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EcoTube missing icons fixed

June 12, 2026 — BarryK

Forum member don570 reported the problem:

https://forum.puppylinux.com/viewtopic.php?p=171795#p171795

But I have the icons... hmmm, just now realised why. The EcoTube package has /usr/share/ecotube/fluent-system-icons.ttf and material-design-icons.ttf, that I had deleted. Had intended to put them into /usr/share/fonts/TTF; however, forgot.

I had placed them into /root/.fonts, then forgot about them. EcoTube found them there, so the icons displayed ok for me. I have put them back into the package as per original.   

Tags: easy

Symphytum simple database

June 12, 2026 — BarryK

Symphytum is a great GUI database. It is builtin in Easy Scarthgap, but left it out of Excalibur as it requires the Qt5 libraries.

However, have decided to go back to SMPlayer media player, which also requires the Qt5 libraries. Easy has previously had the Celluloid media player, then briefly tested SMPlayer, then in latest release of Easy (7.3.9) have EcoTube (which is a fork of Celluloid). Some users of Celluloid and EcoTube are experiencing either video or audio to not play.

Want, as much as possible, for everything to work out-of-the-box, so going back to SMPlayer. As the Qt5 libraries will be builtin, can now consider throwing in some smallish Qt5-based applications. Like Symphytum.

Here is the Symphytum homepage:

https://github.com/giowck/symphytum

img1

Back in Scarthgap, I had compiled it, but this time have just downloaded the .deb file.

Have to be careful with making changes, as Easy 7.3.9 is supposed to be a release-candidate for 7.4. Don't want to do another release-candidate, want the next release straight to 7.4. But yes, will include Symphytum, as if fills a gap in the builtin applications suite.     

Tags: easy

EasyOS introduction video on YouTube

June 11, 2026 — BarryK

I'm planning a series of videos. This is the first one, a brief introduction:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vEYtxwwv644

img1

Easy-peasy to setup the webcam and screen recorder! Does help that my Zenbook laptop has microphone and camera builtin.

EasyCast screen recorder offers to transcode the video into whatever resolution and format required: I chose mp4 1080p. No further video editing required; uploaded immediately to YouTube.

Note, the EasyCast screen recorder, found in the "Multimedia" menu, had a couple of bugs, posted about yesterday. So wait for the EasyOS version 7.4 release, coming in a few days, or expected to.

EDIT:
Have started a thread in the Puppy Linux Forum to discuss this video-series:

https://forum.puppylinux.com/viewtopic.php?p=171929#p171929

...suggestions for future videos welcome!     

Tags: easy

EasyCast screen recorder fixed

June 10, 2026 — BarryK

Finally, after so many years, thinking of making some videos about EasyOS, for posting on YouTube. I used EasyCast a couple of years ago, and it worked. But now it is broken.

Some missing icons, which caused a crash. Fixed that, but then found it was not correctly detecting the microphone input. Also, underlying utility, 'recordmydesktop', is designed for ALSA. Fixed both of those. The PET has been bumped from version 2.0 to 2.1.

A bit of history; EasyCast was originally created by Argolance in the old forum, in 2009, then SFR worked on it in 2015, and me in 2022.

In 2022, posted to the blog:

https://bkhome.org/news/202203/easycast-20-screen-recording.html

...remarked on a lapel microphone having high background hum. Yes, a microphone does need electronic noise-cancelling. I have a Creative HS-230 headset, with boom microphone -- background noise quite low.  

Tags: easy

DropboxGUI file manager fixed

June 10, 2026 — BarryK

You will find this in the "Internet" category of the menu. Google-AI summary:

Dropbox is a secure cloud storage platform that lets you store, sync, and share files across all your devices.
Founded in 2007, it operates by creating a dedicated folder on your computer that automatically backs up and updates your content to the cloud.Core
FeaturesCloud Storage & Syncing: Access your documents, photos, and videos from anywhere using a computer, phone, or tablet.
File Sharing & Collaboration: Send large files easily to anyone, even if they don’t have a Dropbox account, by simply sharing a link.
Smart Sync: Save hard drive space by accessing cloud files directly from your desktop without downloading them locally.
Version History: Accidentally deleted or ruined a file? You can easily review and restore older drafts

Dropbox website:

https://www.dropbox.com/dropbox

DropboxGUI is a really nice file-manager like interface to your Dropbox storage. However, our PET, created by mikeb, no longer works, due to an API change. fredx181 has fixed it:

https://forum.puppylinux.com/viewtopic.php?t=17004

That's great, I have updated the PET.    

Tags: easy

FlatOrange desktop icon theme updated

June 10, 2026 — BarryK

The FlatOrange desktop icon theme is at /usr/local/lib/X11/themes/FlatOrange. It is builtin in woofQ2. It was created a very long time ago, in the very early Puppy Linux days, and was lacking some icons now required in EasyOS. Forum member retiredt00 has fixed that:

https://forum.puppylinux.com/viewtopic.php?p=169653#p169653

We do have a lot of old PET packages that are in the same boat, see "desk_icon_theme*" packages:

https://distro.ibiblio.org/easyos/noarch/packages/pet/pet_packages-noarch/

...look at the dates, see how old some of them are.   

Tags: easy

gtk2-ng introspection compile fix

June 09, 2026 — BarryK

Easy 7.3.9 has gtk-ng, compiled with "--introspection=no". This was raised as an issue:

https://git.devuan.org/Daemonratte/gtk2-ng/issues/21

Great, now fixed.

We have been discussing gtk2-ng in the forum:

https://forum.puppylinux.com/viewtopic.php?t=16898  

Tags: easy

EasyOS Excalibur-series version 7.3.9 released

June 09, 2026 — BarryK

This is a release-candidate for 7.4, marking a fundamental commitment to a "legacy" architecture, embracing Xlibre and gtk2-ng. And, finally successful, supporting Sound Open Firmware (SOF), so audio will work on very modern computers.

Changes since 7.3.8:

Note, not built with excalibur-backports repository (as is version 7.3.8).

ROX-Filer is one of our fantastic gtk2-based apps, and we have been on a roll enhancing it; the latest feature is video-thumbnails. We intend that a lot of other excellent but neglected gtk2-based apps will find their way into EasyOS.

Release notes, showing details of past releases:

https://distro.ibiblio.org/easyos/amd64/releases/excalibur/2026/7.3.9/release-notes.htm

Download the drive image file:

https://distro.ibiblio.org/easyos/amd64/releases/excalibur/2026/7.3.9/

If you are a newcomer to EasyOS, please read the version 7.3 announcement, as it has more getting-started information:

Also, an overview of how and why EasyOS is unique:

https://easyos.org/about/how-and-why-easyos-is-different.html

The change to an SOF-enabled kernel brings with it some trepidation, given past troubles. Let me know if you experience any audio issues, like no sound or some input or output channels being wrong.

Hopefully, we will just fix and tweak a few things, then with great fanfare release version 7.4!

Feedback welcome at the forum:

https://forum.puppylinux.com/viewtopic.php?p=171787#p171787

Have fun!   

Tags: easy