small questions=>3. can ZorinOS use animated cursor files ?

Here I am moving on with some small questions for which I've tried to find answers - but to no avail.
(I repeat some text below for anyone who's not seen what I posted earlier, sorry for repeating.)

Premise& assertion:
ZorinOS wishes to attract users away from ween-doze (a beautiful thing !).
Given the above, making the OS more comfortable/familiar can only be desirable.

Background:
Animated cursors (mouse-pointers) are very well-loved by ween-doze users.
Some (like myself...) have favourite ANI files, which their former OS used easily.

My third question then, is:
Is there a simple/easy way to (convert, if needed, and...) make ZorinOS use these files ?

Thanks for any help.

Hi,

see this thread:

http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=1317386

Regards Wolfman

Hi Wolfman, and thanks for the reply, BUT:

see this thread: http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=1317386

I found that thread and others like it in my own searching.

What I desire is to (convert and...?) RE-USE some existing, very lovely ones which I already have and which are long-time favorites that I prefer to continue using...

Is there a way to accomplish this, please ?

As the link provided by WM indicates, it may be done if you install xcursorgen (which can be found in software center as "X-applications").
This is used to create cursors but hopefully it will have an option to convert your own images/cursors to the required format/size.
You may also need gnome-tweak-tool.

I have not tried it, but you can give it a try.

Madvinegar:
As much as I appreciate your ATTEMPTS to look as if you are answering questions here, I must ask:
Are you some sort of official rep. for ZorinOS ?

I ask because you pop into (at least my...) queries with things which occupy space, but simply look like hero-worship of the forum moderators=> but as I recall, your 'answers' have not actually ANSWERED anything - and from what I can tell, they more tend to simply repeat what someone else said for re-emphasis.

This does NOT help.

I've asked SPECIFIC and single questions to the best of my abilities here.

Kindly do what appears to be 'parroting' on the queries of others who seem to appreciate the 'me too' posts.
I desire answers, please - and NOT -MAYBEES-.

Examples:

...it may be done if you install xcursorgen ...

I have not tried it, but you can give it a try.

No answers found there; not even any real experiences to share.
Thanks - but no thanks.

It's totally OK with me if there's no better answer.

I can ask elsewhere for pure Ubuntu support and there are loads of folks involved; but since I am using (and prefer...) ZorinOS, I'd rather the Q&A take place here at it's 'home base'.

Thanks.

2moldy4me wrote:Is there a simple/easy way to (convert, if needed, and...) make ZorinOS use these files?

Before getting into conversion, have you Googled the cursor you like by name and added "for Linux"? I've found Windows cursors tailored for Linux, and visa-versa. For instance, I've been using Obsidian cursors on Linux. I Googled "Obsidian cursor windows"...Boom! Now I have them on both systems. So, try that...you might get the ones you want in a matter of no time.

Hope this helps.

Thank you for that wonderful reply MMTMM !!!
I have a rather large collection of .ICO & .ANI files - but my favorites are soooo generic that it may seem silly.

Tried to attach the 2 I like BEST=> nothing shows of them in the preview, and I get error messages - 1st .ANI files are not allowed, and when I renamed them to .GIF it says:

Code:

It was not possible to determine the dimensions of the image.

(Tried Imageshack & that failed too.)
Couldn't do an upload or attachment by any trick that I know of, sorry !!!

I did search a bit but found nothing very close to the ones I like best...seems they are too generic (?).
Any further suggestion as to how I may pin those down a bit ???
Thanks.

Just to clarify, I am not any official rep for ZorinOS. I am not getting paid. I just come to this site out of my good heart and will, and try to assist, if possible, with various problems/queries/questions raised by members.
As I made very very clear, I have not tried what I suggested and this is exactly why I used the word "maybe".
I have seen that your question has not been replied to your satisfaction, so I just proposed 1-2 things that you could try and give solution to your query.

And in return I got called a "parrot", ironically an "official rep of Zorin", I say things that just "occupy space" and that I just want to look like a "hero".

Thank you for all the above. I really hope that the rest of the members do not feel the same.

I use size & colours for emphasis - and I very well know that =>all caps<= is considered as 'shouting'.

I did not employ all caps, foul language or any form of abuse in the posting you have so soundly scolded me for (or did I ?!?!)((If I did, in your opinion, I would appreciate knowing how that was, please ???)).
My submissions are very, very carefully read over and tweaked several times before they satisfy my own 'inner critic'.
I offer neither harm nor offense by deliberate intention - but I do speak openly & honestly as I see no point in hiding or lying about things which I feel should be shared.

As such:
Seems to me that s/w & OS folks everyplace these days are forgetting that it is the users (not shouting here, see)((I despise shouting, BTW)) who drive their success when & if it ever occurs at all.

Here is a seemingly unrelated tidbit for you (I'll show how it relates afterwards):
People often ask others=> "Do you believe in God ?'
Consider, please, if you will - the inverted logic implied therein; if their God is all-powerful and all-encompassing - then what does it care if or if-not anyone 'believes' in it ?!?!?
Now reverse that if you please...what happens if/when this all-powerful God quits 'believing' in the tiny & limited life-form previously mentioned ?
-POOF-; vanishment - all gone.

How does that relate, you ask now ?

In the s/w 'world', those who make the stuff are often very small groups, or singular individuals only.
Should their s/w become popular it is only if/when many, many, many folks find it so wonderful that they are willing to not only pay for it - but to heartily recommend it to others, and so on...
This is a huge accomplishment and does not stem from the excellence of the s/w alone - as evidenced by both Linux & OS/2; both superbly made, sturdy, robust & reliable - and neither has penetrated the space of Mr. Joe TV, who takes his computer as seriously as a baloney sandwich and has little idea of what an 'OS' is, even.

And here I am - a guy poised to tell any & everyone I meet about this GREAT OS called Zorin - and I am told to -shut up- ? (OK, if that's what you really want.)

Seems to me...:
Scolding the likes of me is a waste of time.
And here's 2 great reasons why I say that:
1.
My ability to tell of my experiences openly, clearly & honestly - which I do without hesitation - widely.

2.
As the purveyors of a product which wants $$$, should I find myself persecuted for open & honest self-expression (here or anywhere) I watch patiently to see what pattern fits - and if needed I then become 100 times more vocal, informing others at pertinent locations exactly how I was -shut down- by some 'goderator' someplace or other; and usually this proves quite embarrassing for all concerned including myself.

Given that I care not a single bit about either the embarrassment or any certain outcome, it's all fine with me; I'd rather that events warn me when folks are likely to disdain the very users they need so very much for their product to ever be successful.

Just this past week I've learned it was smartest to simply walk away from not one, but 2 s/w concerns which desperately -need- more users (and their $$$) to remain in existence; a shame really - as they both have great ideas which could be great & successful $-earners -if- the concerns themselves didn't so openly fail to support their users, leaving the 'support' to open forums where extremely heavy-handed, hatefully angry 'goderators' (themselves merely users rather than company-men) rule their little isolated 'kingdoms'.
History shows very clearly that great ideas + terrible execution = almost certain failure.
(And sometimes even the best ideas still mysteriously fail & vanish even when all good care is taken to execute them wisely...)

A point of advice, if I may:
Love your users, Mr. Zorin (and by that I mean much, much more than the 'like' button at that 'facebook' place).
Whether you are successful or not utterly & completely depends upon this.

A simple fact...
It is those who are as brutally honest as myself who are heard the loudest & widest in the cyber-world.

By all means do tell me to 'take a hike' if that is your wish, and I will vanish from your immediate sight; but in so doing I will NOT be silent elsewhere.

Well Wishes and Peace out.

PS:
A bit of extremely personal info in case it matters; this little nobody of a man has crossed the line between life & death several times and even now has to work dilligently every day at healing a deadly illness.
The fear of death is long gone as the result of all that.
Living EACH day as it may be the very last one makes a man very open & honest about expressing himself without fear of reprisals from anyone; and especially from anyone trying to employ intimidation; it is nearly impossible to intimidate a man who holds no fear for death itself.

Hello Mr. Madvinegar.
What I meant by what I said earlier was that Wolfman had already said what you then repeated after I'd already re-stated my query in response to his posting.

I very much appreciate that you are trying to be helpful and that you do so in the currency of goodness alone.
I also apologize, publicly and without hesitation, to you, as it seems my response caused you undue worry;
For that I am sorry.

Please understand the following:
=>Before I ask a question at any forum at all, I have already spent some considerable time searching for the answer to that question, and sometimes I even hesitate and search for hours across several different days using different means of searching.
It is after that effort on my part that I post a request for assistance.

Yes - sometimes in my desire for fitting info I miss things or even totally misunderstand answers that may actually work for what I ask; I am a living, breathing man and as such I make mistakes - which I also try to correct to the best of my abilities.

Given all of the above - my question to you is this:
Can you see at all how another man may have been quite uncomfortable upon arriving here in hopes of a usable answer - only to find the previous info (which was un-useful) repeated ???

Thanks for your efforts, and Best Wishes.

My quest remains unfulfilled and the question remains; so here I will repeat it in case anyone arrives here to read what this is about:

Animated cursors (mouse-pointers) are very well-loved by ween-doze users.
Some (like myself...) have favourite ANI files, which their former OS used easily.

My question is:
Is there a simple/easy way to (bulk ?) convert .ANI files to a format which ZorinOS may easily make use of ?

Thanks for any help.

Looks like a no-go, after all this time with no further replies forthcoming.
I guess I must conclude that converting win-doze .ANI files to something Linux can use is a dead idea then.

Thanks.

Hi Swarfendor and Thanks.
I did try Real World Cursor Editor and found no way to make animated cursors for Linux in it.

My desire is to use a couple of my favorites from XP that have no equals for Linux - so I'd like to convert them somehow and keep using them...

Hello Swarfendor437 and thanks.
Nope - no need to, because:

Did you try installing the apps for creating .ani's in WINE? i have been scouring the web to see what is out there but at a bit of a loss - would sure like to know how 'Thee Mahn' made those animated cursors for UE as they have been around for years!

I have quite a few .ANI files already - but there seems to be no way to USE those - and that has been the backbone of my questions from the start=> how to USE or convert those that I already have ?!?

Thanks.

Hi,

I don't do it myself but this might be of interest to you:

http://www.gimpchat.com/viewtopic.php?f=23&t=2201

Regards Wolfman

Thanks Wolfman.
That info was very, very helpful and I am very grateful that you shared it !!!

So now I've got cursor files, very cool.
The OS seems to have no use for these files as they are, and wants a theme to install.
I wish that article's author had included more info; like what does one do with these cursor files after making them ???

Thanks.

Hi,

no problem, I guess you will have to look around a bit for themes from somewhere, don't forget that the themes that you can install are dependent on which DE you are using, Gnome/KDE themes have different requirements!!.

Regards Wolfman

Hi Wolfman and thanks.
I found a couple of themes and that's no problem - but how does one go from having a couple of naked *.XMC files to somehow putting them into a theme ???

Hi,

I am not sure, I think they need conversion, can you use GIMP for that; I don't know as I have no idea how to do it!!.

Here is something for you to look at:

http://gimpstuff.org/content/show.php/X ... tent=94503

I only found something for mouse cursors though, sorry.

Regards Wolfman