New linux compatibility site

[fatality_uk]

Thanks to madjr's post here http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=859293, we have the spark of an idea! A centralised, Linux compatibility site.

Look at this site. http://www.microsoft.com/windows/compatibility/
No reason why we can't do the same.

Before people point me in the direction of http://www.linuxcompatible.org and other sites, they are good, but. I think it could be done better. For instance these sites are sometimes poorly maintained. I have seen so many broken links on them. There isn't an easy to understand interface. That's 75% of the battle imho.

Top of the head thinking here, but here goes: These wont necessarily go into the final site, but always good to throw ideas about.

1) As with the Windows site, site would be browsable by hardware/software.

2) Site will store data about the product in it's own db. Linking to 3rd party sites only causes dead links and gives the impression that no effort goes into the maintenance, even though I am sure it does

3) Registered user wiki type editing of information. Allows multi user updating and keeps the data as fresh as it can be.

4) Subscription service! A service which will allow people to request updates about the status of an individual piece of hardware. Once that status changes, an email could be sent to the user to inform them of the status change (which will usually mean that it's better)

5) Where possible/needed how to's per product can be written. Yes I know it's a HUGE task but, there already a LOT of data out there. Just look at the how to's on UF.

6) The obligatory forum!

7) The non obligatory live chat room!! You know how it feels to have your latest, amazing all singing and dancing graphics card not even fire up. Or you new 22" widescreen LCD panel give an out of range error. If there's a place to get live feedback, info and help, I think that would give a user a real sense of satisfaction by using that tool to fix their own problem.!

Any further ideas, please throw them into the hat!

With 10+ people working on this, we can have a beta site up and running in a matter of weeks.

Required:

Designers. graphic/css/ The interface will be key. I know developer always think the hard bit is in the code, but unless the interface is easy to use, self explanatory and easy to maintain, it will fall at hurdle one.

Developers. PHP & MySql. I'll get stuck in with a lot of the coding, but 4 heads are better than one.

Site managers Obvious really. It WILL need on-going maintenance

Ok. Ideas, suggestion or comments welcome! (unless it's rude!)

[wrtpeeps]

wow, that linuxcompatable site has one of the worst interfaces ever. :lolflag:

[jomiolto]

Have you heard of Dohickey (http://www.dohickey-project.com/client/about.shtml)? It is a program that will list your hardware and you can send the information about how well it works to the server, so others can view it at http://www.dohickey-project.com/. There's not very much information at the site yet, but that program could greatly ease the gathering of the information, if more people used it.

[Lostincyberspace]

I think doing it wiki style would be really good because then people can add how they were eable to get them working if not out of the box.

[inportb]

Hm... I'm going to give DokuWiki a try. This could turn out to be a nice project =p

[fatality_uk]

Have you heard of Dohickey (http://www.dohickey-project.com/client/about.shtml)? It is a program that will list your hardware and you can send the information about how well it works to the server, so others can view it at http://www.dohickey-project.com/. There's not very much information at the site yet, but that program could greatly ease the gathering of the information, if more people used it.

Dohickey is great and I would love something like that integrated or used. There needs to be a wider focus than Ubuntu though.

In the 10 minutes I have had to think about this, the goal will be simple. Step up to the challenge!!! Microsoft's site is good, but there are areas I can see that could improve the user function tremendously.

[fatality_uk]

Ok, by the end of the night (GMT) I will try and have an top level project plan for anyone interested as well as a quick and dirty gnatt chart.

[Mazza558]

Page mockup...


Thoughts?

[wrtpeeps]

MOre colour! :lolflag:

[fatality_uk]

Page mockup...


Thoughts?

Cheers Mazza. I like it. 1st draft. Clean, simple.
Can you pull the fading shadow closer to the top text. and make the gradiant tail off quicker. Almost so that it doesn't the end of the gradient. Hope I am making sense here.

[madjr]

Thanks to madjr's post here http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=859293, we have the spark of an idea! A centralised, Linux compatibility site.

Look at this site. http://www.microsoft.com/windows/compatibility/
No reason why we can't do the same.

Before people point me in the direction of http://www.linuxcompatible.org and other sites, they are good, but. I think it could be done better. For instance these sites are sometimes poorly maintained. I have seen so many broken links on them. There isn't an easy to understand interface. That's 75% of the battle imho.



Thanks,

will contribute with anything i can :)

a good interface is needed.

i think the best example of a well organized "linux" compatibility site is:

Wine App database
http://appdb.winehq.org/



i think a system like that is excellent. People can rate and leave comments/tweaks, etc.

also they point out a Platinum and Gold list for the best compatible.

of course it would be personalized for hardware, but the concept is basically the same.

that site simply works and Wine releases are similar to ubuntu releases (some stuff work better, other stuff brake, etc.).

i just point people directly there and they don't ask me any more questions about compatibility :)

ps. i would also like to point that aysiu tried to get something up with the wiki, but it's not the best system: it has a bad interface, search is hard/impossible, is pretty dull and hard to interact.

a better site is needed just for this.

i think you can use some of the info found in the wiki thou.

[Mazza558]

Cheers Mazza. I like it. 1st draft. Clean, simple.
Can you pull the fading shadow closer to the top text. and make the gradiant tail off quicker. Almost so that it doesn't the end of the gradient. Hope I am making sense here.

Better?

[_DD_]

I'm quite handy with XHTML and CSS so I'll have a play with some designs.
Got a 24 hour plane flight on Wednesday so I'll kill some quality time with the laptop :p

I think consistent looking icons for categories, etc, throughout are a must (as with the Windows one). Anyone got any suggestions for an icon set to use? I'm guessing Tango would be the obvious one, although something slightly more glassy and 'Web 2.0' would fit better with a modern design. Obviously they would need to be licensed approriately to be used.

I'd love to get involved in something like this, even just helping out with some pruning and moderation. I'm a bit of a perfectionist and hate duplicate items, etc :D

[kool_kat_os]

site manger..at your duty :-)

[Mazza558]

I'm quite handy with XHTML and CSS so I'll have a play with some designs.
Got a 24 hour plane flight on Wednesday so I'll kill some quality time with the laptop :p

I think consistent looking icons for categories, etc, throughout are a must (as with the Windows one). Anyone got any suggestions for an icon set to use? I'm guessing Tango would be the obvious one, although something slightly more glassy and 'Web 2.0' would fit better with a modern design. Obviously they would need to be licensed approriately to be used.

Oxygen icons I reckon. They look fantastic IMO.

http://www.oxygen-icons.org/wp-content/themes/oxy/images/preview/10.png

http://www.oxygen-icons.org/wp-content/themes/oxy/images/preview/9.png

[_DD_]

Oxygen icons I reckon. They look fantastic IMO.

http://www.oxygen-icons.org/wp-content/themes/oxy/images/preview/10.png

http://www.oxygen-icons.org/wp-content/themes/oxy/images/preview/9.png

Brilliant :D

[kevin11951]

And i can have a server up and running (with ubuntu server edition) in about a week from today...


anyone interested, should i start the preparations on the server?

[kevin11951]

Make Additional money online http://bux.to/?r=unknownzlt It's not a lie, but you won't earn millions of dollars. Its just additional pocket money for you.

we (i) could use that to fund a static ip

[kool_kat_os]

And i can have a server up and running (with ubuntu server edition) in about a week from today...


anyone interested, should i start the preparations on the server?

whats your bandwidth?
Specs of your server?
Smooth or chunky peanut butter? :)

EDIT: maybe it should be hosted? becuase what happens when your server mysteriously dies?

[_DD_]

EDIT: oops, double-post

[kool_kat_os]

what forums are we gonna use?

phpBB?

[fatality_uk]

Oxygen icons I reckon. They look fantastic IMO.

http://www.oxygen-icons.org/wp-content/themes/oxy/images/preview/10.png

http://www.oxygen-icons.org/wp-content/themes/oxy/images/preview/9.png

They look spot on!!

I want it to look very corporate! Check out this example
http://images.templatemonster.com/screenshots/18800/18881-b.jpg
Right colours and if we were to add the oxygen icons to the front as highlightable rounded rectangles, that would look great.

Use a site like http://www.templatemonster.com/category/web-2-0-templates to grab some ideas. Remember corporate!!

Some may ask why. With no disrespect to any other site, but times <font> and a dodgy tux wont cut it. If this site will be a hub for new users to check hardware/software compatibility, then anything to make them feel at ease about changing to a new OS will help.

[_DD_]

Yup, I was thinking of something like that anyway. I can't promise I can deliver though :D I'll do my best to knock something together.

[kool_kat_os]

corporate...thats the word i was looking for! :)

[Erdaron]

2) Site will store data about the product in it's own db. Linking to 3rd party sites only causes dead links and gives the impression that no effort goes into the maintenance, even though I am sure it does

I imagine there may be some benefits to 3rd party links, as they may be updated before you can get to the data.

Would be it be hard to have a script that pings the outside links, say, once a day and then reports and disables broken ones? I'd offer myself to write one, but I'm much too inexperienced to do this well.

[fatality_uk]

I imagine there may be some benefits to 3rd party links, as they may be updated before you can get to the data.

Would be it be hard to have a script that pings the outside links, say, once a day and then reports and disables broken ones? I'd offer myself to write one, but I'm much too inexperienced to do this well.

Nice idea. Always better to not post a broken link than to have a 404 error!!

[kevin11951]

whats your bandwidth?
Specs of your server?
Smooth or chunky peanut butter? :)

EDIT: maybe it should be hosted? becuase what happens when your server mysteriously dies?

bandwidth: http://www.speedtest.net/result/296174717.png (http://www.speedtest.net)
specs of server: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16883118005

+ a 120gb upgrade to hdd

Smooth

[kool_kat_os]

hehe...mines faster....;-)

http://www.speedtest.net/result/296177047.png (http://www.speedtest.net)

[Lostincyberspace]

I might be able to swing a server.
http://www.speedtest.net/result/296180474.png (http://www.speedtest.net)

(it's a slow speed day normaly up is around twice the down)

My highest.
http://www.speedtest.net/result/207248855.png (http://www.speedtest.net)

[kevin11951]

hehe...mines faster....;-)

http://www.speedtest.net/result/296177047.png (http://www.speedtest.net)

for now...

[kool_kat_os]

I might be able to swing a server.
http://www.speedtest.net/result/296180474.png (http://www.speedtest.net)

(it's a slow speed day normaly up is around twice the down)

no..thats not fast enough.... ;-)
...now ...mine...thats what i call fast ;-)

[kevin11951]

I might be able to swing a server.
http://www.speedtest.net/result/296180474.png (http://www.speedtest.net)

(it's a slow speed day normaly up is around twice the down)

i think my heart just stopped...

[kool_kat_os]

for now...

whats that supposed to mean? :)

[Lostincyberspace]

i think my heart just stopped...
Check the edit.

[kool_kat_os]

Check the edit.

pardon my language...but HOLY ****!

[kool_kat_os]

how much do you pay?

EDIT 30 - 60 bucks? thats cheap!

[Lostincyberspace]

Yup I could get cheaper though, my uncle helped design the network (UTOPIA (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/UTOPIA)) and he is able to get major discounts for people, I could get a 1gbit line for about 50 bucks month.

[forger]

If you don't want to use it as a server for this project, go to OMG Pink Ponies for your picture postings :)


Ok, here's my mockup, attached Inkscape svg (in tar.gz) and png

Used:
1) Tango icons
2) Tux image

[fatality_uk]

Nice fella, built in redundancy ;)
No these servers will be great for testing and early deployment if they are still on offer? Thanks

[kevin11951]

If you don't want to use it as a server for this project, go to OMG Pink Ponies for your picture postings :)


Ok, here's my mockup, attached Inkscape svg (in tar.gz) and png

Used:
1) Tango icons
2) Tux image

color!

[kevin11951]

Nice fella, built in redundancy ;)
No these servers will be great for testing and early deployment if they are still on offer? Thanks

my server offer will be on the table indefinitely

[kool_kat_os]

i think i have a server laying around....

[forger]

color!

That's why I posted the svg, you're free to install inkscape and play around with it :)
I wouldn't put more colour on that though.. it could be a clean white design for a wiki site

[miggols99]

Maybe I could help? I'm quite experienced in web design (XHTML/CSS) and am quite good with Drupal (please use that!!) :) See Archux.com for what I can do ;) (Yes, I'm obsessed with KDE4 :-P)

[fatality_uk]

Another idea, inspired by madjr. Cheers.

This idea I think is a winner.

The user can have a "shopping cart" full of hardware/software they select from the site. As they check each item for compatibility, which has a score out of say 10 per item, that contributes to an overall compatibility score. So for instance, they see a PC system for sale at their local PC megastore and want to know how compatible it will be with Linux. Say a PC, monitor, printer, camera package!!!

They grab the specs from that stores web site, enter all the details of what they can find out and a final score will be given for that product!!

[kool_kat_os]

Another idea, inspired by madjr. Cheers.

This idea I think is a winner.

The user can have a "shopping cart" full of hardware/software they select from the site. As they check each item for compatibility, which has a score out of say 10 per item, that contributes to an overall compatibility score. So for instance, they see a PC system for sale at their local PC megastore and want to know how compatible it will be with Linux. Say a PC, monitor, printer, camera package!!!

They grab the specs from that stores web site, enter all the details of what they can find out and a final score will be given for that product!!

excellent idea!:)

[Canis familiaris]

Shouldn't we use the existing forums of various Linux distributions like Ubuntuforums instead of making the very own for this site?

[bpmorris]

This is a fantastic concept but in my mind your just reinventing the wheel when the Dohickey project is already slowly heading in that direction. Also in my mind by having a desktop client installed and reporting your hardware stats you would get a better picture of the number of people running a piece of hardware with ubuntu.. Put simply wouldnt it be better if those that have the skill to do this just contribute to this one project as apposed to starting from scratch all over again?? Dont fame me, just a thought....:)

[fatality_uk]

Shouldn't we use the existing forums of various Linux distributions like Ubuntuforums instead of making the very own for this site?

Actually, your right. But I do like the "chat room" idea still. Any thoughts?

[madjr]

Actually, your right. But I do like the "chat room" idea still. Any thoughts?

well at least each entry will need to have a comments section.

is not good for people to go back and forth too much.

General comments at the site and tougher support questions in these forums.

also i don't think is a good idea to include too many distros. Probably just ubuntu and it's derivatives to start with.

so it should not be a linux compatible, but ubuntu compatible site (at least in the first phase)

about live chatroom... it could be good, but should be optional (probably just a link "go to live help chat room"). People usually don't like a java/flash chat-room in the main page(s).

one thing i like is for last comments to appear in the main page.

to work it has to be a complement to the ubuntuforums, not isolate from it.

[Canis familiaris]

well at least each entry will need to have a comments section.

is not good for people to go back and forth too much.

General comments at the site and tougher support questions in these forums.

also i don't think is a good idea to include too many distros. Probably just ubuntu and it's derivatives to start with.

so it should not be a linux compatible, but ubuntu compatible site (at least in the first phase)

about live chatroom... it could be good, but should be optional (probably just a link "go to live help chat room"). People usually don't like a java/flash chat-room in the main page(s).

one thing i like is for last comments to appear in the main page.

to work it has to be a complement to the ubuntuforums, not isolate from it.

So basically we must make with interactivity like a blog.

[fatality_uk]

This is a fantastic concept but in my mind your just reinventing the wheel when the Dohickey project is already slowly heading in that direction. Also in my mind by having a desktop client installed and reporting your hardware stats you would get a better picture of the number of people running a piece of hardware with ubuntu.. Put simply wouldnt it be better if those that have the skill to do this just contribute to this one project as apposed to starting from scratch all over again?? Dont fame me, just a thought....:)

Dohickey does a great job, but it doesn't do what the goal of this project is setting out to do. The aim will eventually to be a broad compatibility finder for all Linux distros.

Flaming isn't my style ;) All thoughts gratefully received.

[Canis familiaris]

We should not incorporate Chat right into but we could have something like we Meebo is in Wordpress.

[fatality_uk]

madjr, if it were Ubuntu & derivatives only, then there are sites focusing on that right now. Ubuntu is without doubt a very important distro, but not the only one and a site for Linux compatibility is a better goal imo.

[Canis familiaris]

madjr, if it were Ubuntu & derivatives only, then there are sites focusing on that right now. Ubuntu is without doubt a very important distro, but not the only one and a site for Linux compatibility is a better goal imo.

Would a hardware compatible with Ubuntu also not compatible with other *general* distros? :confused:
But a good idea would be to also specify in which distros the certain hardware has been tested.
Also if we incorporate tutorials, we need to tutorials for a specific distro. So we have to first focus on Ubuntu and derivatives(or rather Debian or derivatives) in case of tutorials at least. And then we could slowly move to other distros.

[fiddledd]

I don't know if it's been mentioned, but there are a lot of sites doing the same thing.
Here's one example:

http://hardware4linux.info/

EDIT: OK, maybe not the same, but similar.

[fatality_uk]

Would a hardware compatible with Ubuntu also not compatible with other *general* distros? :confused:
But a good idea would be to also specify in which distros the certain hardware has been tested.
Also if we incorporate tutorials, we need to tutorials for a specific distro. So we have to first focus on Ubuntu and derivatives(or rather Debian or derivatives) in case of tutorials at least. And then we could slowly move to other distros.

Agreed. It has to carry a distro "checked" under flag.

[fatality_uk]

I don't know if it's been mentioned, but there are a lot of sites doing the same thing.
Here's one example:

http://hardware4linux.info/

EDIT: OK, maybe not the same, but similar.

I have seen a few. But I want the focus to be on ease of use. These sites are great, but often have interfaces that are harder to navigate than I think is necessary. A two or three click interface will focus back on the key, getting the information the user needs.

[madjr]

I have seen a few. But I want the focus to be on ease of use. These sites are great, but often have interfaces that are harder to navigate than I think is necessary. A two or three click interface will focus back on the key, getting the information the user needs.

exactly, an icon and photo oriented user-friendly web 2.0 interfaces (similar to the Vista compatible site, but much more social and interactive).

most of the other attempts are just hideous and tedious, text based sites designed in VIM.

[madjr]

So basically we must make with interactivity like a blog.

a bit more interactive than a blog, maybe like epinions.com and Wine App database

a good way to search is important (probably real time with ajax)

[fatality_uk]

For anyone interested, I have drawn up a quick project plan. Only 85% done but a good platform to use for the project. It's in *.odt format. If you need a copy in *.doc, let me know.

It's version 0.1 so at this stage, all submissions welcome. Please don't amend the plan and try and send it to me! Post here for comments/amendments.

Once we have a home on the web, a project page can be setup there and a document repository can be setup and I can stop clogging up UF ;)

[Canis familiaris]

So How do we begin?

[fatality_uk]

First job is to get a server up and running. I'll message the guys who offered today and see if we can get that going. Once that's up and running, we need to focus on getting the data. If we can work with other sites great, if not then it might be a harder slog!

While that's happening, the design can be started at least. The design will in some ways dictate the technology used, i.e. Ajax or not, DHTML etc.

Assume the best (i.e. we can get data from somewhere) Phase One - Design I think 14 days. Coding, 28 days at most. testing 1 week. Deployment in 1 month from project start.

Assume the worst (i.e. we can't get data from somewhere) Phase One - Design I think 14 days. Coding, 35-40 days days (for inclusion of wiki type user data entry). testing 1 week. Deployment in 2 month from project start.

So potentially, no more than 2.5 months. this is allwoing for people having a life outside this project of course :lol:

[Lostincyberspace]

this is allwoing for people having a life outside this project of course :lol:
People have lives?


I should have a server with in a week (I use a friends that is a dedicated server and is better than anything I have) It will be shared by another project but it is should be fine

[fatality_uk]

People have lives?
I should have a server with in a week (I use a friends that is a dedicated server and is better than anything I have) It will be shared by another project but it is should be fine


Originally Posted by fatality_uk
this is allwoing for people having a life outside this project of course

People also spell check posts before they hit the reply button! DOH!

That will be great Lostincyberspace. We aren't going to be running a SAP install here, a few tables and a few PHP pages. Design is the key!

I'll try and get an online meeting arranged. I appreciate that there's timezones etc involved here, so a quick IM session at some point all?

[Lostincyberspace]

Or we could set up a channel on Freenode.

[Lostincyberspace]

That will be great Lostincyberspace. We aren't going to be running a SAP install here, a few tables and a few PHP pages. Design is the key!

The other site needs more work and I was supposed to get it set up last week so it is taking priority.


People also spell check posts before they hit the reply button! DOH!

I saw no spelling errors I was having a laugh.

[fatality_uk]

No me, I can't spell "allowing" :D

[fiddledd]

No me, I can't spell "allowing" :D

Yes you can :)

[forger]

attached a new, design with colour blue :P

P.S. the /dev.org is just a bogus name, wish I owned slashdev.org hah!

[fluteflute]

So, do we need a name now? Then we could set up a launchpad project, etc.

[fatality_uk]

Sorry not got back to this today. Been for job interviews ;) Gotta pay the mortgage somehow!

Has anyone recommendations or comments regarding the project plan? If not or this is OK, I can design the workpackages tonight and create a gantt chart in planner. (Pff, who needs MS Project ;))

I need confirmation regarding who is available for which tasks! If you are interested in contributing, then please PM/post here what you can do in terms of skill set. Once I have all those who want to participate, I will add those to the plan in a task matrix and develop the WBS and assign tasks.

I can handle the PM. Additionally, I can write some of the PHP as well as SQL required.