__/ [ The Ghost In The Machine ] on Friday 30 March 2007 21:41 \__
> In comp.os.linux.advocacy, John
> <john065_2007@xxxxxxxxx>
> wrote
> on 30 Mar 2007 10:15:38 -0700
> <1175274938.221200.276970@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>:
>> I want to try ubuntu but can't get it to work.
>>
>
> Define "work". There's a fair number of things that can
> go wrong while using new software (or for that matter new
> hardware), and stating that "[I] can't get it to work"
> doesn't give much to go on, apart from stating one's
> ignorance. (Fortunately, ignorance can generally be cured,
> through reading, observation, or communication.)
>
> - Did it fail while booting the kernel with some sort
> of panic? That could be a major problem, though frankly
> I don't see why Linux would have too many problems with
> CD/DVD units nowadays. There's a few subissues that might
> occur here, depending on exactly where it's dying, and why.
>
> - Did it hang in the middle of its boot sequence?
> A possibility if it encounters something unusual, though
> nowadays PCs are pretty generic.
>
> - Did it decide to leave one with a blank screen?
> Driver display problem of some sort.
>
> - Did it prompt for "login:"? Oops, no GUI. Not a problem
> for many of us but the complete n00b may be a bit lost
> until he learns about the "man" command. Fortunately,
> this is not your father's UNIX CLI, either; one can hit tab
> for command completion, double-tab for a complete list,
> and the arrow keys to find an earlier command. However,
> this is definitely not everyone's cup of tea (though the
> command line interface does have a nice light footprint).
>
> - Did it leave one with a confusing screen? That's YOUR
> problem. :-) The Ubuntu liveCD dumps one directly into a
> tan-colored Gnome workspace, where one can immediately
> start clicking. Admittedly, if one tries instead to
> install it, one will probably get a login screen, which
> could be slightly problematic if one's not set up one's
> accounts properly. (I've not gotten quite that far, mostly
> because I've not felt the need.)
>
> - Something else? Well, then, something else. You'll need
> to be specific for me to opine thereon.
>
> Computers aren't simple, Steve Wozniak's intentions
> notwithstanding way back when as he opined that
> (paraphrased) a computer should be as easy to use as
> a toaster.
So maybe they should all run BSD. Command-line toaster, remember? I can't
remember if it was NetBSD that toasted that toast.
Apparently, Gates wants Windows on all out appliances and gadgets. "Smart
objects" he called them, or something along these lines. But that said, I
doubt his kettle with embedded wi-fi that's intended to tell you to weather
is a case of technology put to good use. Sounds wasteful.
> As for "best" -- that's a value judgement; I'm way
> too steeped in Unixania/Linuxania to be termed a "n00b"
> nowadays, although my problem is slightly reversed (Gentoo
> has "porthole" but I just use the old command line "emerge"
> command, for example). Ubuntu is one of the nicer distros,
> as far as I can tell.
Maybe we should rename Ubuntu N00bOS. "Ubuntu" can sound obscure and
intimidating. How about ToastOS? ToyOS is apparently a reserved name.
Windows 2000 received the honour.
--
~~ Best wishes
Roy S. Schestowitz | How I learned to stop worrying and love GNU/Linux
http://Schestowitz.com | GNU is Not UNIX | PGP-Key: 0x74572E8E
roy pts/0 Mon Apr 2 05:18 still logged in
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