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  • Recommendations for Pi desktop user interfaces

    From D.M. Procida@3:770/3 to All on Fri Nov 27 17:53:54 2020
    Uusally I only access Raspberry Pis via SSH, so the question of desktop
    user interaces hasn't really been an issue.

    Now that I have had a new Pi 400 on my desk for a couple of weeks, there
    are some aspects of the UI that I find rather unsatisfactory.

    One is the window-centric menubar arrangement; I find it much less
    pleasant to use than the Mac's menubar that sits at the top of the
    screen (also adopted by default by Ubuntu).

    The other is what feels like very crude mouse acceleration profiles,
    that make the mouse tracking feel simultaneously too fast and too slow.

    Are there easily-installed alternatives? I don't want a wholesale
    replacement of Raspberry Pi OS, because I'm work on and with software in
    the Raspberry Pi ecosystem and need components to work in the same way.

    Thanks,

    Daniele

    --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
    * Origin: Agency HUB, Dunedin - New Zealand | Fido<>Usenet Gateway (3:770/3)
  • From alister@3:770/3 to D.M. Procida on Fri Nov 27 21:02:02 2020
    On Fri, 27 Nov 2020 17:53:54 +0000, D.M. Procida wrote:

    Uusally I only access Raspberry Pis via SSH, so the question of desktop
    user interaces hasn't really been an issue.

    Now that I have had a new Pi 400 on my desk for a couple of weeks, there
    are some aspects of the UI that I find rather unsatisfactory.

    One is the window-centric menubar arrangement; I find it much less
    pleasant to use than the Mac's menubar that sits at the top of the
    screen (also adopted by default by Ubuntu).

    The other is what feels like very crude mouse acceleration profiles,
    that make the mouse tracking feel simultaneously too fast and too slow.

    Are there easily-installed alternatives? I don't want a wholesale
    replacement of Raspberry Pi OS, because I'm work on and with software in
    the Raspberry Pi ecosystem and need components to work in the same way.

    Thanks,

    Daniele

    A linux gui is made ov may individual elements that can be selected at
    will
    the menu in raspberry pi os is LX panel (the Pixel desktop is based
    heavily on lxde) but there are many other options available that can be
    used instead or even as well as.


    --
    "Whom are you?" said he, for he had been to night school.
    -- George Ade

    --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
    * Origin: Agency HUB, Dunedin - New Zealand | Fido<>Usenet Gateway (3:770/3)
  • From Deloptes@3:770/3 to D.M. Procida on Fri Nov 27 22:40:58 2020
    D.M. Procida wrote:

    Are there easily-installed alternatives? I don't want a wholesale
    replacement of Raspberry Pi OS, because I'm work on and with software in
    the Raspberry Pi ecosystem and need components to work in the same way.

    Yeah, the DE in general - one is too heavy, another to simple, the third one too fragile ...

    When KDE released 4.0 I stayed on 3.5 and joined the community that mutated
    out of it and calls it TDE. AFAIK it supports arm on couple of systems

    https://wiki.trinitydesktop.org/Category:Documentation#Installing_from_a_Packag e_Manager

    https://wiki.trinitydesktop.org/Raspbian_Trinity_Repository_Installation_Instru ctions

    Advantage is stability and memory/cpu footprint, disadvantages - I let them
    for you. I am actually thinking of replacing the desktop pc fully with the
    RPI 4 with TDE on top.

    I am not sure if Raspbian was the official RPI OS, or something else though.

    --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
    * Origin: Agency HUB, Dunedin - New Zealand | Fido<>Usenet Gateway (3:770/3)
  • From The Natural Philosopher@3:770/3 to alister on Fri Nov 27 21:37:57 2020
    On 27/11/2020 21:02, alister wrote:
    On Fri, 27 Nov 2020 17:53:54 +0000, D.M. Procida wrote:

    Uusally I only access Raspberry Pis via SSH, so the question of desktop
    user interaces hasn't really been an issue.

    Now that I have had a new Pi 400 on my desk for a couple of weeks, there
    are some aspects of the UI that I find rather unsatisfactory.

    One is the window-centric menubar arrangement; I find it much less
    pleasant to use than the Mac's menubar that sits at the top of the
    screen (also adopted by default by Ubuntu).

    The other is what feels like very crude mouse acceleration profiles,
    that make the mouse tracking feel simultaneously too fast and too slow.

    Are there easily-installed alternatives? I don't want a wholesale
    replacement of Raspberry Pi OS, because I'm work on and with software in
    the Raspberry Pi ecosystem and need components to work in the same way.

    Thanks,

    Daniele

    A linux gui is made ov may individual elements that can be selected at
    will
    the menu in raspberry pi os is LX panel (the Pixel desktop is based
    heavily on lxde) but there are many other options available that can be
    used instead or even as well as.


    Running a MATE desktop will probably get what the OP wants - it is
    allegedly available for the Pi. That is the limit of my knowledge...



    --
    “Puritanism: The haunting fear that someone, somewhere, may be happy.”

    H.L. Mencken, A Mencken Chrestomathy

    --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
    * Origin: Agency HUB, Dunedin - New Zealand | Fido<>Usenet Gateway (3:770/3)
  • From druck@3:770/3 to The Natural Philosopher on Fri Nov 27 21:50:48 2020
    On 27/11/2020 21:37, The Natural Philosopher wrote:
    Running a MATE desktop will probably get what the OP wants - it is
    allegedly available for the Pi. That is the limit of my knowledge...

    No allegedly about it! I've been using the Mate desktop for years on the
    Pi 3B, 3B+ and now the 4B where it really flies on the faster processor,
    and freed from the limitations of 1GB.

    ---druck

    --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
    * Origin: Agency HUB, Dunedin - New Zealand | Fido<>Usenet Gateway (3:770/3)
  • From Jim Jackson@3:770/3 to D.M. Procida on Fri Nov 27 21:50:43 2020
    On 2020-11-27, D.M. Procida <real-not-anti-spam-address@apple-juice.co.uk> wrote:
    Uusally I only access Raspberry Pis via SSH, so the question of desktop
    user interaces hasn't really been an issue.

    Now that I have had a new Pi 400 on my desk for a couple of weeks, there
    are some aspects of the UI that I find rather unsatisfactory.

    One is the window-centric menubar arrangement; I find it much less
    pleasant to use than the Mac's menubar that sits at the top of the
    screen (also adopted by default by Ubuntu).

    Someone else said it uses lxpanel - which I use on all my linux
    desktops. Right click on the panel, and choose panel settings. You can
    have the panel at bottom, top or either side. You can even run 2 panels
    top and bottom!

    The other is what feels like very crude mouse acceleration profiles,
    that make the mouse tracking feel simultaneously too fast and too slow.

    I've had problems with mouse settings and not found a completely
    satisfactory resolution yet, so would also be interested in any tips
    from others.

    Are there easily-installed alternatives? I don't want a wholesale
    replacement of Raspberry Pi OS, because I'm work on and with software in
    the Raspberry Pi ecosystem and need components to work in the same way.

    Have you looked at the number of programs, including window managers,
    and other GUI components you can choose to install on Rasperry PiOS?
    You are not stuck with the default as from a standard install.

    I usually install the Lite version (no gui), because I usual run my Pi's headless, and just ssh in. If I need a desktop then I install a very
    minimal desktop of lightdm, openbox, lxpanel and xterm to get me going.

    Happy hacking.


    Thanks,

    Daniele

    --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
    * Origin: Agency HUB, Dunedin - New Zealand | Fido<>Usenet Gateway (3:770/3)
  • From ray carter@3:770/3 to D.M. Procida on Sat Nov 28 01:37:08 2020
    On Fri, 27 Nov 2020 17:53:54 +0000, D.M. Procida wrote:

    Uusally I only access Raspberry Pis via SSH, so the question of desktop
    user interaces hasn't really been an issue.

    Now that I have had a new Pi 400 on my desk for a couple of weeks, there
    are some aspects of the UI that I find rather unsatisfactory.

    One is the window-centric menubar arrangement; I find it much less
    pleasant to use than the Mac's menubar that sits at the top of the
    screen (also adopted by default by Ubuntu).

    The other is what feels like very crude mouse acceleration profiles,
    that make the mouse tracking feel simultaneously too fast and too slow.

    Are there easily-installed alternatives? I don't want a wholesale
    replacement of Raspberry Pi OS, because I'm work on and with software in
    the Raspberry Pi ecosystem and need components to work in the same way.

    Thanks,

    Daniele

    You can replace the pi panel with lxde panel - or try xfce.

    --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
    * Origin: Agency HUB, Dunedin - New Zealand | Fido<>Usenet Gateway (3:770/3)
  • From The Natural Philosopher@3:770/3 to druck on Sat Nov 28 04:26:35 2020
    On 27/11/2020 21:50, druck wrote:
    On 27/11/2020 21:37, The Natural Philosopher wrote:
    Running a MATE desktop will probably get what the OP wants - it is
    allegedly available for the Pi. That is the limit of my knowledge...

    No allegedly about it! I've been using the Mate desktop for years on the
    Pi 3B, 3B+ and now the 4B where it really flies on the faster processor,
    and freed from the limitations of 1GB.

    ---druck

    Well thanks for that. I use MATE in this desktop but had no experience
    on a Pi at all.

    --
    To ban Christmas, simply give turkeys the vote.

    --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
    * Origin: Agency HUB, Dunedin - New Zealand | Fido<>Usenet Gateway (3:770/3)
  • From Theo@3:770/3 to D.M. Procida on Sat Nov 28 12:27:52 2020
    D.M. Procida <real-not-anti-spam-address@apple-juice.co.uk> wrote:
    One is the window-centric menubar arrangement; I find it much less
    pleasant to use than the Mac's menubar that sits at the top of the
    screen (also adopted by default by Ubuntu).

    The other is what feels like very crude mouse acceleration profiles,
    that make the mouse tracking feel simultaneously too fast and too slow.

    Have you thought about installing GNOME, which is the default desktop used
    by Ubuntu and Fedora:
    https://www.raspberrypi.org/forums/viewtopic.php?t=276512

    It pinches quite a bit of UI from the Mac.

    You can configure it to do top-of-screen menus (Ubuntu has flip-flopped
    about whether that's the defualt).

    It appears GNOME has a limited number of acceleration profiles, but you may have to dig around (via gnome-tweaks) to change them.

    Be warned that GNOME is fairly heavyweight - probably OK on a Pi 4, but
    earlier Pis will struggle.

    Theo

    --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
    * Origin: Agency HUB, Dunedin - New Zealand | Fido<>Usenet Gateway (3:770/3)