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Topic: The Journey from wxx to Linux; a query, and ?? (Read 4180 times)

The Journey from wxx to Linux; a query, and ??

Hello Folks.
As I've seen others post here=> I totally agree that win2kpro was the best OS that gang in Redmond ever put out.

I prefer such a nice, plain unstimulating desktop environment as the plainest classic windows desktop in w2k could be.
It was stolid, nicely boring - and ran like the proverbial top - incredibly reliably.

That is the sort of desktop environment which I prefer and desire in any OS I will use at all regularly.

The best I can think to say about myself presently is that I am in-between OS 'worlds';
Still use ween-doze, also use Ubuntu with a nice portion of LXDE to smooth things out nicely.

Found that a VM of eXPee runs better under VMWare Player than it ever did natively, and that is where I stand.

All that having been said - there are some Linux questions which I have posed every so often that still remain totally unanswered.

The big one of course is asking opinions as to which DE and/or distro is the most resembling of the old, classic, plain windows DE of win2k ??

Aside of that biggest one - I've always wanted to transplant a couple of nice animated cursors from wxx to Linux, and nobody has ever told me that it can be done, or how ??

There are a couple of other queries which remain - but as a thread started I'll stop here and see if anyone would like to educate me a bit upon these couple of things.

Thanks for any helpful replies in advance !!

Re: The Journey from wxx to Linux; a query, and ??

Reply #1

The big one of course is asking opinions as to which DE and/or distro is the most resembling of the old, classic, plain windows DE of win2k ??

Xubuntu. Or any distro that features Xfce DE. It so happens that Xfce is my desktop of choice, after much distro-hopping and DE-hopping. And I think next best offer in proximity to Win 2000 is LXDE which you already have.

And have you found that place in XP how to make it look like Win 2000? (In theme settings, obviously.)

As to how to migrate a mouse pointer theme from Win to Linux, I haven't tried it. Have you taken a look at the lookalikes available at gnome-look.org and deviantart? What's wrong with the ordinary mouse pointers in Linux?

Re: The Journey from wxx to Linux; a query, and ??

Reply #2
Thanks Very Much Ersi !!:

Xubuntu. Or any distro that features Xfce DE. It so happens that Xfce is my desktop of choice, after much distro-hopping and DE-hopping. And I think next best offer in proximity to Win 2000 is LXDE which you already have.

I'll be sure and have another look at it as it has been a while since I did.

Yes:
Quote
And have you found that place in XP how to make it look like Win 2000? (In theme settings, obviously.)

I have eXPee all tweaked up as I wish it to be; 'tis Linux (and maybe even win sebben...ack) which I will be inclined to hammer on as time passes.

Perhaps I am a silly old man, but...:
Quote
As to how to migrate a mouse pointer theme from Win to Linux, I haven't tried it. Have you taken a look at the lookalikes available at gnome-look.org and deviantart? What's wrong with the ordinary mouse pointers in Linux?

Some of my favourite folks in this life have always been dogs and horses - and I was gifted 2 specific animated cursors (a dog and a horse, of course !!) quite long ago that I am very fond of and would like to somehow bring into my Linux setup, if possible.
I am not referring to an entire theme of any sort, but only just 2 single cursor files.

Thanks Again !!

Re: The Journey from wxx to Linux; a query, and ??

Reply #3
I haven't played around with cursors myself, but between icoutils, ImageMagick (convert) and xcursorgen I think that should be about all that could be needed for a solution. Anything else you need should be documented on Arch Wiki. Good luck! :)

PS Some search terms involving the terms I mentioned should probably yield someone who preceded you.

Re: The Journey from wxx to Linux; a query, and ??

Reply #4
Wow - it's been almost 3 years since I started this thread !!

Finally I sort of 'landed' upon Ubuntu either with Mate added, or just straight Ubuntu Mate.
Looking forward to whatever goodness I may find in 18.04 right now.

Never did find the path to making my own animated cursors for Linux, which is a trifle sad.
Of course, that small lack compared with the magnificent perfomance & reliability of Linux is a pretty good trade IMO.

Ultimately my goal for my 'daily driver' desktop PC s to have Linux as the main OS with 1 or 2 versions of win-doze as VMs as well as some good way to either emulate Android as well, or if I must - use it also as a VM - that way I have all the stuff I prefer to use regularly on a single, large screen which is best for me olde eyes !!

Best Wishes to All.

Re: The Journey from wxx to Linux; a query, and ??

Reply #5
My daily desktop driver is still Debian. :)

Re: The Journey from wxx to Linux; a query, and ??

Reply #6
First set up Emacs.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=81MdyDYqB-A

"You don't need an IDE. If you master the art of compiler-assisted refactoring, the skill of working with a simple text editor and compiler errors is more universal."
-- Mr. Tsoding

I have found this to be true: The best tools are those that work for you. Unfortunately, the employer tends to give you the tools that work for the employer. Namely, the aim of the employer may be to sabotage your tools to get rid of you cheaply at any point, therefore the employer's goal is to dictate what tools you use. This is why in the data-entry kind of jobs (which includes programming/coding) the interfaces are, as a rule, busy, rigid, unnavigable, and error-inducing. And, also as a rule, since the interfaces are not deemed to be bad enough for the work environment (obviously, because the employer never sees them), the dysfunction is compounded by intentionally evil management practices, such as impossible process guidelines, meaningless goals and contradictory signals from the top.

But if, for personal growth and happiness, you like to figure out how computers and software work, here is another syntax to toy with, in addition to Lisp, Lua, R, Free Pascal, or whatever other little things you may have already found.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h164R46NWBM

m4 offers these facilities:

- a free-form syntax, rather than line-based syntax
- a high degree of macro expansion (arguments get expanded during scan and again during interpretation)
- text replacement
- parameter substitution
- file inclusion
- string manipulation
- conditional evaluation
- arithmetic expressions
- system interface
- programmer diagnostics
- programming language independent
- human language independent
- provides programming language capabilities

Unlike most earlier macro processors, m4 does not target any particular computer or human language; historically, however, its development originated for supporting the Ratfor dialect of Fortran. Unlike some other macro processors, m4 is Turing-complete as well as a practical programming language.
I don't know what any of this means, but it may be useful for something.