[Inx] Menu Suggestions

Peter Garrett inx-one at optusnet.com.au
Sat May 17 01:21:01 PDT 2008


On Fri, 16 May 2008 06:49:58 +1000
"David Symons" <david.symons at liberatedcomputing.net> wrote:

> Hi all,
> 
> Some suggestions for the menus ("screenshots" below):
> 
> - Small changes to ordering.
> - Removed " I suggest that you try things in this order..." to make room.

That line was put there when thinking of INX as a learning tool - the
order was supposed to be both sensible and fun ( for instance, trying
the radio stuff before diving into tutorials). I'm not sure that I want
the "standard"  INX to lose that focus...

One idea I have had is to make two versions -
	* "INX Starter" - for getting a CLUE ( Command Line User
          Experience - acronym lifted from the "Intro to Linux"
          in /usr/share/example/content/ )

	* "INX Geek" (well, maybe "INX Experienced") for people who
          don't want to be assaulted with "Aargh! You typed X! INX is
          not X!" etc. etc. this edition would for example use Screen
          more, have different default menus, and an option to turn
          menus on/off .

> - Move "Time and Clock Settings" to the Preferences... menu

       Perhaps. Th issue here that needs resolution is that some people
       have machines set to local time ( Windows brain damage). By
       default INX shows the time as UTC. In addition, VBox has
       followed the brain-damaged lead, and made itself use the OS time
       instead of the machine time... *sigh*  

       Qemu doesn't fall into this trap, I notice.

> - Separate Fun & Games menu (accessible from main menu).
> - Change descriptions to match changes.

     Nice idea. Not using "f" for this though 
    </benevolent-tinpot-dictator mode>
> 
> Plus some changes to the action keys:
> 
> - q quits to the command prompt (matches other programs, eg. mutt)
    
     No.  I mean, yes it matches, but no, "x" remains as cli key :-)
     Incidentally, in the grand *nix tradition, there is no consistency
     between apps on this one either - see, for example iptraf...

> - x quits and shuts down  (ie. swapped with q)

    I think this is quite clear in the main menu, and IIRC is the only
    use of "q" in the INX menus.

> - c to change colours (f is now for Fun & Games)

     Hmm. Would you like to push a global alteration of all "f"
     instances to your branch for consideration?  :-)

> No emotional attachment here.  Please cherrypick or ignore :-) .

    It's more fun to make rude comments ;-)

> ========  Main menu  ===================================================
[snips]

>  7: Access hard drive partitions
>  8: Access or eject/unmount usb devices          (usb)

These two can be merged, I think.

>  9: Preferences, Configuration, Hints

Maybe "Hints" needs to be attached to "Why INX?"

>  f: Fun & Games

Yes, but maybe there's room for a number, if the Access menus are
merged.

>  c: Flip the colour scheme

Logical, but all the "f" entries would need changing - not too hard I
guess.

>  q: Just give me a command prompt, and go away!

Emotional attachment to corny "x" joke... :-) 

>  <enter>: Refresh this menu (shows newly attached devices)

This might be redundant. Maybe that line can disappear, or be shortened
and added after one of the letter options.
 
>  You can return to this menu any time by typing menu <enter> at a prompt
> ========  Preferences, Configuration, Hints menu  ========================
[snips]

>  2: Toggle clock on|off

I prefer to have this on the main menu. "t" should probably do this
from all menus, really, regardless of whether the option is visible.

>  3: Time and Clock Settings                      (sudo dpkg-reconfigure
> tzdata)

Possibly this can be shunted to a sub-menu as you suggest...


> =======  Fun & Games menu  =====

I like the idea for the heading.
>  Fun

>  Games

Sensible division, too :)

-- 
Peter Garrett <inx-one at optusnet.com.au>



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