Ubuntu- not as advertised

[ms]

Ubuntu, the "easy, user friendly" Linux distro, is something else.

A friend installed ver. 5.10, it was asking very detailed questions about the hard
drive parameters. He has lot of experience and says these were complex questions. He
later tried to play some MP3 files, it had problems. He dumped it.

I posted last week about this program and everybody thought it was an easy program.

What currently is a user- friendly Linux distro with GUI interface?

Mike Sa

 

[Mark Warner]

Ubuntu, the "easy, user friendly" Linux distro, is something else.

A friend installed ver. 5.10, it was asking very detailed questions
about the hard drive parameters. He has lot of experience and says
these were complex questions.

The Ubuntu installer is text-based, and the partitioning portion of the
install is less-than-clear if you're not knowledgeable about hard drive
partitioning in general and your own drive's layout. I prefer to have my
drive partitioned and laid out ahead of time, rather than using a
particular distro's install partitioning tool.

He later tried to play some MP3 files,
it had problems. He dumped it.

Ubuntu doesn't do multimedia well out of the box, although it can be
upgraded easily enough. A lot of it has to do with
restricted/proprietary formats -- the "Ubuntu philosophy" prevents them
from including anything that might not be considered truly "free" as
they define it.

I posted last week about this program and everybody thought it was an
easy program.

What currently is a user- friendly Linux distro with GUI interface?

I pimp SimplyMEPIS 3.4-3 every chance I get. Much more user-friendly
than Ubuntu out of the box, IMO. Will do a lot more multimedia with the
base install as well, although some formats will not work without some
updating/upgrading (for the same reasons as Ubuntu).

 

[jb]

Ubuntu, the "easy, user friendly" Linux distro, is something else.

A friend installed ver. 5.10, it was asking very detailed questions
about the hard drive parameters. He has lot of experience and says these
were complex questions. He later tried to play some MP3 files, it had
problems. He dumped it.

I posted last week about this program and everybody thought it was an
easy program.

What currently is a user- friendly Linux distro with GUI interface?

Mike Sa

Mandriva is about about as user friendly as linux gets.

http://www.cheapbytes.com/

 

[Duddits]

Ubuntu, the "easy, user friendly" Linux distro, is something else.

A friend installed ver. 5.10, it was asking very detailed questions about the hard
drive parameters. He has lot of experience and says these were complex questions. He
later tried to play some MP3 files, it had problems. He dumped it.

I posted last week about this program and everybody thought it was an easy program.

What currently is a user- friendly Linux distro with GUI interface?

Mike Sa

I like Kanotix (Knoppix on steroids). Easy to use/try/install.
http://www.kanotix.com/index.php?&newlang=eng

regards

Dud

 

[Telemagic]

What currently is a user- friendly Linux distro

That my friend, is an oxymoron.

 

[Mark Warner]

I pimp SimplyMEPIS 3.4-3 every chance I get. Much more user-friendly
than Ubuntu out of the box, IMO. Will do a lot more multimedia with
the base install as well, although some formats will not work without
some updating/upgrading (for the same reasons as Ubuntu).

Check out the MEPIS User Guide:

http://www.mepis.org/node/6679

It doesn't get any easier.

 

[boywonder]

Knoppix
LiveCD type, does not install on HD
www.knoppix.net
--
Tommy
toner27AThalDASHpcDOTorg remove everything capitalized to email
my personal webpages w/pc help :
http://www.hal-pc.org/~toner27

I threw caution to the wind. It threw it back. I ducked.
Hookt On Fonicks Werked Four Me!

 

[Whirled Peas]

Ubuntu, the "easy, user friendly" Linux distro, is something else.

A friend installed ver. 5.10, it was asking very detailed questions about the hard
drive parameters. He has lot of experience and says these were complex questions. He
later tried to play some MP3 files, it had problems. He dumped it.

Ubuntu plays mp3 files fine when you install the needed packages. They can
be installed through Synaptic or by using the Automatix script. If your
friend had no sound after installing the packages, did he check his sound
settings? What did he do to solve the problem before giving up?

I posted last week about this program and everybody thought it was an easy program.

Any OS, Windows, Linus, OSX, FreeBSD, etc. has a learning curve. They can
mostly all do the same things, but they do not do them the same way.
http://linux.oneandoneis2.org/LNW.htm

What currently is a user- friendly Linux distro with GUI interface?

Ubuntu is very user friendly. PCLinuxOS is very friendly. Linspire is very
friendly. But they will *all* require a period of learning.

 

[ms]

Ubuntu, the "easy, user friendly" Linux distro, is something else.

A friend installed ver. 5.10, it was asking very detailed questions
about the hard drive parameters. He has lot of experience and says these
were complex questions. He later tried to play some MP3 files, it had
problems. He dumped it.

I posted last week about this program and everybody thought it was an
easy program.

What currently is a user- friendly Linux distro with GUI interface?

Mike Sa

Thanks to all, afraid I left out the big issue. On DUN, I can't download any Linux
distro.

Do any of these distros mentioned send a free CD like Ubuntu?

BTW, this friend is a computer tech, very knowledgeable, to him the Ubuntu install
was more complex than it should have been and with poor help files. He did it on a
already partitioned hard drive.

I don't have his background, just want something easy to install, that I can learn
gradually. I am not big on sound files anyway, and this will be a dual-boot with W2000.

Mike Sa

 

[Terry Russell]

Thanks to all, afraid I left out the big issue. On DUN, I can't download
any Linux distro.

Do any of these distros mentioned send a free CD like Ubuntu?

BTW, this friend is a computer tech, very knowledgeable, to him the Ubuntu
install was more complex than it should have been and with poor help
files. He did it on a already partitioned hard drive.

Sotware is random logic , it has no physics making one piece work the same
as another therefore no matter how much you know about one system there is
no guarantee what you know applies to another.
A knowledgable person may have a slightly shallower learning curve by
knowing what to look for but they cannot magically be proficient or
anticipate problem with things and processes unfamiliar to them.

I don't have his background, just want something easy to install, that I
can learn gradually. I am not big on sound files anyway, and this will be
a dual-boot with W2000.

Thats the real problem, dual boot operating systems.

You don't know about linux and want to play^H^H^H^Hlearn on the
same system you use everyday thus placing everything at risk and removing
the
one system you do know and can use to lookup more information.
Get a $A20 P400or $A50 P800 at auction and learn on that or
at worst use a livecd for a while, kill it a few times until it
learns you how to behave

 

[Andy Axnot]

Thanks to all, afraid I left out the big issue. On DUN, I can't download
any Linux distro.

Do any of these distros mentioned send a free CD like Ubuntu?

Unfortunately, no. Ubuntu is rather unusual in that it is backed by a
multi-millionaire who is spending some big bucks to make sure it finds
some acceptance. He has been quite successful in this

Getting other distros is not difficult, however. If you don't have a
close-by friend with broadband, there are services such as LinuxCD.org
http://www.linuxcd.org/
who will sell you (legitimately!) Linux CDs for about $2 USD each.

My suggestion would be to try PCLinuxOS and Mepis. These are both live
CDs, so you can see if they work OK from your CD-ROM drive before
attempting the installation. Both have easy installations. And I say
"both" rather than "either" so you will have a choice and a second chance
if one of them doesn't play well with your hardware.

Not having to actually install to hard disk right away can really be a
great confidence building measure. You can become a little familiar with
Linux before attempting the install, which sometimes can be the hardest
part of using Linux for newbies.

That said, I agree with Whirled Peas, all OSes require a little getting
used to. You may have given up too easily with Ubuntu. I'm sure you
could get some help from the Ubuntu forums.

Still, PCLinuxOS and Mepis *are* easier.

Andy

 

[jmatt]

Mike Sa
Thanks to all, afraid I left out the big issue. On DUN, I can't
download any Linux
distro.

G'day Mike, I'm right in the middle of the same exercise, to date,
Linspire has been the easiest for me. Another way of getting Linux, is
from computer magazines that have cd's enclosed.
http://www.linspire.com/

 

[Mark Warner]

BTW, this friend is a computer tech, very knowledgeable, to him the
Ubuntu install
was more complex than it should have been and with poor help files.
He did it on a already partitioned hard drive.

Being a Windows guru can be more hindrance than help. Linuxland is a
different country than Gatesistan, with a different culture and a
different language. What your friend might know about Windows won't
apply to much of anything. In Linuxland, he'll be just another newb.
That's not the fault of him or Linux; it's just the way it is.

There's nothing wrong with Ubuntu, it just didn't meet his expectations.
If he wants something that acts more like Windows than Ubuntu, he's
probably going to be disappointed. There are distributions that attempt
to *be* Windows (Linspire and Xandros come immediately to mind); maybe
one of those would be more to his liking.

If he wants a Windows-like GUI, but in a distro that isn't trying to
*be* Windows, I still recommend Simply MEPIS 3.4-3. When you get to the
partitioning part of the install, be sure to chose the custom/advanced
mode, and make 100% sure you point the install to the correct partition.
Additionally, when prompted, make sure you allow MEPIS to install GrUB
to the MBR on the boot partition -- presumably hda1 (hd0,0).

Unfortunately, doing any of this with any distro on a dialup account is
going to be frustrating, if not impossible. Check out the services on
http://www.linuxcd.org ; at least there you can get the install disks
for peanuts. Even if you get the base install disk, most distros will
prefer a fast connection to get packages and updates. And Linux still
has problems with a lot of internal modems ("winmodems") -- that's the
fault of the modem makers not making Linux compatible drivers, not the
fault of Linux. An external serial or usb modem is the way to go.

Linux is Not Windows: http://linux.oneandoneis2.org/LNW.htm

 

[bambam]

Thanks to all, afraid I left out the big issue. On DUN, I can't
download any Linux distro.

Can't or won't?
It's so simple you can do it while you sleep.

 

[john]

want easy out of the box, and one click installation of all kinds of non
free things
on linux?

www.linspire.com

Yes its not free

 

[john]

Does anyone know of a solution here:

I would like to see multi-monitor setup working with a live cd...

I have 3 monitors connected to my pc.
First card is PCI (yes the bios sees it as first) 330 viper 4 mb
second card is AGP is radeon 9000 128 mb dual headed...

with the live distros I see the first card only (YUK!)

Any ideas - solutions?

 

[Craig]

want easy out of the box, and one click installation of all kinds of non
free things
on linux?

www.linspire.com

Yes its not free

Yes, John;

Then it's off-topic.

-Craig

 

[Craig]

Being a Windows guru can be more hindrance than help.

There's nothing wrong with Ubuntu

Linux is Not Windows: http://linux.oneandoneis2.org/LNW.htm

Mike;

You've gotten a lot of excellent feedback/advice. I can't really add
anything more other than a saying that my brand-new guru/philosopher
articulated right here on this very newsgroup.

"Perseverence recommended."
-Kapok, alt.comp.freeware, 24 Mar 2006

Let us know how it turns out.

-Craig

 

[David]

Sotware is random logic , it has no physics making one piece work the same
as another therefore no matter how much you know about one system there is
no guarantee what you know applies to another.
A knowledgable person may have a slightly shallower learning curve by
knowing what to look for but they cannot magically be proficient or
anticipate problem with things and processes unfamiliar to them.


Thats the real problem, dual boot operating systems.

I have never had a Linux installation foul up my Windows installation.
The Linux dual boot using either LILO or Grub works every time. Now
Windows, on the other hand, wants the entire machine to itself
although I gather that XP has learnt to play, sort of, nicely.

You don't know about linux and want to play^H^H^H^Hlearn on the
same system you use everyday thus placing everything at risk and removing
the
one system you do know and can use to lookup more information.
Get a $A20 P400or $A50 P800 at auction and learn on that or
at worst use a livecd for a while, kill it a few times until it
learns you how to behave

If you do run into problems it will be Windows causing the problems.

 

[kcaj]

The Ubuntu installer is text-based, and the partitioning portion of the
install is less-than-clear if you're not knowledgeable about hard drive
partitioning in general and your own drive's layout. I prefer to have my
drive partitioned and laid out ahead of time, rather than using a
particular distro's install partitioning tool.


Ubuntu doesn't do multimedia well out of the box, although it can be
upgraded easily enough. A lot of it has to do with
restricted/proprietary formats -- the "Ubuntu philosophy" prevents them
from including anything that might not be considered truly "free" as
they define it.


I pimp SimplyMEPIS 3.4-3 every chance I get. Much more user-friendly
than Ubuntu out of the box, IMO. Will do a lot more multimedia with the
base install as well, although some formats will not work without some
updating/upgrading (for the same reasons as Ubuntu).

Mepis is in the process of using Ubuntu instead of pure Debian.
The new version based on Ubuntu was just released.