A birthday story in which Toshiba is Tricksy, but otherwise all is good.

[DeathKitten]

My boyfriend got me a laptop for my birthday. An inexpensive model, but still, my own laptop. While I'd been intending to hold out until I could afford to buy something from somewhere like System76, I'm not about to argue with a gift. He bought me a Toshiba Satellite L305-S5955, and the install went absolutely painless. Toshiba did somewhat annoy me in that they put the EULA on a sticker that sealed shut the laptop itself, thus requiring me to break the seal to start playing with my new toy, and thus strongly crippling any efforts to get a Windows refund on principle (the laptop certainly was inexpensive enough to make it not at all about the money).

My boyfriend had given me the laptop as he came home from work, and we had plans to go have dinner out and see a movie, so I plugged it in to charge and started the kubuntu install ISO downloading on his Apple laptop before we headed out the door. Had a tasty enough dinner at some little place that gave me free dinner on account of it being my birthday, in exchange for them singing at me and giving me flan, then went and saw District 9 (so awesome). We came home, he started to wilt for the night because he'd been up since way too early in the morning, and I proceeded to burn the install disc and install kubuntu without even bothering to boot into Windows.

There are a couple of minor annoyances, and I still have to get everything happily installed, but overall it is running beautifully. I even remembered to install the medibuntu repositories before I went to work yesterday, so that on my lunch break I could watch a DVD. Now I just need to find my cache of stickers so I can decorate the case properly, and I need to acquire a proper bag to carry it around in.

[Snowhog]

Re: A birthday story in which Toshiba is Tricksy, but otherwise all is good.

Happy Birthday! New laptop. Nice. Toshiba does, IMO, make a pretty decent laptop. Mines a Satellite P105-S6147. Linux (Ubuntu, Kubuntu, and sidux) run on it just fine.

[DeathKitten]

Re: A birthday story in which Toshiba is Tricksy, but otherwise all is good.

I've heard good things about Toshiba all over, so I was encouraged from the get go when he gave it to me. The easy install made me happy, wireless worked right out of the install which was the thing I was most concerned about.

I just added Serenity to my *buntu counter and linux counter accounts. Now if I can only remember how to do file sharing between my desktop and laptop via dolphin, then I can start copying over configuration files for things like Firefox and KDE.

I've also officially marked her as mine now, I put a sticker for one of my favorite bands on the outside of her case.

[dibl]

Re: A birthday story in which Toshiba is Tricksy, but otherwise all is good.

Nice to know - thanks! And Happy Birthday!

I have decided that the Asus Eee PC that I bought last year is just too small, keyboard-wise. The screen is not much, either, only 400 pixels high. It worked well enough when I took it to Germany, but my fat fingers just can't get happy with that itty-bitty keyboard. Probably sometime next year, before I go to Europe again, I'll spring for a notebook that's got a keyboard I can actually type on. Maybe a Toshiba ...

[DeathKitten]

Re: A birthday story in which Toshiba is Tricksy, but otherwise all is good.

I had been looking at netbook options for a while, but when my boyfriend bought one and I tried it out, I decided the small keyboard and screen would drive me crazy. While I'm not exactly a tiny person (5'10" tall, with some curve), I do have long spindly fingers, which usually leaves me happy enough on small keyboards, but the Acer Aspire my boyfriend has is entirely too small.

In general though, I'm not a fan of laptop keyboards and touch pads. I had to buy myself a mouse to make my new laptop usable. It was a pretty one, and just like the one I use on my desktop, other than the pretty pretty pattern on the new one (they didn't offer the patterns when I bought the first one). It's a Logitech V220.

[arist]

Re: A birthday story in which Toshiba is Tricksy, but otherwise all is good.

Now if I can only remember how to do file sharing between my desktop and laptop via dolphin, then I can start copying over configuration files for things like Firefox and KDE.

You do know about Little Girl's how-to, right? (http://mostlylinux.wordpress.com/network/nfshowto/) It's exactly what you need for this.

Sounds like a great birthday.

Probably sometime next year, before I go to Europe again, I'll spring for a notebook that's got a keyboard I can actually type on. Maybe a Toshiba ...

I did a lot of shopping for a netbook, with the keyboard being my first priority. I'm fairly certain that the HP Mini 1000 has by far the best, with a nearly full-size keyboard, and no weird layout. Mine is the 1035NR, which I just saw advertised for $350, but I believe they all have the same keyboard. 10.2" screen (1024x600) is adequate, but if I'm home and want more than two windows open on a desktop I'll move to the box. It's a trade-off for the light weight. Runs Hardy just fine. Worked great in Germany this summer!

[dibl]

Re: A birthday story in which Toshiba is Tricksy, but otherwise all is good.

Thanks arist! HP is always a good choice!

[DeathKitten]

Re: A birthday story in which Toshiba is Tricksy, but otherwise all is good.

Now if I can only remember how to do file sharing between my desktop and laptop via dolphin, then I can start copying over configuration files for things like Firefox and KDE.

You do know about Little Girl's how-to, right? (http://mostlylinux.wordpress.com/network/nfshowto/) It's exactly what you need for this.

Is it just me, or is vim and vi a pain to use? I was attempting to follow the directions on that page, but instead of doing it the hard way, frelling around with two computers at once, I decided I should attempt to do it via ssh on the command line... which was all well and good until I got to the part where I needed to start editing the files, and was attempting to use vi and vim to do it.

I don't suppose anyone has a stupid person's guide to using vim, do they? I attempted to google for some help, but either I'm a bleeding moron, or there is just nothing that makes any sense that I could find to help me.

[Ole Juul]

Re: A birthday story in which Toshiba is Tricksy, but otherwise all is good.

Why not use something else? I personally like small and even esoteric editors, but I come from DOS which has very many more choices of that kind. AFAIK vi was written specifically for veeeery slow connections to a server where instant editing was not possible. There is no really good reason to use it now unless one actually likes it - which is a very good reason. In the lean and mean category, I found "ne" to be my favourite so far. Other suggestions, and everyone has lots, are e3, aee, joe, and nano (pico). Suit yourself. I just wanted to give you support in your feelings toward vi.

PS: Since my main "writing" machine runs DOS, as do other I've found that regular old FTP works really well for transferring files around my various machines. All OSs support it and it's really really easy to deal with on the command line.

[arist]

Re: A birthday story in which Toshiba is Tricksy, but otherwise all is good.

Is it just me, or is vim and vi a pain to use? I was attempting to follow the directions on that page, but instead of doing it the hard way, frelling around with two computers at once, I decided I should attempt to do it via ssh on the command line... which was all well and good until I got to the part where I needed to start editing the files, and was attempting to use vi and vim to do it.

That looks to me like the hard way. I will use vi and ssh to edit files on a remote server when I'm not on my own computer, but not when the remote computer is right next to me. I guess I don't see what's hard about having the desktop keyboard and the laptop side-by-side.

I don't suppose anyone has a stupid person's guide to using vim, do they? I attempted to google for some help, but either I'm a bleeding moron, or there is just nothing that makes any sense that I could find to help me.

I doubt that there is such a thing: vi and stupid are mutually exclusive. But the problem isn't you: I think it's just a radically different approach to editing text. I learned vi only because 30 years ago it was almost the only way to write in Unix, and I probably know how to use 10% of its capabilities. It is, as they say, powerful: you can do a lot of editing very quickly. And once you make that shift in perspective, it's rather neat. But as Ole Juul says, there are other editors that look less alien to people used to editing in a GUI. I like nano, but prefer vi.

Here's a vi tutorial that appears both comprehensible and comprehensive: http://www.yolinux.com/TUTORIALS/Lin...vanced_vi.html .

OT: One of the things I love about the Kino video editor is that you can use vi keyboard commands. I can edit an hour of video with my hands never leaving the keyboard, and it's so much faster and more precise than using the mouse.

[DeathKitten]

Re: A birthday story in which Toshiba is Tricksy, but otherwise all is good.

Is it just me, or is vim and vi a pain to use? I was attempting to follow the directions on that page, but instead of doing it the hard way, frelling around with two computers at once, I decided I should attempt to do it via ssh on the command line... which was all well and good until I got to the part where I needed to start editing the files, and was attempting to use vi and vim to do it.

That looks to me like the hard way. I will use vi and ssh to edit files on a remote server when I'm not on my own computer, but not when the remote computer is right next to me. I guess I don't see what's hard about having the desktop keyboard and the laptop side-by-side.

I think the reason I think it's easier to do all my editing via the command line from one machine is that my computer desk setup for my desktop computer doesn't leave me any space to set my laptop down next to it. I created a custom solution from shelving I purchased at The Container Store to put together something that specifically left me with a minimal amount of extra surface space due to my tendency to clutter up flat surfaces.

I will explore the other options recommended to me in this thread and see if one of them makes more sense to me. Thanks!

[Ole Juul]

Re: A birthday story in which Toshiba is Tricksy, but otherwise all is good.

I too find setting up my machines easier with the CLI. In fact (as you can imagine) being a DOS head, I have a distinct distaste for GUIs and actually believe that a GUI is more difficult. They are way too confusing and generally incomprehensible to a beginner - certainly this one. Anyway, I find that using ftp and telnet (locally safe) to all the machines around the house is quite elegant, all I need, and there are 16 bit DOS versions so half my machines don't get left out by using modern protocols. BTW, you know that Kate can be started from the command line too eh? It's a nice editor for html but to my taste since it is bigger than a whole operating system ( by probably several orders of magnitude) I can't quite bring myself to use it most of the time.

Regarding desk space: I put one of those swing arms off the wall and put my kbd and scrn on it. No desk at all!

Cheers,
Ole

[GreyGeek]

Re: A birthday story in which Toshiba is Tricksy, but otherwise all is good.

...
Probably sometime next year, before I go to Europe again, I'll spring for a notebook that's got a keyboard I can actually type on. Maybe a Toshiba ...

I've been very pleased with my Sony VAIO VGN-FW140E/H notebook. 3GB RAM, GM45 video. Chicket keyboard. The 100X900 screen is gorgeous and the Dolby sound is very nice. Thin. Light.

[DeathKitten]

Re: A birthday story in which Toshiba is Tricksy, but otherwise all is good.

I too find setting up my machines easier with the CLI. In fact (as you can imagine) being a DOS head, I have a distinct distaste for GUIs and actually believe that a GUI is more difficult. They are way too confusing and generally incomprehensible to a beginner - certainly this one. Anyway, I find that using ftp and telnet (locally safe) to all the machines around the house is quite elegant, all I need, and there are 16 bit DOS versions so half my machines don't get left out by using modern protocols. BTW, you know that Kate can be started from the command line too eh? It's a nice editor for html but to my taste since it is bigger than a whole operating system ( by probably several orders of magnitude) I can't quite bring myself to use it most of the time.

Regarding desk space: I put one of those swing arms off the wall and put my kbd and scrn on it. No desk at all!

Cheers,
Ole

I tried opening kate from the command line for the remote file, but it gave me an error about not being able to communicate with the x server.

For HTML I was in love with Quanta, but since the switch to KDE 4, it seems the project has either been put on a back burner or deserted... as it hasn't been updated for KDE 4 yet. *pout* Next time I have a HTML project to work on, I'll see what kate can do for me. I've been using it more and more for editing my system files on local machines, so I might as well see if it's any good for anything else.

[Ole Juul]

Re: A birthday story in which Toshiba is Tricksy, but otherwise all is good.

Oops on the Kate. I was not thinking about the remote part when I said that, sorry.

Regarding html editing, I do very little, but my sweetie does a lot. She uses bluefish or pspad which apparently runs fine under wine. To her an important part is to work well with tidy which I don't think Quanta does. I guess it depends on your coding style too. I'm an amateur in that department. To me Kate is good for html and I would think that a pro would like it too since it's a good editor and has excellent html tag highlighting to remind you of open tags etc. For regular editing in Linux I've fallen in love with ne, which incidentally has a choice of several key-stroke interfaces including vi. BTW, you just hit the ESC key to get a dropdown menu. sudo apt-get install ne if you want to go there.
- Ole