Date: Sun, 8 Jun 2008 21:35:35 -0500 From: "Michael Johnson" <ahze@freebsd.org> To: "Joe Marcus Clarke" <marcus@freebsd.org> Cc: FreeBSD GNOME Users <gnome@freebsd.org>, Kris Moore <kris@pcbsd.org> Subject: Re: Helping to put FreeBSD GNOME onto more desktops Message-ID: <b2203fed0806081935s59b2cd8t5865f20e8ee6d3f4@mail.gmail.com> In-Reply-To: <1212956773.92272.20.camel@shumai.marcuscom.com> References: <1212956773.92272.20.camel@shumai.marcuscom.com>
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On Sun, Jun 8, 2008 at 3:26 PM, Joe Marcus Clarke <marcus@freebsd.org> wrote: > I attended BSDCan this year, and held a BoF discussing FreeBSD on the > desktop. Some of the points raised by users were: > > * FreeBSD needs a GUI network configurator (e.g. NetworkManager). > > * There should be a port which creates an instant desktop (like > instant-workstation, but more modern and offering choices like GNOME, > KDE, Xfce, etc.). > > * We need a native Flash Plug-in. > > * FreeBSD GNOME needs to be easier to setup. > > All of these are good ideas ranging from very easy to do to next to > impossible. One of the attendees was Kris Moore from the PC-BSD group. > He mentioned that PC-BSD already has a FreeBSD network configurator > tool, and it might be easier to port that to FreeBSD [GNOME] than to > port (or rewrite) NetworkManager. He also gave me my first real look at > PC-BSD. I was impressed. I thought it would be very doable to port > their network configurator to GNOME. > > But then he suggested something for point four above. A lot of his > users have commented that PC-BSD should have a GNOME frontend. Kris > said, while the PC-BSD organization has no desire to maintain such a > frontend, it should be easy to build one using their PBI (PC-BSD > Installer) framework. If such a PBI existed, it could leverage all the > existing tools in PC-BSD (including the network configurator). > > So I decided to start there, by building a GNOME PBI for PC-BSD. I have > just completed my first working version. Screenshots can be found at > http://www.marcuscom.com/pcbsd/ . On top of this, I have committed a > new port, x11-fm/pbi-thumbnailer, which makes the PBI experience within > Nautilus much nicer. I will be making the PBI downloadable soon (from > the same URL) for PC-BSD to try out. > > As you can see from the desktop screenshot, thanks to the Qt-GTK+ theme > engine, tools like the PC-BSD network manager tray just work in GNOME. > This brings us much closer to more usable FreeBSD GNOME desktop, > especially for those users transitioning from Windows. > > As to the point about Flash, Kris also mentioned that he has the ear of > someone at Adobe who was hinting that a capable developer willing to > sign an NDA could be given code to work on a native Flash plug-in port. > This could bode well for PC-BSD and FreeBSD should someone step up to do > this work. > > Regarding the instant desktop port(s), if anyone wants to offer some > suggestions, or code, to make these happen, that would be great. These > ports should be more than simple meta-ports. They should also do some > post-install work to make setting up the desktop easier. > I guess we should come up with a list of things we want in the 'easy GNOME setup port'. I suggest we start a wiki/todo page so others can add their ideas/plans. I am all for making life easier in GNOME setup for end users and I am willing to dedicate a good bit of time towards this. Michael > Also, keep in mind we have some project ideas at > http://www.freebsd.org/gnome/docs/volunteer.html for those that want to > do even more to help get FreeBSD GNOME onto more desktops. > > Joe > > -- > Joe Marcus Clarke > FreeBSD GNOME Team :: gnome@FreeBSD.org > FreeNode / #freebsd-gnome > http://www.FreeBSD.org/gnome >
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