The "You've Got To Be Kidding Me" Moment
Jul. 5th, 2005 09:19 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
nemorathwaldOK, here are the redeeming facts as near as I can ascertain them:
You possibly do not need to use the command line in Linux until you're actually getting some use from your system first.
There is a program in the graphical user interface, which you can get to from the System menu, called Synaptic Package Manager. Search among thousands of quality programs and just tell your powerful servant to get them for you. It will cover for your inadequacies without you ever having to sacrifice a chicken to it.
There is an Ubuntu starter guide. Unfortunately since graphical user interfaces change so much it has to give you instructions only for the command line. But still, it will walk you through getting Menu Editor, Java, Flash Player, PDF reader, etc.
Linux is able to associate many file types with a program to automatically open them.
You can right-click a document and choose from a menu of programs to open it with, just like in Windows.
You can, if you wish, set one of the preferences to auto-launch software from CD when it's inserted.
Installing a program is supposed to put it in the Applications menu. This sometimes works.
If you can hunt down the file in your files browser, you can use a menu editor to make it go in the Applications menu.
Right-click the taskbar and you'll be given an option to put something from the Applications menu there as a launcher button.
The problem with Linux adoption by newbies might not actually be Linux. It is surprisingly forgiving. You just wouldn't know that from the help you get. The GUIs change, so the people helping you have no way to know how to play in the shallow end of the swimming pool. They grew up using the command line so that's what you get. So the non-Linux user will inevitably have a "you've got to be kidding me" moment. They will not tolerate very many of those, and rightly so. The upshot of this is that I am going to turn in a feature request in Bugzilla. The feature would be for the install process to end in asking you if you want a little guided tour of the basic, fundamental computing tasks.
For instance, one of the first things the newly installed Ubuntu should describe to someone who requests the tour should be Synaptic Package Manager. Not apt-get. Wait until they are happily using Synaptic to download and install programs, and then tell them how much cooler it is to use apt-get from the command line. But have paper towels on hand to clean the Pepsi that they snort from their nose laughing at you.
You possibly do not need to use the command line in Linux until you're actually getting some use from your system first.
There is a program in the graphical user interface, which you can get to from the System menu, called Synaptic Package Manager. Search among thousands of quality programs and just tell your powerful servant to get them for you. It will cover for your inadequacies without you ever having to sacrifice a chicken to it.
There is an Ubuntu starter guide. Unfortunately since graphical user interfaces change so much it has to give you instructions only for the command line. But still, it will walk you through getting Menu Editor, Java, Flash Player, PDF reader, etc.
Linux is able to associate many file types with a program to automatically open them.
You can right-click a document and choose from a menu of programs to open it with, just like in Windows.
You can, if you wish, set one of the preferences to auto-launch software from CD when it's inserted.
Installing a program is supposed to put it in the Applications menu. This sometimes works.
If you can hunt down the file in your files browser, you can use a menu editor to make it go in the Applications menu.
Right-click the taskbar and you'll be given an option to put something from the Applications menu there as a launcher button.
The problem with Linux adoption by newbies might not actually be Linux. It is surprisingly forgiving. You just wouldn't know that from the help you get. The GUIs change, so the people helping you have no way to know how to play in the shallow end of the swimming pool. They grew up using the command line so that's what you get. So the non-Linux user will inevitably have a "you've got to be kidding me" moment. They will not tolerate very many of those, and rightly so. The upshot of this is that I am going to turn in a feature request in Bugzilla. The feature would be for the install process to end in asking you if you want a little guided tour of the basic, fundamental computing tasks.
For instance, one of the first things the newly installed Ubuntu should describe to someone who requests the tour should be Synaptic Package Manager. Not apt-get. Wait until they are happily using Synaptic to download and install programs, and then tell them how much cooler it is to use apt-get from the command line. But have paper towels on hand to clean the Pepsi that they snort from their nose laughing at you.
