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Re: [LUG] Newcomers to Linux (2)

 

On Wed, 2007-01-10 at 20:24 +0000, George Parker wrote:
> Thanks for all the feedback guys (aren't there any gals out there?)  Lots of
> nuggets to mine and incorporate.  I have given up on Debian (3.1) for the
> time being.  If you have no GUI installer then you have to use a shell.  Too
> many issues for the time being.  I see there is a GUI for APT in Debian 4
> but it will have to wait.
> 
Hi George - I'm "a gal" - well, maybe not a gal anymore but, female,
anyway ! Does this mean I'm the only one ???

> I too have sat on a phone and walked customers through their problems with
> windows and it's apps, and I don't think they are stupid.  With the hesitant
> ones it starts with them being terrified to touch the keyboard in case
> something breaks.  But this soon goes and the questions get sensible.  And
> now there are literally millions of users out there who do know their way
> around Windows.  The difficulty is in persuading them to jump through the
> Linux hoops, no matter how much they dislike the Windows experience and
> ethos.  Too much choice for the simple user probably :-).
> 
> Since starting this thread I installed Kubuntu 6.1 and royally screwed up my
> Mepis setup.  Hey ho, back to the drawing board.  I also notice that that
> the next release of Ubuntu, frig-about fawn or something, will contain many
> more proprietary drivers to ease us beginners lot.  They are, naturally,
> being slated for sullying the purity of GNU Linux dih dah dih dah dih dah..
> I come down on the side of those who follow open source where possible, but
> hey, life's too short to be an angel, that comes next. (So many pubs, so
> little time.)
> 
As a newbie, I have also had a number of issues. 1 tip I have is to set
up a multi boot system and use 1 set up just for testing. I have a
largish hard drive and have 4 partitions. 1 completely empty (for
testing new distros), 1 with Ubuntu 6.10 for testing other things and
one with Kubuntu 6.10 which I use as my main desktop. I have Windows on
a separate drive but, it's on my grub menu (for the few things I still
need it for). Now, if I want to try something out, I do it on the test
partition that I can re-install if it all goes horribly wrong.

> Software I forgot and didn't get a mention is Family History apps.  I am
> trying Gramps, which seems to be the only kid on the block, and quite
> enjoying it.  It has come a long way in a couple of years. Much simpler than
> The Master Genealogist but that may not be a bad thing.  I'm not a
> professional genealogist and you can spend too much time playing with app
> and not the data, and TMG aren't interested in open source.
> 
> And the one big thing that is still stopping me switching off my XP install
> is that I can't get Desktop Sudoku running in Linux.  It's for my wife you
> understand, not me.  She is addicted.  This was why I tried Wine which I
> have got working with some things.  But Desktop Sudoku has a space in the
> name which you can get around manually but I think the install programme
> puts in the space and screws up Wine.  And I can't find a replacement
> programme as good.  Anybody looking for a project?...
> 
> So back to Mepis to get it working to actually do some work rather than this
> quite addictive distro hopping.  Although you do learn from it, if only you
> can remember what you learn.
> 
> BTW, I find the online magazine TUX great for my level of experience, very
> desktop orientated.
> 
> See you all at the get together tomorrow
> 
I hope you all have a good meeting. Sorry I can't make it but, Paignton
is a bit too far for an evening.

> George
> 
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