MX-21 Fluxbox RC1 feedback

[siamhie]

[...]

I should be able to put together a key bindings conky for Fluxbox. Thanks @manyroads

Please let me know if you run into problems.... I'm happy to help, if I am able.

@manyroads That would be great. I'll message you with an idea I have based on your key bindings conky you have on your web site.

[m_pav]

not loading the system in fluxbox DE in virtualbox
after boot up menu, just before loading the desktop, screen turns black and remains so

dell latitude E5430

Runs fine in VirtualBox on my 9yo Lenovo running MX21 beta2. Maybe it's the version of VirtualBox you're running on your MX16, or you may have insufficient virtual hardware provisioning.

[kobaian]

Tested on metal.

1. Installation process without any problems, but the tab where you choose the partition to install the system looks a little bit scary. Of course it works exactly the same as earlier, but I think some newbies might feel a little bit uncomfortable looking at that.
2. I like the new default tint2, mx-comfort gtk-themes and fb-styles. The default look of the system is now much more consistent than in the beta version.
3. Fluxbox submenus are still not localized. :(
4. There is still a problem with the app file. Why after opening any Yad dialog I can still see the dimensions and the position saved? I have to remove them manually. Yad windows should be managed by Yad and not by Fluxbox to avoid a strange look of the dialog boxes. I don't know if I'm right, but I feel like Fluxbox want to save the position and dimension of almost every app that I open for the first time.

[PPC]

Wonderfull work, Jerry and the rest of the dev team!
I tested MXFB rc1, 32bits live version in Virtualbox

The good:

-MXfb looks polished, I never tested the 32bits version- it runs like a crazy horse- in the 64bits betas I tested, I had problems when trying to use firefox in my 1 gb of RAM virtual machine- not any more!
-I loved the current refault tint2 toolbar- thumbnails in the taskbar are a great touch, as is being able to close windows with a right click in the taskbar (that was also available in the previous beta)
-Localized fluxbox menu no longer have missing sections in the first menu layer!! YEAH! (but more on that below)
-No conky!- great for me, I don't use it (but some users may miss it, is that by design?)
-The default theme is gorgeous (a nice spin on the Numix style that was my default theme for a very long time)

What needs improvement:
-Hum... Only "recent files" and "exit" submenus are localized, all the rest still do show up in english
-"All apps" menu entry on the first layer is not localized. I'm assuming you also found no easy way to localize the debian categories that are generated in the all apps submenu... Anything I can do to try to help with that?
-The "start menu" available on the default toolbar should run a script (already available) to toggle xfce app launcher on and off, not to confuse users...
...and that's all- this OS is almost as perfect as possible!

My personal suggestions:
-On the toolbar- add date (in whatever format to the clock); add icons to the taskbar (my reasoning: it's way faster locating an icon than reading the title of the window); hide non used workspaces in the taskbar (my reasoning: try to open many windows and all that you'll see in the taskbar is the empty space before the window title, that can be desorianting)
- I love the default style but there's one thing that I find confusing: on the taskbar, the window with focus has a thicker blue upper border. Ok, when using a maximized window, with several apps running, the blue corners of the windows "touch" the top of the toolbar, making it more confusing finding the window with focus on the taskbar- we get, long the toolbar border, a succession of thincker and thinner blue upper boarders...) my suggestion? keep the top blue corner, but also make the background of the focused window title (and or icon) on the taskbar Blue, so it's easier to find (or make the focused border way larger)
- Horizontally align the desktop icons (I don't use desktop icons, but seeing them that way makes me glad I always turn idesk off :-) )
- I don't know if It's a VB problem, but I tried some styles that worked well on the beta2 and I get dark gray test on dark background, making the fluxbox menu almost impossible to read in those styles (It's perfect in the default style)
EDIT: -maybe add a "show desktop" button, on the default toolbar config- handy for people that want to access the dock, desktop icons or see a conky output.

I'm partial to the current tint2 config being used- because it looks so much like my own config, and the style looks so much with one of my default styles that, if not for the missing taskbar icons and the date on the clock, I can mistake it for my own default system!

The best praise I can give you if that I think that "normies", used to the mainstream OS, probably just look at the MXFB and think it's some kind of new "Windows 11" version, made to run on almost any available computer!
The style is gorgeous, the taskbar also, the wallpaper is beautiful- the OS runs on light resources (the 32 bits version, turning off the dock, icons and stuff from the systray runs on less than 200mb - so, yes, you can run MX linux on crappy old single core, 1 Gb computers, and still have enough RAM to have a couple of open tabs on firefox!

Great work, Team!

P.

[siamhie]

Tested on metal.

1. Installation process without any problems, but the tab where you choose the partition to install the system looks a little bit scary. Of course it works exactly the same as earlier, but I think some newbies might feel a little bit uncomfortable looking at that.

I selected 'Custom install on existing partitions' (resembles a spreadsheet). Is that the option you selected also?

[Jerry3904]

@PPC : alternative to making all those changes (which ain't gonna happen) is for the user to simply launch tint2 manager and select another toolbar. There's 10 or so available.

[Jerry3904]

I'm in an airport between flights so only have time to pick up one topic: many of. the styles are unreadable.

To use the new default style, we needed to disable the style settings in the overlay file. What people see now is how the style was originally written.

BUT: to solve this we created a new app. Click menu > appearance > style, and in the top section (overlay) click "menu font." There you can toggle between native style font and the universal one that we used before by default.

[kobaian]

Tested on metal.

1. Installation process without any problems, but the tab where you choose the partition to install the system looks a little bit scary. Of course it works exactly the same as earlier, but I think some newbies might feel a little bit uncomfortable looking at that.

I selected 'Custom install on existing partitions' (resembles a spreadsheet). Is that the option you selected also?

Yes, that's right. I have to choose custom install, because I have a special partition for testing systems. MX19 with all my files, documents and pictures is still there on another partition. That's why I think It will be better to see something less scary while doing so important choice.

[Eadwine Rose]

LOL You should see mine, 5 drives, all of them having at least 3 partitions.

Use the drop arrow on the left to collapse what you aren't going to use, that'll clear things up a bit and make it less scary.



(trust me, I lost my bleep when I saw the new installer for the first time and ran off having a panic attack At least I can laugh about it now, and collapsing things is good!)

[Jerry3904]

The ability to use Shift as a modifier does not work desire what I thought I understood from this discussion: viewtopic.php?f=143&t=66504
We need it to open mx-manual, since that key combo was written into the MXFB documentation on p. 1