Linux: simply a novelty?

[javierrivera]

Re: Linux: simply a novelty?

Well, I know some people working for a small studio (they made 3D shows and video editing for spots and local TV programs), can you tell me what software can they use that is more advanced than Kino or Cinelerra, but doesn't cost then some hundred thousands euros?.

Javier.

[rbrown3rd]

Re: Linux: simply a novelty?

I do a lot of development work for Microsoft Flight Simulator and therefore require Windows. I used to be a serious Unix user but it was so long ago, twenty years, that I have forgotten much of what I learned and consider myself a complete newbie now. I have long been interested in trying various Linux distros using LiveCDs. Having tried almost all of them I decided that Kubuntu was the best fit for me. I installed it on my hard drive creating a dual boot system. I have managed to get most of my favorite applications up and running without a huge effort but will say that some of them would be beyond the typical non techie's capability.

I am impressed with the ease of keeping the system current through a single click. That is sweet.

I am impressed with the stability and speed of the system with apps that I am used to using in Windows.

I am less than happy with facing the fact that if I want to remove Kubuntu I am faced with some sort of ordeal with the MBR on my Windows drive. At least that is my impression at this time.

I also tried all of the distros on my laptop and found that Sabayon was the only one that could seamlessly and automatically setup my wireless network. I am sure Kubuntu can do it too.

Overall I would give these Linux distros a B- and praise everyone for the progress that has been made toward an effortlessly installed system. Kubuntu is looking great.

If I were to be faced with building a system for someone who knows nothing about computers and only wants to do basic functions such as web browsing and document editing then I would strongly consider setting up a Kubuntu system for them.

That is my story and I am sticking to it.

[dibl]

Re: Linux: simply a novelty?

If I were to be faced with building a system for someone who knows nothing about computers and only wants to do basic functions such as web browsing and document editing then I would strongly consider setting up a Kubuntu system for them.

I actually did this -- my elderly, widowed mother in-law decided in May that she was ready for e-mail and a web browser and a word processor. I took a Kubuntu Live CD to the computer store, walked from one cheap PC to the next booting it (or trying to), and bought one that booted it with no issues. It came with Vista pre-installed, but I shrunk that partition way down, without ever booting it, and set up Kubuntu Feisty. Bought her a cheap printer, showed her how to send e-mail and open the browser, and turned her over to her daughter (my wife) for the rest of the adventure. It's fine - she has no clue about the OS and never will.

[rbrown3rd]

Re: Linux: simply a novelty?

I actually did this -- my elderly, widowed mother in-law decided in May that she was ready for e-mail and a web browser and a word processor. I took a Kubuntu Live CD to the computer store, walked from one cheap PC to the next booting it (or trying to), and bought one that booted it with no issues. It came with Vista pre-installed, but I shrunk that partition way down, without ever booting it, and set up Kubuntu Feisty. Bought her a cheap printer, showed her how to send e-mail and open the browser, and turned her over to her daughter (my wife) for the rest of the adventure. It's fine - she has no clue about the OS and never will.

Great idea on the live distro in the store. Never thought of that. Over the years I have also migrated to using a Gmail account and a few other online capabilities. Docs.google.com is a terrifc basic document processing system which is not bloated with features. Of course, the OO suite is great too. I have just trended towards moving as much stuff off of my machine as possible, especially email as it not only gradually fills the drive but having stuff locally greatly increases one's risk.

My complaints on my browser of choice, Firefox, in Kubuntu and other distros, is that the mailto link requires quite a bit of tinkering and I have yet to get the "send link" feature to work. Those to me are critical browser functions and I would use no other than FF. Of course, a non computer user might be quite happy with Konquerer (sp?) I have not used it enough to know how hard it is to link mailtos and send link to a web based email client like Gmail.

But, once all of that is resolved then this would be a perfect setup for a non computer literate person such as my elderly parents...... but, they remain glued to their Webtv and fear touching a computer. That is another story. Let's just say I am thankful they are online and emailing since I am hundreds of miles away from them.

[Detonate]

Re: Linux: simply a novelty?

My complaints on my browser of choice, Firefox, in Kubuntu and other distros, is that the mailto link requires quite a bit of tinkering

1. Type "about:config" into the URL field in Firefox
2. Right click anywhere in the list of preferences
3. Choose New->String in the pop up menu
4. Type "network.protocol-handler.app.mailto" for the name
5. Type "/usr/bin/evolution" (or the path to the mail app you use) for
the value
6. Restart Firefox

I use mozilla thunderbird. You can set up Thunderbird to handle your Gmail via pop settings.

[rbrown3rd]

Re: Linux: simply a novelty?

My complaints on my browser of choice, Firefox, in Kubuntu and other distros, is that the mailto link requires quite a bit of tinkering

1. Type "about:config" into the URL field in Firefox
2. Right click anywhere in the list of preferences
3. Choose New->String in the pop up menu
4. Type "network.protocol-handler.app.mailto" for the name
5. Type "/usr/bin/evolution" (or the path to the mail app you use) for
the value
6. Restart Firefox

I use mozilla thunderbird. You can set up Thunderbird to handle your Gmail via pop settings.

Thanks but I use Gmail. I have my "mailto" links setup to go to Gmail through a shell script but the "send link" feature in FF does not work properly under this setup. I am sure it is probably something in the script that needs tweaking.

[Detonate]

Re: Linux: simply a novelty?

I understand you use Gmail. So do I. What I am saying is that it is easy to use thunderbird for your email client, and set up thunderbird to handle your gmail. Easy to set up FF too use Thunderbird. Unless you have some reason that requires you to use the gmail web interface.

[rbrown3rd]

Re: Linux: simply a novelty?

I understand you use Gmail. So do I. What I am saying is that it is easy to use thunderbird for your email client, and set up thunderbird to handle your gmail. Easy to set up FF too use Thunderbird. Unless you have some reason that requires you to use the gmail web interface.

I prefer keeping all email off of my system. I guess I picked that up from using Windows systems for many years but also just prefer not to have to manage it on my hard drive when someone else like Google with 24/7 staff can do it for me. I gradually learned that the less stuff I keep on my system the better. If it is data for a project that is fine but email in the quantities that I deal with is too much. I used Thunderbird for years and it is a really nice mail client. I liked it a lot but now just prefer to stick to web based mail.

[Fintan]

Re: Linux: simply a novelty?

@rbrown3rd: I would post a thread at the gmail help and go to the firefox support pages. I saw someone on my gmail help page (german) asking the reverse question. ie. how to get rid of gmail as standard mail app. in FF so I am waiting for his reply on he did this.

[rbrown3rd]

Re: Linux: simply a novelty?

@rbrown3rd: I would post a thread at the gmail help and go to the firefox support pages. I saw someone on my gmail help page (german) asking the reverse question. ie. how to get rid of gmail as standard mail app. in FF so I am waiting for his reply on he did this.

Thanks. Good idea. I will do that.

Update: I found my solution via an add on extension for FF called Webmail Compose. Found it here http://www.cashville.net/webmailcomp...tension-2.html

[Fintan]

Re: Linux: simply a novelty?

Good one.

Conversly you can go here:
http://userscripts.org/scripts/show/10396

you have greesemonky installed:
http://userscripts.org/scripts/show/10396

[jbaerbock]

Re: Linux: simply a novelty?

One of the things that turned me off from Linux was the installation problems and the fact that if you wanted something there better be a repo. The more I tinkered with it the more I noticed that that wasn't the case. If you are profficient at following directions you can download and install any Linux program you can find by google search. Otherwise if you are like me and like things easy as .exe in Windows well there is .deb. These files are installed just like the .exe in Windows. Just double click and debian installer does the rest for you. Most everything I have needed I have found to be in repos or .deb format so easy.

I admit I am drawn a lot to Kubuntu because it is free and not controlled by a large corporation which hogs everything. But aside from that I also just love the customizability. Admitedly you can customize a lot in Windows with hacked software but sometimes that is more pain than it is worth.

I also LOOOOOVE gaming, especially World of Warcraft. I tried Wine and Cedega which should theoreticaly be fine for running WoW. However I just took the easy path and have a partition with WinXP on it for Gaming and everything else I use Linux for. Also some of the KDE programs I love such as Kopete have not been ported to Windoze. In short I love Kubuntu.

[Ivanp]

Re: Linux: simply a novelty?

Nice thread, ericesque ! Let me give you my little story on this topic.

I have been Windows user for all of my life. Although I work for an IT company as a consultant I am not a techie. I am perhaps a slightly above average PC user. I was aware of Linux but did not see it installed and working with my own eyes.

A couple of years ago a former colleague of mine, developer (much more technically skilled than I am) bought a notebook with a preinstalled Linux (do not know which one specifically). He told me that the system was unstable and switched back to Windows. So not the right time for me to try it out, I thought.

A couple of months ago I was working on a project together with a developer from a partner company. And there it was, notebook with up and running Kubuntu 7.04. And as the guy showed willingness to help me if I ever wanted to install it, I decided I would try it on my home PC.

Not because I hate Microsoft - it actually worked well for me during all those years. I was interested to try something else from a completely different, open source world. From a pure functional point of view, I was mainly attracted by less vulnerability of Linux against viruses, spyware etc. as compared with Windows.

At the same time I decided to buy a new home PC. It came with Windows Vista preinstalled. I managed to install Kubuntu but, to be on a safe side, I left Vista on as well. It started well, Kubuntu immediately recognised my wifi card - unlike Vista.

Then I run across issues with my graphical card but dibl, who also contributed earlier to this thread, helped me.

Then I noticed strange sound coming from my speakers each time I boot. Whether it was due to my previous experiments with graphical card or not, I do not know. Did some research on this but did not find solution.

To hell with the sound, I can live with it.

Bigger problem was that my mic volume is too low. My every single Skype phone started with the other side saying that he/she could not hear me properly. Spent hours and hours googling it, going through the forums - other people had the same issue - but just could not find solution. Tried everything possible with Kmix...

Then I booted Vista, it took me like 5 seconds and 3 clicks to boost my mic. My Skype calls are perfectly OK now. Well, true I had to install proper driver to my Wifi card first. Having sorted that out - here I am, booting Vista.

I do not regret time spent with Kubuntu. In fact I keep it on my PC. Maybe this will get sorted out sooner or later.

I do not want to give negative publicity about Kubuntu. I find the system otherwise OK. All I want to say is that seemingly such trivial things as getting microphone right could be quite crucial for users like me.

In the long run I believe that Linux has a bright future. This community idea, if properly managed, has an enormous potential, I believe. Community of hundreds of thousands users all over the world with every possible hardware combination can provide for a system in a way that is beyond capabilities of any company/business.

[Fintan]

Re: Linux: simply a novelty?

This is fun

http://blogs.cnet.com/8301-13505_1-9773662-16.html

enjoy

[jankushka]

Re: Linux: simply a novelty?

Bigger problem was that my mic volume is too low. My every single Skype phone started with the other side saying that he/she could not hear me properly. Spent hours and hours googling it, going through the forums - other people had the same issue - but just could not find solution. Tried everything possible with Kmix...

i guess the mic issue with skype it's something that has got on many people's nerves.
and it's true...it makes it look like the whole distribution is rubbish.
but, at long last, i seem to have sorted out my issues with this.
by upgrading to the latest skype v1.4.0.99 beta.
now...it just works.
and i don't even have to click anywhere to boost the mic.
the capture volume gets raised/lowered automatically when starting/ending calls.
hope that works for you, as well.
cheers