Is the MEPIS Desktop in Need of a Makeover?

Besides making me blow hot coffee all over my display, your wallpaper does demonstrate an important point.

As is the case with almost any other distro, Mepis users are a diverse group of individuals. What one age group might find to be a "really cool theme" would be considered inappropriate by another age group. And, what this second age group considers to be "beautiful" will perhaps be see as "boring" by the first.

I played around with PCLinuxOS yesterday evening -- if only out of curiousity -- and found the wallpaper be be very nice. But on the other hand, I am in the AARP-eligible (just barely) group of users.

"Hi all
Just my quick twopennoth, or Cents if your from across the pond ROFL. Well here is my desktop, it's not that girly really.

Link to image

Mepis now it's mature, but have some "old" and not useful features that can be deleted. For example, the Kaquarium (i hate it, it's stupid!), KWeather and all the not useful applets automatically added.
For the graphics, i can suggest to leave pyramids, moons and so on and choose a new symbol.

In few words: take a Kubuntu distro, change the name in Mepis, add the "mutilities" and go on...

The idea of some kind of contest is great. Freespire did it and it's beautiful:

http://browse.deviantart.com/projects/contests/freespire/?order=9&alltime=yes

Although some shortcomings, Freespire looks solid, modern & professional.

wow! those were some awesome wallpapers!

please, check out my previous post about kde-look.org

do you all think we should try to make new themes from scratch or use existing ones, like those on kde-look.org?

No point in reinventing the wheel. There is plenty of good stuff out there.

On a partially related note, I would like to advocate for a visually simplified and functionally cleaner desktop panel. Desktop panels should be, at very least, practical and intuitive, if not downright elegant.

Two minor points-

1) I fix PCs for a living so I have a certain knowledge of common practices with desktop configuration preferences in general. The number one (intentional) tool bar add-on for the MS desktop is "WeatherBug". Number of folks that have added on an aquarium (cute though it is)- Zero.

2) People hate messages that pop-up repeatedly. They tend to ignore them and consider them to be some sort of necessary nuisance. Folks are generally sophisticated enough these days that the 'mouseover effects' are felt to be overkill (especially after the second or third 'pop-up'). Icons should more closely represent the function that they serve. Or, at very least, the association between symbol and function should be intuitive to recognize.

I have twenty-four well-spaced, visually distinct and very simple buttons on my desktop panel, only three would not be immediately obvious (as to their function) to any 'new' user (four if you count the kmenu icon). Clutter is minimal. I rarely have to look farther than one mouse-click for what I need.

Never thought I'd grow up to have passionate sentiments about a tool-bar...

I do a bit of computer support myself.

Agreed: WeatherBug is one of the most insidious spyware plagues launched upon the Windows community. That is the first thing I delete when helping out one who has not yet been enlightened about Linux.

Disagree: KWeather is one applet I'd not remove. I've come to depend on it. And it is nice to know what the weather is like "back home" in Morgantown WV.

Now, should it be loaded by default in the distro? That is up to those who put out the CD. If nothing else, each new Mepis user knows what the airport call sign is for Morgantown.

I like the kweather applet. I wish it would give forecasts in addition to current weather, but that's a kde.org thing. I could live without kaquarium and the memory monitor.

I'm a fan of the Simply MEPIS distro, but not the name. I would prefer MEPIS OS (then there would be MEPIS Lite, MEPIS Pro, MEPIS Server). I get some weird looks from people when I recommend Simply MEPIS.

I like the look of the desktop although I think the boot splash screen and desktop wallpaper are a little dull.

I think the choice of applications included in MEPIS is excellent.

LOL...regrettably, I've been around long enough that I have to admit to having the original Hair LP...probably still in the garage, someplace.

Bring back "Big Hair!"

"You have two labs?"
"Each has its place. At the university, I try to please the Federal Government. Here, I negotiate with God."

Getting into discussions about various applets (especially the fish), I think it's important to point a few things out about what the default desktop configuration is really about.

IMHO, it's not about setting up the desktop exactly the way one person, or even a majority of people, would want to leave it. You can pretty much count on the fact that anyone who actually installs Mepis is going to customize their desktop before they do anything else. (I also do tech support for a living, and I can tell you that when I put a computer in someone's cubicle, it has a plain blue background and all the boring default settings -- when I get the computer back, it never has those settings!) So yes, we can add/remove whatever applets or icons we do/don't like in a few clicks, but that's not the point.

Rather, I think the point is this:

1. What impression does it give first time users -- people who have NEVER seen Linux or Mepis before?
2. What features does it showcase?
3. How does it perform on the liveCD?

I mean, when I put in that disc and boot, it's got to boot fast, it's got to boot consistently, it's got to work solidly, and it's got to leave me with the impression that Mepis is modern, easy and fun to use, flexible to my needs, and packed with features I can benefit from.

I like the idea of a contest. This could lead to bringing graphics folks to Mepis, especially if it lead to some type of award such as money or mepis products. The East Tennessee State University Digital Media folks may enjoy this if it is presented as a contest. I definitely like the contest idea.

It would be nice to have a gallery setup that included polling. If enought people participate, a top 10 list could be kept at all times, much like the K12LTSP folks did. I can't seem to find the link to the site for example. When I find it, I will post it.

Joe Pearce

The student is not above the teacher
The servant is not above the master
The student shares the teacher's fate
The servant shares the master's

http://www.joepearce.com

I consider myself to be a newbie, particularly when I read contributions from other Mepis users. But I have spread the Mepis word amongst friends and colleagues who have in turn become keen users, even though “shiny” things attract some of them where "shiny" equates to good/better.

But look and feel is a challenge, the Mepis Grub screen is dull compared with say Ubuntu or PC Linux as is the progress screen and bar and login screen. By the time users get to the desktop some have the impression that Mepis is pretty dull and hence somehow second rate. But once they use the goodies Mepis has to offer this quickly dissipates, because Mepis really is first class, it just hides its ability under modest clothes.

So, I would support a change to the look and feel of Mepis and yes I think this would certainly attract some users who are put off by its blandness. But I would be very unhappy if Mepis were to be in some way diminished in a functional sense to achieve this.

Having seen some suggestions, like those from Rudd, Enigma One and Jimmy Johnson, I think that Mepis users can come up with a great look. So perhaps a competition like that one held by Linspire would be a good way to tease out the best designs, especially if we users are free to vote for our favourite.

Whether this should simply be limited to wallpapers, or extend to icons, fonts and cursors I don't know. I guess that depends upon whether we all feel such sweeping change is desirable, or if an image makeover will suffice to tempt the more "visually demanding" user.

Cosmology

“Imagination will often carry us to worlds that never were. But without it we go nowhere. - Carl Sagan”

PCLinuxOS (which successfully loaded on only one of the three tries, using three different computers) does something that I think Mepis should adopt.

When I loaded Mepis for the very first time I was momentarily stumped on what the default passwords in LiveCD should be. Had to use Google on a different computer to find out that the password was the same as the user name.

PCLinuxOS puts the LiveCD passwords right there on the wallpaper! As they say in that beer commercial, "Brilliant!"

So ... don't assume that someone trying Mepis for the first time will know that the password for user "guest" is guest. There should be a way to swap out the LiveCD wallpaper with a diffent one, which doesn't show the LiveCD passwords, during system install.

lykwydchykyn has made some good points. Comments:

1) Aquarium - I remove the aquarium immediately every time I do a fresh install. But the few people to whom I've demonstrated the MEPIS boot disk have been highly impressed by it, especially after I explain that it's easy to get rid of.

2) Weather - I like the KWeather applet largely because it tells me immediately whether or not my DSL connection is working when I boot. The applet can be configured to show weather conditions and temperature anywhere, although that's not a straightforward process. After a few tries I've gotten it right every time but I have no idea of how I did it.

3) System Monitor - I rely on the system monitor constantly. Back in the olden times, under Windows, I used two different icons in my system tray to give me the same information. Very useful for learning when a program's trying to do something but can't. That happens a lot less under Linux than Windows.

4) Finally, might it be worthwhile simply to point out that wallpaper under the KDE Desktop is infinitely configurable, easliy? (Right click anywhere > Configure Desktop.) Selecting Picture > "Open file dialog" icon permits using any image. If it's a photo, using "Options > Position > Centered Maxpect" keeps the image from distorting while making it as large as possible on the screen. The Slide Show option will change background pictures as often as you like, and it's easy to select several directories of images. For starters, with the current MEPIS 6.0 desktop, maybe try "Background > No picture" and "Colors > Pyramid gradient;" that looks pretty good.

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The idea of some kind of contest is great. Freespire did it and it's beautiful:
http://browse.deviantart.com/projects/contests/freespire/?order=9&alltime=yes
Although some shortcomings, Freespire looks solid, modern & professional.
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

An EXCELLENT idea ceti.
Yes these are really classy.

IMHO it is time to move beyond the 'pyramids"
I feel they have served their purpose - we have an excellent & solid "core" in Mepis itself - we have the solid foundation - now is the time to "let the MEPIS flower bloom".

Not to excess, & not gaudy colours or wierdo visuals but as ceti has shown I feel we should take inspiration from such high quality submissions & do similar.

"solid, modern & professional" yup ceti you've got my vote.

And whilst on submissions can we perhaps try to submit screenshots at a 'pseudo-standard' size?

I know that monitor resolution is endlessly changing but having to "pan" left & right as I have already noted here is most annoying & a real enthusiasm killer.
Yes I/we can view in another prog etc but that is not convenient when trying to get through articles quickly.

I would suggest that the 1024 x 768 pixel is probably the most used worldwide at this current time.
After all we want to maximise the audience, not discourage them.

agreed, the contest is terrific. but i can see the mepis logo ruining any of those wallpaper images. while the freespire logo fit in nicely.

so i think mepis needs no everything. logo, bootscreen, theme (wallpaper, icons, etc.) and so on...

i love the idea of putting out an open call to graphics designers to come pretty up mepis. this is a big distro, lots of people would surely love to put this on their CV.

Since writing the above I have been browsing around other subjects & they all display the normal full width on my screen.
However when I come back here I have to pan left & right all the time to be able to read it.
I'm guessing that this one subject has been set up inadvertently maybe? to a much wider resolution than is usual.
Are others noticing this too?
It would be nice if it were consistent with the other subjects on this forum.

Same thing for me w/ WinXP, Firefox, 1024 x 768. (Why XP? I am on my work computer.)

I'm ambivalent about the matter of logo changes; which is to say that I really can see valid arguments for and against any sort of change.

I will, instead, busy myself with messing-around with a new GRUB background, and several D/T backgrounds; along with a lucid tutorial on how folks might change the GRUB particulars, if they wind-up wanting to back such changes into their existing MEPIS installation.

"You have two labs?"
"Each has its place. At the university, I try to please the Federal Government. Here, I negotiate with God."

Contrary to others, I think Kweather & System Monitor useful by the reasons Marshall pointed out. My wife likes Kaquarium. MEPIS isn't for hackers only, there are a lot of beginners out there, MEPIS has to be appealing to them too.

someone has posted something which has a fixed and large width. Then everything else gets dragged out to that size. It looks like a feature of drupal. As I have a widescreen, and use only half for a normal window - 540 pixels wide - i see it often.
A long url or a picture is often the culprit. We could fix long urls with use of a service like tinyurl, but I don't actually know how to put a picture in a post, never mind get people to shrink them first.

To get on-topic again....(back to the 'make-over' question):

Has anyone volunteered so far to start redesigning (parts of) the Mepis desktop:
1. within or outside the constraints of current logo designs?
2. taking into account different formats of wallpapers?
3. defining a fitting Mepis theme?
4. defining colorschemes?
5. selecting a fitting icon-set?
6. defining mepis-unique graphic elements?
(like bootscreens, logon/logoff splash-screens, K-menu side bar graphics, user/root graphics, etc.)?
6. overall tuning of single designs.

It seems to me that:
1. a few guidelines from Mepis LLC should be brought forward. Constraints, scope and manner of communicating.
2. someone should be appointed to be in charge of this 'make-over process', making decisions within the defined constraints and working+communicating with all involved.

If both issues are not cleared out, nobody will succeed in bringing about a 'coherent, appealing desktop make-over'.

Regards, Ko

Ko Bros

Has to be changed or eliminated.

On occasions, when you install a new app from the repository, it doesn't go into the main MEPIS menu structure but end up instead in the Debian "Appliations" menu.

This is probably a tough request, seeing how it may require many deb packages to be modified in order to go under the MEPIS menu structure.

Oh, put mutilities on a line by itself in the System menu

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GreyGeek

I'm honestly not very concerned about looks. I'm happy with an OS that works smoothly and reliably on my slightly old machine.

Personally I like the Vista, PCLinuxOS transparency theme, single-click to launch files, and minimalist desktop. Things that flash and move on my desktop are distracting (fish, monitor bars, etc.) and make me notice less the alerts that really need my attention. I agree that users will customize their own desktop (and should), so I suggest to keep it easy to do (without typing root passwords to make cosmetic changes) or make it even easier, such as:

Just like I can click "Get New Wallpapers" from the Background option in "Configure K-Desktop", why not a Themes option and even a "Get New Themes" button within this easily assessable and intuitive window?

I suggest enabling transparency by default as the “wow” factor. As a bonus, add a modified Desktop Settings Wizard to the first time startup (tips on the second startup maybe?) for each new user, and let the users walk themselves through some cursor options, wallpaper, applets, and then finish off with a screen about running Synaptic to get some additional packages. The first thing you do when you move into a new house is decorate, right?

At a minimum, I think we should launch the Desktop Settings Wizard at user first start-up since it demonstrates how customizable and easy SimplyMepis is to use. It also makes the user feel a part of the OS while *putting the elusive desktop makeover into the users hands*. Historically, new users customize their desktops before even launching a single application. Use themes, and they get there that much quicker since they either learn to live with what they have (Windows at work!), or they research how to change it (make this part easy, however).

Quick question though, when I added a new user account, why I did not have the Desktop Settings Wizard as an option for that user?

Anyway, here are my suggestions for the Desktop Settings Wizard:
Step 1 – Introduction
Include timezone drop-down
Step 2 – I want it my Way...
This looks great but maybe include test icons to demonstrate differences between behaviors
Step 3 – Eyecandy-O-Meter
Show details by default
Step 4 – Everybody loves Themes
This looks great, but where we can add a few more

Suggested Modifications:

Step 5 – Make your point
(This is where you choose your mouse pointer options (and feedback timeout!)
Have cursor theme options
Step 6 – Dressing it all up
Launch the Window Decorations applet
Step 7 – When You are Just Staring at the Wall
(This is where you can choose a wallpaper and its settings)
Step 8 – On Top Of It All
(This is when you can add applets like clocks, monitors, and so on to your taskbar)
Shows the “Add Applet to Panel...” window
Step 9 – Let's Begin
Click Finish and it launches the tips window. First tip – How to install more packages with a brief note on how to use the search and sections buttons within Synaptic as well as a reminder to install the updates.

The coding could be easy since you are just making calls to applets that are all ready coded. Methinks.

As for the “LiveCD”, have it still launch the wizard but save their personalized desktop for after install (so they do not have to start all over, but the wizard will start again anyway and working from where they are at now).

Sorry for the long post, but I hope it was helpful.
:Don
Rascal

EEgads, that post looks even longer on the board!

Along the lines of the revised Desktop Settings Wizard, and it being theme-heavy, why not a theme contest? Wallpaper is everywhere (most users know how to take their favorite digital pics and use it as wallpaper), but icons and cursors and titlebars are very cool. I just love the default themes and keramic is enough of a change for most people to think I am running the latest OS.

Sorry again about the length of that last post.
:Don
Rascal

Several of the OSes I've used in the past would run KPersonalizer on first boot. As as a matter of fact, KNOPPIX runs KPersonalizer on first boot/login after an HD install. There's no reason why this can't happen in MEPIS.

If Kommander were installed by default, a simple, small script with a pretty KDE frontend could be created to run at first boot and update the APT cache, download and install various themes for KDE from the MEPIS servers (possibly presenting a list to the user), then launching into KPersonalizer. After closing KPersonalizer, it could then launch into KControl for further personalization. This would keep the overall size of the installation small while allowing the user the greatest possibilities for theming, wallpapers, icons, fonts, you-name-it.

As far as themes go, reviving some of the old KDE1 and KDE2 themes would be great. Some of them were really Tech. Some were plain, some colorful, some manly, some girly, some dark, some bright. A really wide variety to choose from. Personally, I like the entire Baghira theme currently available via the regular Debian pool. Then again, I do have a little Mac envy....

Michael
=====================================================

The box said "Requires Windows 98 or better." So I installed LINUX...

All of the embedded links to need to be edited, and some of the BBCode quotes are improperly used. I have a sleep study tonight, so I can't get to it, but I will try to do it in the morning when I get back. Everyone should look at the BBCode help to learn how to properly embed URL's, especially long ones. Drupal automatically recognizes URLs and it would be reslly nice to have TinyURL installed. I will email the website masters and ask about it. That would help to stop it. Users should also use the URL tag to create links instead of adding long URLs.

Joe Pearce

The student is not above the teacher
The servant is not above the master
The student shares the teacher's fate
The servant shares the master's

http://www.joepearce.com

Would something like this be an option:

Click to enlarge

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Musiclib - Music for the Masses

At its full size this is very neat.
Nice one Flashback.

Thanks. Since it seems that the background is decent, here is a tar.gz of the background in 1024x768, 800x600, and 640x480, in both png and xcf formats.

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Musiclib - Music for the Masses