anticapitalista wrote: 2. Include more development libraries/applications for users that need to build for wifi and don't have any other way to connect.
That would mean including for example build-essential fakeroot (adds about 20MB to live iso).

I may have missed the point on this as I have not experienced non-functional wifi in antiX.

Scenario
An unskilled user, via another OS, downloads antiX to try. Bootable media is created and used to boot a machine with only a wifi adaptor. Following a successful bootup, network connectivity is not available. At this point, due to lack of knowledge, the user is stumped and requires guidance. The issue becomes a question of how easy it is to find the guidance, the clarity of the advice it provides and how easy it is to conduct. (See Note:1)

The guidance might steer the user through using apps such as using Ceni, Wicd Network Manager and Windows Wireless Drivers, which might not produce optimal performance. If all these fail to produce a working result, the next step might be to try building a driver from source.

If building is required, any additional development libraries/applications are not useful until the source files are obtained.

Suggestions
The additional development libraries/applications are not included in the ISO but are packaged as a .deb.

The guidance is included within the ISO.

Having reached the point within the guidance that building a driver from source is required, it might suggest obtaining the most recent sources from the manufacturer's website via the other working OS. It could continue by offering antiX specific advice such as:
* How to identify the adaptor chipset
* How to download the .deb containing the additional development libraries/applications
* How to install the .deb via GDebi Package Installer
* How to start the building process
* How to use resulting driver

All of the above is likely to occupy less than 20MB in the ISO.

How well antiX is perceived in terms of out-of-the-box wifi support also depends on the range of devices supported within the kernel. I would prefer that drivers within the staging area are not included as by definition, they are deemed not to have reached a suitable quality standard and are still undergoing testing. Regular antiX kernel updates that include drivers which have been fully tested and moved out of the staging area will help provide the most reliable user experience.




Notes:
1. The guidance will be most effective if it is able to be followed by the widest readership. To this end I suggest that they are written:
* at a very basic level
* using non technical languge
* in an overtly friendly style
* aimed at a target reader with no Linux experience

Keep the feedback coming.

I'm posting this from an antiX-base-amd64 install!
Looks like 64 bit will become a reality!

I'm posting this from an antiX-base-amd64 install!
Looks like 64 bit will become a reality!

Cool Beans. My IBM M57 Ubuntu 10.04 LTS 64bit M/C shop Desktop is getting long in the tooth. Plus my Asus Shuttle Box Desktop in the house. I will test when new 64bit comes out then.

As much as I know you hate LXDE Anti and I am not too impressed myself with my LXDE AntiX core iso install Amrel Laptop hardrive. It took a lot of tweaking to dial in right. I don't know if you remember
========= SCRAPER REMOVED AN EMBEDDED LINK HERE ===========
url was:"http://forum.lxde.org/viewtopic.php?f=11&t=31202"
linktext was:"I just did that to learn a little about using LXDE."
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Other newbie Linux users think LXDE is the bomb.

Just throwing out another thing to think about. Like everyone does not have enough on their plate already.

So if out of line or just being a PITA, Disregard the biker behind the curtain.

lxde is not for me, but, hey, if others want to use it - who am I to complain.

Here is my inxi output of antiX-64bit.

I'll be happy test a 64 bit antix.

john

OU812 wrote:I'll be happy test a 64 bit antix.

john

I'll volunteer also. __{{emoticon}}__

I think I have lightdm figured to start the sessions in a way similar to what we have now with slim.
1. Make a session wrapper in /usr/local/bin/antix-session and place the contents of ~/.xinitrc in it.
A very basic example that I used 2. give this session wrapper execute permissions. In this case chmod 755 /usr/local/bin/antix-session
3. as root edit / etc/lightdm/lightdm.conf and change the line that reads session-wrapper=* to session-wrapper=/usr/local/bin/antix-session and save
4. as root make a new .desktop file in /usr/share/xsessions, edit and paste similar to the following in the new .desktop where the name is what you want lightdm to process as an option and exec is the 'code' you would like to pass to the session wrapper.
6.logout, press control+alt+f1 to get to tty1 and restart lightdm
7.login... Do not forget to choose your custom session name.

This should open up your session as it is opened currently with slim.

SamK wrote:...
The guidance is included within the ISO.
...
Notes:
1. The guidance will be most effective if it is able to be followed by the widest readership. To this end I suggest that they are written:
* at a very basic level
* using non technical languge
* in an overtly friendly style
* aimed at a target reader with no Linux experience

A discussion in this topic post26347.html#p26347 unearthed this guide, /usr/share/antiX/live-boot/index.html.

It appears to be aimed at a technically competent reader rather than a novice with no linux experience, however its structure, presentation and"warmth" of delivery might server as a template for future antiX guides.

Hello.
Diclaimer: as you know I don't use antiX for quite a while and I'm not even using Debian.
But I would like to point that antiX's changes from Debian should try to concentrate on real improvements, avoiding any other change that ain't a must.

Just for example, what's important?
Stripping down services, removing fat etc., adding live/remaster functionality etc.
Those are things that make antiX special.

I suppose slim per se isn't an issue as Debian uses the latest version but I would definitely rethink the option of using ~/.xinitrc for session handling.
If it has any advantage, then fine, but from my experience it only brought drawbacks. Several new user issues come from that and are completely unnecessary.
Try to use what Debian itself does which are etc/X11/Xsessions.d and /usr/share/xsessions (the files might be wrong as I'm trying to remember their location in Debian). You can have the same functionality you have now without breaking the default way Debian works so people can install whatever they want and customize however they want without issues and if an issue appears then just file a bug for Debian.

Another thing much less important is regarding the logout app.
A binary app is nicer than a script as it's much faster.

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url was:"https://github.com/panjandrum/obshutdown"
linktext was:"https://github.com/panjandrum/obshutdown"
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works very well but it has the downside of using its own themes instead of the system icons.

========= SCRAPER REMOVED AN EMBEDDED LINK HERE ===========
url was:"https://github.com/guelfey/goodbye"
linktext was:"https://github.com/guelfey/goodbye"
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is an example of what I mean. But it would need more options.
I didn't see this app from lagopus that dark-d mentioned.

There's GRUB legacy too but this one I suppose anti's keeping an eye if it's better to switch to now almost standard GRUB (2).

sergio have a look at this post24192.html#p24192

I have used Antix for several years on and off- mainly as secondary distro on multi-boot systems or as a primary distro on old hardware. I have always just lurked in forums but saw this thread and thought I would take the plunge. I think Antix is a strong distro especially if you want a light, fast system. A couple of things do come to mind as far areas where it could be made better.

1. When it comes to improvements I try to start out thinking of when I was new to linux or new to a distro and what I had trouble with. Most people I would guess that are coming to Antix are coming from something like Ubuntu, Mint, or Debian stable. For them I think some kind of intro to apt-get and smxi would be useful. They are used to using synaptic to completely manage the distro and have little if any experience using the command line. Some sort of guide to apt-get and smxi would prevent them from coming to grief.

2. For last decade or so home users have moved from desktops to laptops including me. If better support for laptops could be incorporated that would be a plus. Either simple things like not commenting out lines in conky that deal with battery, wireless, etc. or adding a power manager to help increase battery life would be a plus. I have done that to my current install myself but someone new to the distro would probably appreciate it if the changes were part of the iso.

3. Have you considered offering an additional iso that uses the wheezy repos (when it goes stable) instead of testing? I like Antix but it isn't what I consider"mom friendly". In other words I wouldn't install it on my mom's computer or any other computer that going to be maintained by someone who isn't going be comfortable with the command line. I think Antix really shines in the way Icewm and Fluxbox are incorporated into the distro in a way that you get a complete system with alot of functionality. Sure other distros have Icewm and Fluxbox available in the repos but it's obvious that KDE or Unity is really the GUI intended to run the system. I think a wheezy based iso would open Antix to more users. A rolling release is not for everyone and I think a stable based iso would pickup quite a few users that have older hardware and want a light Debian based distro.

mroot,
for number 2 would adding a laptop / desktop optimization option in the installer be of benefit? Maybe in the control center? Or would it be more beneficial to have a quick settings window come up on the first startup running live.

Dave wrote:mroot,
for number 2 would adding a laptop / desktop optimization option in the installer be of benefit? Maybe in the control center? Or would it be more beneficial to have a quick settings window come up on the first startup running live.

I think these are a good ideas. When I read that section by mroot I thought of having a little app that could toggle between desktop and laptop modes. We could also have a"laptop" boot code.

I thought about the laptop issue a bit and having a choice in the installer between a desktop install and a laptop install would probably be a good idea. It isn't a choice that will ever need to be changed. You can't convert a desktop into a laptop or the reverse. Having it in the installer has another advantage. One of the downsides of adding lines to conky, adding a power manager or any other laptop specific software is cpu load and ram use will increase. This is a worthwhile trade off in a laptop. However, if you have an old desktop with a slow processor and little ram you wouldn't get any benefits but you would still get the downside of higher ram and cpu load. Putting the choice in the installer would prevent this since the desktop user would choose the desktop install and not have any of the laptop items installed.

They are used to using synaptic to completely manage the distro and have little if any experience using the command line.
Some sort of guide to apt-get and smxi would prevent them from coming to grief.

I use synaptic extensively, and advocate its use.
It's not necessarily about limited"cli experience"; synaptic just seems like the right tool for the job, vs cli
and vs packagekit/appstream -derived"Software Center" apps
( which scream"wannabe" become Apple-like marketplaces, including"featured" and / or paid apps )

EidelweisPirates.
I didn't begrudge the absence of synaptic in the distro
and
at first glance, I recall wondering why the mid-size antiX version (labled"base"?) was a considerably larger ISO than the Semplice distro I had just trialed
and
I appreciated finding a preinstalled sources.list that contains extra (outcommented) various sources.