Nov 2015, 03:47

brokenman advocates any browser that allows you to use duckduckgo with the porteus insert in order to support your favourite distro. Using duckduckgo (with the porteus insert) generates income to pay for the server. Between this and donations we have so far paid for the server for two years running. Thank you to the Porteus community.
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Re: The future of Porteus

Post#149 by Seva » 30 Nov 2015, 19:48

must have for GUI install:

terminal emulator
file-network-partition-task-settings-archive-package managers
screenshot taker
calculator
text editor with syntax highlight
image viewer
one video-audio player with playlists
web-browser with pdf viewing and flash
python3 (?)
light image editor (?)

not must have: games, torrents, ftp, email, translation, messaging, cd-burning, printers

polishing one selected DE can be better for the distro
posted from Porteus

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Re: The future of Porteus

Post#150 by francois » 30 Nov 2015, 20:52

We are ending the first desktop environment stage with lxde nemesis, I presume. Enough seems to have been done to ascertain the possibilities of arch linux as a distribution viable for the modular structure of porteus.

Brokenman:
I would love to try to create a debian based distro but I have no experience with deb. I wonder what the reaction would have been had I announced a base change to debian.
Who here has not been on debian at one time or another? Who has more knowledge of debian than just more than using it to get it going for day-to-day purspose, that is being more code wise? From what I read, I know a few, but I will not name them.

Question 1.
Is there a fit with arch linux or should debian be the distribution of choice as phhpro and michele have predicted? Brokenman and few more knowledgeable linux IT should be able to state on the experience of nemesis, when they think they could make some conclusions.

Question 2.
What programs would you like to see on the next porteus?
We should replicate as much as possible porteus 3.1 for each desktop environment as these environments with their accompanying packages are the fruit of months, or if not years of discussions and consideration of the developpers for their forum users. With a few exceptions porteus was for its size a mature distribution.

In addition, do you like the actual presentation of porteus? Is it intuitive? Here newcomers should express their impressions, and specially the distro hoppers.

Question 2.1
Who should provide the different desktop environment? The unique developper or the community?
The different desktop environments should be built and maintained by some group of users, so to relief the unique developper burden. Thus brokenman would become more a counsellor than a laborer.

Porteus desktop environments should be built with pman and from base and xorg. A common login manager should be choosen. Sddm could accomodate the main desktop environments and the last one coming in kde5-plasma.

Teams should be constituted around some more knowledgeable computer science individual for each desktop according to their interest. These desktop leaders could be coached by brokenman, the developper. For example, and this is only a fictional example but maybe next to reality, there seems to be some interest of beny, tonio, knallknopf and wread for kde-standard or kde5-plasma. One or the other could be heading the kde-plasma desktop. Concerning the lxde desktop, neko could be the leader, ... ,,, for lxqt blaze or aus9 could be the leader. Forgive me, if I have forgot some people, or if I am flattering the wrong guys. :wink:
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