Re: Making Linux Easy for Newbies

scotaron@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx wrote:
Hi folks I have dabbled with various linux distros for a few years
Impressed with some of Them Mandrake,Suse mostly. But whatever version
i use they all seem to be made as difficult as possible for new users
trying to move to Linux from Windows.

Even finding the hardware works well most of the time But in nearly
every version I come up against Mounting hard drives Why can they not
just be there like all the other hardware,

meaning what exactly ?...

or even if they are access
can be blocked to them for some reason passwords etc.

So that if your cat runs over your keyboard it won't delete your system. Or if you're too drunk to type right you don't do it yourself. Or the guy at the other end of the network. Passwords and permissions are there for a good reason. You may not understand that reason, but it exists.


Also installing software is a nightmare nothing like installing WIndows
software Trying to install Tar files etc Why tar can it just not be a
zip type file.

You are badly misinformed. First of all - tar files are not hard to install, but they are meant for people who know a little about Unix (so probably not for you). For you: somewhere in the main menu that apparently you didn't bother to check (what you would call the "Start" button) you shall find a "Package Manager". It can be used to download and install any program you want, in one single step. It can also update *all* your installed programs in one step. Try that in windoze.


I do realise it is a different operating system but i think Linux
software writers/developers delight in making different parts of the
system with the weirdest names Just to distinguish it as far away from
Windows as possible.

You might find it strange, but I know the names of the Linux programs that I need. It is the equivalent Windows programs that are unknown to me. It's just a matter of perspective: hummm, why doesn't Windows look more like Linux ?...
If you want a Linux program for whatever task, but you don't know its name, people have invented a tool called "Google". It is capable of translating a text like "how to play video in linux" into a program name like "mplayer".


It has got easier but I cannot see Linux being a great challenge to
Microsoft until hardware and software installing is much easier..

Personally I don't give a damn if you use it or not. If windows makes you happy, by all means - stick with it.
All that I regret is the herd of windows machines that get infected with various worms/trojans/viruses and then relay spam to my email account without the owners even knowing it.


I dont think i have explaining myself very well But there must be some
Linux newbies with similar views.

Ron


I think I understand your point of view - you've heard about this thing called "linux" which is supposedly better than "windows" and you expected to find a windows that is better than the original. Tough luck. As Michael said - Linux is not Windows.

If you really are fed-up with windows and you want to learn about linux, stop whining a read a good book about it. Try this for example:
http://rute.2038bug.com/rute.html.gz
Whatever Linux distribution you might have tried, it probably came with a lot of documentation. Read that, too. If you still have questions afterwards, ask us and we will gladly help you.

Mihai


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