antiX transformation pack – antiX FT 10

[Member madibi]

Helpful

Up

0

::

@PPC
Today I did a new FT10 installation on my chess club pc.

My problem was to install a program named Vega that manages the rounds of chess tournaments, that I downloaded from the programmer’s page.

This pc will be used by a lot of people, someone used only to windows, so I chose “zzzfm” as main file manager.

With the antiX app “aggiungi voce al menu/desktop” (add a voice to menu/desktop) I could easily add an icon of my program to the desktop and another one to the menu.

In less than 30’ the pc was ready (starting from the iso).

To complicate matters, I switched between the 2 menus, and I also deactivated FT10, 3 or 4 times.
No problems at all. All work as expected.

The unique question is: how can I change the pre-programmed tiles, the 21 ones that are located right to the menu?
In fact I searched how to cancel one tile in order to replace it with the Vega launcher, but I didn’t found the way.
I was always driven to change or the preferite or the tray programs.

May be I forgot something

Thx for your help

m

• This reply was modified 1 year, 1 month ago by madibi.

[Moderator BobC]

Helpful

Up

0

::

It’s what is called a “labor of love”, where you are driven to make it everything you ever dreamed or wished for, and more.

That’s not a bad thing…

[Member PPC]

Helpful

Up

0

::

Good news everyone: FT10 version 1.4.10 is out
The download link is over at: https://gitlab.com/antix-contribs/ft10-transformation/-/raw/main/packages/ft10-transformation_1.4.10_all.deb

Changes:
-All the changes included in previous betas (mainly, the script that configures zzzfm to have bookmarks, recent files and a trash can).
-Now includes a script to manage the Tiles

To change a Tile:
FT10 menu (when using the Tiled menu) > Manage Favorite apps > Menu Tiles > “Change a Tile by selecting its number” > Select the tile number you want to replace (the first Tile is the one on the top left, the second one is to the right of the first, etc… there are 3 tiles per line, 7 lines) > Confirm the Tile you want to replace > Using the app-select window choose the application you want > Confirm it’s name (8-9 letters max).

As I right this I’m also uploading the compressed source code, and I’ll inform anticapitalista of the new version…

Enjoy,

P.

@madibi – I guess this new version is exactly what you need 🙂
Edit: For even easier access, you can left click on the +/- icon and add Vega’s icon to the toolbar…

• This reply was modified 1 year, 1 month ago by PPC.
• This reply was modified 1 year, 1 month ago by PPC.

[Member madibi]

Helpful

Up

0

::

@BobC
🙂

@PPC
Already updated

The new release is tailormade to my needs 🙂
Having the possibility to change the tiles is optimal, they are now as I like.
I already did what you suggested concerning the toolbar.

I did a quick check of all the translations, and after a very very quick check, all seem good.

I tried the trash
When I do a delete (= move to the trash), then I try to right click on the can’s icon and I don’t find how to get the can empty (=erase).
Am I missing something?

excellent result, Bravo!
m

• This reply was modified 1 year, 1 month ago by madibi.
• This reply was modified 1 year, 1 month ago by madibi.

[Member ModdIt]

Helpful

Up

0

::

PPC, this is so good that if it ever gets as well known, as it deserves, you and some others will be eliminated in unclear circumstances for damaging a business model.

brilliant work…..

[Member marcelocripe]

Helpful

Up

0

::

What a magnificent job PPC has done, is to “take off your hat” and give a standing ovation.

Only 4 or 5 texts need to be corrected or improved in pt-BR as far as I’ve tested the latest 1.4.10 package. I sent it by private message, if there is still time for these corrections and improvements to reach the anticapitalist.

Thank you very much, PPC.

– – – – –

Que trabalho magnífico que o PPC fez, é de “tirar o chapéu” e aplaudir em pé.

Apenas 4 ou 5 textos precisam ser corrigidos ou melhorados em pt-BR até onde eu testei o pacote 1.4.10 mais recente. Eu enviei por mensagem particular, se é que ainda dá tempo destas correções e melhorias chegarem ao anticapitalista.

Muito obrigado, PPC.

[Member PPC]

Helpful

Up

0

::

madibi wrote:

When I do a delete (= move to the trash), then I try to right click on the can’s icon and I don’t find how to get the can empty (=erase).
Am I missing something?

@madibi- Yes, you missed something! 🙂
The trash can’s icon is only a Bookmark (don’t right click it, you are not using Windows), that allows you to get to the folder where files go when they are sent to the trash. Once there, select the files you want to permanently delete and delete them, using the right click menu or Shift+Delete.
Tip: Pressing Alt+A selects the entire content of the current folder (if you then press Shift-Delete you permanently erase all files on the current folder, so take care to only to that on the trash folder or any folder that you are 100% certain that you want to permanently delete it’s entire contents)

@marcelocripe – sorry for the typo you noticed I made on the new script – your .desktop suggestion won’t be implemented. The rest of the changes you suggest, you can implement them when we take care of the automatic localizations- at least the ones I agree to…

P.

• This reply was modified 1 year, 1 month ago by PPC.

[Member PPC]

Helpful

Up

0

::

Hi

I’m taking a rest from developing FT10 for a while (unless some unexpected major bug pops up, which is unlikely, after such a long beta time, although, once again I added a new script to the final version, that allows to edit menu Tiles)…

…So I though this would be a good time to assess the current state of antiX with FT10.

Once again (see my previous post https://www.antixforum.com/forums/topic/antix-transformation-pack-min-fluxbox-with-tint2-toolbar-antix-ft-10/page/12/#post-75808) I will compare it with on of the most used Linux distributions in the World: Ubuntu

-By default, now FT10 enables some major changes to the zzzfm, including a Trash can/Recycle Bin
-FT10 now includes a calendar that can have alarms for timed events (it’s still very basic- alarms sound only on the time of the event and there is no “snooze” option)
-By default FT10 now enable the update-reminder script – it’s a tint2 script that runs every few hours and checks how long it’s been since you last checked for updates, if it’s longer than a week a warning will be displayed, to remind that you should check for updates. That reminder is displayed once a day, and it also comes up if outdates packages are found on your system. This script does not check for updates, does not change your system, does not need elevated privileges- it’s only a simple reminder.

This changes do make antiX a little bit more feature rich…

On the “look and feel” front – antiX has some very nice wallpapers. I though if FT10 should made automatically available all the nice looking wallpapers that were available on older antiX versions. I decided against it, but that option can be added in later versions of FT10.

FT10 now allows users to select half a dozen colours for the toolbar and menu background, and even pick any colour…

With a single click you can turn on or off toolbar elements, like FT10’s Network icon, FT10’s Volume icon, The Power Button, and the Resources Indicator. You can turn on or off titles on the part of the toolbar that displays currently running windows

FT10 allows users to customize almost any possible setting using a GUI (no need to use the terminal or edit a config file unless you want to)- and now even has a (very basic) editor for the menu Tiles.

In all, I think antiX FT10 is incredibly simple to use, no matter what OS you are used to… But, editing it’s settings (mainly adding or removing toolbar icons, Menu Favourites or Menu Tiles) is a bit harder to do than on other systems that have equivalent functionalities, because you do have to use a menu to perform changes, you can’t just “drag and drop” the icons you want…

Some features, like the Trash Can, that I though were self explanatory revealed that, in the real world, can be confusing to non tech minded users (probably because they are used to manage the Trash in a different way).

So, I think FT10 should be a nice addition to antiX, to any user that thinks that the default UI lacks some features or could look a bit more modern.
Even if you like the default antiX’s UI, FT10 may have some nice features for you- most of the scripts do not require you to enable the FT10 UI- you can use the clock, the calendar, Debinstaller, reconfigure zzzfm, all without changing antiX’s menu and toolbar.

And remember – FT10 is not meant to emulate any other Operating System – but it implements some User Interface concepts that most people take for granted – for example:
-People expect to have a toolbar that you can add/remove quick launch icons easily
-People expect to have a Menu icon on the toolbar
-People expect the Menu to have a search field
-Some people, used to the latest versions of the most used OS in the World, are no longer used to having Menu Categories – FT10 allows user to have a “Menu with Categories” or a “Menu that can have Tiles”, have an interface that makes almost 100% of users comfortable.
-Some people expect to have previews of currently running windows
-Some people, used to mobile devices may find that antiX lacked basic, yet sometimes important apps like an Alarm, a Calendar, etc- one of the things I tried to implement is a basic feature parity with mobile devices – most common applications that you have on a mobile device (for example- a Weather app) are made available by FT10. Some mobile device users are used to have an option to “check for updates” – that is also made easily available in FT10

During this last year I realized that nothing can please everyone, 100% of the time… Specially on the localization of the system.

Final considerations:
FT10 is nothing revolutionary, but it can make using antiX easier, something that can be easily adapted to you, instead of you having to adapt to a new OS quirks… that applies even if you are not new to antiX, but still find it sometimes hard to use or think that it could use a different UI.

So, my “review” of “antiX FT10 v.1.4.10” is: an easy(ish) Operating System to use, that covers most basics…
On the look and feel front it could use more Wallpapers.
On the usability front, it could use a more user friendly way to install new applications – as easy to use as Package Installer is, it’s still very limited, and Synaptic is hard for new users to get the hang of, because it’s so much more than an “Application Store”. There could be an easy way to add support to flatpaks (since it’s how the latest versions of many applications are made available)
On the ease of configuration – there’s some “learning curve”, particularly if you are used to “drag and drop” icons on the menu or toolbar, but it’s nothing particularly complex…
As it always is, when you start using a new System, some things, like managing the Trash or looking for files are still different from what users coming from other OSes expect… FT10 does not provide a all in one search box, where you can search for file and applications- you can search for applications on the menu search box, and search for files using Searchmonkey’s “Magnifying glass” icon on the toolbar- it’s not ideal, but it’s far from being a deal breaker, if you are new to antix…

FT10 is not really meant to be full of “bells and whistles” like some systems. It’s meant to be easy to use, while still using the least amount of system resources possible (i.e be “lean but not mean looking”).

P.

• This reply was modified 1 year, 1 month ago by PPC.
• This reply was modified 1 year, 1 month ago by PPC.
• This reply was modified 1 year, 1 month ago by PPC.

[Member subluminal]

Helpful

Up

0

::

I installed ft10. Nice !!

I have a few questions though.

Is there a way to show CPU temps + Network usage in the taskbar (along with the CPU+RAM usage that it already shows) ?

How do I turn the tint2 taskbar transparent?

Thanks.

Also I didn’t install compton as I’d already been using picom. How to I use picom for the “Visual Effects” ?

OK, with the help of ArchWiki, I did some tinkering and figured it out. Now Desktop looks very nice. Thank you. ft10 is very nice. 😀

Still can’t get temperature monitor in the systray/notification though.

• This reply was modified 1 year, 1 month ago by subluminal.
• This reply was modified 1 year, 1 month ago by subluminal.
• This reply was modified 1 year, 1 month ago by subluminal.

[Member subluminal]

Helpful

Up

0

::

Made a shell script and replaced executor 2 with it. Still doesn’t show temps.

#!/bin/bash

temp=$(sensors | grep "Package id 0" | cut -c16-25)
 echo "TEMP $temp"

OK. Forgot to add echo. Now temp works.

How do I get network speeds? Also volume slider appears at the bottom. I suppose the script expects the taskbar to be at the bottom. Mine is at the top. How do I get volume slider window just below the top taskbar? Also, the cloud mounts (for mega) at ~/mega-date. I want it to mount at ~/mega. Where do I configure that?

And the cloud configuration window that appears has a typo. “bellow” instead of below.

Thanks.

OK. In access-cloud executable script, I see:

# create a mount point using the same name as the remote, without spaces, AND CURRENT DATE to avoid problems:

Why would there be problems? Is the script configurable? Short of editing the script I mean. Editing is fine but update might undo edit.

• This reply was modified 1 year, 1 month ago by subluminal.
• This reply was modified 1 year, 1 month ago by subluminal.

[Member PPC]

Helpful

Up

0

::

@subluminal – Hi! I’m glad you are so enthusiastic about FT10!

-As you found out, yes, you can show the result of just about any command on a tint2 toolbar, using an executor- but they are a pain to setup 🙁
-Tint2 (and jgmenu) transparency – you seem to have found out out to do it, but, just to save time to future tinkerers:
geany ~/.config/tint2/tint2rc
Search for the lines that start with
background_color =
The second value is the opacity value (by default in FT10’s tint2 config file it’s set to 95)
Change the fields you want and restart tint2 to see the changes.

PS: You are not the first user to question about how to change transparency – but I have not yet implemented a GUI for it because I focused on other features. I may had a GUI scrip to change transparency in a future version.
NOTE: there’s a tint2 configuration GUI that allows users to change all of the toolbar’s features, but it’s a but complex to use and, is you use it, it desconfigures the quick launch icons (that are grouped together on the end of the tint2 config file, for easy edition by the script)- the only feature that you’ll miss, if you use the GUI is that moving quick launch icons may no longer work

-On the cloud drive mounter – I did a last minute edition to it- and forgot to edit my comment – now the folder name is [name_of_the_cloud_drive_without_spaces]-FT10.
(I had trouble with the folder’s name because, when I was developing the script (with Sybok’s help) I happened to have a folder on my home that had the exact same name as the one I gave my cloud drive… So I came up with a solution that would make it almost impossible to happen in the future)
I performed this change because I realized that if you, tried to access a file stored on your cloud drive in different days, it’s path would be different… This change also simplifies using Cryptography software with your cloud data
If you know what you are doing, you can edit any of the script’s FT10 uses – most were created by me- but the Alarm and Multi-timer I adapted myself from scripts I found on-line – if I did it, so can you 🙂

The volume bar and any kind of “notification” like windows, like the Calendar, warnings from the update reminder, etc, are placed on the lower right of the screen – if you want to change that, you’ll have to edit every single one of those scripts. In the case of FT10’s volume manager it’s different, since it’s a part of the tint3rc config file – search for the contents of the section “# Button 6”. The “–geometry=280×90-40-50” sets the window size and position, feel free to change the value and restart tint2 to see the changes.

Now for what I think is your last point: how to get network speeds: right click the “Network” icon on the tint2 toolbar and a small conky window will be displayed, showing your network info, including upload and download speeds. Feel free to create an executor to display that info.

Note: I created several executors for tint2 – the reason only 2 are available is because each executor uses system resources, and I wanted FT10 to use about the same resources as the default rox-icewm-conky antiX setup

For now I’m taking a rest from FT10 for a while – the current version is almost “perfect” the way it is (famous last words)

P.

Edit: I noticed a typo on your Temperature script- should it not be?
sensors | grep "Physical id 0" | cut -c16-25

Edit2: you may enjoy taking a look at: https://github.com/nwg-piotr/tint2-executors
The volume executor may be ideal for you

• This reply was modified 1 year, 1 month ago by PPC.
• This reply was modified 1 year, 1 month ago by PPC.
• This reply was modified 1 year, 1 month ago by PPC.

[Member ModdIt]

Helpful

Up

0

::

Just a quick note for later readers.
Showing temperatures is very hardware dependent, some system sensors may not be present.
Different CPU families need different code. I have an early I5 processor, what
works on that to show core temperatures does not on I3 and on a later I5 stepping.

A lot of trial and error was needed as many search results are of limited use in specific cases.

[Member subluminal]

Helpful

Up

0

::

Yes Temperatures outputs are hardware-dependent. I have no “Physical id 0” on the current PC, only “Package id 0”.

Thank you @PPC and @Moddit.

@PPC, you said “geometry=280×90-40-50”. For yad? What is the format? widthxheight-x-coordinarte-y-coordinate? Coordinates from bottom right of screen? I mean where is 0-0? I could probably work it out through trial and error and yad manpage but this will save me time. Thanks.

Will take a look at executors from that github.

Is there a way to get a workspace pager?

[Member PPC]

Helpful

Up

0

::

subluminal wrote:

you said “geometry=280×90-40-50”. For yad? What is the format? widthxheight-x-coordinarte-y-coordinate? Coordinates from bottom right of screen?

Yes to the format this yad setting uses. The last number (50 in this case) is the y coordinate, in pixels, counting from the bottom right.
The value you want depends on your screen resolution…

As far as I know, tint2 does not have a pager, but it can display the Virtual desktop names and all the windows open on them – I have this disabled because most users (me included) don’t use virtual desktops…
You can use this setting or install rofi and use it as a desktop switcher, or use the default desktop switcher for your Window Manager…

P.

[Member subluminal]

Helpful

Up

0

::

@PPC Thanks for the reply.

I used rofi briefly when I was on Manjaro Openbox some years ago. I liked it.

I’ll do some more tinkering. 😀

OK. Changed yad geometry for volume slider. Now it appears at top.

Just wanted to add, for rclone, vfs-cache-mode writes creates cache on disk? Would vfs-cache-max-size option together with vfs-cache-mode writes minimize/control cache? What is the default cache if I don’t use vfs-cache-max-size option. I ask because access-cloud doesn’t set vfs-cache-max-size option and I am using a bash alias that does set it to 50M (I wanted to minimize hard disk read/write). But that option maybe unnecessary. Does anyone know?

• This reply was modified 1 year ago by subluminal.
• This reply was modified 1 year ago by subluminal.
• This reply was modified 1 year ago by subluminal.

[Author]

Posts