Various requests to consider....

aboutblank · 2015-12-16 22:47

Coming from the Windows (7) world, there are many things I have gotten used to whose absence I sorely miss in Linux distros. (I have been experimenting with various distros for years.) I hope to add some of them to this post, as I think of them, but to start, here are a few:

1) Right click, 'Send to Desktop as shortcut'. This capability would be so convenient to have, for both executable programs as well as data files. Along with....

2) Right click, 'Open with' (program), allowing me to pick a different program to open, say, an mp3 file, and specify that program to become the new default handler for that file type.

3) The ability to quickly add created shortcuts anywhere I like in the Start menu, as well as the ability to reorganize the Start menu however I like using 'drag and drop'.

4) A capability to create a 'bat' or 'cmd' text file that could immediately be executed on completion, without having to use chmod to set executable attributes. This might be accomplished through a prompt within a text editor, but would be better accomplished, in my opinion, through an entry in the right click menu (e.g., 'Make this file executable'). Coupled with....

5) A right-click 'Send to' (folder) option, this would make it simple to create a script as simple as 'kwin - - replace' and place it in the Autostart folder. (I am struggling to do this right now.)

6) A simple way to install Compiz (which seems to be absent from the default repositories) or the KDE Desktop Manager (Kwin) for those of us, like me, who have adequate hardware and love the eye candy. Along with automatic addition to the Autostart folder, that would be a nice touch. (I struggled to find Kwin in the package manager, as the search term 'Kwin' only found secondary entries, not the main "KDE Desktop Manager (Kwin)" that I didn't know to look for until I spent time searching the internet. Once installed and configured, it worked great, it even had a box in its configuration that was checked to autostart it. However, once I logged off and back on, it not only failed to autostart, but it lost all my modifications to its settings!)

7) A way to put shortcuts on the desktop that can actually be seen ON the desktop! For example, I wanted any easy way to start the 'Welcome' menu, which does not appear anywhere in the default installation Start menu. After hunting for it I found it, if I recall, in the Startup folder [not the same as the Autostart folder, apparently, I am confused by the naming and the relationship between these two folders]. I dragged and dropped the file to the desktop to create a link I could click on to start the Menu, but it was nowhere to be seen. I tried again, this time I got a prompt asking me if I wanted to overwrite the previous shortcut, which I still could not see on the desktop. Finally, I found the Desktop folder using Konqueror, and the original shortcut was indeed there. However, unlike Windows, it did not actually appear on my desktop. To open it, I must hunt for the icon by drilling down with Konqueror to find the icon, instead of having easy access to it through a shortcut on my desktop and/or through an entry in my Start menu.

8) An entry for 'Hibernate' on the shut down menu, even if grayed out. Right now I can see 'Suspend' and 'Freeze' [which, btw, does not work well on my laptop - on resume, the screen saver shows for a split second, then the laptop immediately is 'refrozen', if I may coin a term ]. I see no entry for 'Hibernate', which is really what I want to do.

That's enough for now. I hope that the development team will consider these issues for a future release. Thanks!

aboutblank
December 16, 2015

Last edited by aboutblank (2015-12-16 23:16)

q4osteam · 2015-12-16 23:16

Most of suggested features would be very handy and users would definitely love them. We would like to get more funds to be able to accelerate Q4OS development and bring more and better features, like that you mentioned. Thank you for your findings, you are welcome to post more.

DavidB · 2015-12-17 02:36

Also, suggestion number 2 already exists, at least on my Trinity desktop.

aboutblank · 2015-12-17 07:08

Thanks, crosscourt and DavidB. I will play more with various features and keep my eyes open, perhaps I have overlooked some capabilities with regard to #'s 1 & 2.

Regarding #8, yes, I installed the full desktop profile, and have TDEPowersave running in my tray. I actually exited and booted a GPartEd disk, to enlarge the swap partition to insure that I had a full 8GB and then some, just in case the swap size was a problem. (I have about 8.5GB swap now, maybe a bit more.) But still, no option to 'Suspend to Disk' (grayed out in TDEPowersave, and completely missing from the Shutdown menu). I dual boot Windows 7, so I know the laptop is capable of hibernation, I use it all the time under Windows.

Thanks for the suggestion regarding XPQ4, I had looked into it, decided not to try it, as I wanted to play around with the stock distribution of Q4OS first. I don't like the very retro look of XP, would prefer Windows 7 look, but one reviewer said that the Win 7 look was not implemented as well as the XP look, so I hesitated. I may well try it later.

I am working on fixing small problems, one at a time. I installed a KDE Touchpad config utility ('synaptiks') that has allowed me to turn off the touchpad [though I have to do it manually, the option to turn off if a mouse is present is not working for me]. Still, that's an improvement, as it was a real problem typing in Konqueror browser, the cursor kept jumping around, which it is not doing now, with the touchpad turned off, thank goodness. I also figured out how to make a 'bat' file that actually turns on Kwin, and it works when copied into the startup folder. Losing my Kwin settings between sessions was solved by utilizing the 'Control Panel' utility for Session Management, setting the option to save sessions when logging off. So, I'm making progress, bit by bit!

This Q4OS is a really great distribution, I like the look and feel and speed of it, the developers have done a great job! There is always room for making a distribution more 'user friendly', I realize that, but it's a complex process, lots of decisions about where to spend one's time improving things (and whether or how to improve them), and this distribution is a great start, in the opinion of this long-time Windows user!

Thanks again to you both!

aboutblank
December 17, 2015

CaptNoize · 2015-12-17 22:50

I agree,with Crosscourt, you could run the KDE4 plasma desktop,but it uses alot of resources. You have to decide which is more important,..eye candy, (compiz) or running essential programs that you truly need. I experimented with KDE4,but it slowed my system down so much,it wasn't worth installing it. Stick with the TDE wallpapers,some,.. I feel,are really cool.You can set them up to change evey minute,and there's a repository for new ones. I think at some point,they'll be adding new ones,also. They don't seem to use much RAM.IMHO.

aboutblank · 2015-12-18 03:25

Thanks for the insights. I've found that I'm able to install and run Kwin (I think called "KDE Desktop Manager (Kwin)" in the stock repository), which has many of the same features of Compiz, and appears to be very compatible with Trinity. I don't know if it's connected with Plasma, or what kind of memory resources it consumes, but that's not an issue for me at present.

As far as other distros go, no I haven't tried any others on this laptop, but Windows is able to Hibernate without a problem, so I don't think the problem I'm having is BIOS connected. The only 'major' problem I've got right now with Q4OS is the Hibernate issue, so I'm trying to solve that before trying other distros.

(I tried Mageia about a year and a half ago and liked the general design, I can't recall why I didn't stick with it. It might not have had Compiz at the time, I seem to recall labeling the CD 'best 2D desktop', or something like that. It really was nice, but I was set on getting something with Compiz without fussing. One distro that worked in that regard was Fedora, about the same time period. Compiz worked beautifully, I think it might have been installed by default. There must have been some other problems or annoyances with it, as I didn't stick with that, either. I actually have Robolinux installed on my dual boot desktop, and have run a copy of my Windows 7 install inside Virtual Box under it - sort of amazing to see the same desktop come up with all the programs installed, and everything working! [There can be issues that are graphic card related, as the virtual machine is using a virtual graphic card with less memory than the physical card installed in the pc. And the processor is slowed a bit, which is significant for certain apps that use lots of CPU, like chess engines.] I actually tried the desktop distro on my last laptop (which died recently), but the distro did not recognize my wireless card, and there is no forum for Robolinux to troubleshoot the problem. Their business model is for users to pay for support - and now, even for the installable distro! [The Live-DVD is still free, but they want a 'donation' to download the latest installable iso; the older version I have did not require that.] The bottom line, for me, is that there is no distro that is completely problem free, there are always some problems to overcome it seems. This distro (Q4OS) has a great interface and is relatively friendly to Windows users, so I will stick with it for a while.)

Regarding my hibernation problem, I did note that I am getting an error message on each boot that states:

"A start job is running for dev-disk-by\x2dpartuuid-3ac2a839\x2d08.device ( xx seconds / 1 min 30 sec)"

where 'xx' is a counter that increments until it reaches 1 min 30 seconds, then time out, and the boot continues. I wonder if that is somehow the cause of the lack of the Hibernation option?! I tried setting up a fsck disk check to be run on reboot using the command:
"/sbin/shutdown - r -F now"
in a root Konsole window, but got the following error message:

"Code should not be reached 'Unhandled option' at ../src/systemctl/systemctl.c:6316, function shutdown_parse_argv(). Aborting.
Aborted"

I will post this detail under the 'Support' part of the Forum under a thread entitiled "Hibernation unexpected [problems]", so the details will be there, too. Any insights as to the cause of this error message would be appreciated!

aboutblank
December 17, 2015

aboutblank · 2015-12-18 05:29

crosscourt wrote:

KWin is a great choice but in regards to your hibernation issue. Fsck runs by default every time you start or restart Q4OS.......I have nothing to draw on to explain why its happening. Q4OS team hopefully will be able to help.
In regards to KDE distros,.....Best KDE distro ive ever used was OpenSUSE as its stable and has a beautiful appearance to all aspects of the install. Best compromise KDE distro PCLinuxOS as it offers eye candy if you want it, a boatload of apps and the ability to configure it easily to your needs.....and its a lot better than I gave it credit in my earlier post. I still prefer Q4OS over PCLOS as PCLOS is a bit heavy and is better suited to desktop even though its a lot quicker than most KDE installs.

Thanks, crosscourt! I appreciate the insights. I've tired PCLOS, and have always been impressed with it, can't recall why I didn't install it, but I think I was shying away from the KDE desktop, which has improved its looks quite a bit, it seems to me, compared to a couple of years ago. I think I played around with "The Full Monte" install of PCLOS, it had, as I recall, four distinct desktops, each with program icons appropriate for the desktop's theme. There was a ton of software that came with it, seems I couldn't make up my mind whether I wanted to change the way I work to match the way the desktops were configured! :>) Sort of overwhelming, but nicely done!

I tried OpenSUSE a long time ago, can't recall what I didn't like about it, it seemed to have a lot of sophistication, coming from a large company.

Thanks again,

aboutblank
December 17, 2015

aboutblank · 2015-12-19 03:49

Here's another small suggestion:

9) When checking to see if my sound is working (and what level it is set to), I find it convenient to click on the taskbar icon for the speaker, and then click on the slider, to see if it makes a beep or noise of some sort. Some distros are beginning to adopt that convention, though sometimes the sound they pick is so low one can hardly hear it! If Q4OS could do that at some point, it would be appreciated. My suggestion would be a simple high-pitched 'beep', but any sound would be appreciated!

aboutblank
December 18, 2015

P.S.: One concern I have is how to receive those changes in a new release without having to wipe out all I've installed and configured in the old release. I am not certain if the 'update' function that appears in the tray every so often will handle a full release update, that is unclear to me. Release update procedures I hope will be highlighted somewhere on the main Q4OS screen. I know Mint has such instructions, but the update process they recommend seems cumbersome to me; I hope your procedure is simpler. But, any procdure will be welcomed, if the instructions are clear. Thanks!

aboutblank

aboutblank · 2015-12-19 06:50

crosscourt wrote:

For now any updates in the 1.4 series can be updated to by terminal, package updater or Synaptic without problems.... I think they said it would be a year or more before 2.0 went final.
In regards to the sound slider giving you an audible noise, people are very mixed on that feature. Q4OS has an audio theme thats played when the desktop finishes loading which will give you an initial indication of working sound and level.

I didn't realize the 2.0 release was that far off. I just wanted to emphasize the importance of clear instructions for updating at that time, as those instructions can be hit and miss with various distros. Mint is the only one I remember whose instructions I came across, though I admit, I may have missed those written for the other distros I've investigated.

True about the sound level at start up, but I find that when I change the level for some reason (playing a media file, e.g.) and then go back to 'normal', I use that simple expedient of clicking the slider bar to insure I've reset it properly. If the feature is controversial, there's always the possibility of making it optional through a configuration setting, or perhaps a checkbox of some sort on (or near) the slider.

Thanks again for the insights!

aboutblank
December 19, 2015

Last edited by aboutblank (2015-12-19 06:51)

DavidB · 2015-12-20 00:48

aboutblank wrote:

9) When checking to see if my sound is working (and what level it is set to), I find it convenient to click on the taskbar icon for the speaker, and then click on the slider, to see if it makes a beep or noise of some sort. Some distros are beginning to adopt that convention, though sometimes the sound they pick is so low one can hardly hear it!

Yes, I noticed that. ElementaryOS does this; they use a "popping" sound. Doesn't bother me either way, whether there's a sound or not. My Android cell phone does it too, so I'm just used to it now, but I don't miss it on my Q4OS desktop. I know whether I'm increasing the volume or not.

Last edited by DavidB (2015-12-20 00:50)

bobby · 2016-01-03 03:16

I would like to add that a Screen Capture program be added to Q4OS Software Installer. (On my list is how to build these myself)

Thanks,

Bobby

rafaelramos · 2016-07-20 18:41

crosscourt wrote:

Have you given XPQ4 a look? It wont solve all your requests but its a good start.
http://xpq4.sourceforge.net
http://www.everydaylinuxuser.com/2015/1 … ws-xp.html

In regards to no 8, when you click on log out in the start menu you dont see hibernate as an option?
Ive installed on many laptops and desktops and all have had that option available in that menu.
Did you use the full desktop profile when you installed? Just curious?
Ive had only one laptop that had some suspend issues and another that tried to go to hibernation once a minute, till I installed the full desktop profiler that included TDEpowersaver, then the problem went away.

Man, this "XPQ4" is amazing !!!

I love the classics ms windows themes!

Thanks!

NoMoreWindows · 2024-01-04 08:50

Very interesting thread as this describes the frustrations I had when first trying Linux. After getting used to it it is not so bad.

But this is why I like Q4OS. They do the effort to make the transition from Windows to Linux as painless as possible for regular users, and they are doing great in accomplishing this.

seb3773 · 2024-06-08 14:01

May be this can interest you, in my q4osXpack script, when you install one the themes (win or osx), it automatically add some servicemenus entries to konqueror/dolphin, so you will have these entries when you select one file (or several files for some actions) and right click:

Send to-
!-send to desktop
!-send to documents
!-send to compressed folder
!-usb device
Create shortcut
Copy path
Execute as root (if it's an executable app)
Execute script (if it's a script)
Execute script as root (if it's a script)
Take ownership (in submenu actions)
Turn to left (for images)
Turn to right (for images)
convert to (jpg, png,gif, tiff ; for images)
set as wallpaper (for images)

This way it's more like the ms windows right click actions. (which I like )

If you're not interested in the whole theme, you can easily extract only the servicemenus part (or if you want I can write a small script to only install the servicemenus entries.)

Last edited by seb3773 (2024-06-09 11:11)

Germ · 2024-06-09 01:36

aboutblank wrote:

I dragged and dropped the file to the desktop to create a link I could click on to start the Menu, but it was nowhere to be seen. I tried again, this time I got a prompt asking me if I wanted to overwrite the previous shortcut, which I still could not see on the desktop. Finally, I found the Desktop folder using Konqueror, and the original shortcut was indeed there. However, unlike Windows, it did not actually appear on my desktop.

I've seen this on several distros. A simple logout/login after creating the shortcut has always worked for me.

Q4OS Forum

#1 2015-12-16 22:47

Various requests to consider....

#2 2015-12-16 23:16

Re: Various requests to consider....

#3 2015-12-17 02:36

Re: Various requests to consider....

#4 2015-12-17 07:08

Re: Various requests to consider....

#5 2015-12-17 22:50

Re: Various requests to consider....

#6 2015-12-18 03:25

Re: Various requests to consider....

#7 2015-12-18 05:29

Re: Various requests to consider....

#8 2015-12-19 03:49

Re: Various requests to consider....

#9 2015-12-19 06:50

Re: Various requests to consider....

#10 2015-12-20 00:48

Re: Various requests to consider....

#11 2016-01-03 03:16

Re: Various requests to consider....

#12 2016-07-20 18:41

Re: Various requests to consider....

#13 2024-01-04 08:50

Re: Various requests to consider....

#14 2024-06-08 14:01

Re: Various requests to consider....

#15 2024-06-09 01:36

Re: Various requests to consider....

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