I believe its because we don't have a core place to actually chat and discuss litestep, in a friendly manner. I feel in a sense scared to post due to flaming alot of the times. anyone else feel the same way?

We all use Macs and OSX now.

(Note that I didn't flame you, but was only sarcastic.)

lol, but yet you still surf the litestep forums! true love...
i mean its a great app

I like to help people when I can. Plus, I have a lot of sporadic free time during the day, and it's something to do.

yea, the attitudes arent always the best. id say thats the main reason, the holier than thou complex.

We are all enrolled in the same class "LA"
Litestep Anonymous... We all junkie's I tell ya.

Seriously, This place is the best on the net for themes and general discussions. However sometimes the right person comes along and rubs you the wrong way if ya know what I mean...

Questions get asked all the time over and over.
Example: If your little brother asked everyday how much 1+1= for 7 years than you might think about burning it in his skin on his forehead backwards so he can read it everyday in the mirror!

Well it's kind of like that!

But I vote for a clean up of all the million stickies nobody cares to read and make one and only one sticky of all the most common asked Litestep questions.

Oh and why I am here,
Why don't my windoz change using lightstep?
And how do I change my wallpaper?

later brother's

I know exactly what you mean, I work at retail and I get the same questions everyday, but it will never change if you want the community to grow then you must nurture not turn it away. Think of every new member as a child that needs to be taught for him to succeed in whatever they need done. How else do you think litestep will grow as a application, like I read before there are developers who have quit because they don't feel that the time they spent on whatever theyve been developing won't get appreciated.

DeViLbOi believes in tough love. ;)

Which is why I hired 2 more forum admins so I don't have to read this crap every day. :)

Immortal: We do have a sticky for FAQ stuff...nobody reads that either. If you have a suggestion though on some stuff to get rid of let me know...I am more than happy to get it done.

Maybe when users register for the first time, they're presented with a Wiki, FAQ, or sticky list with answers to the question(s) they're about to answer?

/just a thought

Dev maybe instead of having all stickies in separate forums you could create a new users forum and we can post all the most asked questions there.

We could even help with how get desktop icons by posting a small config.
How to use modules.
How to install themes.
ect. ect.

I can make a FAQ forum if you want like I did with the Theme reviews...I don't mind. Don't cost me anything. I just don't have faith in the users.

and when a user registers, can you make that window appear at the end of the registration process?

I don't believe we currently have that ability with the current codebase. However, once xclusive gets done coding up what he is on now I can see what he can do about adding something onto the activation page for it.

/me think that to be noob friendly means to answer using a single link on sticky or FAQ
nobody is ideal and sometimes you havn't enough time to read all this docs, FAQs, etc., but want to make something really fast.
/me don't think the forum requires another FAQ, subforum, flashing windows, etc.
/me think posters just should be more friendly to each other no matter are they LS guru or not ;)
not a constructive offer, but that's my 2 cents...

/me tink jew needz jor headz zamin'd

Honestly...if you think that our attitudes of answering the same question over and over again is the problem you can just as well answer them right behind us.

Honestly...if you think that our attitudes of answering the same question over and over again..

I understand what you are trying to say, but heres a question for you.
Would you like to see the litestep community grow? If so, how do you expect to get people to stay and be interested and contribute, if you so easily insult them and their intelligence. People don't like feeling like shit when they enter a room they've never been to. Instead of making them feel like they can't ask questions, why don't you welcome them? You don't have to be a jerk to be an admin.

Perhaps not, but it undoubtedly helps. =P

People don't like feeling like *** when they enter a room they've never been to.

Feeling like what? o.O

crap

OK...but look at it from the other side. When you have the resources at your disposal to answer your own question, why don't you? Users who don't care enough about their own problem to answer it themselves should feel like crap. Especially when the answer is put out there in so many different places. About a year ago someone asked the same old question about multimedia keys on their keyboard and I went back and found 32 threads on it and pasted them all into the same response. I don't hate new users or mind helping people who ask intelligent questions. I even spent over an hour the one day last month walking someone through multimonitor setups via ICQ. If you haven't noticed, I have stopped answering most questions as of late just so I don't close the site for good. And once again...we are back to...if you don't like how others are answering questions...answer them yourselves in a way you feel is appropriate. The only things you aren't allowed to do are 1) link an external website when the information can be found here just as easily and 2) answer a question about lightstep or lightstrap.

...and one more thing. You all seem to be worried about the "growth" of LiteStep. LSnet had over 100,000 users sign-up in 2006 alone. That does not come from a dieing community or shell.

Wow... I had no idea. That's a lot of people.

And if you ask me... which I know that no one did... if LS is dying it's not because DeV or me sometimes give
rude answers to stupid questions. It's because a majority of the new users are a) too lazy and spoiled to find answers for themselves, and b) too lazy and/or self-centered to give something back to the community and keep it alive. They come in here and expect the table to be set and dinner ready to be served, and all they are prepared to do is sit down and eat. To extend the metaphor, I'm here to help them cook their own meals, not to feed them.

Sheesh West, now you've gone and made me get hungry. What are we going to make for dinner?

How would you feel if the supermarket placed items all over the store and not in categories easy to find?

If ppl are asking questions its because the info is scattered all over the place and not in one central location easy to find.

The docs tab might be a good place to start!

Man...I wrote a really mean reply...but I deleted it because I just don't care anymore.

Way to go, Immortal... you broke DeV.

They don't read the stickies, anyway. I'll give you one anecdote for why LS could be dying:
Tonight, I set up a MythTV box. It won't populate the program guide, and won't change channels w/ up/down because of that, but it works fine in every other respect. Such a thing has previously just been a carrot on a stick, every time. Read about how some guy just set it up, and some guide with 90% of the hard parts missing (yeah, like I didn't already do an apt-get update and upgrade; yet it will say nothing about getting ivtv in and working), etc.. But this time it worked.

With Ubuntu and PCLOS (I really don't like Ubuntu, but it's like Red Hat--there's all kinds of stuff about how to do things in Ubuntu, and it's sure easier than Gentoo), the stuff works, and tends not to be too hard to tweak, either. I'm not ready to switch, but I can see it happening.

The docs section linking to the wiki would be cool. But, again, people don't read the stickies, don't Google worth a ***, etc.. The docs have never been nice and organized for me, either. Often that led to asking about things that were in docs I had looked at. But that did not deter me. It has not deterred many. The promise of a system that can do all kinds of Cool Stuff™, without the headache of Windows (they're different headaches, not that *n*xes don't have them :)), with exceptional multitasking performance (as perceived, it's far superior), and even the ability, with a little Googling, to run important Windows apps (EAC, Quickbooks, Visio, etc.), well...that can lead people off.

While ls.net and then ls.com going down certain hastened it, dwindling users being drawn to other OSes is an issue that none of us can solve, except maybe to develop features we're used to as additions to E, XFCE, KDE, etc.. MS has been shooting their own feet since WGA false positives started, and all the extra DRM work in Vista (you know, instead of just working for technical excellence, which MS is certainly capable of) introduces a bad taste before even trying it.

Whether LS is dying or not, many people that might be making awesome modules and themes have given up on Windows.

Look at DA, skinbase, even custo.org. The Windows customizing, beyond VS/WB, has been slowing down. xoblite appeared to have some massive activity again, but that appears to have been a fluke. When E17 gets fairly stable, I might even be tempted.

Now, pure users...that's a whole other subject, and I do not understand how such people think. As long as it doesn't horribly crash when poking around, there's got to be something to mess with...

Well, here's my two cents...speaking as a graphics guy and not a coder, the first gripe I have about LS is, it is geared toward coding. In graphic design, there is a catch phrase for newbies..."KISS!"...or Keep It Simple, Stupid! If that concept were applied to the LS system, you would perhaps see a significant drop in the stupid questions categories!

In my experience, the coding is overly complicated and has taken me years to understand. and when I finally figured most of it out, OS2 came out and now I have had to start over completely. Please, understand that I knew absolutely nothing about coding until I downloaded LS. A lot of my friends think I am a computer geek now, because I have this "cool desktop and can change things to look awesome!" Which makes me feel great, so in a very real sense, LS has been a valuable educational resource for me. It (coding) has come in handy for me in everyday use of Windows systems at home, at work and in school (I am working on my Bachelor's degree in Fine Arts and 51 years old!) Not everyone is as bright as I am, and I am by far not as bright as some of you folks.

LS has to have code and I have no problems with that. (Other than my own inadequacies at coding!) What I would suggest is a GUI for changing the steps. So that instead of having to read through 10 step files to find what the hell you need to change to get rid of error messages and what not, you have a GUI that is point and click, with previews of what you will get. That, I know would be a huge amount of work for you coders, but it would make the bone heads happy. Just a thought.

BTW, when I first started coming here, I was a victim of some abuse from the old timers. But, being an artist, I am used to that. I have never seen any truly abusive comments from any of you. And the dumb questions do get old.

Keep up the good work folks.

I have suggested similar things for... what, seven or eight years now :)

Unfortunately there's not much interest in introducing such a change, so I doubt it will ever happen. From what I can tell most people are quite happy doing it the hard way, i.e. editing plain text files.

The coding has daughted (I think that is a word) me, I only know enough to make some changes to other peoples themes to match what I am looking for (just personal use). It could be the switch to vista that is coming up and people are not willing to create new skins when faced with the "visuals" of vista. I know that LS works on vista, but could a future build of it maybe include access to some of the new features of vista? I am not entirely sure what I am refering too, but something of that sort may help. One thing I thought about, but had no idea how to incorrporate was adding a search box to the drop menu... anyway, I dont think LS is dead, just in decline with the move to vista, and I hope it will regain some popularity after the trasition is done

As for the simple GUI...I have been in many a meeting where it was discussed. Unfortunatly, the devs feel that XML would be a required change in moving to a GUI config. With switching to an XML config all previous modules, themes, etc would have to be thrown out or converted to the new standard. Is this acceptable? To some...maybe...to others no.

As to LS being an app that requires "coding" knowledge...you would be partially write, but mostly wrong. While a theme does require a text based configuration, no actual programming code is required for a theme to be built. I will also concede though, that if you want a really cool theme...you need some sort of scripting. While some of the settings may be cryptic, they are in the end just settings.

Personally...I wish I lived near some of you so that I could sit down and understand where the confusion lies. But unfortunately for me...I only live near deuce_. :( If someone wants to email me so we can sit down and talk via IM or IRC...I am more than happy to explain the "coding" of an LS theme. That said, questions like "Tell me everything you know!" will go unanswered. I have sat in #LiteStep on different occasions over the years and rarely seen an LS problem discussed. Things might have changed since my last stint in there, but I doubt it. Resources are out there for actual real-time help...you just need to use them wisely.

LOL! Thanks Dev! West! Dmak, think you are thinking of "daunted". The scripting does get complex. Dev, thanks for the explanation on XML. I thought it would take a lot of work, was unaware that the modules would need conversion as well. That would be a daunting task indeed. Like I said, I am not that disgruntled by the text configuration, and it really has made me a more knowledgeable PC user, and helped in some really severe crashes! So, I am not that concerned about it. If you want to hire me to answer the dumb questions I would be happy to, Dev! I plan on finishing my Masters of Fine Arts degree and teaching, so I could use the practice with dumb questions!

As far as scripting, would you have a suggestion to set up a series of individual shortcuts to various applications? In my screenshots I have a shortcut next to the start button in the austerity work around I have made. I set the shortcut up in the base rc file, and the normal, hover and press commands work, but the bang to open photoshop fails. Hmm...here's the text I have now.

*Shortcut "Display" 0 -100 Winback1.png Winback2.png .none $Programs$

Adobe/Photoshop 7.0/Photoshop.exe .none !execute

It probably is just twisted around, but I have tried every configuration of this I can think of and it's driving me nuts! If you prefer, e-mail it to me at my hotmail address in profile.

Thanks again for the info on the GUI.

wow, my first post in...dunno, MONTHS...

anyways, to clarify some of what devilboi was saying, a GUI would be nice for newbs, and for some of us who are just too lazy nowadays to write a new theme out by hand (*points at myself). no question there. the problem is, one of two things would have to happen. the GUI would have to be written to work for every single module out there (and a new version released every time a new module is put out or updated), or else every single module out there would have to be re-written and standardized, so the GUI could access them. both solutions would obviously involve quite a bit of work on the part of the coders. and for the various modules which were written, then the dev dropped off the face of the earth taking the source code with them...well, they would have to be re-written from scratch, or just written off as lost. (module development may have become standardized in the months I was afk, I dunno, but the older modules weren't, I'm sure.)

I wouldn't say it's all about laziness really... Personally it's about time and productivity as well. Same reason one uses a WYSIWYG editor to create a website. It would save a lot of time.

well, for me it's laziness at least. :P

*Shortcut "Display" 0 -100 Winback1.png Winback2.png .none "$GFXEditor$"
Make sure your evar is set in personal folder evars.rc for gfxeditor

Now back on topic!

would it be possilbe to come up with a graphical interface that once you are done with you can "encode" it to the current text based creation method?

dmak: The problem is the GUI needs to know what settings are available to be set. To know that the module has to report to it through some interface what it is expecting. Currently that communication is not there. But really...what is the difference between putting a 6 in xTrayX in a GUI vs putting it next to it in a text file?

I can see that DeV is not the target audience for such a GUI ;)

I think the difference ought to be clear as day. With a well thought-out GUI you will not have to search through tangled mazes of settings when editing themes that are not you're own. A particular setting will always be found in the same place. Besides you'll have (if the GUI's any good) additional little handy features like spin controls, drop-down lists or radio buttons for true/false, an Apply button that saves all changed files & recycles. Generally everything will be quicker to reach and easier to edit.

It should be noted that while I'm definitely in favor of such a change, I don't want it to replace the current way of doing it. I want to be able to edit config files directly should I need or want to. A GUI, for me at least, would be a time-saver. Something to rough out a theme with, or for making basic tweaks.

I am one of those users that doesn't skrew with stuff. I can see where theme creation might go a little faster...but what could be faster than copy and pasting from the docs? That is all I ever do. *shrug* Maybe one of your scripting weenies can make up a script for each individual module? Start with the majors using LUA to parse an existing config and write a new one? Maybe then it can be included in the module for later use? *shrug* I could even make a new section in the downloads for it if need be. *shrug* I'm not against it...just not all that gung-ho for it.

'Why is litestep dying?' Threads are the cancer that is killing litestep. Nah not really, i just wanted to quote that meme. They are just boring and repetetive and i dont even bother to read them for the last few years. We don't need meta discussions about litestep problems, any bright 10 year old kid can figure them out.

You want usefull docs? Then write down everything you know about litestep on the Wiki and kill all the crappy old docs/topics.
You want a GUI? Sure, help xcal, he already wrote some stuff in that direction.
You want an installer? Go and help Tobbe and the-golem.
You want a new step format/vista support/whatever? Simply agree to do all the coding and contact the lsdev.org guys.
You want OTS3? Give me your suggestions or write your own proposal.
You want anything done? Then start *doing* it.

...

Heh, you're going all Nike on us. =P

But you're right, of course.

Kudos Immortal! Worked perfectly! My humble thanks.

let me get out of school in april and I will take a crash course on this code thing, and see if I am capable of doing my own instead of merely editing others... stupid architecture really ruins ones life during the school year

and some people accuse *me* of having attitude problems...

^agreed!

"The power of accurate observation is commonly called cynicism by those who have not got it."

I'd post nicely if i thought it would make any difference anyway ;p

Litestep Rox! I just hope i can use it in vista... i don't like the gui its fugly

Litestep is dying because people are getting dumber.
Simple.
The vast majority of the people on the net are so ridiculously incredibly stupid it makes me want to cry.
So we need to think about these people.
At the moment, litestep is really a hackers gui for windows. When I say Hacker, I mean the true definition, not l33t hax0r st33ls j00r d@torz stuff.
It isnt user friendly to install, or config, or customise. Same as linux really. But once you are done with all that, it is a truly wonderful experience and you CANT GO BACK TO WINDOZE.
Austerity is an old theme which does not show off the potential of litestep at all, and by potential of litestep i mean xmodules.
For litesteps next major major release, I think it needs a few things to appeal to the stupid masses.

1: Integration of paintclass and statsclass into the core.
2: Latest versions of the xmodules included with the installer.
3: A new, simple to use, slick, but different default theme (dont look at me my themes are crazy... perhaps a few of the elite themers should get together and design a new default theme)
which brings me to 4...
4: Multiple themes to use in the installer.
5: Perhaps bundle a uxtheme multi patcher into litestep, or even have a memory patcher built into it, for all the R E T A R D S who keep asking about it. Then, themes could also have the option of including a visual style directory in their theme to auto apply it.
6: A desktop properties menu at the bottom of the default popup (no brainer)
7: A small, short (or the idiots will get bored) readme that pops up for firstrun of litestep.

Feel free to add items to the list if you have an idea.
-Ash

I'm with you on #1. Splitting out some xmodules code in to two other modules has really hurt things for new themers, imo. ("What?! I need to include two other modules just to make this one module work?! And this other module needs this module included?!? WTF??" Nice job on discouraging new users...and old for that matter.) In all honesty, it's the primary reason I'm not theming right now. Sure, I could use the older modules, but then I wouldn't be cutting edge. :P So ya, like I said, I'm with you on 1... I really wish it would happen, but I doubt it will.

Disagree on 2... agree with the rest, more or less.

Interesting xcal.. why do you disagree with number 2? I thought it would just save some time instead of waiting for the netloadmodule download process... is there a technical reason or something?
-Ash

Disagreed on 2 because xmodules are still sort of in dev, and there are other modules that people may prefer to do the job instead. Now that I think about it, I should really disagree with 1 for the same reason. *sigh*

Just some corrections and personal opinions :P
1. The recent xModules (xPaintClass, xStatsClass, xLabel, xTaskbar, xPopup and xTray) are "FINAL" versions, that means no real further development is planned and NO remaining (reported and reproducable) bugs are left!
2. xPaintClass (and xStatsClass) are NO modules!
They are "core" dll's like lsapi.dll, that means they contain stuff, but they don't do anything.
Therefore, if we would have a recent "official" installer they would be automatically installed in the Litestep folder and there wouldn't be problem at all.
They CAN be loaded as modules, to ensure that themes can download them automatically via NetloadModule and therefore work on not recent Litestep installations without xPaintClass in the Litestep folder.
3. xStatsClass was seperated from xLabel due to requests from themers (smaller xLabel without the text stats stuff).
4. xStatsClass isn't required for xLabel to run (since xLabel version 4.0.6).
5. xPaintClass has no bugs! (The update(s) i have released contain only further enhancements for perfectionists)

I don't mention the advantages of xPaintClass, since i have done it many times before.

@xcal:
If you don't theme anymore, because of xPaintClass, then it is your decision, but you really miss some nice features and visual improvements. :P
And themeing isn't more complicated because of xPaintClass, only 1! additional setting is required compared to older versions and that is the ...PaintingMode setting. On the other hand the few changed settings are much more logical (and shorter) then before.
I really like critical opinions or suggestions for improvements, but i still cannot see the problems, you see.
Sorry :)

Andymon

@Andymon
1. I've seen a lot of finals over the last couple of years. :P And don't get me started on the new installer...
3. I'd be surprised if it was more than 2 or 3 themers who requested that.
4. Please. Who's going to be using xLabel without some kind of text escapes?

Regarding not theming...

I was a little extreme in blaming xPaintClass (plus xstats) and I probably shouldn't have singled it out. My post was more of a knee-jerk reaction type of thing before I went to bed. :P xPaint/Stats certainly isn't the only thing I view as 'wrong' with Litestep.

I guess my real problems with it has been its growing pains. It continues to cause compatibility problems with people having to clean out their xmodules and redownload stuff from currently released themes. This is bad for a community that should be wanting to attract new users. I really wish it could have remained in a closed beta state for a while before the general population got ahold of it.

We both know there are people that disagree with me, so I know you won't take my opinions too seriously, but if they've bothered you in a personal way, I'm sorry for that. I've always spoken very highly of you (not that I'm some kind of authority :P) and have credited you several times for being the reason that Litestep still has as many users as it does. Just ask Immortal. I think I've even referred to you as a 'God' before. ;)

I'm certainly not giving up on Litestep or quitting. I feel more like I've been waiting for the dust to settle before I get back in to trying to create a theme of some kind.

Well just got back from texas and see my name here...

xcal is correct.
First off:
lonerunner - without him there is no litestep
lsdevs - no updates
omar - brought the the best installer ever made so far
andymon - gave us modules to push litestep in the new generation

andy and omar are at the formost top of the chain IMO

Now lets see what tobbe has to offer!

xcal hit the nail on the head by his comment with:
Waiting for the dust to clear!

Dont be fooled LS is not dead just taking a break from the norm.

Well, if would have waited for the Installer or OTS3 release (that was my intention in the beginning of xPaintClass) then xPaintClass wouldn't have been released even a half year after Gold Status ;)
xPaintClass is released and that cannot be undone. Going back would make the whole thing even worser and complicated in my opinion.
So we really have to wait for the Installer and maybe further Core development.

I would say xpaintclass was the best thing andymon ever created, but that sounds a bit like cheapening all the xmodules. The xmodules are simply the only reason still has anything to offer. And the xpaintclass will be the most important part in allmost any future module. Its the logical end to his modules developemnt.

Thats why I think xpaintclass should be part of the litestep install. Set it and forget it. Same with statsclass, for that matter.
Really, we need a more gui (read: Idiot) friendly installer with statsclass, paintclass, some new themes, popup that includes desktop properties, and a uxtheme patcher or something.
Whammo! litestep 0.2 final :P
-Ash

i think nobody has yet mentioned one reason that i believe is pretty influetial: before the xmodules and lslua, things were pretty static. there were far less options concering graphics, everything was based on images + magic pink, or some simple color configuration. nothing spectacular. however, at that time, themes were impressive, because (i'm not sure here... i'm talking about a time when i had very very limited internet access, if at all) there were many themers with a somewhat artistic claim, people that could put out a great looking theme every day. this was possible because all you had to do was to create a spectacular layout and extract some bitmaps from it, put them at their position, assign some functionality. done.
but as litestep and its modules improved and became more dynamic, things became more complicated, and the number of people being able to create a somewhat remarkable theme decreased. a theme without scripts will hardly be taken serious by most of us today, simply because scripting is established as something normal, and many features are not possible without. remember your first themes? mine had hardly any mzscript line in it - not that i couldn't script, but i didn't need scripts. today, when i start with a theme, the first things i'm actually doing are - sripts.
the other complicated thing is the xmodules. they're great, but they require many settings for their setup (of course this depends, but anyway - you can have a real big and confusing setup if you do some advanced stuff). NOTE THAT i don't blame the xmodules, but i love them (and did a small one myself :) ), but for the not-so-advanced user, they might be confusing, overburdening him or her with too many options and things you need to know. it's just natural, because the more features there are, the more configuration has to be done. it's not that difficult at all, but many of us have grown into using them, whereas new users are facing a big wall full of information. and people which are not into coding will pretty soon find that it's just too much for them. everybody wants to make cool themes, but not everybody is capable of it today.

pfff, i'm getting lazy writing this... time for a summary:
litestep's modules are advancing, providing incredible possibilities that no other shell in the world can provide. today's themes make use of these possibilities, and thus get more complicated*. this scares users away, but that's the price we have to pay (rhyme!).
a gui for litestep would either limit the possibilities, or, trying to keep them, lead into a project where the effort needed for the gui was as great or event greater than the actual shell (that's what i think, being a programmer. it's by far not an easy task at all).

well, enough said. long live the step! :)


* don't say "OS X can do incredible things and isn't complicated". OS X is f*cking complicated. it's just that all the complicated things have been taken care of by the programmers, and what you get is the final product with much less flexibility. in litestep, every theme must take care of a huge part of the programming (in a way) itself. that's what makes it so flexible. litestep is more powerful than your local hardware store.

p.s.: by chance, the platoon theme song was played here while thinking and typing about litestep's death... very pathetic, hehe :D

edit: p.p.s.: holy whatever, sorry for that long text. happened accidently... ;)

wow, huge thread.

Why is LS dying?

I suggest this "death" is not purely a LS thing, its more of a computer custo thing, alt-shell thing.

Web 2.0 stuff is getting all the attention. OS's just arent "novel" or new or interesting really anymore.

I feel the focus shifting to "live" internet stuff.

eg; email, calendar, word processing, image editing etc can all be done online these days.
People are more into forging community links and groups based on RL type shit than totally geeked out stuff like alt-shells.

I just can't really beleive there is this huge group of n00b LS'ers that really want to get into theming but can't because of something that can be changed.
I just don't think they are there anymore.


I would be far more concerned if we were talking about carpentry. Carpentry has a huge history, with obvious advantages for all, and obvious reasons for its continued existence.
Litestep on the otherhand, has a very short history, and its productive validity is questionable and existence is subject to inevitable changes.
What is Litestep? an interface between man and machine. Interfaces have rapidly changed since the inception of computerisation, so its only natural for litestep to change.

Although I indeed beleive LS is the most advanced offline interface to date for any OS, I hope it will not remain that way for all eternity.

If it is to be superseeded, I welcome the death of Litestep.

I synchronize my theme and settings between three PC's using rsync/ssh to a remote host, so *my* LS is pretty net-centric. ;)

I don't think it makes much sense to have your shell be a web-app, though, with the inherit latency and intermittent connectivity for most real world situations. Most of the other work that I do on a PC would not benefit from that approach, either, although the *results* certainly are made available online. There's always going to be a need for *something* at the far end of the pipe, no matter how fat that pipe gets. At least until they start implanting those direct neural interfaces. (And Microsoft is never going to touch *my* brain!)

it at least feels like this website is dying.

What are you talking about? Didn't you see there was even a new poll?

fractal made a good point. All the people who started using LS when it was new generated a ton of buzz about it. Its not on screensavers anymore, and you don't have as many linux to windows switchers.. other way around usually. And like me, the core users just got old and tired.

Anyway, Hey community, long time.
schmots/daywalker

wow, when did I write that crap!?

Anyway, just to clarify, I think just about everyone here has good points (yes, even you xcal) and the reason why LS is dying is probably a good mix of all.

Still, I like THC4k's post the best!

"Just do it"