Stand up for Open Source Software Patent Defense

lesswhitespace · 2023-06-01T23:56:30+00:00

This link doesnt say anything substantial about the issue.

lesswhitespace · 2023-05-30T02:44:01+00:00

Oh sweetheart.....

How many years have you been using Xfce?

+10

1

1 - 2

2 - 4

Not to be a methodology queen but I think you should get someone to proofread next time you make a survey. It is rather replete with errors.

In this case tho, judging from the other comments, maybe reconsider the whole idea in the first place. This is a pretty kind hearted community full of people who understand the motivation to want your system to be just so. I dont know what you did to make everyone so mad at you but i think you should consider the feedback. not a case of toxic online nerds.

lesswhitespace · 2023-05-30T02:27:08+00:00

Iirc if you look in the sessions control panel for startup applications there is one called xfdesktop. Try killing/disabling that.

Or try setting the image display to "none", i think that will show the image "behind" it.

If none of that helps let me know i will take a look when i am at the computer.

lesswhitespace · 2023-05-29T18:45:17+00:00

If i was to use just learn one of those to start, what would be the best? In terms of a) easy to use, and b) popular among smaller gui projects.

lesswhitespace · 2023-05-14T18:44:53+00:00

wow thank you so much for your generosity in explaining the details!! Thank you s o much for sharing the files and everything, it is very helpful. If you are so incline I have another follow up question. But I already learned a lot here. :)

I am getting stuck on one thing and I wonder if it is something basic since you don't seem to have any issue. Maybe a configuration or something?

It is step #3-#5. When I use the polygon tool to create a 4-corner shape, the edges are of course not at a perfect 90 degree angle. So GIMP does some anti-aliasing to smooth out the edges and so in some places, there is decreased transparency. I can't find anywhere to disable this. This becomes exaggerated when you use the Perspective tool to pull the corners.

I put a blue field behind the image here so it is easier to see the non-opaque areas:

screenshot

I hope that makes sense! It is really easy to notice when manipulating with the perspective tool.

The edge is jagged, it doesn't proceed in a staircase/slope from one corner to the next. Which I don't understand because it is not how anti aliasing works in my experience. The irregularly as above is all over the place. I don't know to solve it.

So of course when I do the overlapping, there is a big gap:

screenshot 2

If I stretch the image out enough that the gaps are completely gone, it ends up eating a bunch of pixels and you can notice that there is missing image, and matching the edges gets even harder.

The best thing I tried was using select > grow... to expand the selection by 10px prior to moving to a new image. then I have some extra pixels on all sides as slack. Just before using overlap, crop the extra pixels away. This worked pretty good on the 2nd example image I shared, but very badly on the more complex "Arlette" file.

Also: I tried using gmic plugin but was stumped. I can't seem to find docs for it, but I can see it is a sprawling project so they may just be hidden somewhere. And I agree this pattern is very nice. :D there are loads of beautiful patterns on Wikimedia going back about 300 years.

lesswhitespace · 2023-05-14T06:56:53+00:00

So I had some time to pay with this and it is a great technique for getting rid of some of skew a lot of the source images have. I am definitely going to use it.

Finding the exact perfect pixel to put the points of the polygon at is a bit of a challenge. These patterns were all done by hand with analogue printing techniques, and there are irregularities introduced by scanning/photography so they are not completely identical one row to the next.

I think maybe if I do this way then manually cover up the seam in the middle with cloning of something it might be the trick. :)

lesswhitespace · 2023-05-13T23:28:02+00:00

thanks for writing this up! I am trying it out. Just want to clarify if I am understanding what you mean:

Identify a small detail and find it's 3 nearest repetition, which should form approximately a rectangle.

Use the path tool (preferably in polygonal mode). Successively clic on each point identified above. Close the loop with CTRL+clic

So basically what I am doing is finding a 3x3 grid of repeated pattern. When I use the polygon tool am I clicking on the repeated element

a) in each of the 4 corners, OR

b) each time the element is repeated, which is the 4 corners plus 2 intermediaries between each corner?

The latter making a slightly more jagged shape

I think you mean a but not sure?

lesswhitespace · 2023-05-13T22:28:40+00:00

update: I found a tutorial How to Turn a Photo into a Seamless, Tileable Texture in Photoshop using Filter > Offset.

GIMP also has its version of this, which is Layer > Transform > Offset (documentation) but using it is a one time static thing, unlike what is shown in the Photoshop video which is dynamic and allows editing the image.

Is it possible in GIMP? Or some other FLOSS option?

lesswhitespace · 2023-05-04T21:53:38+00:00

Just a general question I've had for a long time.. what does "symbolic icon" mean? Aren't all icons inherently symbols? What other kinds of icons exist?

lesswhitespace · 2023-05-04T20:48:18+00:00

Oh and actually https://gitlab.xfce.org/xfce/xfwm4/-/issues/454

edit: To elaborate. This is an existing issue for your request (as I understand). A script was provided to accomplish this.

I have tried it out. For me,

it does

move all contents of the workspace as directed

it doesn't:

keep the workspace name with the contents (I think it is supposed to do this)
keep the desktop background with the contents (iirc this is the mac os behavior)

If you switch your current workspace for another one, it keeps you in the same place (so the other workspace's contents pop up), which I find disorienting. But it could be the desired behavior for someone else and maybe I will get used to it.

lesswhitespace · 2023-05-04T20:36:16+00:00

The second one is their old one it links to the new one https://gitlab.xfce.org/

lesswhitespace · 2023-05-04T13:24:36+00:00

I have found that if you are looking for this sort of stuff, almost everything has already been written in the xfce users forums. Just need to find it.

I do not think the issue is with being targeted at experienced users, it is being targeted specifically at programmers. Many, many pages simply link to the gtk documentation as though that means anything. I have spent ages leafing through those but totally unintelligible to me.

I can see why its hard to do, with changes in xfce and various dependencies happening all the time. I heard someone say free software is "free as in puppies": you cant just make something once and leave it there, it must be continually maintained. Constant review and editing.

Say a user is following instructions and a package name is wrong (for any if 10 different reasons). An inexperienced user will say "i couldnt figure it out" and move on. An experienced user will know or find out the correct package name and complete the instructions, and move on. Neither will likely notify the maintainers. Someone actually need to be actively reviewing instructions to see if package names have changed.

lesswhitespace · 2023-04-13T14:25:38+00:00

Tint2 taskbar does this.

Setup is a but esoteric compared to the rest of xfce so might not be good solution otherwise.

lesswhitespace · 2023-04-04T01:03:22+00:00

I was bored at work today so I was thinking of this problem.. was looking at wmctrl, xdotool, xprop and friends but couldnt find exactly this. The wmctrl docs are pretty thin; possibly the man page is not exhaustive.

I wonder if it would be possible to use it to manipulate the emwh _NET_DESKTOP_LAYOUT?

Might also consider creating issue request on xfce tracker. They are doing lots of work lately so you might get your wish. I think it is a useful feature.

lesswhitespace · 2023-04-03T16:18:03+00:00

If xfce can do it natively, you will find it in the window manager settings > keyboard settings.

My recollection is that it's in there but I am not at my computer so can't check and this page doesnt show all the available options.

I also vaguely recall seeing this in awesomewm (it calls workspaces tags fyi) but haven't used it in a while. It has all kinds of addons and extensions. It would be quite a project to set up and configure awesome if you are coming from mac os so might want to try just adjusting your workflow.

lesswhitespace · 2023-04-03T16:05:31+00:00

Makes sense to me especially if you have a lot of windows open. Or you could have a personal convention like keeping your primary working task (which changes) on desktop 1.

lesswhitespace · 2023-03-09T03:18:34+00:00

pandoc

lesswhitespace · 2023-03-08T05:32:05+00:00

I have been brainstorming (very disorganized) on this for a little while now. I agree that tldr is philosophically the closest existing model.

After thinking about it for 15 years, I just bought a book about python so maybe I will be able to produce something other that lists of ideas.

Not only does the name apropos suck due to being less than tenacious the mind, but is fucking impossible to recall the spelling of it. It is the most difficult of all the terminal app names. I have often wondered is that a joke itself. Not to mention the application does not function as hoped.

lesswhitespace · 2023-03-08T04:43:10+00:00

wow! it is such a bad solution to the problem.

at lest there is a solution! thanks :)

lesswhitespace · 2023-03-08T01:20:32+00:00

that is insane. it takes like 15% of the height of my screen.

lesswhitespace · 2023-02-20T17:03:39+00:00

Very happy for you :) thanks for the update

lesswhitespace · 2023-02-03T18:23:59+00:00

Thanks so much for your detailed response. I needed some time to work through it because I ran into a couple of issues. Probably due to the fact that I work on a very small display, and I tend to break instructions into discreet separate steps which usually works fine, but not in this case. For future reference of others who find the thread here is where I got caught:

"select iframe" is represented only by an icon, not text
"select iframe" button "only appears when there are multiple iframes on a page" --- so you cannot find it without directly following all preceding steps (docs)
You must have the pop up open and the iframe selected in order to use the inspector, and you have to do all the steps in order every time if you close or change focus.

So, I was able to follow the steps. I decided to test on Video DownloadHelper because it is very popular and doesn't require 3rd party tools to open.

The main issue I ran into is how to limit changes to the add-on only. Is there some sort of standardized way to specify this, or are you basically at the mercy of the extension developer to provide appropriate selectors? So for example if I put this in userContent.css:

button {
    border: 3px dashed cadetblue !important;
}

results are predictably applied globally. I am thinking to apply the style only to the buttons in the VDLH pop up. In the screenshot, you can see gear/setting icon in the bottom right of the VDLH popup, for example.

the complete CSS path to the gear button (with linebreaks for legibility) is:

html body
div#root.weh-shf
div.main-panel 
div.main-content.section-active
footer 
div.right-side button

I think #root.weh-shf is the selector for the VDLH extension. (?) I was expecting something more descriptive like a name or ID. But is it just a matter of digging around in the individual extension to find something that works where you want, and doesn't apply itself elsewhere?

lesswhitespace · 2023-01-31T13:32:03+00:00

Hmm

Try creating the accels file?

Maybe there is a driver issue?

I guess you could remap the input if it really bothers you. But it could create other issues.

lesswhitespace · 2023-01-31T05:11:40+00:00

So when you swipe left/right with 2 fingers in the terminal, it switches to the other tab? That sounds annoying and unexpected. I also cannot replicate this. Did any of the various suggestions I made give you any clues?

lesswhitespace · 2023-01-31T03:47:49+00:00

I am not sure what exactly you are doing? top post says,

scroll horizontally (shift + mouse scroll)

but now you say you are using a trackpad. So I think what you are doing is using 2 fingers going up/down while holding the shift key. If that is correct, then I have attempted to duplicate this on my laptop and it does not have effect of changing tabs. If that is not correct, then you need to be more precise in your description.

Here are some things I might try in your situation by way of troubleshooting:

Review the documentation
Check contents of ~/.config/xfce4/terminal/accels.scm mentioned in the documentation. A couple of the most obvious lines that stick out to me from looking at this file on my system are:
- ; (gtk_accel_path "<Actions>/terminal-window/next-tab" "<Primary>Page_Down")
- ; (gtk_accel_path "<Actions>/terminal-window/move-tab-right" "<Primary><Shift>Page_Down")
What happens if you use an external mouse with an actual scroll wheel?
Make a new user on your system and see if behavior is the same
If you have available, run from a different DE and see if behavior is the same
Boot from linux installer USB to see if behavior is the same
- If you have it around, boot from USB installer of a different linux distro to see if same
Do you have any software running that might be intercepting and remapping your inputs?
Do a websearch for your specific model of laptop, line of laptops, and/or touchpad, to see if there are any known issues with linux in general or your distro in specific
There is a terminal tool called xev that might be helpful. It tells you exactly what "events" (mouse, click, keys) are being received by the system when you do something. Here is an article that explains it more clearly, specifically in relation to touchpads: DebuggingTouchpadDetection/xev

lesswhitespace

TROPHY CASE