Q4OS Forum

tekkaman

Member

Registered: 2020-02-13

Posts: 12

Some things to add

Hello everyone,

I´m currently testing Q4OS trinity variant. So far I think there´s a lot of good here and I really like the XP vibe that could bring newbies to Linux. There are some things that I would like that the developers look into.

1- Start Menu. The Start Menu at first looks fine but it gets a bit messy when you want to look for an application. You have to click start and then Application then programs. Now when you are at programs only the software that was installed from Q4OS software centre is there. If you have to look for something you got from synaptic or a separate debian package you have to click accessories and then select categories and then look for the application. I think there´s too many clicks required. I propose 2 ways:
A: Make the Start Menu like XP. That when you click Applications all software appear in alphabetical order.
B: When you click applications it takes you to the categories directly.
I´m sure that there´s probably a way for the end user to do that but I´m a Linux newbie and I don´t know.

2- Lock toolbars. I know that one of the things that attracts people to Linux is the customization. And that is great and all but for people that are new to Linux they can easily break it up. It´s too open. I remember people calling me back in Vista era because for the first time you could "delete" the recycle bin. People would ask me where it went. I think that by default all toolbars in konqueror and dolphin should be locked and if you want to make advanced changes you have to go to control panel type a password and give a warning to the user.

Dai_trying

Member

From: UK

Registered: 2015-12-14

Posts: 2,992

Re: Some things to add

In answer to point 1, I always use the "classic" Menu type selected from the "Switch to Kickoff start menu" on the Welcome Screen which gives me something like you describe although most packages will appear in the programs menu. Another thing that this menu style does is you can simply hover over menu items for them to open, there is no need to click until you find the application you want. Or better still, use the Classic Type with the "Categories" structure, that looks closer to what you want.

As for point 2, I think that this might make it too awkward for "normal users" in general, locking down everything that you want to do with a machine would probably put more people off from using a distro if it requires that you jump through more hoops before you can perform basic tasks. Obviously there is nothing wrong with modifying any installation image to give it different options, and you could have your own installation media that you could use for your clients/friends/others which could have everything you want. But to force this option to all users would (IMO) put more people off from the distro. Just an opinion here though so I could be wrong...

tekkaman

Member

Registered: 2020-02-13

Posts: 12

Re: Some things to add

1- I didn't know it had that option. I'll check it out. Sounds similar to the options plasma have. Though I hope something can be done for the default one since I really like it.

2- Yea well I'm talking about people that are newbies to computers in general. Like they could remove the buttons or menu bar from konqueror file manager and they wouldn't know how to get it back. I'm talking about a lot of calls for support hehe.

3- I would like to add another point. If I choose the full distro installation it would be nice if a full working gdebi is included. I managed to get it working on Q4OS Trinity. But I can't seem to get it to work on the KDE version. Since Q4OS centre doesn't have many software ported there it would be nice to install software easily with gdebi. I know sometimes you have to use command line on Linux to install stuff but I prefer to avoid it as much as possible.

Tomsonas

Member

From: localhost

Registered: 2019-12-13

Posts: 44

Website

Re: Some things to add

I know sometimes you have to use command line on Linux to install stuff but I prefer to avoid it as much as possible.

Well that's just how Linux works, don't avoid it that much as it's not that hard to use and pretty easy to learn

Last edited by Tomsonas (2020-02-14 15:34)

Dai_trying

Member

From: UK

Registered: 2015-12-14

Posts: 2,992

Re: Some things to add

^^^ beat me to it I was going to say that in the Linux world the command line is your friend! do not be afraid of it but do be vigilant.

And about point 3, if you have installed the full desktop profile then you will already have synaptic package manager and if you really need to install a deb package directly you can always use good old apt (sudo apt install ./some-debian-package.deb) which will pull in all the required dependencies too, just remember to put the ./ before the deb file name.