Description: This is an idea of a home page for Konqueror that could be implemented in an IOslave. It would list the devices in the computer and the peripherals, and could also list some common applications like the browser, the e-mail client or so, allowing you to start them by clicking on its icons. I don't want to immitate other OSes; this is much more inspired in web site designs and tries to be practical and useful. What do you think?
Thank you for the great idea. We did it on Turkix. This is now one of the cool features of Turkix
I will try to make a port for Mandrake.. Source codes will be available in CVS, you'll be able to reach them from Turkix web site.
And thenew kioslave is not a frozen web page output. It changes regarding your devices added or removed. It's in full interaction with your system as in devices:/ kioslaves. Plus, whether you device is mounted or not, it mounts it and shows you the output. I've named it kiostart.
Looks cool! I'm going to download Turkix to take a look at it. How can I access your CVS server? I'd like to get the source code of your start:/ kioslave. I speak spanish and I could translate it.
Better improve devices:/ instead of programming something new. HTML is defnitely bad for this purpose.
Also, KDE should get some "supermount" functionality... - just the way Mac or Win do...
This is not the same as "devices:/". This would include devices but also other things. I know HTML isn't good for this. It would be better to implement it as a KDE program inside a Konqueror window (via a KPart?), but I don't know how to code it. The file you download is just an example of the idea.
About the "supermount" feature, I think it's more a question for the distributions. Also, devices:/ doesn't support supermount. I use supermount and my DVD and my CD recorder are not listed in "devices:/". Also, devices:/ usually includes the /home directory. For normal usage it's useless to have access to /home. Instead, you should prefer to access to your ~ directory. That would also hide some of the complexity for novice users.
I really wonder why you try to imitate Windows. Others try to imitiate Apple.
Perhaps it is true: Open Source is no real innovative software.
http://segusoland.sourceforge.net/
or dashboard
show that it can be done.
I really like this. having some kind'a startpoint whould be nice. I think it could be usefull to set konqueror up so that it wont go to /home if you go up one level from /home/user, but to this page. of course you still need to be able to do "/home" manual.
this whould hide the awfull / directory structure, which you dont need anyway. Of course then this page whould need all links to documents, movies, /mnt and other important places (for the normal user!!!!).
Now, ignoring all the fud about "This is not teh hax, it looks like that os that I haet!" here's a couple of suggestions:
As pointed out above, the home name does seem like something we already have, and thus might confuse which we obviously don't want. Apart from all the fud, Start does seem like the best suggestion, and I would say that changing it to for example Begin Here seems like such a desperate attempt to just make it not Start. And, please remember, this is not a Start menu, this is a start point for browsing the computer, which is really something I've missed.
To make it output something that is usable, it would probably have to output HTML, but it is I am afraid, not really possible to make this flexible enough simply by using a HTML page, because of the potential for dynamic content in this starting point. Removable disks, network drives, mounted ISO images ( ;) ), you name it.
Just a couple of ideas :)
I know Home is not a good name, but I didn't knew which name to give it. Start is cool.
Implementing this as a KIOSlave would allow it to be dynamically generated, as the HTML would be produced by executable code which can take a look at /etc/fstab to list the proper devices and so. Anyway, HTML would miss some interesting features like right-clicking to mount/umount devices, open K3B to record a CD, format a floppy and so. So we could simply reproduce that design in QT Designer and implement it as a normal interface, and embed it in Konqueror via a KPart or something. These are technical questions; what I wanted to debate here is the idea itself and we'll see the best way to implement it.
My intention is not to immitate that OS, as you can read in the first comment. It's more inspired in the web site design, and the intention is to facilitate novice users the navigation through the system.
Yes, I trust your intentions, but in the end it's EXACTLY like WinXP "My computer" browsing, while I think there coulkd be other more personal and easier ways to implement the concept you have in mind.
No point to doing this since KDE already has the ability to do this and has for a while.
Want to be able to browse your programs website style? type in programs:/
Want to be able to browse your devices? Type in devices:/
Not a bad idea.. just that you're a little late.
Hmmm, except that the existence of those ioslaves doesn't mean they will be used :). I think the idea behind this is providing a nice interface to access other parts of the system..... so things like programs:/ could even be linked to here. It's something users could start at to discover some of those other great/useful (but no so well-advertised) features.
IMHO, of course.
Exactly, and it would also allow novice users to have a starting point to better understand what they can do with their new Linux system and start taking the most from it.
I like it, but as another user said should however not be "home".
Here are some thoughts I've given it:
The Storage-part could in my opinion also include Audiocd like in kioslave "audiocd:/".
"CD recorder" would be nice if a rightclick could start K3b or another CD-R-app.
It might even be posible to generate "Storage" from kioslave "devices:/"
The buttom "devices" might also need another name since a partition is also a device. Print should open kioslave "print:/".
The blue thing on the left, I'd prefer if the sidebar already present in Konqueror were used insted. And the actions like "add/remove folder" should be in a menu that could come from a rightclick on or around the icons.
All should of course be in i18n, so it could be translated.
Hmmm. If I hadn't a million things I wanted to make, I might be temped to try to make this myself.
devices:/ doesn't work very well with supermount because it doesn't detect my DVD and my CD recorder, and also my USB Stick. Anyway that's an issue with KDE. Fixing that it's a good idea to use it. Maybe via an iframe or making the proper calls to the corresponding KIOSlave.
I don't think audiocd:/ should directly be as an icon. It could, instead, be included as an option in the right-click of the DVD or the CD recorder. The K3B idea is cool, and there could also include an option to mount/umount and eject the CD or other removable media. It would probably be more correct to say "Peripherals" than simply "Devices"; anyway I don't mind which name to give it, I just wanted to give a name that doesn't confuse the novice user.
The sidebar in Konqueror would be ok, but I wanted to give a cool look like in the web pages. That gradient background wouldn't look cool in a Konqueror sidebar. Anyway there could be other formulas that also looked good.
I think using the term 'home:' might lead to confusion in novice users with /home or $HOME. Maybe "start" would be better.
I believe something like this is already implemented in some combinations of distro + desktop.
Well, I didn't knew what name to give it. "Start" sounds well, but may remember to some other OS. Anyway, I don't mind the name, the question is to make it. ;)
In this example it says "Suse 9.1" but it could auto-detect the distribution and display the proper one or simply display "KDE 3.2" or so.
By the way, the screenshot is fake. It says "home:/" in the address bar, but it's how it could look. In reality, I've modified it with GIMP.
Ratings & Comments
25 Comments
I guess this converted into the new 3.4's about: isn't it?
Thank you for the great idea. We did it on Turkix. This is now one of the cool features of Turkix I will try to make a port for Mandrake.. Source codes will be available in CVS, you'll be able to reach them from Turkix web site. And thenew kioslave is not a frozen web page output. It changes regarding your devices added or removed. It's in full interaction with your system as in devices:/ kioslaves. Plus, whether you device is mounted or not, it mounts it and shows you the output. I've named it kiostart.
Looks cool! I'm going to download Turkix to take a look at it. How can I access your CVS server? I'd like to get the source code of your start:/ kioslave. I speak spanish and I could translate it.
Looks like a Windows rip-off. No, KDE needs a genuine style that maximizes usability for the user.
Better improve devices:/ instead of programming something new. HTML is defnitely bad for this purpose. Also, KDE should get some "supermount" functionality... - just the way Mac or Win do...
This is not the same as "devices:/". This would include devices but also other things. I know HTML isn't good for this. It would be better to implement it as a KDE program inside a Konqueror window (via a KPart?), but I don't know how to code it. The file you download is just an example of the idea. About the "supermount" feature, I think it's more a question for the distributions. Also, devices:/ doesn't support supermount. I use supermount and my DVD and my CD recorder are not listed in "devices:/". Also, devices:/ usually includes the /home directory. For normal usage it's useless to have access to /home. Instead, you should prefer to access to your ~ directory. That would also hide some of the complexity for novice users.
I really wonder why you try to imitate Windows. Others try to imitiate Apple. Perhaps it is true: Open Source is no real innovative software. http://segusoland.sourceforge.net/ or dashboard show that it can be done.
kde-3.1.x yet listed all devices , also supermount cdroms, but the after kde-3.2.x verison loss devices only see floppy and removable
use subfs http://submount.sf.net/
I really like this. having some kind'a startpoint whould be nice. I think it could be usefull to set konqueror up so that it wont go to /home if you go up one level from /home/user, but to this page. of course you still need to be able to do "/home" manual. this whould hide the awfull / directory structure, which you dont need anyway. Of course then this page whould need all links to documents, movies, /mnt and other important places (for the normal user!!!!).
Now, ignoring all the fud about "This is not teh hax, it looks like that os that I haet!" here's a couple of suggestions: As pointed out above, the home name does seem like something we already have, and thus might confuse which we obviously don't want. Apart from all the fud, Start does seem like the best suggestion, and I would say that changing it to for example Begin Here seems like such a desperate attempt to just make it not Start. And, please remember, this is not a Start menu, this is a start point for browsing the computer, which is really something I've missed. To make it output something that is usable, it would probably have to output HTML, but it is I am afraid, not really possible to make this flexible enough simply by using a HTML page, because of the potential for dynamic content in this starting point. Removable disks, network drives, mounted ISO images ( ;) ), you name it. Just a couple of ideas :)
I know Home is not a good name, but I didn't knew which name to give it. Start is cool. Implementing this as a KIOSlave would allow it to be dynamically generated, as the HTML would be produced by executable code which can take a look at /etc/fstab to list the proper devices and so. Anyway, HTML would miss some interesting features like right-clicking to mount/umount devices, open K3B to record a CD, format a floppy and so. So we could simply reproduce that design in QT Designer and implement it as a normal interface, and embed it in Konqueror via a KPart or something. These are technical questions; what I wanted to debate here is the idea itself and we'll see the best way to implement it.
There's always XUL - although that would require Gecko.
You can use KIOSlave in html files!! Why you just create a simple Start Website??
very bad. reminds me of a blue screen os.
My intention is not to immitate that OS, as you can read in the first comment. It's more inspired in the web site design, and the intention is to facilitate novice users the navigation through the system.
Yes, I trust your intentions, but in the end it's EXACTLY like WinXP "My computer" browsing, while I think there coulkd be other more personal and easier ways to implement the concept you have in mind.
No point to doing this since KDE already has the ability to do this and has for a while. Want to be able to browse your programs website style? type in programs:/ Want to be able to browse your devices? Type in devices:/ Not a bad idea.. just that you're a little late.
Hmmm, except that the existence of those ioslaves doesn't mean they will be used :). I think the idea behind this is providing a nice interface to access other parts of the system..... so things like programs:/ could even be linked to here. It's something users could start at to discover some of those other great/useful (but no so well-advertised) features. IMHO, of course.
Exactly, and it would also allow novice users to have a starting point to better understand what they can do with their new Linux system and start taking the most from it.
I like it, but as another user said should however not be "home". Here are some thoughts I've given it: The Storage-part could in my opinion also include Audiocd like in kioslave "audiocd:/". "CD recorder" would be nice if a rightclick could start K3b or another CD-R-app. It might even be posible to generate "Storage" from kioslave "devices:/" The buttom "devices" might also need another name since a partition is also a device. Print should open kioslave "print:/". The blue thing on the left, I'd prefer if the sidebar already present in Konqueror were used insted. And the actions like "add/remove folder" should be in a menu that could come from a rightclick on or around the icons. All should of course be in i18n, so it could be translated. Hmmm. If I hadn't a million things I wanted to make, I might be temped to try to make this myself.
devices:/ doesn't work very well with supermount because it doesn't detect my DVD and my CD recorder, and also my USB Stick. Anyway that's an issue with KDE. Fixing that it's a good idea to use it. Maybe via an iframe or making the proper calls to the corresponding KIOSlave. I don't think audiocd:/ should directly be as an icon. It could, instead, be included as an option in the right-click of the DVD or the CD recorder. The K3B idea is cool, and there could also include an option to mount/umount and eject the CD or other removable media. It would probably be more correct to say "Peripherals" than simply "Devices"; anyway I don't mind which name to give it, I just wanted to give a name that doesn't confuse the novice user. The sidebar in Konqueror would be ok, but I wanted to give a cool look like in the web pages. That gradient background wouldn't look cool in a Konqueror sidebar. Anyway there could be other formulas that also looked good.
I think using the term 'home:' might lead to confusion in novice users with /home or $HOME. Maybe "start" would be better. I believe something like this is already implemented in some combinations of distro + desktop.
Well, I didn't knew what name to give it. "Start" sounds well, but may remember to some other OS. Anyway, I don't mind the name, the question is to make it. ;)
In this example it says "Suse 9.1" but it could auto-detect the distribution and display the proper one or simply display "KDE 3.2" or so. By the way, the screenshot is fake. It says "home:/" in the address bar, but it's how it could look. In reality, I've modified it with GIMP.