<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.0 Transitional//EN"> <HTML><HEAD> <META http-equiv=Content-Type content="text/html; charset=iso-8859-1"> <META content="MSHTML 6.00.2900.3199" name=GENERATOR> <STYLE></STYLE> </HEAD> <BODY bgColor=#ffffff> <DIV><FONT face="Comic Sans MS" color=#0000ff></FONT> </DIV> <DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial">----- Original Message ----- <DIV style="BACKGROUND: #e4e4e4; font-color: black"><B>From:</B> <A title=dwas1@bigpond.net.au href="mailto:dwas1@bigpond.net.au">The Wassermans</A> </DIV> <DIV><B>To:</B> <A title=daniel.mons@iinet.net.au href="mailto:daniel.mons@iinet.net.au">Daniel Mons</A> </DIV> <DIV><B>Sent:</B> Tuesday, November 20, 2007 8:04 AM</DIV> <DIV><B>Subject:</B> Re: Where to from here??</DIV></DIV> <DIV><BR></DIV> <DIV><FONT face="Comic Sans MS" color=#0000ff>Thank you Daniel for your fulsome and soothing advice.</FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT face="Comic Sans MS" color=#0000ff></FONT> </DIV> <DIV><FONT face="Comic Sans MS" color=#0000ff>Thank you also all the other respondents to my plea for help.  This is a wonderful community.</FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT face="Comic Sans MS" color=#0000ff></FONT> </DIV> <DIV><FONT face="Comic Sans MS" color=#0000ff>The printer concerned is a Lexmark X1195.  I installed it and Ubuntu correctly identified the machine and found the driver.  After next . . next  process it told me that the printer is installed and ready.  But it won't print the test page!</FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT face="Comic Sans MS" color=#0000ff></FONT> </DIV> <DIV><FONT face="Comic Sans MS" color=#0000ff>Somewhere within the website I read that USB hardware may need special installation treatment?  I have since noticed that my USB speakers are not working.  Although the system see's my memory stick without a problem.  Maybe I am just spoilt by "plug and play"?</FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT face="Comic Sans MS" color=#0000ff></FONT> </DIV> <DIV><FONT face="Comic Sans MS" color=#0000ff>I'll try WINE.  (I like red!)</FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT face="Comic Sans MS" color=#0000ff>I am also going to have a look at a couple of FLOSS financial applications to see if I can find something suitable.</FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT face="Comic Sans MS" color=#0000ff>I'll stick to the vanilla Ubuntu as suggested - at least until I better understand its mentality.</FONT></DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV><FONT face="Comic Sans MS" color=#0000ff>Dave W</FONT></DIV> <BLOCKQUOTE style="PADDING-RIGHT: 0px; PADDING-LEFT: 5px; MARGIN-LEFT: 5px; BORDER-LEFT: #0000ff 2px solid; MARGIN-RIGHT: 0px"> <DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial">----- Original Message ----- </DIV> <DIV style="BACKGROUND: #e4e4e4; FONT: 10pt arial; font-color: black"><B>From:</B> <A title=daniel.mons@iinet.net.au href="mailto:daniel.mons@iinet.net.au">Daniel Mons</A> </DIV> <DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>To:</B> <A title=ubuntu-au@lists.ubuntu.com href="mailto:ubuntu-au@lists.ubuntu.com">ubuntu-au@lists.ubuntu.com</A> </DIV> <DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>Sent:</B> Monday, November 19, 2007 2:17 PM</DIV> <DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>Subject:</B> Re: Where to from here??</DIV> <DIV><FONT face="Comic Sans MS" color=#0000ff></FONT><FONT face="Comic Sans MS" color=#0000ff></FONT><BR></DIV>The Wassermans wrote:<BR>> I have a spare computer and have decided to give Ubuntu a whirl on the<BR>> basis that I would be prepared to fully convert if Linux can meet my<BR>> home computer requirements.  My objective to simply to achieve similar<BR>> functionality to what I have with Windows.  I realise that there are<BR>> many substitutes for the usual Microsoft products.  But I am concerned,<BR>> for instance, about emulating Quicken which I have been using for some<BR>> years.<BR><BR>Both Quicken and MYOB work well under WINE.  WINE is a collection of<BR>programs and libraries that build a compatibility layer for many windows<BR>programs.  "Simple" programs that don't have heavy graphical or 3D<BR>requirements work the best.  Quicken and MYOB are two that are known for<BR>their reliability under WINE.<BR><BR>While it's preferable to try FLOSS (Free/Libre/Open Source Software)<BR>instead, the reality is you will have to hold onto some legacy<BR>all-windows applications for some time.  WINE is a nice migration path<BR>for such users.<BR><BR>>  <BR>> There is much information provided by Linux for which I am very<BR>> grateful.  But I am still nervous and a bit confused eg: I have just<BR>> loaded ubuntu 7.04 onto a computer.  I then upgraded - (I thought) to<BR>> Ubuntu 7.10.  Now I come across information about "Kubutu" and don't<BR>> know if I should be going for that?<BR><BR>Linux is about freedom.  It's your choice what to use.  That extends to<BR>the desktop.  There are different desktop systems you are free to choose<BR>from. GNOME and KDE are by far the two most popular, but there are<BR>dozens of others.<BR><BR>Ubuntu uses GNOME, Kubuntu uses KDE.  Both are highly configurable, user<BR>friendly, and well supported by the community.  I'm a GNOME man myself,<BR>but KDE is by no means lacking nor would I not recommend it.  I would<BR>perhaps only recommend using Ubuntu and GNOME to start with because the<BR>official Ubuntu docs ( <A href="https://help.ubuntu.com">https://help.ubuntu.com</A> ) will reference the<BR>GNOME way of doing things, which is probably best for new users.<BR><BR>>  <BR>> _Early observations/issues I have encountered:_<BR>>  <BR>> *  I don't like to have to log in with a password.<BR><BR>In these instances I prefer to tell people *WHY* something is designed<BR>in a particular way before I tell them how to disable it.<BR><BR>Linux (UNIX and other POSIX systems too) were designed from the ground<BR>up to be multi-user systems.  Multi-user security is paramount in such<BR>cases, and by default Linux forces all users to have a password.<BR><BR>You can disable the GDM (logon window) password.  Click System -><BR>Administration -> Login Window.  Enter your password (again, for<BR>security).  Choose the "security" tab.  In here you can set auto and<BR>timed logons, and set which user is logged on by default.<BR><BR>All administration-level access in Linux requires a password.  Linux is<BR>designed so that standard desktop users cannot have access to<BR>system-level programs and settings.  Viruses, spyware and malware are<BR>prevalent on operating systems where standard users have system level<BR>access, as they hijack user tasks and use those privileges to write to<BR>core parts of the system.  On POSIX systems these threats are greatly<BR>reduced, as any virus running within the user's running applications<BR>cannot attach themselves to the core system.<BR><BR>New-to-Linux users tend to complain that they are frequently required to<BR>enter their password.  The analogy is this: do you find it tedious to<BR>always have to unlock your front door to get into your house?  Perhaps<BR>it would be easier just to leave your doors unlocked, or even remove the<BR>door all together.  That way coming and going from your house would be<BR>simple!<BR><BR>You can see why this would fail.  Similarly, the internet is not a<BR>friendly place.  Consider your password to be the key to your electronic<BR>house.  Computer security is important for all users, not just we nerds.<BR><BR>> *  The Internet works - great!<BR>> *  I then loaded a USB printer.  Although it appears to have been<BR>> accepted it won't print.<BR><BR>Can you share with us the make and model of that printer?<BR><BR>>  <BR>> I feel a bit silly about asking but until I get a better feel I would<BR>> like some one to one pointers of where to logically go from here. <BR><BR>There are no silly questions if you honestly don't know the answers and<BR>are legitimately seeking help.  There was a time when all of us were new<BR>to Linux, and we too had to learn these things.<BR><BR>>  <BR>> Firstly, which Ubuntu would best suit my needs.  How do I find out???<BR><BR>Again, I would recommend the "vanilla" Ubuntu, simply because the help<BR>documents are written for that.<BR><BR>You can switch to any other desktop easily.  If you don't like<BR>GNOME/Ubuntu, you can switch to KDE/Kubuntu by installing the<BR>"kubuntu-desktop" package from your Add/Remove Software program. It will<BR>load KDE beside GNOME, and you can choose which one you want to use at<BR>logon time.  Again, Linux is about choice.  Forcing users to do one<BR>thing or another is not the philosophy.  Choose whatever you like, run<BR>whatever you like.  It's an inclusive OS, not an exclusive one.  KDE<BR>applications will run find on GNOME, and vice versa, so you are not<BR>limited it you choose one over the other.<BR><BR>Similarly if you have multiple people using your home PC, and they all<BR>like different desktops, there's no reason why you can't load multiple<BR>desktop software and have a different setting for each person.  Once<BR>again, inclusive, not exclusive.<BR><BR>-Dan<BR><BR>-- <BR>ubuntu-au mailing list<BR><A href="mailto:ubuntu-au@lists.ubuntu.com">ubuntu-au@lists.ubuntu.com</A><BR><A href="https://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/ubuntu-au">https://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/ubuntu-au</A></BLOCKQUOTE></BODY></HTML>