Alternative Desktop Environments
After playing with the Net Installation option of multiple desktop environments available upon selection, I manage to get the scripts working. But there are lots of bugs requiring manual command line tinkering to work. So far, Installing Trinity Desktop Environment only works 100% on the latest nightly images. Installing other DE's will bring you to a command line requiring that you setup their respective display managers. Installing multiple Desktop Environments should work if KDE is one of them as the default behavior is to use SDDM which is preconfigured on the system. With KDE unselected, you would have to choose a display manager from one of the desktop environments selected and set it up as default. I am currently working on the logic in the C++ binary "PostInstallationSetup" utility to determine the correct desktop environment to setup based on user selections and it should automatically install it and set it up via bash scripts tailored for each DE. IceWM also has a bug where it does not create a .desktop entry in the Xsessions making it invisible to the DE's until you manually add one. Other than that, the new ISO generations are coming along smoothly and automated nightly builds have been functioning all year so far.
Game->[ON] Edition
I have also begun some initial work on the Game->[ON] edition. The PostInstallationUtility was a major piece of the puzzle for the customization of Game->[ON] builds. The software and games setup are too much for an ISO so a net installation like feature is required. So the more I get this new net installation build functioning, the closer I am to producing Game->[ON]. The new Gaming distribution will also feature a new desktop environment based on a simple compositing window manager and OpenGamepad UI. It will automatically setup GPU and install games plus game launchers such as lutris and Steam on first run. It will keep hardware support up to date by using Liquorix Kernel. This distribution will be single user only upon launch but will eventually get support for multiuser. Multiuser capabilities requires building a new display manager in C# which is no easy task to do "securely".
Trinity Desktop now functional
As usual, feel free to check out our nightly releases to see the progress! And those of you waiting for an updated Trinity Desktop release (TDE), feel free to download the latest nightly image to try it out! Trinity includes TTOS Welcome. Hardware setup features that utilize KDE are broken, but NVIDIA setup works, and the PimpMyBox section where you can install GameStream Server, Steam, Lutris, and more work fine. The Animated Live Wallpaper is only compatible with KDE so these won't work in TDE but the rest of the utilities work.
Have an awesome day!