Legacy OS 2 & 4 are you a User? Who am I developing for?

[Pete22]

I am well aware that support can eat up all your time. I think you are wise
to set boundaries.But none, is not the right amount if you want others to use your products.

You may look into a feedback system or maybe develop one that sorts in
coming issues before you read it. Then you could choose to look at
feedback by topic. Read a few, make an FAQ for any duplicates and put
real issues that you want to deal with in your todo files. The feedback
system could then delete entries that refer to questions already
addressed. However, you might want to add, a place for someone to say
that the suggested solution does not work. Then provide a template of
information that must be filled in for you to readdress the issue. That way
if your solution only helps half the people, you don't ignore the other half,
You could also put issues out for other users to help find answers for.

If you still do not want to provide any support; then just be glad you have
a fine product that works for you. Don't worry about who it does not work for. Just be up front on your webpages.


All of this thinking about Legacy 4, makes me want to try it again. I am
still using the same hardware. If it actually worked on my machine now,
that would be marvelous.


Pete

[Pete22]

So I will answer your questions soon.

Pete

[toomanyquestions]

Guys, I'm not convinced this back-and-forth is helpful.

John, how do you see the future of the project? Are noteworthy changes probable? Regardless of the opinions I have expressed so far, I think your project is a good one, but of course not a perfect one .

[john biles]

Hello toomanyquestions, A little bit of back and forth never hurt anyone. LOL!
The future of the project as you put it is undecided except for an Update Package I've been slowly working on for Legacy OS 2. With 12 hour days at work, family requirements and other interests there isn't too much time or to be honest drive to finish this Update Package.

If I had the resources and a talented team of Programmers behind me the possibilities would be endless. But as I don't, I don't see much happening in the next few months, Sorry.

[toomanyquestions]

there isn't too much time or to be honest drive to finish this Update Package. But as I don't, I don't see much happening in the next few months, Sorry.

I was actually thinking a little longer term - six mo. to a year, perhaps more. I installed Legacy as my 2ndary OS the other day and it has indeed proved quite usable. I was particularly impressed w/opera's speed on gnome-look.

If I had technical skills I'd offer them.

[john biles]

Hello toomanyquestions,

I have a small repository of extra apps which include Opera 12
You'll get better support for HTLM5 webpages. I use both Opera 10 and 12 when needed.
Here's a trick with Opera 10:
When watching Youtube videos Opera 10 stores them under /tmp so if I want to keep something, before it finishes or I change webpages I drag and copy the flash video to my /root directory. Works on other sites as well.

See here to download
http://murga-linux.com/puppy/viewtopic.php?t=68499

[puppy-fan]

Hello John,

First of all, I would like to thank you for all your time and effort spent developing Legacy OS. I really admire and respect your determination to provide support for obsolete hardware and making it possible to use old PCs that could very well end up in a landfill. It's great to see that someone cares about older equipment and recycling--this gives people another option which is so different than the current mindset/trend trend that new is always better.

I've been using Legacy OS 4 mini on a truly ancient machine for the last two weeks now. It sports an ancient socket 370 Celeron @667 Mhz that I've got overclocked to 1 Ghz and has 1 gig of first generation DDR ram on a PIII board. The system is extremely snappy when opening apps and I can actually stream music and use Youtube in a minimized window on this machine! I think that the ancient and low-end Geoforce 200 MX video card with only 32 Mbs is the only thing that's holding this system back. When opening websites that are heavy on images it takes awhile to load and trying to watch Youtube videos in fullscreen is a bit challenging. I'm thinking of trying to upgrade the video card if I can pick up a cheap card at a computer market and see how it handles video then.

I'm truly amazed how responsive and usable this system is thanks to your efforts and I'd like to ask you a few questions about updating Opera, Firefox and Flash. I'm pretty new to Linux and a bit afraid of breaking the system but I'd love to install the latest version of Opera, FF and get a new version of Flash which brings to mind a few questions. Can I download the newest versions from the respective sites, or must they be first compiled especially for Legacy? I read about a newer version of Opera 12 in a different thread but would love to use the most recent version from their website if possible.

As far as Flash goes, did you tweak this to work with older hardware? I've tried a lot of lightweight distros such as Watt OS, Peppermint, Anti X and Vector and flash doesn't work properly on any of these distros. It either crashes all the time, or I get the msg that it's not installed. For this reason, I was truly impressed that you had version 11.2 running so smoothly on Legacy--it's a great accomplishment! I've read somewhere that newer versions of Flash are incompatible with old CPUs and this could explain why Flash won't work on Chrome on those other distros that I've tried. I also vaguely remember reading sometime during Christmas that a flash alternative plugin for FF (version 17 or newer) had been developed but haven't been able to track it down. It would be great to get rid of flash altogether if this plugin really works!

John, I'd like to thank you again for all of your hard work! Please take enough time off from the project to spend with your family and on hobbies, but I'd be absolutely delighted to see an updated version of Legacy OS in the future if you choose to develop it further. I will recommend Legacy OS to anyone that is thinking of getting rid of an old machine.

Best wishes!

[toomanyquestions]

You'll get better support for HTLM5 webpages. I use both Opera 10 and 12 when needed.
Here's a trick with Opera 10:
When watching Youtube videos Opera 10 stores them under /tmp so if I want to keep something, before it finishes or I change webpages I drag and copy the flash video to my /root directory. Works on other sites as well.

See here to download
http://murga-linux.com/puppy/viewtopic.php?t=68499

Ah, thanks much - I noticed 11.x doesn't show yahoo vids correctly (sound, no visual). Perhaps 12 will fare better. I'll have to look into that trick.

[Arefacti]

Hello,
here I am, a new user of Legacy OS 4
I get the net with frisbee : it's usual for me AAAL the puppies did that with my PC.

Now, I look, and find it after a first look very nice. One first surprise, ext4 don't supported.
and..I return to explore it.

So, already a great original job.

N.B. It's a full install after a kernel panic with frugal, thanks to Keef
http://murga-linux.com/puppy/viewtopic. ... 8&start=45
for the DIY

[john biles]

Hello puppy-fan,
The latest version of Opera which will run on Legacy OS 2 is version 12.02 newer versions aren't compatible.
I didn't do anything to Flashplayer. The success your having has got more to do with the Kernel version used as well as a number of system libs more suited to running Flashplayer.

I've uploaded a newer version of Flashplayer to my Repository
Link Here: http://puppylinuxstuff.meownplanet.net/ ... spository/

You'll need to enter user = puppy password = linux

To install double click on tar.gz file and it will open. Now extract to /

Before doing anything navigate through to /usr/lib/mozilla/plugins and rename the old version of flash. That way if you have any trouble you can overwrite the just installed version with the original flashplayer version.

[puppy-fan]

Hi John, thanks for the link and password to the repository. Is it possible to install the latest skype (4.1), or FF 19 on Legacy OS 4 mini, or would I break the system? Not sure that this old system could actually handle the newer apps though.

John, I was just re-reading some of the earlier posts made about who you're developing for and the type of systems that Legacy users have when the following thought crossed my mind. Legacy is truly amazing and works very well on antiquated hardware and with very low specs which made me think that a lot of obsolete computers throughout the world in places such as Latin America, India and China could be put put to use rather than end up being discarded. I know that you're a "one-man team" but is there some way to get the word out about Legacy OS, and find some volunteers who could translate and/or develop their own regional versions of Legacy OS?

Anyways, this idea just crossed my mind and it would be great if more people in the world could put old systems to good use, and maybe introduce some people to computers that would not otherwise have had the chance. John, thank you again for creating this great distro!

[toomanyquestions]

I'm trying to configure the toolbar on the live cd (so as to avoid mistakes later).

I'm wondering what file(s) control the menu button & show desktop region on the left, and the systray/clock area on the right? Thanks in advance.

[john biles]

Hello puppy-fan,
Testing of Skype 4 showed it requires newer libs (glibc 2.7 min) to run in Legacy OS 4 Mini. As this is a library connect to the kernel both the kernel etc need to be updated. This in Puppy requires a few tricks which other on the forum have experience in. For now I recommend that if Skype 2 is working to use it instead. Changing the kernel etc may get Skype 4 working but could cause other applications to stop working. It's a fine balancing act.

Hello toomanyquestions,
Please explain what your trying to achieve with the menu etc so I get a better understanding of what you want and if it's possible.

[toomanyquestions]

Hello toomanyquestions,
Please explain what your trying to achieve with the menu etc so I get a better understanding of what you want and if it's possible.

Well, on the left there is an applications button and show desktop icon, I'd love to shorten (compress) the applications button a little (to provide a little more room on the toolbar/task bar) Is this done by shortening the image used?

And to the right of the toolbar/taskbar, the systray is followed by cpu, free memory, and the clock. I'd like to eliminate the cpu & free memory graphic, and also edit the clock format & systray contents.

I've played w/the icewm preferences file...commenting things out, etc. The changes don't show up on the live cd - even after I restart x.

[Pelo]

Tellico can easily manage a personnal collection. I choosed to use wines collection and change the colums to manage my computing wares.
Tellico is nowadays the only collection manager in Puppy.

[john biles]

Hello toomanyquestions,
The configure file for Icewm is hidden under icewm in the root directory. Once in .icewm click on themes > click on Legacy OS 2 > and the configure file is the file called default.theme play around with the font sizes at the bottom to adjust sizes. in the file lines 108 and 109 are a good place to start.

On the right quick launch bar right mouse click over it and select "edit configuration" a box with open with the settings. delete the group call "CPU" and save. Now right mouse click over the quick launch bar again and select "reload configuration" and the CPU settings will be gone. You'll have to experiment with other settings to create what you want. adjust one setting at a time save and reload to see the effect. Good Luck !

[Puppyt]

Hi John,
sorry to rehash the old chestnut of wi-fi capability in Legacy 2. I just tested your project on an old ex-military Opentec, PIII at 500MHz, 512MB RAM, cd-rom only, missing hdd and BIOS only able to boot from hdd and cd, not USB. Legacy worked like a charm - even from cd/ram it was hard to imagine the box was over 12yo in responsiveness.
Now, the thing weighs a ton because it's built like a Sherman Tank, but still it got me thinking that old laptops of around 2000 would really be competitive with modern netbooks. With a light, purpose-built Puppy2 series with wi-fi capabilities I mean. Legacy2 networking worked OOTB with ETHO, but as you have previously taken pains to explain, the Broadcom* wi-fi card in the PCMCIA slot will need perseverance on the user's behalf. I wonder if you could please provide a pointer (a link maybe) in using Legacy2's wifi assistant? No rush - just thought I'd give a quick report on what I have it working on,
Cheers.

*errr, bcm43 I'm pretty sure - card normally gets picked up automagically in other pupplets/laptops

[john biles]

Hello Puppyt,
I included some Wifi Driver which you'll find under /my-documents/help-info in Legacy OS 2. Forum User tempestuous has compiled a bcm43 wifi driver which isn't included in Legacy OS 2. You may have to blacklist a file please read link below to get driver and how to use it. Pet package is broadcom-5.100.82.38-k2.6.18.1.pet

Please let me know how you go!

http://www.murga-linux.com/puppy/viewto ... 3&start=15

[Puppyt]

Bewdy! Thanks John Will feedback on the OS2 forum though later when home.

[toomanyquestions]

Hello toomanyquestions,
The configure file for Icewm is hidden under icewm in the root directory. ....You'll have to experiment with other settings to create what you want. adjust one setting at a time save and reload to see the effect. Good Luck !

Thanks!!!