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Projects and resources (En) => Contributing to FOSS => Create masters => Discussion démarrée par: djohnston le 11 mars 2013 à 15:43:46

Titre: DISCONTINUED:Katana
Posté par: djohnston le 11 mars 2013 à 15:43:46
EDIT: This remaster has been discontinued. The iso is no longer available.

This one took a lot longer than I had anticipated. Why?

(1) Plymouth - The theme I created worked beautifully. I removed all the Ubuntu and Lubuntu themes. When I created the remaster, live boot complained about a missing shared library and refused to display the plymouth theme I had created. Yes, it still worked in the installation. But, not in the live session. I ended up with a cheat by leaving all plymouth themes installed and substituting Katana text and graphics for the Lubuntu ones. I'd need more knowledge of how plymouth works and what Lubuntu was complaining about to fix the problem. The error message occurs before the boot.log starts recording.

(2) Ubiquity - The remaster uses Ubuntu's ubiquity installer. For some odd reason, ubiquity requires a GTK3 theme installed in order to see anything in the installer window. By anything, I mean graphics, buttons, etc. Not only does a GTK3 theme need to be installed, it has to be the default theme for the desktop installation. Otherwise, the ubiquity window is basically a big black rectangle.

(3) Themes and icons - When installing the RazorQt desktop packages, the oxygen icon set is installed as a dependency. RazorQt defaults to using the oxygen theme. Not only is it NOT a GTK3 theme, it doesn't contain all the same components as the default Lubuntu icon theme. As a result of item (2) above, I had to revert to using the Lubuntu icon set for three desktop environments. That meant some work on the desktop files.

(4) Menus and desktop files - RazorQt's menus didn't match those of Lubuntu's, particularly the System and Preferences sections. Editing more desktop files brought both menus into sync. ClipIt, the clipboard manager, would not start in the RazorQt panel without the addition of a line to the desktop file in the ~/.config/autostart directory. Some desktop files had to be edited simply because their corresponding icons belonged to the oxygen icon set. In those cases, there were no icons showing next to the text in the menus.

NOTES:

(1) There were some packages left installed in the Lubuntu default installation that should have been removed. The previous kernel and header packages were still installed. The firefox-en package was installed, and Firefox isn't the browser they chose.

(2) To the casual observer, it may seem there are some unnecessary desktop files in the ~/.local/share/applications directory. Each and every one has a reason for being there. Watch what happens to the menus if they are moved or removed.

(3) I'm sure there are some configurations I've missed. For example, the Openbox desktop falls back to the Clearlooks theme because the Loma theme called for in rc.xml is not installed. The PCManFM file manager refuses to display in the RazorQt quicklaunch section of the panel. And RazorQt sometimes complains that the file manager has crashed when first starting the desktop. I'm sure it relates to the quicklaunch menu, as the file manager still works after an error message.

Your comments and suggestions are appreciated. There are probably better choices for media players than Audacious. I left it, for the time being, as that was the Lubuntu choice. If there is no interest shown in this particular project, I'm going to dump it. So far, it has been more trouble than it's worth. It was done as an exercise in getting RazorQt and LXDE to cooperate in the same installation, as well as having an up-to-date (current) installation of Gambas.

Base: Lubuntu 12.04 (LTS)
Kernel: 3.2.0-38-generic (non PAE)
Desktops: Openbox, LXDE, RazorQt

Applications:
Programming:
Gambas 3.4, easily updatable to the next release from Synaptic.
Internet: Chromium web browser and Sylpheed email client. Most privacy options are already applied to Chromium and carried over to the installation.
Multimedia: Audacious and GNOME Mplayer.

Openbox desktop
(http://s19.postimage.org/qqj61xu73/Katana_Openbox.jpg) (http://postimage.org/image/qqj61xu73/)

LXDE desktop
(http://s19.postimage.org/c62373z8f/Katana_LXDE.jpg) (http://postimage.org/image/c62373z8f/)

RazorQt desktop
(http://s19.postimage.org/wfzem90db/Katana_Razor_Qt.jpg) (http://postimage.org/image/wfzem90db/)

You can launch the ubiquity installer from the ISOLINUX boot menu by choosing that option. It will run as a window on a black screen. I don't know why. Is it supposed to be like that? I don't have a clue. The installer is still fully functional.

(http://s19.postimage.org/9kwijl9un/Katana_boot.jpg) (http://postimage.org/image/9kwijl9un/)

(http://s19.postimage.org/ux40h9tsv/Katana_install_from_menu.jpg) (http://postimage.org/image/ux40h9tsv/)

You can also launch the ubiquity installer from the desktop of the live CD session. All steps are the same, once the installer is launched.

(http://s19.postimage.org/oi4zkln33/Katana_install_from_desktop.jpg) (http://postimage.org/image/oi4zkln33/)

You can download the files from the links below.

http://dl.dropbox.com/u/31006290/Katana_RC1.iso
http://dl.dropbox.com/u/31006290/Katana_RC1.iso.md5 (http://dl.dropbox.com/u/31006290/Katana_RC1.iso.md5)


The iso is 621MB in size.
Titre: Re : Katana
Posté par: melodie le 11 mars 2013 à 16:18:20
Hi,

Very fast : for Ubuntu Openbox I used the gtk3 theme shimmer from the XUbuntu project, and I had to add one of the provided themes in the file /etc/gtk-3.0/settings.ini (where I changed the default one to "greybird"). Or you can add the package light-themes which provides 2 gtk3 themes, to your choice... (Ambiance and Radiance : it is "Ambiance" which is configured in the settings.ini above said). And you will also need the ubiquity-slideshow-* : ie ubiquity-slideshow-lubuntu, and if you don't you will get a very tiny window while installing.

About the "plymouth theme" in the Live, it is not the plymouth theme which is used, but either a text mode theme (still having for name plymouth) or you can create your's with files I don't understand much about yet, it is the source package gfxboot-theme-ubuntu. I have found a thread in the ubuntu fr forums, which I will digg in next, in the coming weeks. Maybe you would be able to understand how that works anyhow. If not, I'll point to that thread and we will try to make a translation out of it, for a start.

One image in the boot is directly in the directory "isolinux" which is in the iso, (this is the very first image) the rest is in that one theme and will be compiled to create the file "bootlogo" which will be an archive itself containing a compiled file having for name "init". And the initrd.lz also has to be unpacked and repacked, after that : I found how after several trials and errors (initrd.lz is just an initrd.gz renamed to lz... :/ )

To get gfxboot-theme-ubuntu source package you can do as simple user "apt-get source gfxboot-theme-ubuntu".

One question : why do you need Gambas for exactly ? Isn't that a Razor QT project ? And are you really making it out of Lubuntu, or out of Debian ? (While I am here :  the Ubuntu Openbox 470 MB could be used to build on it, with the Ubuntu Builder tool).


Titre: Re : Re : Katana
Posté par: djohnston le 11 mars 2013 à 20:04:44
About the "plymouth theme" in the Live, it is not the plymouth theme which is used, but either a text mode theme (still having for name plymouth)

Yes, it's the text mode plymouth theme that's being used. The graphics mode theme runs after installation.

One question : why do you need Gambas for exactly ? Isn't that a Razor QT project ? And are you really making it out of Lubuntu, or out of Debian ? (While I am here :  the Ubuntu Openbox 470 MB could be used to build on it, with the Ubuntu Builder tool).

It was built from Lubuntu 12.04, just like the description says. Gambas and RazorQt are two separate unrelated projects. Gambas is a programming language/environment. Let's just say it's a temptation/inspiration for a certain person.

I downloaded your smallest 'buntu iso (187MB) and will take a look. I like to start from as close to scratch as possible. It's often easier than stripping stuff out and having to put usability back in.
Titre: Re : Re : Re : Katana
Posté par: melodie le 11 mars 2013 à 20:20:02
I downloaded your smallest 'buntu iso (187MB) and will take a look. I like to start from as close to scratch as possible. It's often easier than stripping stuff out and having to put usability back in.

This one is not mine, but the Ubuntu Mini Remix which I mirror. Here is the website where it comes from:
http://www.ubuntu-mini-remix.org (http://www.ubuntu-mini-remix.org) and it's page at Launchpad:
https://launchpad.net/ubuntu-mini-remix (https://launchpad.net/ubuntu-mini-remix)

I have had lots of issues while using it, until I end with the real necessary basis. One tip if you want to use this one anyway : you could use a "diff --aur file1 file2" on the filesystem.manifest files from both isos : this one and the 470 MB large I made on top of it. You know where they are in the iso ? In the casper directory (I use file-roller to open the isos when I just want to look at a file fast, and I can even open the files directly with Geany from there ).

And the filesystem.manifest-destkop seems to contain the same list minus the programs removed at the end of an install... something of the kind.


Titre: Re : Katana
Posté par: djohnston le 11 mars 2013 à 20:28:19
Okay, thanks for the warning. Being very unfamiliar with *buntu, I'll download the 470MB one instead. I may wish I had started with that instead of Lubuntu.

EDIT: Your repo is fast! I'm getting about 1.75MB/sec down.
Titre: Re : Katana
Posté par: melodie le 11 mars 2013 à 20:37:20
I have tried to tweak Lubuntu and remaster, the only times the result was almost usable was while using Remastersys. But the name of the user was still in many places of the system, issue about which I posted at the Remastersys forum, but I could not check the next advice fragadelic gave me then because I have put the machine aside for other projects. The other times, when trying to strip it and modify I did the same as konaexpress, I just broke it. :D

In Ubuntu Builder, I also tried to do something with Xubuntu, this also failed : after the update something happened and everything was blocked, I was unable to do any additional step.

Titre: Re : Katana
Posté par: konaexpress le 12 mars 2013 à 01:07:44
Yea, Lubuntu does some strange stuff to work around Ubuntu I think. I have run into a couple of things that make me scratch my head from time to time.
Titre: Re : Katana
Posté par: melodie le 12 mars 2013 à 01:36:28
No need to scratch the head... just forget about it ? Have you tried Xubuntu ? (Just curiosity)



Titre: Re : Katana
Posté par: konaexpress le 12 mars 2013 à 01:40:03
No I have not......

One thing I did try was a short tutorial that walked the user through uninstalling Lubuntu and reinstalling LXDE onto the Ubuntu base. Worked like a charm and runs great!
Titre: Re : Katana
Posté par: melodie le 12 mars 2013 à 01:51:12
Wouldn't that work with a full official Ubuntu as well ? Remove all Unity and Gnome and install LXDE ? XD

(I'm joking badly now!)

Titre: Re : Katana
Posté par: konaexpress le 12 mars 2013 à 03:27:33
Yea it would work but from what I understand, it is a real PITA to do. The way I do it is around 4 or 5 commands from the terminal and a login and 1 more command line entry. No more Lubuntu stuff.....
Titre: Re : Re : Re : Katana
Posté par: konaexpress le 12 mars 2013 à 03:36:00
Gambas is a programming language/environment. Let's just say it's a temptation/inspiration for a certain person.


That reminds me, I was going to look into making "Kate" in Gambas. A graphical welcome app that would allow a user to update their system and update apt-get and install a couple of packages like Gimp or  an office app.

Some text, radio buttons and a go do it button.......this could be cool.......for Katana, maybe I should call it Dojo or something like that.
Titre: Re : Re : Katana
Posté par: melodie le 12 mars 2013 à 03:37:32
Yea it would work but from what I understand, it is a real PITA to do. The way I do it is around 4 or 5 commands from the terminal and a login and 1 more command line entry. No more Lubuntu stuff.....

Madbox is not really close enough to the Ubuntu model, and OBUbuntu RC3 might be even too bloated, but it would be worth trying to add LXDE on both of them.

Titre: Re : Katana
Posté par: konaexpress le 12 mars 2013 à 03:41:00
LXDE works on Madbox just fine for me, I just don't like all the orange the guy put in it. 8)
Titre: Re : Re : Katana
Posté par: melodie le 12 mars 2013 à 03:42:30
LXDE works on Madbox just fine for me, I just don't like all the orange the guy put in it. 8)

Have you found out how to customize the themes ?

Titre: Re : Re : Re : Katana
Posté par: konaexpress le 12 mars 2013 à 03:49:05
Have you found out how to customize the themes ?

No I didn't, shame I did not give it more time. Ran great but the looks bugged me. I guess I could look into it and see about adding another theme to it and the Freanza(?) icon set.
Titre: Re : Katana
Posté par: konaexpress le 12 mars 2013 à 04:31:01
Cr@p! Almost forgot about this. Here is a Start button...........err, menu button............whatever.
https://dl.dropbox.com/u/41965771/katana-button.png
Let me know if I need to change the colors of it.
Titre: Re : Katana
Posté par: melodie le 12 mars 2013 à 12:22:56
Hi,

Your start button it too small. I think it should be at least 48x48. And for my opinion, little square buttons are good for geeks. The new comers don't see the menu button when it's not large and written "Menu" or something which tells them where it is. The colors you chose don't shock me, it has to be seen in a general screenshot of the desktop.
Titre: Re : Re : Katana
Posté par: djohnston le 12 mars 2013 à 16:14:00
I have tried to tweak Lubuntu and remaster, the only times the result was almost usable was while using Remastersys. But the name of the user was still in many places of the system, issue about which I posted at the Remastersys forum, but I could not check the next advice fragadelic gave me then because I have put the machine aside for other projects. The other times, when trying to strip it and modify I did the same as konaexpress, I just broke it. :D
This one, http://tyruiop.eu/~melodie/Downloads/ISOS/Ubuntu/obubuntu-12.04-i386-RC3.iso (http://tyruiop.eu/~melodie/Downloads/ISOS/Ubuntu/obubuntu-12.04-i386-RC3.iso), had to have come from Lubuntu. Here's a screenshot of the installer:

(http://s19.postimage.org/triuktfz3/obubuntu_install.jpg) (http://postimage.org/image/triuktfz3/)

Titre: Re : Katana
Posté par: konaexpress le 12 mars 2013 à 17:49:44
I have got to find a way to edit that dang installer.......
Titre: Re : Re : Katana
Posté par: melodie le 12 mars 2013 à 22:17:59
I have got to find a way to edit that dang installer.......

The installer is made of several packages. There is Ubiquity, Casper, and the slideshows. If you tell me what you want to modify maybe we can help each other ?

I have the permission from the father of the Lubuntu flavor to use the Lubuntu Ubiquity slideshow for the time of the creation of the Ubuntu Openbox spin.

The correct way to make a ubiquity-slideshow-openbox will be to get the ubiquity-slideshow-ubuntu source package and work with it until a new package can be done out of it.

You type this command to get it (be in the /tmp directory if you wish to do tests, so you will see after if you keep the files, and where):

apt-get source ubiquity-slideshow-ubuntu
you will find more info here: http://packages.ubuntu.com/source/precise/ubiquity-slideshow-ubuntu (http://packages.ubuntu.com/source/precise/ubiquity-slideshow-ubuntu)

Titre: Re : Katana
Posté par: konaexpress le 12 mars 2013 à 23:18:08
I would think the slide show screens but maybe the labels in the Ubi installer if they say Lubuntu or Ubuntu.
Titre: Re : Katana
Posté par: konaexpress le 12 mars 2013 à 23:37:25
Holly Cow!

I spoke too soon, there is around 50000 languages to support! I might be able to mod it for English but Wow, just Wow!
Titre: Re : Re : Katana
Posté par: melodie le 13 mars 2013 à 00:08:50
Holly Cow!

I spoke too soon, there is around 50000 languages to support! I might be able to mod it for English but Wow, just Wow!

LOL!
 
I think we could work all together to create one for a Ubuntu Openbox base ? Or maybe one for the Ubuntu Openbox full ? Not sure. Starting with the English version is the most efficient way, choosing which slides will be created, and what will be said is a big job in itself.

To lower the burden I suggest we would start with a Lubuntu package which we will modify, and see after what is the next step. We would need to get a decision for the theme, (I have not done a theme for OBUbuntu, it is a plymouth theme ready to go in the repos, "solar flares" which I have reused for the other parts, and this is a temporary dirty job done to put up this project faster, and work on the parts to learn piece by piece).

Would you want to bring what you did in your MadBox to a Ubuntu Openbox project? Or make a specific theme we could dedicate to it? That would be great!

Titre: Re : Katana
Posté par: konaexpress le 14 mars 2013 à 06:48:14
I have been looking at Razor QT more and it looks like you can theme this puppy but I am not having much luck with the how-to part as of yet. Make a custome theme I mean.

I will keep looking and see what I can find.

@Djohnston - what color theme are you going after? I never asked......yep, that's me!
Titre: Re : Katana
Posté par: konaexpress le 14 mars 2013 à 16:41:29
@Djohnston

Have you thought about basing Katana off of Madbox and bypassing Lubuntu and LXDE? I bet this would work great and help to keep the size down a bit.
Titre: Re : Re : Katana
Posté par: djohnston le 14 mars 2013 à 16:59:16
@Djohnston - what color theme are you going after? I never asked......yep, that's me!

In an attempt at color coordination, I was trying to keep it in line with the Katana wallpaper you made. White, red, blue, purple. With RazorQt, you only have the choice of an icon theme and a razor theme. There are currently only 4 razor themes installed. I haven't even looked at trying to get or make more. The icon theme is always the same as the one chosen in Openbox's Customize Look & Feel. I've never created a custom theme, just mixed and matched what is provided.

With the Openbox theming that also affects the look of the RazorQt desktop, everything is default Lubuntu (blue and white) because of the GTK2 versus GTK3 thing. The mouse cursor is the only Oxygen theme component used that wasn't installed by default when RazorQt was installed.

So, I think dressing it up more would consist of either finding or creating another GTK3 theme. (GTK3 because of the ubiquity installer.)
Titre: Re : Re : Re : Katana
Posté par: melodie le 14 mars 2013 à 17:30:01
So, I think dressing it up more would consist of either finding or creating another GTK3 theme. (GTK3 because of the ubiquity installer.)

After the long article you provided for us, it seems a very difficult and complicated task to create a gtk3 theme. Have you tried the themes provided by the shimmer-themes package ? the Greybird is a gtk3 theme, and lubuntu also provides a gtk3 theme, if you want to have more blue colors.

I had an idea today. It seems only konaexpress is able to create artwork here up to now, and I would really like it if all our spins would have a common beautiful brilliant theme that we can all be proud of.  Then we could later start to modify slightly, progressively, of course, to enlight the differences: would it be a good idea to fancy starting with a common base for Village spins theme ?

Titre: Re : Re : Re : Re : Katana
Posté par: djohnston le 14 mars 2013 à 18:14:33
I had an idea today. It seems only konaexpress is able to create artwork here up to now, and I would really like it if all our spins would have a common beautiful brilliant theme that we can all be proud of.  Then we could later start to modify slightly, progressively, of course, to enlight the differences: would it be a good idea to fancy starting with a common base for Village spins theme ?

Sure, I don't see why not. If you can talk kona into learning how to create themes.  ;)  The three spins I've done, so far, are Katana (Lubuntu based), DebRazor (Debian LXDE netinstall based) and DebWeb (LinuxVillage) based. That is, the "default" or minimum LinuxVillage base that Taco.22 created.
Titre: Re : Re : Re : Re : Katana
Posté par: konaexpress le 14 mars 2013 à 18:19:46

I had an idea today. It seems only konaexpress is able to create artwork here up to now, and I would really like it if all our spins would have a common beautiful brilliant theme that we can all be proud of.  Then we could later start to modify slightly, progressively, of course, to enlight the differences: would it be a good idea to fancy starting with a common base for Village spins theme ?

Try and draft LKJ from PClinuxOS, I see his work all over the web. He has mad skills when it comes to doing themes.
Titre: Re : Re : Katana
Posté par: konaexpress le 14 mars 2013 à 19:39:49
I have been looking at Razor QT more and it looks like you can theme this puppy but I am not having much luck with the how-to part as of yet. Make a custome theme I mean.

I will keep looking and see what I can find.

@Djohnston - what color theme are you going after? I never asked......yep, that's me!

Well......You can theme Razor but not like I thought. It looks like Openbox controls almost all themes for the DE. Razor themes are only for the panel/menu bar at the bottom of the screen.

On that note, finding a theme that will go good with the colors of the logo is a bit tuff as all themes with that color look bad in the menus. Monochromatic might be a good way to go and let the wallpapers be the color.
Titre: Re : Re : Re : Re : Katana
Posté par: patrick013 le 14 mars 2013 à 20:38:31

it seems a very difficult and complicated task to create a gtk3 theme

and I would really like it if all our spins would have a common beautiful brilliant theme that we can all be proud of


The Greybird theme can be modified quite easily, or several of the other gtk-3
themes.    I'm sure you could get the colors you want with 3 or 4 adjustments
without having to write a whole new theme with hundreds of lines.
Titre: Re : Re : Re : Re : Re : Katana
Posté par: djohnston le 14 mars 2013 à 22:00:54
The Greybird theme can be modified quite easily, or several of the other gtk-3
themes.    I'm sure you could get the colors you want with 3 or 4 adjustments
without having to write a whole new theme with hundreds of lines.

Thanks, Patrick. I'll experiment. I believe Louis uses mostly gnome colors and shitaki themes to get the color matches. At least, that's what he once told me.
Titre: Re : Re : Re : Re : Re : Katana
Posté par: melodie le 15 mars 2013 à 00:56:29
Try and draft LKJ from PClinuxOS, I see his work all over the web. He has mad skills when it comes to doing themes.

Hi,

He had done a background that I had used, while trying to make a pclos openbox 64bits (a failure, never worked correctly, due to I don't know what) and at that time he told me that what he did was only backgrounds, nothing else, done fast to please many people and that he didn't like to do anything else.

For themes we need the graphist to do a svg file which he will be able to reuse for different parts of theme, which will be possible for him to pass over to other graphists eventually wishing to rework on it, this in many ways possible. Then for the themes, we need images exported to png. From there we are good to make more.

If you can start with backgrounds in the largest format, for the 2 ratios images said somewhere else... could not remember where so once found I posted a link to dohnston's explanations at tips and tricks. Ratio of images (http://linuxvillage.net/index.php/topic,212.msg1408.html#msg1408)



Titre: Re : Katana
Posté par: melodie le 15 mars 2013 à 00:58:02
What would you say we should adopt as main color to work around ?



Titre: Re : Re : Re : Re : Re : Re : Katana
Posté par: konaexpress le 15 mars 2013 à 02:57:36
Thanks, Patrick. I'll experiment. I believe Louis uses mostly gnome colors and shitaki themes to get the color matches. At least, that's what he once told me.

I think that should be shiki colors but I could be wrong.
Titre: Re : Re : Katana
Posté par: konaexpress le 15 mars 2013 à 03:03:26
What would you say we should adopt as main color to work around ?

I will leave that up to you guys but I kinda like grey/blue.

Blank canvas for others to use.
Titre: Re : Katana
Posté par: melodie le 15 mars 2013 à 03:41:18
The next obubuntu wallpaper and login screen uses BlueBuntu wallpaper theme:
http://meets.free.fr/debian/images/obubuntu-RC8-menus.png (http://meets.free.fr/debian/images/obubuntu-RC8-menus.png)

if that can provide any inspiration ? What do you think of that one ? The biggest image provided is 1600x1200, as png...