All feedback on the Alpha releases are welcome, including if it just works as well as what is wrong or what could be improved. I might not be able to solve every issue, but I will try my best, but I warmly welcome other members technical advice and opinions :)
When giving feedback please indicate:
Which testing release: 4b (no longer available to download) or 5f (the current Alpha)?
What your hardware is (make/model, processor, RAM, graphics card, network adapter etc...)
If it is a problem, is it intermittent or permanent?
Do you already have your own work around or solution?
It can be general feedback, an idea or whatever...
Kind regards
RichJack (Project lead)
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Hi! It's "IArgueWithAtheists" from Reddit. I've been working with 5f and it's great! Installation worked fine. No permissions issues. Including GParted made partitioning much easier--thanks.
They work fabulously. cb-aerosnap allows easy window tiling using Super+Alt+(left or right) arrow. cb-hotcorners can approximate Aero Snap using a mouse, but it's a kludge and I wouldn't bother with it in the official build.
I'm not sure how you'd implement these through Ubuntu Builder (which is what I assume you're using), but at least you know it works. I can send you copies of my config files if you're interested.
Also, I wanted the taskbar and Chrome App Launcher to look closer to the real thing. After studying a screenshot, I changed the taskbar size to 32 pixels, and used Inkscape to create a more "Chromebook"-looking launcher icon. It's attached. I just put it into /usr/share/applications and changed the app icon.
Here is a screenshot of my desktop with the smaller taskbar and new launcher icon.
However, it turns out the Chromium-browser icon doesn't like the smaller taskbar size. Whoops.
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Anonymous
Anonymous
-
2014-09-27
Fixed the Chromium icon by downloading and adding a 32x32 chromium-browser.png to /usr/share/icons/Faenza/apps/32. Screenshot. Almost pixel perfect, now!
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Thanks nscreated. That's a useful bit of testing because you have found a flaw in the icon scheme that causes problems when the plank dock is resized. I had symlinked to icons held within the hi-color icon scheme, but somewhere along the way the 32x icons have disappeared. So this needs fixing in the next release. You are also right that the app-launcher icon is smaller on a real Chromebook but I wasn't sure that looked better or not: http://www.omgchrome.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/06/newmenu.jpg
I'd be interested what other people think?
I also had some problems with an update to Chromium that tried to put it's own launcher on the dock so I need to try and overwrite that too. Thanks for the icon, downloading it now.
Yep, I also tested cb-aerosnap and it works fine and doesn't need to run as a daemon, so that can make a future release. Then I started wondering if I should include obkey to help users make their own shortcut key combos? I don't want to clutter the settings menu too much, so I might experiment with a Control Panel type of affair.
BTW, I'm currently using Systemback for building the ISOs and then chrooting in to make adjustments before uploading. I might try and base one off Lubuntu in future...
Thanks again
RichJack
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Unfortunately, the official Chromium app launcher leaves some functionality to be desired. Icons clicked from it launch as webpages (w/ Chrome navigation bar) instead of web apps, and they don't create a unique app icons within Plank. But web apps DO behave better when launched from the Applications menu, or from Plank itself. Just wish we could somehow modify the Chromium App Launcher.
I didn't like how the Faenza icon theme replaced several default icons (like Gimp and Inkscape) with its own, so I replaced them with their equivalents from the "hicolor" icon theme.
There are certain graphical elements of Plank that could use some adjusting, but I haven't yet learned how to theme Plank. I have no idea whether these are possible.
Active applications should have a white underline beneath them.
Application icons do not bounce when launched (I don't think).
The Application Launcher turns blue when activated.
The status / notification panel item should be raised from the bottom edge of the screen by 5-ish pixels.
By far the biggest challenge is going to be crafting a custom openbox window decoration. I've tried to research the process, but openbox.org is dead. There is a graphical tool designed for this, but I haven't had luck installing it.
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It might not be possible to recreate the look and feel of Chrome OS, precisely, 100%. But upstream tools are always under development and I might get closer over time. In particular I will be keeping an eye on the Budgie desktop, DockbarX and LXQT.
Onto your points:
Chromium app launcher. The rule appears to be that offline apps will open in app mode and online apps will open in the browser. Is this different on real Chrome OS? I have of course tried Chromium OS but I can't remember exactly how this works. Might need to give it another spin.
I guess icon themes are a matter of taste, but I chose that theme because of how nicely it fits into the Openbox menu. The other thing you can do is to edit the index.theme file and delete Faenza from inherits.
Plank. There are 2 config files and that's it. There's the settings file at ~/.config/plank and the theme file at /usr/share/plank/themes/Chromixium. Feel free to play around with the values, but the reason I kept a 'shadow' was because it isn't possible to have a line under each active launcher.
The active indicator can't be changed in Plank. It might be possible under a theme in Docky 3 when it comes available, but then that would mean pulling in a load of Mono dependencies. There is a very similar theme for Dock(bar)X, but at the moment it doesn't use bamf (only Plank does) so therefore Chromium apps end up sharing the main Chromium icon. (I tested a lot of docks recently).
The status bar is not Plank. It is actually LXPanel. It can't be raised. You can with XFCE Panel, but it then remembers the position 'exactly' so if you then adjust screen resolution, the panel can end up floating half-way up the desktop. I also tried Tint2, which didn't expand properly to accommodate new indicators. It might be possible to give the illusion of raising it by increasing the height and then using a background image with a transparent strip at the bottom of 5 pixels and a semi-transparent strip above. This might work as long as no users actually mess with the settings.
Openbox Window Decoration. Because Chromium uses it's own window manager, the best we could do is to theme Openbox like Chromium which is perfectly doable, I just don't have time right now. It's shame because the Greybird theme for Openbox is probably closer to the window decoration in Chrome OS.
If you want to take on any of these, I would be really grateful :)
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One last thing. I just wanted to say thank you for your feedback. So far, after hundreds of downloads you are the only person to give any constructive feedback.
I've been revisiting Chromium OS today and you are right that a few tweaks will further enhance the closeness to the Chrome OS design. Playing around today, I came up with this config:
THEME FILE (/usr/share/plank/themes/Chromixium):
All color values to 0
Top and bottom padding=1.5
Item padding=7
Urgent and LaunchBounce=0 SETTINGS FILE (~/.config/plank):
Icon size = 34
Offset = -100
For the time being though, it looks like we are stuck with Plank and LXPanel as the best existing alternatives to the docks used in Chrome OS proper.
My to-do list for the next release is growing somewhat massive, so it'll be a few weeks until I can release anything else. If you want to work on anything and need a few pointers just ask.
Regards
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Anonymous
Anonymous
-
2014-09-29
Looks awesome! And I like your take on the Ubuntu icon (the shades of blue). Maybe that icon could become an optional taskbar launcher icon for the local applications, sitting next to the Chromium App Launcher.
I like your idea of the transparent 5-pixel buffer underneath the LXPanel.
One day I'd love to learn openbox theming well enough to help you with those window decorations. But we're all busy people.
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Sorry, been really busy working on the new theme, didn't see your post needed approving. Good idea about the local app menu - the only problem is getting one to integrate into the dock.
Just posted some more updates on G+ of new theme.
No problem about the window decorations, I think I've done the best that is possible within the limitations of Openbox.
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Anonymous
Anonymous
-
2014-10-07
Post awaiting moderation.
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Anonymous
Anonymous
-
2015-05-21
Post awaiting moderation.
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Hello everyone
All feedback on the Alpha releases are welcome, including if it just works as well as what is wrong or what could be improved. I might not be able to solve every issue, but I will try my best, but I warmly welcome other members technical advice and opinions :)
When giving feedback please indicate:
Kind regards
RichJack (Project lead)
Hi! It's "IArgueWithAtheists" from Reddit. I've been working with 5f and it's great! Installation worked fine. No permissions issues. Including GParted made partitioning much easier--thanks.
Couple of bits of good news. I successfully implemented cb-hotcorners and cb-aerosnap as described here: https://forum.manjaro.org/index.php?topic=3828.0
They work fabulously. cb-aerosnap allows easy window tiling using Super+Alt+(left or right) arrow. cb-hotcorners can approximate Aero Snap using a mouse, but it's a kludge and I wouldn't bother with it in the official build.
I'm not sure how you'd implement these through Ubuntu Builder (which is what I assume you're using), but at least you know it works. I can send you copies of my config files if you're interested.
Also, I wanted the taskbar and Chrome App Launcher to look closer to the real thing. After studying a screenshot, I changed the taskbar size to 32 pixels, and used Inkscape to create a more "Chromebook"-looking launcher icon. It's attached. I just put it into /usr/share/applications and changed the app icon.
Here is a screenshot of my desktop with the smaller taskbar and new launcher icon.
However, it turns out the Chromium-browser icon doesn't like the smaller taskbar size. Whoops.
Fixed the Chromium icon by downloading and adding a 32x32 chromium-browser.png to /usr/share/icons/Faenza/apps/32. Screenshot. Almost pixel perfect, now!
Thanks nscreated. That's a useful bit of testing because you have found a flaw in the icon scheme that causes problems when the plank dock is resized. I had symlinked to icons held within the hi-color icon scheme, but somewhere along the way the 32x icons have disappeared. So this needs fixing in the next release. You are also right that the app-launcher icon is smaller on a real Chromebook but I wasn't sure that looked better or not:
http://www.omgchrome.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/06/newmenu.jpg
I'd be interested what other people think?
I also had some problems with an update to Chromium that tried to put it's own launcher on the dock so I need to try and overwrite that too. Thanks for the icon, downloading it now.
Yep, I also tested cb-aerosnap and it works fine and doesn't need to run as a daemon, so that can make a future release. Then I started wondering if I should include obkey to help users make their own shortcut key combos? I don't want to clutter the settings menu too much, so I might experiment with a Control Panel type of affair.
BTW, I'm currently using Systemback for building the ISOs and then chrooting in to make adjustments before uploading. I might try and base one off Lubuntu in future...
Thanks again
RichJack
Just some general thoughts:
It might not be possible to recreate the look and feel of Chrome OS, precisely, 100%. But upstream tools are always under development and I might get closer over time. In particular I will be keeping an eye on the Budgie desktop, DockbarX and LXQT.
Onto your points:
If you want to take on any of these, I would be really grateful :)
Hi there
One last thing. I just wanted to say thank you for your feedback. So far, after hundreds of downloads you are the only person to give any constructive feedback.
I've been revisiting Chromium OS today and you are right that a few tweaks will further enhance the closeness to the Chrome OS design. Playing around today, I came up with this config:
THEME FILE (/usr/share/plank/themes/Chromixium):
All color values to 0
Top and bottom padding=1.5
Item padding=7
Urgent and LaunchBounce=0
SETTINGS FILE (~/.config/plank):
Icon size = 34
Offset = -100
I also added an empty border to your app launcher icon:
https://plus.google.com/101417096007971328432/posts/NqmDNGdrePh
For the time being though, it looks like we are stuck with Plank and LXPanel as the best existing alternatives to the docks used in Chrome OS proper.
My to-do list for the next release is growing somewhat massive, so it'll be a few weeks until I can release anything else. If you want to work on anything and need a few pointers just ask.
Regards
Looks awesome! And I like your take on the Ubuntu icon (the shades of blue). Maybe that icon could become an optional taskbar launcher icon for the local applications, sitting next to the Chromium App Launcher.
I like your idea of the transparent 5-pixel buffer underneath the LXPanel.
One day I'd love to learn openbox theming well enough to help you with those window decorations. But we're all busy people.
Sorry, been really busy working on the new theme, didn't see your post needed approving. Good idea about the local app menu - the only problem is getting one to integrate into the dock.
Just posted some more updates on G+ of new theme.
No problem about the window decorations, I think I've done the best that is possible within the limitations of Openbox.