HELP WINDOWS XP

[Doug Pollard]

Chris Jeffries wrote:
> I made a suggestion, and I started some work on it. A startup guide for
> people trying out Ubuntu and thinking about moving over to it from
> Windows. It is still a very immature document, but in the spirit of
> community, I have put it on line at
> http://www.candm.org.uk/UbuntuStartup.html#
>
> In response to the interesting and informative comments here - thanks
> everyone, I want to quote Richard Feynmann, a well known physicist who
> worked, on the Manhattan Project. They took delivery of one of the early
> computers to help them do the complex math. They put the computer
> together, they studied it, they explored what it could do, and, he says 
>
>    'after two months, I realised that we were working on the computer 
>        - instead of working on the problem.'
>
> I suspect many of us are like those early pioneers. The computer
> fascinates us. We want to add new bits to it, we want to study how it
> works and we want to work on the computer rather than the problem. 
>
> Most of the population is not like us. They don't work on the computer,
> they work on research, or a letter, or a budget, or listen to music or
> watch a film. The fact they use a computer to do it is incidental. As
> far as possible, the computer should be invisible to them. It is only a
> tool.
>
> And in reply to those who say an approachable system should just be a
> starting point, I would just say --- I drive a car. I don't take it
> apart every weekend and enjoy examining the engine, and however long I
> own and drive it, I am never going to want to. 
>
>
>
>   
    I laughed out loud when I read your post. You must know me as you 
were talking about me. I do some video and rent them out to yacht clubs 
for viewing. Really really small time! I am an amateur but apparently 
have a knack  for doing this.  I have to keep reminding myself that I 
need to use the computers as a tool only. I keep getting the cart before 
the horse. 
    Speaking for myself I did not find installing Ubuntu a challenge at 
all as there was no need to use the terminal. When I run into a problem  
and get online help  and try to put the commands into terminal  It 
always  fails. I think i am likely trying to put the command in the 
wrong place. I usually get something like no such command found, some 
time I get the prompt again. I finally dawned on me that maybe the 
command had been carried out but there was no indication of that.  I 
have yet to fix the first problem.  I keep thinking if I ever do have a 
success it may be like a floodgate opening.    To me the terminal is 
like a black hole.  I was half the night reading the Ubuntu book.   Most 
of the problem is I think is at my age reading retention has become very 
poor and that is not Ubuntu's fault!
    Ubuntu or at least some of the on line blogs has a way of saying 
everything can be done without using the terminal.  I don't think this 
is so.
    I think 99 percent of those that fail to stay with Linux is do to 
trying to use the terminal to fix a problem or make a change. 
    I think for the most part installation is not the problem. Now I 
will go read your tutorial.                                             
   Doug