Newbie

[Karl J=?ISO-8859-1?B?5A==?=rnhammer]

On 2006-07-09 11.52 Ouattara Aziz wrote:

>> My conclusions are that Ubuntu, at least, is not for Newbies
> 
> I agree with you on that point, Ubuntu isn't, at least for now, for
> newbies or one who doesn't want to learn. But I think the community is
> working on improving the easy handling of Ubuntu. And for it, I think
> the community needs user like you, who will propose projects to improve it.
> As for your problem, I would have help you if I could but just like you
> I find Ubuntu network configuration tools very incomplete ( I mean it's
> cool that sometimes it runs "out of the box" but the time you get a
> little problem, take vim, and edit your configuration. That can really
> scare newbies).

I don't think I am particularly naive. My first computer was a Mac back in
1984 and I stuck with them until last year which explains my lack of
computer savvy. The reason I emigrated to a PC was that Mac had moved on
again with their OS system to OSX and my G3 was considered inappropriate to
upgrade, at the same time ADSL became available in my area but only for a PC
they said (I know better now)! I was offered a cheapish PC which my daughter
said was OK and so I went with that, an XP proffs version. I had quite a few
months of grief with all manner of malware invasions and crashes but
eventually got things sorted to the extent that it became a useful tool
again. But, 99% of the work (and fun) I have on it are based on Firefox,
Thunderbird, Open Office and a few other programs that are not dependant on
the Windows platform. I have always 'loved' the Linux idea but when that
opportunity became available I considered myself to be too busy to get
involved and hey - I had a Mac!

Then someone suggested Ubuntu as a 'free' alternative. And so I downloaded a
Live CD and I burned an Installation CD to check it out. Then XP crashed
again (not such a big deal as I have learnt from experience and have recent
back ups - my Mac goes back to 84 though and is still intact, that says
quite a lot I think) and so I saw an opportunity to switch over and you know
the rest....
 
> So, Karl do you have any proposition about how to improve this side of
> Ubuntu ? I think it would be really interesting to have it.

I am not really sure that my suggestions can be valid as I failed so
dismally that I have no idea at all why I couldn't get started. But, when I
was downloading Ubuntu I was definitely under the impression that it was
indeed 'plug and play' (downloading from ubuntu.se - I think). Right there
it should have said 'Newbies - read this before proceeding' and directed new
recruits or the curious to the sites I have now been given (too late I am
afraid) by Peter Garrett of this list (thank you Peter), namely:

https://help.ubuntu.com/community/Installation
https://help.ubuntu.com/community/WindowsDualBoot
https://help.ubuntu.com/community/MigratingFromWindows
https://help.ubuntu.com/community/SwitchingFromWindows

Had I started there instead I would have hopefully avoided much grief. I
didn't even look for these as I really thought it was ready to go. Another
thing I would like to mention is that in spite of all manner of installation
wizards even these are sometimes difficult to understand for the uninitiated
as they often use 'jargon' and terms which do not necessarily translate
easily and logically into the users language. Even a little thing like a
roll down menu which include POP but does not mention POP3 whilst at the
same time offering a multitude of unheard of alternatives - got me worried
for a start. I mean if POP3 is the same as POP why call it 3? And if it's
not the same why isn't it on the list? And if I select POP having been told
I have a POP3 account and nothing else - will it work or should I give up
right there? I remember my daughter was installing DC++ for me and I asked
her why she was doing what ' I don't know' she replied!'  'So how do you
know what to do?' I asked. 'My friend Linda has it set up like
this..........' Oh well.......

Raldz mentioned that his 3 yr old son enjoys Edubuntu,  well, I bet he
didn't install it himself ;-) But I am of an age now when I have difficulty
in remembering how to program my steam powered video recorder for goodness
sake - and I don't have very high hopes that things will improve on that
front either as time goes by :-(

What I would really like to be able to do is:

Press a button that backs up everything and saves it somewhere.
Press another button that erases everything.
Bung in a CD which installs an OS of my choice and retrieves anything from
my back up that is not on the new OS, opens itself and confirms that
everything is OK and 'have a nice day'...........

It should do this of course in the time it takes to drink a cup of coffee
and it should be free in the context 'no money involved'  - now, is that too
much to ask?

Best wishes
KJ

PS. I will be baaaak :-)