[xubuntu-users] Filesharing on a network

[Roger Stevens]

Greetings All,
I am Roger and my coding status is Dummy.Inhave installed Xubuntu 18.04 or 20.04 on various machines and have been verypleased with it. Like anything new, it takes time to get used to itand arrange things in the way in the way you want. Xubuntu it is a comprehensive package and a great achievement. It provides all I need in a stand-alone PC.However, the documentation provided for filesharing with other PCs on a network is (for a dummy) very weak. The WindowsPCs on my WiFi network can see each other, and I regularly filesharebetween them. Alas, the Xubuntu PCs are invisible on the network toWindows PCs and other Xubuntu PCs. The wrinkle here is that theslitheris app on Windows can find everything on the network,including the Xubuntu PCs, the router, the Talktalk TV box, thesignal booster and, sometimes, my iPhone. (It is necessary to usethis app every time you are attempting a new connection, as the ipaddresses are volatile.)Considering the documentation provided in the Xubuntu instructions for Gigolo, the recommended app for filesharing -
Toconnect to various types of servers, you can use → System →Gigolo. Toconnect to a server, follow the steps below:OK,so it seems that Gigolo is needed – it is a default app, so is iseasy enough to find and open. Goto Actions → Connect >> OK Selectthe appropriate Service type  >> No guidance, so justblunder about with them all. Eventually, you find Windows Sharemoves you on a bit. andinsert connection information >> This is where the problems start:Server>> Something to do with the router perhaps? No, it turns out tobe the ip addressof the PC you are trying to connect to.Share>> Turns out to be the name of the folder you are trying to getto. (I just love the flipdown arrow next to it – as if somethingmight appear there!) Domain>> Can be left blank – hooray!UserName >> Whose user name is this? The user who is addressingthis interface, or a user who owns the stuff on the other PC? Doesthis second user need to be an administrator? ClickConnect; if you are attempting to connect to a server that requiresyou to log in, you will be prompted to enter a password. >>If you get as far as the password interface, it will not accept anyof the system or user passwords, and all the stuff you havelaboriously input will vanish.Therehave been occasions when I have been able to see the files on one ofthe Windows 10 PCs. None of this works nowwhile Windows 10 is having a nervous breakdown (all the folders are stuck on read-only), so it is not worth trying again. Pity there are no instructions for connecting to another Xubuntu PC.Blundering about on the net provides nothing that works, but the word 'Samba' keeps cropping up. Sambadoes not appear in the 20.04 software list. Instead, you are offeredSmb4K. Doesthis replace Samba? Does this include Samba? Is Samba pre-installedwith Xubuntu? Theanswer is out there somewhere ….IfSamba has been replaced by Smb4K, the fact the this new App only gets 2 stars out of 5 is not encouraging. As a  'Dummy' user, it gets less that that. When you open this app, the'Mounted Shares' interface is blank and the 'Scan' and 'Search'functions reveal nothing. So apparently, you need to 'Mount' a'Share'. Here, the instructions are even more opaque. Am I supposedto the 'Mounting a PC, a directory, a folder, or an individual file?Dunno. And do I have to do anything to the target before I start? Andwhat, exactly, is meant by location? The Smb4K Handbook is prettyuseless, in that it simply assumes that it all works straight off.Fornetwork discovery, I have tried 'Nutty' and 'nmap', both of which arein the software library. 'Nutty' would not work, so I removed it andtried it via Terminal Emulator, I received a message to say it wasdangerous, so I aborted that. Nmap launched, but disappeared in aflash. Alas,as currently supported, Xubuntu is only for CodeDudes (no offence intended).I shall have to abandon Xubuntu for three reasons  -
   
   - There is no mention of the miriad of operations CodeDudes perform at the Terminal Emulator after a clean load.
   - The documentation is so weak (When terms like 'Server', 'Address', 'Domain', 'Service Type', 'Location', etc are used, it should tell users what the words mean and how to discover what the corresponding input should be in the context of their own PCs and their environment. 
   - The 32-bit versions are being discontinued, so I will have to trash my 2008 Acer Aspire, which worked so brilliantly on 18.04
I think the reasons for this failing with is that Xubuntu offers no feedback channel for users, so the same old problems keep cropping up. CodeDudes waltz round these problems, hardly noticing what they are doing, 

No offence is intended to any one
Rogerandout




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