Converting a Windows 7 user to Xubuntu 13.10 & Miscellaneous Observations about Xubuntu 13.10

[raleigh rivers]

On perjantai 08 joulukuu 2013, Eero Tamminen wrote:
> You need also same fonts (or at least one with identical font 
> metrics), otherwise documents don't look good. Btw. I've found Impress 
> unbearably slow with powerpoints that work fine in Powerpoint in 
> Windows, no idea why. Personally, I use LaTeX with LyX GUI, but that's 
> too much to ask from people whole accustomed themselves to using Word, 
> as a typewriter (doing formatting with spaces etc). :-) 

I would also recommend Okular for .pdf files. It is lightning-fast, and 
the user interface is intuitive.

There are certain limitations to LibreOffice when it comes to 
interpreting and editing Word documents, but for the casual user, I 
think LibreOffice is good enough. I use the default .odt file format for 
all my documents, and only receive a Word document once in a blue moon. 
Occasionally I have to send someone a document in Word format, but they 
can read it without a problem.

>> Thunar is a powerful file manager, and I like that I can make custom
>> actions. I made a couple of custom actions for my customer last night
>> and feel they should be included in Xubuntu. One is "Edit file as Root,"
>> although I named that one "Edit file with Administrator Privileges" to
>> make a little clearer for a Windows refuge. Another is "Open as Root"
>> ("Open with Administrator Privileges"). One of the frustrating points
>> for a Windows refuge is how to edit, move or copy a file in Linux. These
>> simple custom actions can remove an obstacle for them.
> Why normal user needs to edit move or copy files as superuser?

"Protecting the user from himself" is not as high a priority for me as 
"getting things done in the fastest possible manner." I am willing to 
enter a password from the GUI file manager, but dropping to a terminal 
and entering: "sudo thunar <pathname>" seems like a bridge too far. I 
don't see the downside to granting superuser status from the GUI, once a 
password is entered.

I can see only one reason to deny GUI access to moves and copies. The 
implication is that users must know what they are doing if they know how 
to type in commands using Linux syntax, but that users using the GUI may 
be clueless and may harm their system through ignorance. However, Linux 
syntax is widely available as "copy-pasta" on the Internet, so users can 
get around this obstacle, and they may do additional harm by using 
"copy-pasta" that does something they did not intend. I like letting the 
user do what he wants to do, when and where he wants to do it, with some 
modest safeguards in place like password protection and the bright red 
warning that Thunar puts up: "Warning -- you are root and may harm your 
system". Thunar is such an excellent file manager!