[konaexpress]

How hard would it be to make a setup wizard? I know that this may go against most Linux users wishes of diversity but I am thinking of new adopters. Netbook users to be exact.

I would think that simple things would be set up for users like:

Setup WiFi

Choice of themes

Choice of wallpaper

Choice of what the netbook is to be used for, this would keep the distro small. Zen Mini would work well for this, just give the NEW user choices of School, Office, Net or whatever profile that is needed. Then have a script run in the background that tells synaptic ( please forgive me if synaptic is just a GUI for a terminal app) to download a predetermined set of programs that fit the profile. While this is being done, show a slide show of things that are great about Zen and the community around it. Chances are that Zen can do things that the NEW user doesn't know about.



Now I understand that most Linux users would not like this but I think that letting a NEW user/adopter try and decide what programs to download is detrimental to the cause. In the beginning they are not going to know Adam from Eve when it comes to apps. I know that I have spent hours downloading apps and reading on the net to figure out what programs do what, not to mention all the goofy names they have.


Sorry, but I could go on and on about this and I don't want to take up the dev space in this forum (bug people).

[ongoto]

If there is someone who could make a wizard to choose a bundle of packages for a certain profile, that someone would be you. I don't mean that in derogatory way. Nobody knows better what you want than you do.

Zen-mini is designed with the essentials to build on. That's all it will ever be. Check here:
http://www.linuxlinks.com/article/20070701111340544/Equivalents.html
I hope it might help.

[knome]

I agree with ongoto. That is not the purpose of Zen-mini.

There are plenty of Linux distros that offer what you are looking for. A PCLinuxOS full Gnome or KDE install will give you lots more pre-installed applications that may match your needs.

Visit http://distrowatch.com/ to get an overview of the hundreds of distros available. There are flavours available for Netbooks, Media, Forensic, Firewall, Educational, Scientific, etc., etc., etc...

[Dragynn]

I agree with Ongoto and Knome completely, this is the main reason I chose Zen in the first place, it's the only real bare-bones full flavored DE distro out there. Most are ate up with a gazillion programs installed by default, plenty of those to choose from, let's keep Zen a shining beacon of choice for the user.

If anything, I would say that Kona's post does bring up a good point though, with all the programs in the repo, it's hard for a noob to know what works well with gnome and suits there preferences, I think it would be of benefit at some point, to go through the repo, and make a list of maybe "suggested" programs to try, what progs are GTK vs. QT, what packages will not work in gnome at all etc.

Again, let me just repeat for the lurkers and noobs : The easiest way to test-drive programs without clogging up your hard-drive and having to repeatedly manually dig dependencies back out one by one, is to test programs using a livecd until you find the right one for you for a given task.

Check my re-master threads for lists of progs i've tried and comments, there is also a thread I started here and on the main PCLOS forum entitled "what programs have you installed in your Zen-mini?" in which users list their choices, some nice hints and tips there. Take a look at what programs are installed by default in Slax's full Gnome edition, typically these are well-tested, GTK apps that work flawlessly in Zen.

[konaexpress]

Sorry, I sometimes come out like a shotgun blast from nowhere.

Do not change Zen Mini, I like it the way it is. I can play with it and when I do something stupid and blow it up, I can easily zap it and reinstall it.

What my thought was for is a larger install or a full install. In one of the threads someone (sorry) was talking about how to keep the distro size small, I think under 700mb. I was just thinking that this would be a way to keep the size down and make some eye candy for new users. This might also be a way to make PCLOS Gnome large install different from all the other distros.

I don't want to bring up the name of another distro in this forum but I was playing around with a distro from Turkey that was supper impressive. Now, I am not a fan of KDE but this was a very nice distro. This is what started me thinking about this. As a new user, I felt at home with it, but I am going to stay with PCLOS.

Keep Mini the way it is and use it the way it is intended. I was just trying to help out and to also think of ways to help new adopters feel more comfortable with changing over to Gnome. One thing I find as a new adopter of Linux that is frustrating is how steep the learning curve is. Let the more experienced users do what they do, I was just hoping to help make the larger version of Gnome (Zen?) more user friendly for all the other new adopters like me.

Let me know if I am barking up the wrong tree.

[ongoto]

Sorry, I sometimes come out like a shotgun blast from nowhere.
...
...
Let me know if I am barking up the wrong tree.

Not at all. Fresh new ideas is what forums are all about. Linux is Mt. Everest. Stubbornness and perseverance is what keeps us going. A determination to not be beaten helps too. It's frustrating and we all need to vent occasionally. (or go nuts). LOL

I too am impressed by the distro you mentioned. It truly raises the standard for other distros to go for. A lot of good can come of that. Just keep on keeping on and you'll get there in no time.

[Dragynn]

Sorry, I sometimes come out like a shotgun blast from nowhere.
...
...
Let me know if I am barking up the wrong tree.

Not at all. Fresh new ideas is what forums are all about. Linux is Mt. Everest. Stubbornness and perseverance is what keeps us going. A determination to not be beaten helps too. It's frustrating and we all need to vent occasionally. (or go nuts). LOL

I too am impressed by the distro you mentioned. It truly raises the standard for other distros to go for. A lot of good can come of that. Just keep on keeping on and you'll get there in no time.

+1

Keep them ideas coming, thoughts and experiences and feedback from new users is especially important!

I recently tried a distro that had some extended set-up features on the livecd, it was kind of a neat feature, pretty graphics too...unfortunately it seg-faulted about 30 seconds into the session but other than that it was groovy.

Perhaps a small first-run setup might be a nice idea that lands somewhere in the middle of what you proposed and what we have now, Neal is working on a first-run program that opens a window explaining how to use Synaptic and guiding the user to it to do updates when PCLOS is first installed, very handy I might imagine, possibly this could be extended to offer some more set-up options....dunno, just musing...

The really great thing about linux is, that in a few short months, you'll be making any programs like this that you really want to see, yourself! welcome to the freedom to do so I see a KonaExpress re-master of Zen in our future...

[konaexpress]

Sorry, I sometimes come out like a shotgun blast from nowhere.
...
...
Let me know if I am barking up the wrong tree.

Not at all. Fresh new ideas is what forums are all about. Linux is Mt. Everest. Stubbornness and perseverance is what keeps us going. A determination to not be beaten helps too. It's frustrating and we all need to vent occasionally. (or go nuts). LOL

I too am impressed by the distro you mentioned. It truly raises the standard for other distros to go for. A lot of good can come of that. Just keep on keeping on and you'll get there in no time.

+1

Keep them ideas coming, thoughts and experiences and feedback from new users is especially important!

I recently tried a distro that had some extended set-up features on the livecd, it was kind of a neat feature, pretty graphics too...unfortunately it seg-faulted about 30 seconds into the session but other than that it was groovy.

Perhaps a small first-run setup might be a nice idea that lands somewhere in the middle of what you proposed and what we have now, Neal is working on a first-run program that opens a window explaining how to use Synaptic and guiding the user to it to do updates when PCLOS is first installed, very handy I might imagine, possibly this could be extended to offer some more set-up options....dunno, just musing...

The really great thing about linux is, that in a few short months, you'll be making any programs like this that you really want to see, yourself! welcome to the freedom to do so I see a KonaExpress re-master of Zen in our future...

I am a dreamer and on some days a visionary.............with little talent. I do thank you for the compliment though.

On a side note, is it possible to fill the leftover part of a DVD with graphics and sound. Load the setup wizard with a player and then let it play while Synaptic loads stuff in the background or is the install from it(Syn) too CPU intensive?

[slax]

In linux you can run tons of apps in the same time
Of course it depends on your sys specs, but it is surely much less mem consuming then other OSes.

so you can do it