Linux.com

Really don't care how their boot manager looks like.

#

But those who are not running servers, or who dual boot, or who follow the recommendations after Ubuntu updates which ask for a restart, may boot more often than you do. And this app makes it easier to trim excess / old / passe / no longer needed boot options for kernels you are never going to use again. Plus eye-candy. Linux does not have to be as ugly as DOS.

#

That's a nice GUI frontend. I hope that it quickly becomes stable and is incorporated into many distributions. It beats the heck out of setting up or changing a boot graphic manually!

#

"Why waste time on the boot loader and splash screens?" 1) an unprotected grub menu is a security risk, this makes it easier to fix. 2) yes there are things wrong and they are being worked on but people should be able to spice up their OS too. customization is a lot of what makes linux the OS to be on, this is just part of that.

#

At least Mandriva does. There's a tool in with the other Drake tools that easily changes the boot and primary console themes. I'm sure other's have there own version of a boot theme changer also.

#

There are about a zillion things in GNU/Linux that really need fixing. Why waste time on the boot loader and splash screens? Lilo works. Grub works. Please, developers, if you have time to spend on GNU/Linux, fix something that does not work, or works badly. How often do you reboot your machine anyway? uptime tells me I last rebooted mine 18 days ago... and usually it is even longer than that between reboots.

#

Who exactly is this "developers" you speak of in the context of open source development? It's not like the people who made this necessarily took time out of developing some other open source software. That's the beauty of oss for most developers.

#

The reboot-not-so-often argument doesn't really apply to me. I have a laptop that won't work properly with suspend-to-ram or suspend-to-disk. So, I end up booting at least a couple of times every day. I agree that the splash screens are a bit of a waste, but for me, faster bootup time would be very nice. Maybe that should be the concentration if we want to work on bootup.

FOSS is like the free market. Everyone acting at of their own self-interest (developing and using software they like) causes the economy as a whole (the distributions) to be much stronger (with higher quality software for everyone).

#

> FOSS is like the free market.

No, it's not. FOSS definitely exists.

#

part of what makes FOSS work is the freedom of developers to choose projects that interest them. It could be an hour to build a utility they need or years like Linux (the kernel).

Before you jump on here and tell the developers to bend to your own personal will. Please take a few moments and post your contributions too FOSS. You've got a nice long list of programs you've developed and released free? Perhaps you have a long list of all those nasty GNU/Linux issues you've been working away on?

#

While I can appreciate your view, I think telling open source developers where the itch is that they are trying to scratch is similar to telling CEOs that there are other things to concern themselves with other than making more money.

"Lalalalalalalalal, I can't hear you!"<nobr> <wbr></nobr>;)

#

Not so fast, Corporal, there is some merit to the comment. First thing to think about is who is going to use this software? If you're some lonesome coder who never releases it for public use, then it doesn't matter what you do. But when you're writing software for other people to use, then it's no longer a solitary exercise, but- dare I use the word- a community endeavor. Are we not inundated with 'FOSS community' talk? Everyone is invited to participate- if you can't code, you can submit bug reports, feature requests, write documentation, help other users on forums and mail lists, and so on.

There are a lot of fundamental features in Linux that should be bulletproof by now, instead of continual exercises in frustration. I wouldn't call this project a waste of time. But I wish more FOSS devs would invest their talents in that last 5% of polish and refinement, instead of continually inventing new projects that never get fully-baked.

--
Alrac the network admin

#

I wish more FOSS devs would invest their talents in that last 5% of polish and refinement, instead of continually inventing new projects that never get fully-baked.

The first 95% of the project takes 95% of the time and effort, and the last 5% of the project takes 95% of the time and effort...

Seriously, getting something up and running is fun; the "last 5% of polish and refinement" is work, and takes the kind of attitude that separates professionals from amateurs.

#

There are a lot of fundamental features in Linux that should be bulletproof by now, instead of continual exercises in frustration. I wouldn't call this project a waste of time. But I wish more FOSS devs would invest their talents in that last 5% of polish and refinement, instead of continually inventing new projects that never get fully-baked.

But this project is part of that 5%, it provides GRUB an easy to use facility to add on screen graphics. Basically the "bling" that people keep moaning about that supposedly isn't present in Linux.

Bruce S.

#

Pretty cool util, wouldn't mind it getting into Ubuntu proper. The Edgy package seems to work on Feisty just as well.

#

You may not have read the story, or you may not be familiar with open source/free software.

This app does not replace grub or lilo, it makes it easier to maintain grub.

It's needed. It's not redundant.

#

Not that it is too important, but my name is Jimmy Rönnholm, not Glenn Van Loon.(I would not want poor Glenn to get blamed for my bugs, now would I) I discovered that Glenn has made a Windows utility with the same name, probably the cause of the confusion.

My apologies to both of you for getting that wrong. I'll change it in the story. Thanks for the comments and the correction.

#

A shiny new alternative to lilo and grub. A step backwards for GNU/Linux.

As someone already said, Lilo and Grub already work pretty well, so nobody really needs this. But what's the harm in offering another choice?

Here's the harm.

Suppose a newbie asks you, a "Linux expert", to help him/her with a problem. You go to the newbie's machine and find that the problem is with the boot process. You know Grub inside out and you know a bit about Lilo<nobr> <wbr></nobr>... but the newbie is using the Mickey bootloader or the Froboz boot loader<nobr> <wbr></nobr>... "Sorry, can't help"<nobr> <wbr></nobr>... and another frustrated newbie goes back to Windows.

GNU/Linux needs fewer redundant applications, and many of the applications it has need to be properly finished to a professional standard. But it's much more fun to start a new project than to help finish someone else's. It's a big weakness, folks, and I think the way to deal with it is to greet every redundant new project with a Bronx cheer.
Giving a lot more kudos and recognition to people who help with existing projects would help, too, if we could figure out a way to do that. A start would be for Linux.com to stop publishing articles about a "new" XYZ and start publishing articles like "Joe Smith contributes bug fixes to ABC project", telling us that ABC is now a lot more usable because Joe has fixed bugs that the original author couldn't.

#

Hi, I am Sum's author.
Just to put a few things straight:

Not that it is too important, but my name is Jimmy Rönnholm, not Glenn Van Loon.(I would not want poor Glenn to get blamed for my bugs, now would I)
I discovered that Glenn has made a Windows utility with the same name, probably the cause of the confusion.

Strange that Usplash settings would not stick...
Please post at the ubuntuforums thread at <a href="http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=295524" title="ubuntuforums.org">http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=295524</a ubuntuforums.org>
if you want to help me resolve this bug.

I dont see what would cause the problem though, all it does is to use update-alternatives to change what theme is symlinked to usplash-artwork.so

Anyway, I have tried installing the fingerprint theme directly through SUM and have been successful.

I cannot understand how SUM would cause your system to lock at boot, and that removing it would help. It is only a small python program that edits config files and issues some commands, its presence alone should NOT interfere with the boot process.

I apologize for the (lack of)documentation, I have been too lazy to write anything useful yet.

I have seen some comments here that implies that the effort spent writing SUM would be better directed at something else.
I dont really care about those comments myself, but try to think about how that kind of comments could be discouraging to contributors of Free software.

And for the record, I have only been using Linux for two years, and I learned to program in Python about that time too(Only shallow knowledge of C++ and Java before, nothing useful).
But I am no programming wizard, so I do not think I could have contributed to any other free software project of importance anyway.

Certainly not writing a new bootloader as some think I have.
I could not program my way out of a wet paperbag in assembly... Brr...

Anyway, I am really excited that my software is reviewed at Linux.com<nobr> <wbr></nobr>:)

#