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Recently there have been comments about getting more people across to Linux. I think that is a great idea. However some help and hand-holding will be needed I suggest. Late October I installed kubuntu Edgy. I am not new to Linux at all, but I needed to make quite a few changes to get it to work for me. Here are some first thoughts about it. ********************************************* Setting up Kubuntu Edgy. There has been some chat recently about getting Windows users to migrate to Linux with particular reference to Kubuntu. I have used Linux for years I installed Edgy the day that it came out and I have been pleased so far. It might be interesting to look at the changes and tweaks that I have made so far. My point is that as it installed, out of the box so to speak, it was not yet ready for me. It worked, of course, but I had to do quite a bit of customisation before I was happy with it. What will people new to Linux think I wonder. *** Please note that these are not criticisms, merely some thoughts and comments re possible problems for people new to Linux *** First of all I made the Num Lock turn on at log on. The default to have it off seems odd to me. I could not see any files in the root folder so, with help from the group, I sorted that out. I had some problems with my browsers (Firefox and Galeon) Again with help I traced this to having IPv6 enabled. With help from the group I disabled it and all is now well. New users could find this rather obscure and difficult to sort out. I had to add extra repositories before I could see a complete list of available files. I had a floppy drive in my new computer (I know, but it was there) and it took a while and quite a lot of help from the group to get it working. Adding new files using Adept seemed fine, but I had to learn to deal with packages that needed me to answer some questions along the way. At first I thought it had died on me. My printer was found OK, but I couldn't get any utilities to work with it (eg checking ink quantity) at first. Eventually I installed escputil and all is now well. There were no icons on the desktop at all. OK, some people like to work that way. I suggest that those new to Linux will want and expect to find some icons already there. I have added a few for myself (26 in fact). They were fairly easy to set up except for Home. I had to be pointed in the right place for that one. I like using a terminal screen. I had to add the necessary icon in Konqueror so that I can call it up from any folder. And yes, I do often use alt-F2. I couldn't get any sounds at first. Luckily I knew about Kmix. I found that everything was switched off. Seems strange. Anyway, I got it sorted out but a newcomer to Linux is going to be baffled I suggest. ********************************************************** As I said just some first thoughts. I have a friend who is showing some interest. He will need quite a lot of help and hand-holding I think. Any comments anyone? Neil Winchurst -- The Mailing List for the Devon & Cornwall LUG http://mailman.dclug.org.uk/listinfo/list FAQ: http://www.dcglug.org.uk/linux_adm/list-faq.html