Plymouth text version/graphics version ideas

[lukefromdc at hushmail.com]

Plymouth isn't that hard to customize, though it can take a day or so of work to debug a new or radically modified theme from scratch. Since Jan 2011 I have used the same image for the desktop, plymouth, and grub, so that the desktop background comes up as soon as GRUB starts. My own work with this has gotten buggy a few times(now needing a particular version of GRUB 2, for instance), mostly because of limitations in the documentation of Plymouth and GRUB that keep me from getting a full understanding of all the features-and all the changes.

I think for an installer/default install, using the default desktop image as a background in Plymouth, would have a lot going for it. Same for a GRUB theme if anyone can maintain it. With open source drivers and a single monitor, that means the machine posts, loads the desktop image, flickers once at KMS start, then keeps it up all the way to the display manager(or the full desktop on a live disk or autologin), at which point any other Plymouth animations or logos disappear. This assumes that lightdm and the desktop are using the same background, of course.  The ultimate would be some tool that would on selecting a desktop image offer the option to automatically load it into the lightdm, plymouth, and GRUB themes as well. Absent that, some documentation on how to get the image into those themes would let people do it themselves.


On 11/11/2012 at 10:10 AM, "Kaj Ailomaa" <zequence at mousike.me> wrote:
>
>On Sun, 11 Nov 2012 16:05:08 +0100, Len Ovens <len at ovenwerks.net> 
>wrote:
>
>> As we are starting a new cycle, The text version of plymouth 
>needs to be
>> updated. There was some discussion and it was noted that the 
>graphics
>> version of plymouth has no version displayed. We are wondering 
>if we
>> should just drop the versioning on the text version as well or 
>not. The
>> text version shows up if the ISO is being tested on/in a vbox 
>and may be
>> helpful to remind the tester what version they are working on... 
>if that
>> person does a lot of testing of different versions :)
>>
>> For those who don't know, plymouth is what displays the 
>ubuntustudio
>> symbol with the wheel effect around it in the graphics version 
>and the
>> words Ubuntu Studio XX.XX with the moving dots under in the text 
>version.
>>
>> Quite aside from that however, I would suggest that the backdrop 
>for
>> lightdm should have the version number somewhere... And I would 
>suggest
>> using numbers rather than the "code name". Some of the code 
>names good,
>> some are not... (precise was good, but raring?). Even if the 
>session
>> backdrop had the version added to a corner that would be fine.
>>
>> Anyway, vote here. when we get tired of waiting for votes we 
>will run  
>> with
>> it.
>>
>>
>
>Since we hardly have time to see it (which is a shame cause it's 
>very nice  
>looking), I barely see the point in having it in the first place.
>I don't think we need to display the version number.
>
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