A Control Panel

If you have any suggestions or ideas about improving Salix, here's the place to post them.
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Duncan_Idaho
Posts: 216
Joined: 19. Sep 2009, 01:43
Location: Sietch Tabr, Planet Arrakis

Re: A Control Panel

Post by Duncan_Idaho »

I run into the following error

Code: Select all

rob[~]$ gksu /usr/sbin/setupcenter.py 
/usr/sbin/setupcenter.py:35: GtkWarning: Unknown property: GtkIconView.item-orientation
  builder.add_from_file('/usr/share/setupcenter/setupcenter.glade')
/usr/sbin/setupcenter.py:35: GtkWarning: Could not load image '/usr/share/icons/hicolor/scalable/apps/sourcery.svg': No se ha podido abrir el archivo «/usr/share/icons/hicolor/scalable/apps/sourcery.svg»: No existe el fichero o el directorio
  builder.add_from_file('/usr/share/setupcenter/setupcenter.glade')
Traceback (most recent call last):
  File "/usr/sbin/setupcenter.py", line 284, in <module>
    SetupCenter()
  File "/usr/sbin/setupcenter.py", line 141, in __init__
    icon_feed = self.get_icon(gtk.STOCK_OPEN)
  File "/usr/sbin/setupcenter.py", line 256, in get_icon
    return theme.load_icon(icon_name, 48, 0)
glib.GError: El icono «image-missing» no está presente en el tema
btw I'm running 13.1 so that may have something to do with it :?
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Akuna
Salix Wizard
Posts: 1038
Joined: 14. Jun 2009, 12:25

Re: A Control Panel

Post by Akuna »

Duncan_Idaho, I need to add more error checking. It seems you don't have sourcery?

pevsner, I really like your addition. I initially had it that way, but was told to remove the box above as it 'was taking place unnecessarily', however, looking at your visual, I think it looks more polished & finished that way.

What I think I'll to is include it in the default display (by category) but keep it removed from the single display which probably appeals more to folks who want something as minimalistic as possible.

'Divers' is French for 'Diverse' (my mistake) it was just a quick added category to test running an application as a regular user from the Configuration panel. I just put the terminal in since we can immediately see who is logged in. This is needed for running CUPS or any desktop setting utilities one might like to add.

Now, what we need to think about if we make customization easy, is how to handle an upgrade that might contain new applications or categories without messing up previous customization.

There are a number of approaches for that, ranging from being as simple as possible which means that customization would be reserved for advanced users & would be sort of an hidden feature. Or on the other side of the spectrum, make customization very accessible with the help of some clicks, but then devise a scheme a bit more invasive with a pop up after an upgrade, asking the end user if he wants to include a new utility in one of his categories.

But I'm not quite happy with both of these ideas...

Thinking more about it, a third way would be to simply add a 'Revert to default' button which would revert to whatever is the default of the latest upgrade. That way the end user has the choice between his own customization or the 'official' default choice of categories & utilities. In fact we could even have a 'Revert to Customization' button if the user changes his mind & wants to return to his customization after trying the new default of an upgrade.

That way we could both make customization accessible to anyone and manage upgrades in a very simple way.
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What really matters is where you are going, not where you come from.
pevsner
Posts: 81
Joined: 12. Apr 2010, 16:08

Re: A Control Panel

Post by pevsner »

I thought perhaps a simple ( highlight mouseover) expandable dropdown, that opens upwards on click. Similar to Gcolor2 color picker > "show saved colors" dropdown.
Illustrated below.

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f.bluedevil
Posts: 91
Joined: 9. Jan 2011, 23:06

Re: A Control Panel

Post by f.bluedevil »

Cool! :o

I want one. How much do they cost?

Very nice! :D
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Akuna
Salix Wizard
Posts: 1038
Joined: 14. Jun 2009, 12:25

Re: A Control Panel

Post by Akuna »

@ pevsner, it's looking really good, but it's probably better to have preferences further away from the main window, to keep it simple and clean.

I've been really busy with other things for a few weeks but today I was able to progress quite a bit.

Actually it is very simple, the control center will only show up all the system-wide utilities that require the use of administrator rights (including CUPS) which by default will be organized in 5 different categories. If the end user so wishes, he can moves them to other categories and even rename those categories. There is even a sixth (hidden by default) category that can be used if deemed necessary.

It doesn't really need more customization than that. In fact the default will probably be perfect for most folks.

As I said, I was able to advance quite a bit on the Preferences GUI today:

Image

Should have a new package available sometimes quite soon.
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What really matters is where you are going, not where you come from.
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mimosa
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Joined: 25. May 2010, 17:02
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Re: A Control Panel

Post by mimosa »

A small linguistic point: "diverse" isn't really a good English translation of "divers", which means something more like "various", "other items". Diverse = "varié(s)" (Linux offers a diverse range of options). Except that in older English, "divers" (without the 'e') was used much as it still is in French today.

EDIT I see this doesn't appear in this shot - but I read about it in your blog at SimplyNux.fr earlier today.

The panel's looking good!
pevsner
Posts: 81
Joined: 12. Apr 2010, 16:08

Re: A Control Panel

Post by pevsner »

@Akuna,
Sounds/looks good, this is going to be a really handy cp.
I was actually inspired by this thread to check out "glade" and write a couple of very simple pygtk apps for my openbox setup.
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Akuna
Salix Wizard
Posts: 1038
Joined: 14. Jun 2009, 12:25

Re: A Control Panel

Post by Akuna »

@ mimosa
You are right, diverse doesn't seem so right in this context. Anyways, it was just a filler for the extra (hidden by default) category so I'll just call it something else, we'll see.

@pevsner
Nice to hear. Pygtk + Glade is really a nice duo. You should post your apps sometimes, I'm sure other OpenBox Salix users would find them useful.
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What really matters is where you are going, not where you come from.
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Akuna
Salix Wizard
Posts: 1038
Joined: 14. Jun 2009, 12:25

Re: A Control Panel

Post by Akuna »

New version to play with: http://people.salixos.org/akuna/testing ... h-1plb.txz

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This version should detect all the system-wide utilities you have installed on your computer which you can then include from the Preferences dialog box.
You also shouldn't have any more error message if one of the default utilities is absent from your system.
I still haven't tested it on another DE than Xfce , I'd be interested to hear if someone else did.
I still need to add one last control in the preferences, to enable the end user to rename the categories if he so wishes. The help section still has to be created as well.
And finally it is not multi-task yet, you can only launch one application at the time for the time being.
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What really matters is where you are going, not where you come from.
djemos
Salix Warrior
Posts: 1433
Joined: 29. Dec 2009, 13:45
Location: Greece

Re: A Control Panel

Post by djemos »

Akuna, New version, runs fine under salix-kde-13.1.2

Very good job, Congrats :)


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