console widgets without X

[Noam Meltzer]

Hi,

On a similar scenario I chose newt.
1. IMHO, it looks very good considering it's a tui.
2. For Linux people it looks familiar and professional as red hat had used
it for years in the installation (anaconda) and configuration tools
(system-config-*).
3. The python binding is very good.

- Noam
On 16 Jun 2014 20:34, "Oleg Goldshmidt" <pub at goldshmidt.org> wrote:

>
> Hi,
>
> I have a marketing problem. Imagine a linux box running in runlevel 3,
> no X. I want to have a special user who is only allowed to configure a
> few things on the console (physcal, VMware, whatever), but - marketing
> put their collective foot down hard here - the interface must "look
> nice". Definition of "nice" will be made clear a few lines down.
>
> The functional requirements are simple - a form with a few labeled input
> fields (with default values filled in at the start) + "save" and
> "cancel" buttons. The form may be full screen. I'd like to have the
> application as the special user's login shell.
>
> But, console only! What are my options for such an application? Is there
> any toolkit capable of presenting a nice-looking form withut X?
>
> Here are things I've thought about:
>
> 1. ncurses - obviously. Not a very sophisticated look, to the point that
>    I can't be sure it will be acceptable - this is the "nice" border,
>    and ncurses may actually be on the wong side of it. I'd prefer to
>    research alternatives before suggesting it.
>
> 2. newt - seems similar to ncurses visually.
>
> 3. pdmenu - ugly as hell, and not sure forms are possible. Will never
>    pass the nice-looking test.
>
> 4. A web server. Rather than have a special user with an app for the
>    login shell, connect using a browser. Very good from the nice looking
>    POV. However, can't run a web server, really, for reasons I won't go
>    into.
>
> 5. dialog(1) - actualy may pass the muster... A notch beter looking than
>    newt... My current favourite.
>
> 6. Various toolkits (Tcl/Tk, Tinker, etc.) would probably pass the
>    aesthetics committee, but all seem to require X.
>
> Any other suggestions?
>
> Thanks,
>
> --
> Oleg Goldshmidt | pub at goldshmidt.org
>
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