Add Debian alternative for login background?

Eraph · 2016-03-10 04:58:08

Would it be worth documenting this sort of thing on a BunsenLabs wiki? A big 'HowTos' section. I know the forums are searchable but sometimes it's nice to see a list of what you can do as well as what you want to do.

Horizon_Brave · 2016-03-10 05:59:42

Eraph wrote:

Would it be worth documenting this sort of thing on a BunsenLabs wiki? A big 'HowTos' section. I know the forums are searchable but sometimes it's nice to see a list of what you can do as well as what you want to do.

I would agree ( and even wish to participate in it's creation), but the problem I foresee is that because we're so closely linked with Debian proper, that our wiki would be like 90% rehash/overlap of the wiki.debian pages...

Thanks for the clarification Johnraff and Damo!! The idea that lightdm is running and that you're sitting at an interactive process, but your settings aren't / can't be applied, I keep forgetting...

Last edited by Horizon_Brave (2016-03-10 06:01:15)

Eraph · 2016-03-10 06:18:15

You'd think so, but it's only partially helpful:

https://wiki.debian.org/Grub/SplashImage

Nowhere does it say where to put the file, or if the filename is to be configured in some grub configuration. Not particularly useful for the uninitiated (me). I reckon we could do better

damo · 2016-03-10 12:59:04

[Sorry for the thread drift...]

Eraph wrote:

You'd think so, but it's only partially helpful:
https://wiki.debian.org/Grub/SplashImage
Nowhere does it say where to put the file, or if the filename is to be configured in some grub configuration. Not particularly useful for the uninitiated (me). I reckon we could do better

You are looking at the technical specifications for the image - look at the wiki page for GRUB itself: https://wiki.debian.org/Grub#See_Also

To be fair, the grub bootloader is across distros, so specific BL details would be a duplication of readily-available information. The Arch wiki is a tremendous resource, which covers most of what you will find in BL (and which is why there is a link in the Help menu).

Eraph · 2016-03-10 23:19:48

damo wrote:

You are looking at the technical specifications for the image - look at the wiki page for GRUB itself: https://wiki.debian.org/Grub#See_Also

My mistake

johnraff · 2016-03-11 08:14:21

bunsen-images, bunsen-images-extra 8.4-1 now create a new alternative bl-login-background and add the available suitable images to it.

The next step is to change LightDM's config in bunsen-configs to point to bl-login-background, but I'll wait till the new bunsen-images is safely in the repos before using it.

Meanwhile, if you manually change lightdm-gtk-greeter.conf to:

 
background=/usr/share/backgrounds/bunsen/bunsen-images/bl-default/bl-login-background

you can check it out as soon as bunsen-images arrives. You can use galternatives to choose from the images that come with bunsen-extras, or add one of your own.

Horizon_Brave · 2016-03-11 16:40:36

Very cool! Sorry, the small stuff like this elates me... The only thing that needs to be changed really is our own lightdm-gtk-greeter.conf (pointing to the bl-login-background alt.) and you would change the same thing in bunsen-config's lightdm-gtk-greeter.conf.bunsen file right? I don't see any references to the background on the regular lightdm.conf that would need changing?

I see that on the preinstall script you run the update-alternatives command, so that part is taken care of..

Last edited by Horizon_Brave (2016-03-11 17:05:37)

jalexander9 · 2016-03-11 18:08:21

Very nice, John! Thanks for this nice how-to guide. I tested a couple of images this morning using the 'galternatives' gui.

tknomanzr · 2016-03-11 21:57:12

The bl-alternatives system is one of the nicest bits of code for this iteration of Bunsenlabs and is often overlooked because it's an "under-the-hood" type of thing. I have yet to see a reviewer notice it. Thanks for the addition @johnraff.

Horizon_Brave · 2016-03-11 22:08:02

tknomanzr wrote:

The bl-alternatives system is one of the nicest bits of code for this iteration of Bunsenlabs and is often overlooked because it's an "under-the-hood" type of thing. I have yet to see a reviewer notice it. Thanks for the addition @johnraff.

Agreed... I mean I'm still very new to all of this, but I didn't even know the alternative system existed. It's definitely one of those things where if it works, you don't know it exists. Which I suppose, that's a mark of good code, but it just makes it so transparent, that no one notices it.

hhh · 2016-03-12 02:10:24

Eraph wrote:

Would it be worth documenting this sort of thing on a BunsenLabs wiki?

We tried a wiki with CrunchBang and I think it was pretty much an epic fail. Food for thought, though.

johnraff · 2016-03-12 02:22:04

^Don't quite know about "epic fail" - it was getting into sort of shape, but corenominal pulled the plug on it when the forums moved servers and software. Still, there's no doubt it would be a lot of work.

Horizon_Brave · 2016-03-12 02:25:02

johnraff wrote:

no doubt it would be a lot of work.

But seriously, I'd love to get behind it, but like I said in another thread, I feel like it'll be a ton of overlap with wiki.debian and archlinux's wiki, and some people getting lazy and just copy/pasting from those.

johnraff · 2016-03-12 02:30:40

Horizon_Brave wrote:

it'll be a ton of overlap with wiki.debian and archlinux's wiki, and some people getting lazy and just copy/pasting from those.

...which would be quite pointless of course. The fact that BL is mostly straight Debian is one reason many people aren't so hot about starting another wiki.

Documentation is an important topic though, and needs more work. We have already thought about adding man pages, sticky "official" HOW-TOs in the forum, a help section on the web site...

Eraph · 2016-03-12 02:49:39

Call me old fashioned, but I'm just of the opinion that forums aren't the best format for howtos. As time goes on, howtos fall into obscurity and can only be found by searching, and that assumes that the user knows what they want to search for.
But I totally see your point about being duplication of what already exists. How about a structured sticky post, a single 'Howto Index' that is updated as useful howtos are added to the BL forums? Divided into sections, such as 'Customisation', 'Optimisation', 'Conky', 'Troubleshooting' etc.

jalexander9 · 2016-03-18 18:38:42

One curious performance item noticed after using 'galternatives' to change the login screen wallpaper/image/background. Once login succeeds there is a milli-second 'blink' before the system transitions to display the 'formal' wallpaper/image/background of the Openbox window-manager...maybe this is normal...just thought I would mention this.

johnraff · 2016-03-19 01:33:53

@jalexander9 you mean a short delay between logging in and getting the openbox wallpaper for your desktop? If so I think that is normal, and depending on the speed of the computer might be several seconds rather than milliseconds...

If this is something that started after you changed your login background, though, the first thing to try would be to change it back and see if the 'blink' stops.

hhh · 2016-03-19 01:37:49

johnraff wrote:

Documentation is an important topic though, and needs more work. We have already thought about adding man pages, sticky "official" HOW-TOs in the forum, a help section on the web site...

The fact that we have a HowTo with some very good and clear threads in them helps a lot. This is maybe even a better alternative to a wiki because you can see the feedback from, and updates to, the original post in a more organic way than looking at the wiki page's history.

jalexander9 · 2016-03-19 13:43:03

@ johnraff - Yes, it is brief and occurs after login (screen). Assumption = Normal.

@ hhh - Agreed. Well written posts are themselves How-To's and Stickies on their own merit.

johnraff · 2016-03-22 03:53:58

jalexander9 wrote:

...noticed after using 'galternatives' to change the login screen wallpaper/image/background. Once login succeeds there is a milli-second 'blink'...

Just to confirm - this happened after you changed the login background? What if you change the image back to what it was before?

#21 2016-03-10 04:58:08

Re: Add Debian alternative for login background?

#22 2016-03-10 05:59:42

Re: Add Debian alternative for login background?

#23 2016-03-10 06:18:15

Re: Add Debian alternative for login background?

#24 2016-03-10 12:59:04

Re: Add Debian alternative for login background?

#25 2016-03-10 23:19:48

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#26 2016-03-11 08:14:21

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#27 2016-03-11 16:40:36

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#28 2016-03-11 18:08:21

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#29 2016-03-11 21:57:12

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#30 2016-03-11 22:08:02

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#31 2016-03-12 02:10:24

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#32 2016-03-12 02:22:04

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#33 2016-03-12 02:25:02

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#34 2016-03-12 02:30:40

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#35 2016-03-12 02:49:39

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#36 2016-03-18 18:38:42

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#37 2016-03-19 01:33:53

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#38 2016-03-19 01:37:49

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#39 2016-03-19 13:43:03

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#40 2016-03-22 03:53:58

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