Slashdot Mirror
Making Linux Booting Pretty
LinuxNews.pl writes: "Remember why you compiled your framebuffer into kernel? Of course!
Because of the fblogo -- great penguin image on startup :)
Now you can update your fblogo and create a graphical startup, just
like in Windows. There are few themes (one is for Debian!)
Check out the whole story on Linuxnews.pl" You can get more info on the Linux Progress Page from their website -- that's not to say, of course, that streaming text isn't pretty in its own special way -- but eyecandy always counts for something. (Can anyone point to a good runs-under-Linux way to change the startup logo in the BIOS, as well, similar to this method that Windows users can use to update the "Energy Star" logo? We're well on our way to a hyper-custom boot process ...)
Uhh, because they can make money supporting it? Because we are all sick of dealing with Microsoft? Because Linux is more stable and cheaper than Embedded NT? Because it will make the world a better place? You NEED A REASON? What kind of geek needs a reason?
Don't you get it? This is perfect for applications where an engineer designs a system, puts it together, and sends the whole thing to consumers who doesn't know anything about computers.
Computers as Applicances. That is what most end users want. You turn it on, it works, you get your email and check cnn.com, and you turn it off.
That is what you want if you are selling and supporting them. You do not want people to dick around and call in to tech support saying:
"I plugged in your system and now my TV has a lot of weird looking white and black text go by really fast when I turn it on. I can't read it all, and it looks confusing? Is my system broken? Should I take it back to the store?"
(shudder). No way. A pretty little logo is the way to go.
Torrey Hoffman (Azog)
Torrey Hoffman (Azog)
"HTML needs a rant tag" - Alan Cox
I remember the first time I booted windows95. The first thing I cried out is "Where is all the bootup information??" . From beeing readily available before, now most of it was hidden.
I don't want a penguin displayed during the bootup. I want the information, as it reveals if something isn't the way it should be, without having to fiddle with logging and other bullshit.
Eye candy is nice, but not when it removes possibly Very Important Information.
No penguin during bootup for me. I want the kernel info.
--
"Rune Kristian Viken" - http://www.nwo.no - arca
"Pinky, you've left the lens cap of your mind on again." - P&TB
"I can see my house from here!" - ST:
...about the splash screen hiding the boot info, try emulating FreeBSD's behavior. Hit space while the splash screen is up, and there's your scrolly messages again. The selection of a splash screen is done in the bootloader too, controlled by a module the bootloader loads (the kernel is loaded the same way as any other module, at least interface-wise, it can even unload a kernel and use a different one).
--
I've finally had it: until slashdot gets article moderation, I am not coming back.
> For those of us that do, we do not want to be stuck having to choose between Windows and what used to be a Unix clone but is now a Windows clone
Thank god for companies and the occasional OS developer that believes that there is a possibility of not only more than two operating systems existing in the universe, but that even a Unix-like OS need not recycle its existing C API and TTY interface for every purpose from now until the end of time lest it become corrupted with the foul taint of the unclean.
You're the one creating the dichotomy where none need exist. If my only choices are Unix The Way It Was And Shall Be Forever And Ever Amen and Microsoft "Where Does Marketing Want You To Go Today" Windows, I want neither.
--
I've finally had it: until slashdot gets article moderation, I am not coming back.
Actually, it wouldn't be that hard to do this, if you have a simple program that can send a wave file to your sound card.
/etc/rc.d/init.d and /etc/rc.d/rc[0-6].d/ directories, then add a "initsound" script to /etc/rc.d/init.d that has something like:
/bin/playwav is the program, and
/etc/runlevel_sound[0-6].wav are the sound files.
/etc/runlevel_sound$runlevel.wav
/etc/rc.d/rc[0-6].d/ directory, add the appropriate symbolic link over to initsound:
../init.d/initsound
Hmmm. If you have the common style of startup script directories with
#!/bin/sh
# "initsound"
# play a sound when entering each run level
# assume
#
/bin/playwav
# end of file
Then in each
S01initsound ->
Something like that should do it. I haven't tested this though. It would be amusing to put in the Windows 2000 startup and shutdown sounds.
Torrey Hoffman (Azog)
Torrey Hoffman (Azog)
"HTML needs a rant tag" - Alan Cox
...is not something that can be ignored when trying to get one's grandma to install linux or another OSOS.
Remember that one of the points that Apple is selling more than anything else about OSX is its graphical 'beauty' (something like that at any rate.) Steve and Apple marketing truly expect that the graphical theme they've layered on top of their GUI and *nix OS will draw users. When I worked on a Mac at a certain design firm, one of the most used applications was Kaleidoscope. (If you didn't know, it's a set of extensions that allows for complete skinning of the Mac0S.) Windows 'Themes' were so important that Microsoft took them out of the 'Plus' packs and put them into the Main OS install for both Win9x and 200x. While themes are available for some of the different X GUI's, *compelete* one button customization is just not there yet. While it doesn't add any real usability, this will be a major step towards getting more mainline acceptance (and mainline apps) for Linux or any other OSOS
The next Slashdot story will be ready soon, but subscribers can beat the rush and slashdot the links early!
Why is everyone so convinced that Linux has to be prettied up, promoted, and made palatable to the masses?
Because the masses have money. Companies like money. Companies that see the prospect of money in Linux on the desktop are more likely to publish Linux ports of their video games, write Linux drivers for their hardware, and offer Linux-compatible ISP services and online media.
I like Linux game, Linux drivers, and Linux compatibility. Any more questions?
There are many more reasons why even the most hardcore, non-gaming, free-software-only Linux user still benefits by "Linux for the masses", though. You may complain that Red Hat is aiming for a Linux distribution a 3 year old can use... but they're not taking away our Perl interpreters and ssh daemons to do it, and eventually that 3 year old may grow up and spend a little time playing around with the compiler himself.
The other thing that's "vital for desktop acceptance" is an office suite of the caliber of MS Office 2000, which isn't going to happen unless they decide to port it.
Of course it isn't. Free software developers could never produce any sort of useful desktop software on their own, certainly not any office programs. That stuff is just too complicated for a bunch of hackers. Why, where would they even start?
It's not just eyecandy. It's a vital step to desktop acceptance. I've installed linux for non techies on their machines. I showed them how to use it, shoewed them how it differend from windows, and what's the first thing I hear from them when it starts up? "Oh, I don't know if I can do this... look at all those lines scrolling by...."
Microsoft learned a long time ago that 99% of their users don't understand or care about those lines scrolling by, and in fact it intimidates them. It is generally not considered a good idea to intimidate your users. It just makes them not want to use your system.
Sure, in the perfect world nobody would be intimidated, and everybody would understand implicity that they really don't need to pay attention to most of those messages in most cases. But the world's no perfect, and neither are the people in it.
I don't need to know the startup sequence my car goes through when I turn the key in the ignition. I just turn the key, the engine starts and I drive away.
This is the type of thing we should be striving for with computers. You turn the key, the machine starts and you use it. This whole logo thing hiding the boot messages at startup is not what we should be aiming for, though. We shouldn't get excited about it. But, neither should we want all those startup messages everytime we boot. What we should be striving for is a boot process that just does what it's supposed to - boot the computer and get the user to a state of working usefulness. If there are problems, you can flip a switch that provides diagnostics to send to someone (like taking the car to the shop), or the OS could be smart enough to even handle the error checking itself and fix any problems on its own, similar to the disc error checking that occurs if you shut down your computer "improperly."
The idea behind the the logo mentality is what matters here. Creating computer systems that are "user friendly" is the goal, and note that "user friendly" is not synonymous with "pretty" - it's means creating a tool that the user can use without caring what's going on inside.
--
+1 Insightful, -1 Troll. What can I say, I'm an Insightful Troll.
Openflash
This runs in QNX from the console, but there's no reason it couldn't be adapted to other motherboards and BIOS setups.
The nice thing is that it's a BIOS hack, so even if you yank out a hard drive to boot Windoze to play some games, you still have your funky boot logo.
Yeah, I also like watching my PC autodetect the hard drives, and I also like seeing all the boot log stuff scrolling by on a *nix boot. But as others have correctly pointed out, this just scares most sheeple, who want to look at something pretty so they don't have to wonder what's going on under the hood. Whether we like their preference or not, it's real, and our obligation should be to the user, not to our notions of what a *nix boot "should" look like.
http://www.etplanet.com/windows/whistler/screensho t2250.htm
There is also those other strange people who want to put every bell, light and whistle on their rig, even if it is just to scare people, and intimidate the neighbors. Sort of like the Hell's Angels (with paint jobs, etc) or other motor cycle enthuthiasts with lights, radios, and enough gear to outfit a mobile home.
As a side note, this might be related to this story over the holidays describing how men in bars flaunt their mobile phones to attract women (and it works). The geek with the most impressive rack of equipment could attract the best partners. Or so the logic would go.
The only point here is that mental/emotional factors have to be considered as well.
So an opening animated graphic (or even a shockwave/flash file) would be attract to some people, beginners and otherwise. I imagine you could even have a whole operating system where many cues are not done by sound files(as in windows) but are by embedded flash files, etc. The computer could seem to be alive to the beginner, if this were done cleverly.
This would certainly attract alot of people.
Are these people the kind of people we want to attract?
"It is a greater offense to steal men's labor, than their clothes"
RedHat 7.0 users will probably find this useful : I've built a patched version of the "initscripts" package that includes tests to display the services startup messages with the Linux Progress Patch (of course, you can still use a non-patched kernel without any problems).
My scripts are available in the official packages, but you can grab an updated RPM (easier and cleaner to install) from my website in the "initscripts-lpp" directory
http://redhat.aldil.org/
A link to this RPM should soon be on the new official website (lpp.freelords.org) anyway.
Matthias
-- Life wasn't meant to be easy...
It's not just unnecessary, it's *evil*.
:)
For crying out loud. First they took away my toggle switches, and then the whole front panel.
Then the machines started taking it upon themselves to boot a DOS or TOS without even a "by your leave," let alone a keyboard command from the monitor.
Then they took the monitor.
NOw you want to take my boot sequence from me?
evil, evil, evil.
The *only* change that should happen in the current *nix boot sequences is to ad Majel Barrret's voice announcing key checkpoints , such as "going multiuser" and daemon initialization . . .
hawk, crankier than usual