{"id":879,"date":"2012-09-05T13:38:53","date_gmt":"2012-09-05T20:38:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dylanmc.ca\/\/-\/?p=879"},"modified":"2024-08-14T09:20:05","modified_gmt":"2024-08-14T16:20:05","slug":"installer-slideshow-customization","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dylanmc.ca\/\/-\/blog\/2012\/09\/05\/installer-slideshow-customization\/","title":{"rendered":"Ubuntu installer slideshow customization, with pictures!"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

I have escaped the perilous grasp of Perl, and I bring news:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If you make a localized Ubuntu ISO like the Italian CD<\/a>, you can customize the installer slideshow<\/a>, with translated screenshots and more!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

How? Follow me!<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

First, you need to be running Ubuntu 12.10 with the latest version of the Ubuntu defaults builder<\/a>\u00a0\u2014\u00a00.35. I assume you already know about the defaults builder, since you are making a localized ISO. If you do not, start with\u00a0this explanation about localized images<\/a>. Don’t worry: the defaults builder is a great tool that makes this very easy!<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

The defaults builder template has been updated to include a “ubiquity-slideshow” folder. Let’s open a terminal and create a new defaults package to play around:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

ubuntu-defaults-template ubuntuway-defaults<\/pre>\n\n\n\n
That will create a fresh defaults source package in a folder named “ubuntuway-defaults”. Open that, then open “ubiquity-slideshow”.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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Of course, you can always add ubiquity-slideshow to an existing defaults package.<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n
As you might have guessed, you get to customize the slides! Open “slides.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\"\"<\/a>
Yay, an empty screen, glimmering with potential!<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n
We put slides in this folder, in almost exactly the way they are organized with ubiquity-slideshow itself. Now would be a good time to install ubiquity-slideshow-ubuntu<\/a> so you can use the base files as reference. Make sure you have at least version 61, because things have changed since Ubuntu 12.04.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
With the defaults package, you get to extend \/usr\/share\/ubiquity-slideshow\/slides\/l10n.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\"\"<\/a>
In the ubiquity-slideshow package, each folder contains slides for a particular locale. Note that each folders’ contents look a lot like \/usr\/share\/ubiquity-slideshow\/slides.<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n
Back in our defaults package, let’s start by adding some locales. We are going to add translated text and screenshots for en@piglatin. To start, we create a new folder: “en@piglatin.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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On this topic, there should actually be a pig latin option in the locale chooser. It would be sooo cool.<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n
The way this works is the slideshow will search the extra locale folder for a language and, if a particular file is available for that language, it will use it instead of the default. For example, we could replace welcome.jpg for the “it” locale, so when someone installs in Italian that picture will appear instead of the original welcome.jpg.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Let’s replace welcome.jpg for the en@piglatin locale! To replace a file, the easiest thing is to copy where it is in \/usr\/share\/ubiquity-slideshow\/slides. You can see there’s a screenshots folder there, with a bunch of screenshots. So, in our own “en@piglatin” folder, we’ll add a screenshots folder. Of course, what you would normally do is look at the original welcome.jpg and create something similar that works for your locale and your disk image, making sure to keep the same dimensions. I’m going to cheat a little.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\"\"<\/a>
Custom screenshots folder for en@piglatin, with a custom (colour-shifted) welcome.jpg<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n
One problem with the slideshow is that the screenshots are always in English. Now, you can include translated screenshots. As with anything else here, these go on top of the other files. An Ubuntu install in your language will show the translated screenshots, while an install in English (or any other language) will show the original English screenshots. There isn’t an actual Pig Latin Ubuntu for some reason, so I will translate a screenshot into French for an example.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Some rules of thumb for taking screenshots, if you don’t want to (or it isn’t practical to) do the same thing as the original:<\/p>\n\n\n\n