networking and printers

[tom_d]

I would like to see networking (particularly sharing folders between computers on a network) and printer installation (and sharing) be as mindlessly simple, straightforward and effective as <gasp> Win98SE </gasp>

I've been fighting with fawn and an HP4+ for at least a month, went back in to take another run at it this morning and found it working- with _no idea_ what I did or didn't do to make that happen. Similarly with sharing it with a second Fawn machine- all of a sudden it's working and I have _no idea_ why. Still can't share it with an xp box.

I have a debian firewall/router, and two Fawn boxes- I can ssh between them no problem, but nothing more- I want to be able to push files back and forth in a konqueror window like I could back in windoze daze.

The 'conventional' response I get is somewhere between rtfm and rtfm. I don't have time to get a masters in computer science right now- I just need it to work. Moreover, I shouldn't _have to_ spend the rest of my life exploring klingon man pages.

There is no reason why it can't be a simple series of mouse picks as it was in SE. Until it is, linux will retain its reputation as being restricted to 'experts' (self-proclaimed or otherwise) and not intended for 'ordinary people'

[all4linux]

Re: networking and printers

I mostly agree with you that setting up a network in Kubuntu should be much easier than it is, especially in view of the fact that it was relatively easy back in the days of Windows 98. On the other hand, I don't think it's fair to compare experiences between expensive commercial software and free (linux) software. One should expect to go through a learning curve to solve some of the problems they have with free software.

Having said that, I have just gone through two weeks of attempts to solve networking problems with Feisty Fawn, with no positive results. After reading several bug reports, 50 or so forum posts, and numerous other discussions on the networking problems with Feisty, I was still unable to share the folders on my Feisty installation with any of the others seven computers on my network.

How is it that the Kubuntu team could have broken the Samba suite so badly that it has become unusable on their system, yet it works flawlessly on other Debian distributions, specifically, Xandros, and Damn Small Linux. I was very excited about getting my Kubuntu 6.04 distribution up and running on my network, but Feisty has broken my back on Kubuntu. I have just re-installed Xandros on my Kubuntu machine, and will leave it that way until the next Kubuntu release.

Dick

[askrieger]

Re: networking and printers

@tom_d: The f_m that you should read is the KDE application manual for kioslaves. hint: look for "fish". I agree that these things could be a little easier (especially, setting up an index for khelp), but the information is already in there.