Thanks to all - but Ubuntu is for geeks

[Scott]

Terry North wrote:
> James Gray <james <at> grayonline.id.au> writes:
>> 
>> Is this on the console or in X?  If it's in X you may need to double check   >
> the monitor sync ranges and/or add a mode line to /etc/X11/xorg.conf.  ...
> 
> I have to say that all sounds so Dark Ages.  I've got a standard monitor which
> gives no problem even to the Redmond company, which is even able to provide a
> GUI device to alter the settings.

Perhaps then the  Redmond company will better meet your needs.........
> 
>> > 5. Only KDE and what about other utilities?
>> 
>> Exactly how much space do think is available on one CD? :P  
> 
> That's sort of my point.  I would have paid several times over for an
> alternative to my present Linux system.  I can handle multi-disk installations.
>  I suspect most people can.

Oh so aren't new to Linux then?   Ubuntu is a 1-CD distro.  That was 
decided from day one. Frankly, I like it that way.  What's the use of 
installing 4-CDs worth of software only to have to update/upgrade half 
of them right off the bat.  Frankly, I've found the Ubuntu way faster. 
And the archive has virtually everything that's in Debian's archives. 
The last time I looked I had over 17K packages listed in Synaptic.
> 
>> > While I'm at it, what would be wrong with a tool such as System Settings
>> > opening in its own window instead of in Konqueror?
>> 
>> ALT+F2, type "kcontrol", hit "Run".  This should be in the K-menu under 
>> Preferences -> Control Center too. 
> 
> Thanks, that's gone into my notes.  Konqueror, of course, applies the same
> settings to every tab and every folder.  I set it to list mode rather than icons
> and it looked bizarre having a system settings tool as a tab in my file browser.

That's KDE, not K/Ubuntu.  Settings has been available in via Konqueror 
for a while now (going back at least the past 3 releases from my 
experience).
>  
>> Single-click execution is the default behaviour in KDE and has been as long as
> I can remember.
> 
> Not on the system I've been using.  Right-click to select?

Very odd.  I remember KDE having single-click by default when I first 
used it on Mandrake in 1998.  That's never changed.
> 
>> If you don't like it, you can revert to "double-click to 
>> execute, single-click to select" type behaviour:
>> 1. Open "kcontrol" (see above)
>> 2. Expand the "Peripherals" branch and select "Mouse".
>> 3. Select the "General" tab and voila!  Edit to your preferred behaviour :)
> 
> I was hoping there was a fix somewhere some time.
> 
>> > 7. Administrator's tasks made harder.
>> > A. I opened an administrative window from System Settings, ...
>> Try opening it in kcontrol instead.
> 
> Right, why expect it to work in the first place you find it.

KDE likes redundancy. ;-)  kcontrol, settings:/ and most recently, 
KMenu-->System Settings all get you to the same places.

> 
> Right.  Since I was missing sudo and was dubious about opening an editor from
> the console anyway, I thought of taking the other route.

I run editors from the console all the time.  For some reason (I forget 
why). If you're running a KDE app via sudo from the console it's better 
to use "kdesu" instead of "sudo".

>>
> 
> Finally, I've seen comments here about Ubuntu being for the ordinary user.  It
> isn't.  It's for geeks. 

I agree, but I'll qualify that by saying that it's still one of the 
easier distros out there.  Also virtually *all* Linux distros are for 
"geeks" (of varying degrees of geekdom). I can think of maybe 2 or 3 
distros that are very user friendly.  Off the top of my head though, the 
only one that comes to mind is Linspire (which I'd still recommend only 
as a last resort).

 > And, after this frustrating start, it'll have to wait
> until I have oodles of time to deal with it without aids that typically simplify
> the process elsewhere.  The resolution thing troubles me because I found during
> installation that I could not alter certain settings although invited to do so
> and, as I say, even Redmond gets that right.

I don't mind saying it, so I will.  Microsoft gets quite a bit right, 
actually.  It took them forever to get there, but Windows XP is a solid 
OS that basically just "works".  It's not perfect, Internet Explorer is 
Security nightmare (but you don't have to use it).  But it's great for 
Multimedia and (in my experience) almost never crashes (unlike it's 
predecessors).

But, it's not as customizable and tweakable (if that's a word) as Linux. 
  I just find Linux more fun (geek that I am).  And it's open source and 
free (as in "free beer").  So therefore, here I am....

> 
> The other point, of course, is that, as we all know, things do not always unfold
> as instructions indicate they should.  Manuals etc can be written in fairly
> cryptic terms and it is not always clear what's meant.  I did not expect to have
> to build a system from such meagre beginnings.  I wanted something I could use
> at least as an alternative but, hopefully, in preference to what I've already
> got.  (I was attracted to the dynamism of the Ubuntu updating process.)  That
> might yet be possible but it will have to wait until I've got a lot more time
> than I expected to need.

K/Ubuntu is the 7th Linux distro I've tried over the years.  That 
experience combined with lots of online research and several good books 
on Linux made it not overly difficult to learn.

-- 
Scott
www.angrykeyboarder.com
© 2005 angrykeyboarder™ & Elmer Fudd. All Wights Wesewved