It turns out that this was the most correct with the exception that befor you make your post you must go to Users then Your Profile and make sure “Use the visual rich editor when writing”
is unselected instead of

…
you are going to want to have

…

#This
#is an example
#of what your source code will look like
x = True
if x:
    print 'hello world'

An so without further ado here is the code (all GPL). Hope this helps someone in the future. You can download the code here, or view it below.

VirtualTerminal.py (This code could be used in your program)

#!/usr/bin/env python
#
#      VirtualTerminal.py
#
#      Copyright 2007 Edward Andrew Robinson <earobinson@gmail>
#
#      This program is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify
#      it under the terms of the GNU General Public License as published by
#      the Free Software Foundation; either version 2 of the License, or
#      (at your option) any later version.
#
#      This program is distributed in the hope that it will be useful,
#      but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of
#      MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.  See the
#      GNU General Public License for more details.
#
#      You should have received a copy of the GNU General Public License
#      along with this program; if not, write to the Free Software
#      Foundation, Inc., 51 Franklin Street, Fifth Floor, Boston, MA 02110-1301, USA.
#

# Imports
import os
import vte
import gtk
import time

class VirtualTerminal(vte.Terminal):
    def __init__(self, log_file = None, history_length = 5, prompt_watch = {}, prompt_auto_reply = True, icon = None):
        # Set up terminal
        vte.Terminal.__init__(self)

        self.history = []
        self.history_length = history_length
        self.icon = icon
        self.last_row_logged = 0
        self.log_file = log_file
        self.prompt_auto_reply = prompt_auto_reply
        self.prompt_watch = prompt_watch

        self.connect('eof', self.run_command_done_callback)
        self.connect('child-exited', self.run_command_done_callback)
        self.connect('cursor-moved', self.contents_changed_callback)

        if False:
            self.connect('char-size-changed', self.activate_action, 'char-size-changed')
            #self.connect('child-exited', self.activate_action, 'child-exited')
            self.connect('commit', self.activate_action, 'commit')
            self.connect('contents-changed', self.activate_action, 'contents-changed')
            #self.connect('cursor-moved', self.activate_action, 'cursor-moved')
            self.connect('decrease-font-size', self.activate_action, 'decrease-font-size')
            self.connect('deiconify-window', self.activate_action, 'deiconify-window')
            self.connect('emulation-changed', self.activate_action, 'emulation-changed')
            self.connect('encoding-changed', self.activate_action, 'encoding-changed')
            #self.connect('eof', self.activate_action, 'eof')
            self.connect('icon-title-changed', self.activate_action, 'icon-title-changed')
            self.connect('iconify-window', self.activate_action, 'iconify-window')
            self.connect('increase-font-size', self.activate_action, 'increase-font-size')
            self.connect('lower-window', self.activate_action, 'lower-window')
            self.connect('maximize-window', self.activate_action, 'maximize-window')
            self.connect('move-window', self.activate_action, 'move-window')
            self.connect('raise-window', self.activate_action, 'raise-window')
            self.connect('refresh-window', self.activate_action, 'refresh-window')
            self.connect('resize-window', self.activate_action, 'resize-window')
            self.connect('restore-window', self.activate_action, 'restore-window')
            self.connect('selection-changed', self.activate_action, 'selection-changed')
            self.connect('status-line-changed', self.activate_action, 'status-line-changed')
            self.connect('text-deleted', self.activate_action, 'text-deleted')
            self.connect('text-inserted', self.activate_action, 'text-inserted')
            self.connect('text-modified', self.activate_action, 'text-modified')
            self.connect('text-scrolled', self.activate_action, 'text-scrolled')
            self.connect('window-title-changed', self.activate_action, 'window-title-changed')

    def activate_action(self, action, string):
        print 'Action ' + action.get_name() + ' activated ' + str(string)

    def capture_text(self,text,text2,text3,text4):
        return True

    def contents_changed_callback(self, terminal):
        '''Gets the last line printed to the terminal, it will log
        this line using self.log() (if the logger is on, and it will
        also prompt this line using self.prompt() if the line needs
        prompting'''
        column,row = self.get_cursor_position()
        if self.last_row_logged != row:
            off = row-self.last_row_logged
            text = self.get_text_range(row-off,0,row-1,-1,self.capture_text)
            self.last_row_logged=row
            text = text.strip()

            # Log
            self.log(text)

            # Prompter
            self.prompter()

    def get_last_line(self):
        terminal_text = self.get_text(self.capture_text)
        terminal_text = terminal_text.split('\\\\n')
        ii = len(terminal_text) - 1
        while terminal_text[ii] == '':
            ii = ii - 1
        terminal_text = terminal_text[ii]

        return terminal_text

    def log(self, text):
        '''if self.log_file is not None the the line will be logged to
        self.log_file. This function also stors the info in self.histoy
        if self.history_lenght > 0'''
        if self.log_file != None:
            date_string = time.strftime('[%d %b %Y %H:%M:%S] ', time.localtime())
            file = open(self.log_file, 'a')
            file.write(date_string + text + '\\\\n')
            file.close

        # Append to internal history
        if self.history_length != 0:
            if len(self.history) >= self.history_length:
                self.history.pop(0)
            self.history.append(text)

    def prompter(self):
        last_line = self.get_last_line()
        if last_line in self.prompt_watch:
            if self.prompt_auto_reply == False:
                message = ''
                for ii in self.prompt_watch[last_line]:
                    message = message + self.history[self.history_length - 1 - ii]
                if self.yes_no_question(message):
                    self.feed_child('Yes\\\\n')
                    # TODO not sure why this is needed twice
                    self.feed_child('Yes\\\\n')
                else:
                    self.feed_child('No\\\\n')
            else:
                self.feed_child('Yes\\\\n')

    def run_command(self, command_string):
        '''run_command runs the command_string in the terminal. This
        function will only return when self.thred_running is set to
        True, this is done by run_command_done_callback'''
        self.thread_running = True
        spaces = ''
        for ii in range(80 - len(command_string) - 2):
            spaces = spaces + ' '
        self.feed('$ ' + str(command_string) + spaces)
        self.log('$ ' + str(command_string) + spaces)

        command = command_string.split(' ')
        pid =  self.fork_command(command=command[0], argv=command, directory=os.getcwd())

        while self.thread_running:
            #time.sleep(.01)
            gtk.main_iteration()

    def run_command_done_callback(self, terminal):
        '''When called this function sets the thread as done allowing
        the run_command function to exit'''
        #print 'child done'
        self.thread_running = False

    def yes_no_question(self, message):
        message = message.replace('\\\\n\\\\n', '[NEWLINE][NEWLINE]').replace('\\\\n', '').replace('[NEWLINE]', '\\\\n')

        if message.find('?') == -1:
            message = message + '\\\\n\\\\nDo you want to continue?'

        type=gtk.MESSAGE_QUESTION
        if message.lower().find('warning') != -1:
            type=gtk.MESSAGE_WARNING

        dialog = gtk.MessageDialog(parent=None, flags=0, type=type, buttons=gtk.BUTTONS_YES_NO, message_format=message)
        dialog.set_icon(self.icon)
        dialog.show_all()
        responce = dialog.run()
        dialog.destroy()

        # Responce == yes
        return responce == -8

TestVirtualTerminal.py Used to actually make the GUIs, this is the program you should run.

#!/usr/bin/env python
#
#      TestVirtualTerminal.py
#
#      Copyright 2007 Edward Andrew Robinson <earobinson@gmail>
#
#      This program is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify
#      it under the terms of the GNU General Public License as published by
#      the Free Software Foundation; either version 2 of the License, or
#      (at your option) any later version.
#
#      This program is distributed in the hope that it will be useful,
#      but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of
#      MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.  See the
#      GNU General Public License for more details.
#
#      You should have received a copy of the GNU General Public License
#      along with this program; if not, write to the Free Software
#      Foundation, Inc., 51 Franklin Street, Fifth Floor, Boston, MA 02110-1301, USA.
#

import gtk

from VirtualTerminal import VirtualTerminal

class mainWindow(gtk.Window):
    def __init__(self):
        gtk.Window.__init__(self)
        self.connect('destroy', lambda w: gtk.main_quit())
        self.set_default_size(400, 400)

        self.button = gtk.Button('press me')
        self.button.connect("clicked", self.pressed_callback)

        self.command_entry = gtk.Entry()
        self.command_entry.set_text('python count.py')
        #self.command_entry.set_text('sudo aptitude install gaim-encryption')

        vbox = gtk.VBox()

        self.r = 0

        self.add(vbox)

        vbox.pack_start(self.command_entry, False)
        vbox.pack_start(self.button, True)

        self.myTerminal = terminal()

        self.show_all()

        gtk.main()

    def pressed_callback(self, button):
        print 'presed'
        column,row = self.myTerminal.terminal.get_cursor_position()
        if self.r != row:
            off = row-self.r
            text = self.myTerminal.terminal.get_text_range(row-off,0,row-1,-1,self.capture_text)
            self.r=row
            text = text.strip()
            print text
        self.button.set_sensitive(False)
        self.myTerminal.terminal.run_command(self.command_entry.get_text())
        self.button.set_sensitive(True)
        print 'done'

    def capture_text(self,text,text2,text3,text4):
        return True

class terminal(gtk.Window):
    def __init__(self):
        gtk.Window.__init__(self)
        #self.set_title(self.settings.application_name)
        self.connect('destroy', lambda w: gtk.main_quit())

        self.terminal = VirtualTerminal()

        #self.child_pid = self.terminal.fork_command()

        self.add(self.terminal)
        self.show_all()

mainWindow()

count.py A little test program but you can run any command you want

#!/usr/bin/python

import time

print '0'

for ii in range (10):
    time.sleep(1)
    print ii + 1

A special thanks to Alberto Milone for all the help he provided me with for this.

Mixed feelings indeed.

I have spent a bit of my summer cleaning up that python program and the result is propensity (I looked for synonyms for aptitude) and now I figure its almost ready to be released into the public. I have uploaded both a deb file and the source to my website, and would love some feedback.

Some features that I would like to add before I release it are:

• I would like propensity to generate a standalone shell script that could be used to standalone install the package
• Icon
• Splash screen
• Ability to add your own programs and save them (so you can load them from a file at a later date) Thanks Ed
• Documentation

To sum up you can get the deb file here, and the source here. Thanks for any feedback you have.

Update 01: I made a post to the ubuntu forums and posted a screenshot
Update 02: I have been dugg.
Update 03: Propensity has only been tested on feisty.

The other day a friend of mines computer laptop had stopped booting, during the boot it would get the blue screen of death. She had all ready called IBM, she got her laptop before Lenovo bought the thinkpad name, who said the hard drive was most likely dead. Seeing as she had lost all her data I first scolded her for not creating proper backups, and then told her that if she brought her computer to me I would give it a shot at fixing it.

Popping a Ubuntu live cd into her computer and then plugging in an IPod we where able to recover most of the data on her computer. To me it seemed second nature to be able to run an operating system off a live cd in order to recover data, but to her it seemed foreign since windows would not boot she had assumed all was lost.

Is this really still the case for windows, what do you do if windows wont boot (and yes safe mode and the “IBM recovery button” would not boot)?

Disclamer: This is not a windows bash but is there no way to yank your data off the computer if it wont boot other than taking out the hard drive?

Long live Miro!

What great programs have you found using synaptic?