How Are All The Linux Newbies Coping?

[MilanC]

A windows vs linux thread wouldn't even make any sense. Somewhat like asking a musician about rap vs jazz.

 

[pawprints]

You're not alone. I don't have much experience of linux either and I think this is because I have to use windows every day for my job and because specialised apps don't exist just yet (yes they can be emulated but....)

Mike Fishcake, copy giana sisters and supertux to your Sd card (pandora / desktop) and enjoy. Do the same with the snes emulator and all should be well (you have to navigate to a roms folder but that's easy). There are some things that take a while to get used to and I'm still working out how to go to parent folder in the file manager (yeah I know I've missed a button).

I've not yet got amiga games running but I'm working on that. Mame at 600 (apart from the dodgy sound) is awsome.

If you get stuck hold the pandora button and you can then exit a program. Holding pandora and flicking the power switch will do a full reset.

If you lose wifi try selecting restart from the desktop as that seems to fix things 9 out of 10 times.

Anyone have any text for installing things like gimp / pdf viewer they'd be much apreciated (for us linux newbies). Everyone in the community is great and only a few scowl at your for not knowing linux like the back of your hand.

 

[Gerix]

Yesterday, I had to shut down Windows 7 from the command line. I find myself using the command line in Windows sometimes, but since Windows users seem to fear it (that's what a lot say they dislike about Linux) Microsoft hasn't developed a feature rich utility. So I'm using white text on a black screen that only takes up half of the desktop. There might be a way to change this, but that would involve me looking and doing some configuring behind the scenes. Wouldn't that cause Windows to have the same disadvantage that Linux supposedly has?

 

[Asiyura]

(…)

3) Power Users

Tweaks the system, cleans registry and manages background proccessors. Runs emulators, virtualisation, uses browsers with add-ons etc.

How Linux is appealing:

It kind of isn't. To achieve the same level/ease of control that you can get in Windows through GUI applications, you need to learn a lot about Linux and the command line. You need to become an expert user, which is intimidating and a huge time-sink.

This has been my experience anyway. YMMV.

Did you try Ubuntu lately?
You don't need the clean the registry, because there is no registry that can be destroyed or full of crap in a blink of the eye.
Virtualisation is easy, you just install virtualbox with the Ubuntu Software Center that you can find in the Ubuntu menu.
Emulators can be found there too.
Firefox is installed by default, to install add-ons, you do like in windows, with the internal modules system in firefox.
To manage the background processes, well, there is a graphical system monitor.

 

[mali]

I had Linux(Linpus/Fedora) on my Aspire one and it drove me nuts. It reconnected Wifi after standby, or it didn't - Network Manager!(lol-rofl). System updates frequently nuked something so I had to roll back in the end to not pull out a hammer and steamroll that little fucker.
I've learned _much_ at that time, though. I've tinkered with Maemo(Debian based) on my N800 and I like it. Linux can be nice and is very customizable but some distro maintainers must be chimps, dunno.

edit:
Argh... sorry I got hulked. Regarding the OP's question: Linux is relatively easy to learn when you learn it while you have fun with it. When you are frustrated, it's not easy. So, stay positive and it will be a rather flat and steady learning curve A healthy community almost guarantees to take you where you want to be.

 

[juniorm33]

The OP (Mike Fishcake) has asked specifically again for the thread to stay on it's rails.

 

[Trip]

Anyone have any text for installing things like gimp / pdf viewer they'd be much apreciated (for us linux newbies). Everyone in the community is great and only a few scowl at your for not knowing linux like the back of your hand.

IIRC the PDF viewer should be installed by default. You tried just opening a PDF file yet?
Can't remember what Angstrom uses for install commands at the minute but have you tried starting the package manager and searching for gimp in there?

Remember that anything you don't install with the PND packages will be installed to your Nand

EDIT: TRY READING THIS HERE!

Could be opkg search gimp?

 

[SomeGuy99]

In linux you can go into the sourcecode of the kernel and change anything you like... I don't think you can have anymore of a "power user" then that.

That's an expert activity I think.

I've also got a couple of my friends trying out Linux in verious forms and they all seem to use it with very minor problems.

The old excuse that Linux is hard to use doesn't work any more. You can now configure just about everything from the GUI.
I can't remember the last time I used the command line

Linux is easier for regular users, yes. But for people who want more control... 'power users' who don't have the time or inclanation to learn the shell, Linux doesn't offer as much.

'Power User' is kind of an old term for people who love to tweak their Windows system.

You guys didn't even get the point of what I was writing about. It's like when I leave the bin lid open and all the fruit flies start breeding and muching on used teabags.

I am using Linux Mint right now! As I write this! I dual boot with XP!

But seriously guys, i'm talking from my own experience. Also, I know a shedload of users from both the Windows and Linux camps. I'm not on either side here.

If I wanted to hear anti-XP rhetoric, I'd go to my LUG meetings again. If I wanted to hear tiresome Windows 7 championing, or Linux bashing... I know a whole group of those too.

You're both funny to me! It's only an operating system, why take it all so personally?

Linux just doesn't appeal to the middle ground users who are neither light users or admin/hacker experts.

And before you ask, yes I know shell commands. Yes, I have screwed around getting Linux to run on niche platforms etc. etc.

 

[pawprints]

As far as I can tell there isn't a package manager (I wish there was) and I guess the only way to add apps is to use the terminal?

The pdf viewer was left out so that people can choose the best one that suits them (if they know how to do it)

I could have missed something though.

 

[Dead1nside]

Linux just doesn't appeal to the middle ground users who are neither light users or admin/hacker experts.

I think you're right. The vast majority of people don't care what their OS is. If it's Windows, they've got familiarity with a lot of it, they've probably been using something in that family for years. Some people have had experience with Mac in their day jobs, like my Dad has as a journalist. Increasingly people are seeing that there are options, that Mac OS is a different thing altogether from Windows. But still, do people actually care what they're using? No. They just care that it works. That is the way it should be, in a way; technology that just works

I don't try and convert everyone I see, but I think that knowing that there are options out there is a good thing. People are being educated to this fact through the rise of Mac, through the rise of Android. Why should people care about their OS? "Oh you can get lots of cool widgets and apps for your Android" -- people are increasingly caring, they are distinguishing between different types of technology and it's happening in the mobile space.

Linux has rough edges. I'd say for some people, for granny or whomever, for a family computer, it can be attractive. Running it on slightly older hardware, getting better performance, not having to worry about viruses, being more innately secure. That "Eww, it's different" factor is a big one. We've just got to educate people that there is a choice, that it's a good thing, and that it's not about learning the Microsoft-Intel way of technology, that it's not about the walled garden of Apple. Technology is huge. Teach people to adapt, to learn things quickly. There's tonnes of similarities between OS'. If you can work one file-picker, I'm sure you can work another one. What's the difference between Mac's funny three-dot minimize, maximise, close buttons to Windows? Not much.

That's a little rant over. Linux isn't for everyone. Pandora wouldn't have an OS without Linux. Pandora wouldn't be able to do the things it does, without the flexibility of Linux and open source (and most importantly without the dedication of the team, that's put all the effort into building an OS from , basically, scratch.)

 

[Trip]

As far as I can tell there isn't a package manager (I wish there was) and I guess the only way to add apps is to use the terminal?

The pdf viewer was left out so that people can choose the best one that suits them (if they know how to do it)

I could have missed something though.

Ah k sorry. I've not got my Pandora yet so I can only go by the info that I can find online.

Evince is probably your best bet for reading PDF's.
If you need to install that by terminal it should be opkg search evince, then follow the on screen instructions.
Don't forget when using the terminal that Linux is case sensertive. This means that Evince is not the same as evince

 

[SomeGuy99]

That's a little rant over.

Was a good rant though. Well said.

 

[Letalis Sonus]

I had Linux(Linpus/Fedora) on my Aspire one and it drove me nuts.

That doesn't surprise me, Fedora is a developer's distro with cutting edge software, using it as a beginner is really not a good idea Don't know whether Linpus is any different.
That would be a good point to argue about why you shouldn't call Linux an OS because it's just the kernel and the distros differ largely but then this topic would go totally off-topic.

 

[SomeGuy99]

I had Linux(Linpus/Fedora) on my Aspire one and it drove me nuts.

That doesn't surprise me, Fedora is a developer's distro with cutting edge software, using it as a beginner is really not a good idea Don't know whether Linpus is any different.
That would be a good point to argue about why you shouldn't call Linux an OS because it's just the kernel and the distros differ largely but then this topic would go totally off-topic.

Linplus is the exact opposite of a developer distro.

 

[second exodous]

This all depends on how the OP team sets things up, this isn't a limitation with Linux at all. I use Ubuntu 10.04 and it is much much much easier to use than Vista and I hear Windows 7(haven't used 7 yet, can't comment on that beyond what I've read in reviews).

On a x86 Linux box there is a GUI for literally everything, no command use at all. Pandora is ARM based and it is a wee bit behind x86 but I think if the OP team scours the repos for GUI tools a lot of them exist but I'm sure it is much more difficult than a x86 box.

 

[hobbyman II]

thankfully, OP didn't go with something like the ultra dumb Aspire one Linux, or the badly maintained kludge that was Linux on EeePC machines, I can't understand why netbook makers ALL went for some weird, custom, mess, with oversized kiddy icons and a weird, non standard, application launcher stuffed on top, what where they thinking?

modern Linux is easy to use and configure, just go with the flow and it's all jam, the only thing that ever gets me booting into Windows XP is playing games like Mass Effect, I have no other use for Windows beyond that.

 

[maplesugarlover]

I'm not a big fan of desktop linux ( can't find a distro I like), but the pandora os looks really polished.

 

[SomeGuy99]

thankfully, OP didn't go with something like the ultra dumb Aspire one Linux, or the badly maintained kludge that was Linux on EeePC machines, I can't understand why netbook makers ALL went for some weird, custom, mess, with oversized kiddy icons and a weird, non standard, application launcher stuffed on top, what where they thinking?

modern Linux is easy to use and configure, just go with the flow and it's all jam, the only thing that ever gets me booting into Windows XP is playing games like Mass Effect, I have no other use for Windows beyond that.

I have to agree. Since replacing my Ubuntu WUBI with Mint 9, I haven't booted back into Windows much (only when it had problems writing to my PSP, no idea why that one happened).

It's all about the little touches for me. Like how I can scroll-wheel tabs, or scroll-wheel the volume icon, or scroll-wheel a nautilus window without making it active, or how I can stream media over FTP, or swap taskbar entries and move them around, or easily turn my laptop into a router with Network Manager.

I personally kind of liked the netbook distros, especially the EEEPC one.

 

[Sphinxter]

I find that while Linux is great for casual users and experts, it leaves a lot to be desired for power users. I think in this regard, Windows serves this segment better.

:huh:
I think you've got that the wrong way around bud.
Linux lets you change everything; Windows limits everything; how's Windows more powerful?

By, 'power user', he meant, 'people with electricity'.

 

[Esn]

Linux just doesn't appeal to the middle ground users who are neither light users or admin/hacker experts.

I think that describes me. I know a lot about how to get things done on my computer (frequently more than an "expert user"), but I couldn't write a bit of code to save my life.

Seems that most people don't know what you're talking about, though.

I've never used Linux before, so I guess I'll post my impressions when I get my system.