With all due respect.......

[tym]

I have worked with xp for many years. Know it pretty well. I have helped tons of new users in other forums lots of times. I have surfed a few lynix forums and there is something that just really strikes me as frustrating. Lots of the replys are just way to geeky. And thoes that are asking the question are new users. With lynux google is not your friend. To many versions, to many geeked out replys. I can understand new users just getting flustered and taking lynix out.

I never look at any post count. When someone asks a question, I word my reply in a way anyone can understand it. I assume they can barley find the power button to turn on the computer. Don't use geek terms I use just regular words. There is someone here that has so helped me TONS!! Really got me a great start with lynix. I have only been playing with it a few days. I like to keep it super simple, cause while the geek above me may understand it, a lurker new to computers would be baffled and confused.

I offer an example.

My buttons on firefox keep disapearing.

How would I reply to such a question from someone asking that?

First in kubunu the big "K" button you see. Thats the lynix version of the "start button" you will find in xp.

Now to fix those button issues. Go to.........start......run command.....type in the box without the quotes "kde-window-decorator" . Now currently thats the only fix I know. Seems to be a bug in the new kubunu, until they get it fixed you may want to not to forget that information, In case in happens again. Hope that helped if not ask again and someone else may have a different solution. Hope that helped have a nice day.

Im not trying to give anyone a bad time, I have been guilty of doing the same. Lynix especially new users coming from xp can be really confusing, everything is different.
Just try to help your fellow lynux user make the switch from windows to lynux as painless and simple as possible. Because if lurkers continue to see all the geeked out stuff, I can for sure understand there fear of making the switch. I mean no disrespect to you guys. You sure have helped this new user out TONS!!.

Lynux terms are confusing and make no sense to a windows user. Someone told me one time Hope you use grub boot loader?? Now what in the heck does that mean?? I know now what it means but can you see how it would confuse someone new to lynix?

[aussieskin]

Re: With all due respect.......

With all due respect to you and any new linux users who might be scared away from 'geek talk'...

irst in kubunu the big "K" button you see. Thats the lynix version of the "start button" you will find in xp.

Generally those people who decide to use linux, or install it onto their system and have a go at it, are generally people who know where the power switch is and don't need to be given directions such as 'First turn on your computer... second, insert cd by opening the cd drawer... etc'. Perhaps that was a bad example for you to use, as I am sure if any windows users clicked on that big K they would soon work out what it was. Or are you implying windows users are stupid?
Having said that, if you have a browse through the forums and read some threads you will find that people who don't understand the 'geek talk' only need to point out that they have no idea what someone is talking about and they will get the directions minus as much geek talk as possible.

You say a lurker new to computers would be baffled and confused at all this geek talk. I agree, although the chances of finding someone who is new to computers that would be wanting to install an OS which is not the windows that came with their computer would be fairly slim I imagine.

When I started using linux I had no idea on command lines and all this geek talk. I simple got fed up with windows and all the problems and always needing to fork out huge amounts of money for simple programs. All the codes and commands didn't scare me off. It was a challenge to begin with, and at times still is, but at least when something doesn't work there are always many folk here and on other forums who are always quick to help - no matter what level of 'geek speak' you understand.

Lynux terms are confusing and make no sense to a windows user. Someone told me one time Hope you use grub boot loader?? Now what in the heck does that mean?? I know now what it means but can you see how it would confuse someone new to lynix?

That's right, because Linux and windows are 2 very different systems. But if you don't understand something then ask! Chances are when you first began to use windows you probably had no idea what DOS was... Everyone has to start somewhere.

'with all due respect,,'

[stealthbanana]

Re: With all due respect.......

Because if lurkers continue to see all the geeked out stuff, I can for sure understand there fear of making the switch.

How many times have I seen on help given to windows users that they need to go into the registry? You cannot get much more geeked out (and utterly nonsensical) than that. What is wrong with using plain language configuration files like Linux.

Lynux terms are confusing and make no sense to a windows user. Someone told me one time Hope you use grub boot loader?? Now what in the heck does that mean?? I know now what it means but can you see how it would confuse someone new to lynix?

Never used ntldr? Grub (or Lilo, linloader etc) does the same thing, but a lot more powerful, supporting not just a single OS.

You almost had it at the start of that paragraph. Linux is not Windows. Each uses its own set of tools. Many of us actually prefer the command line for doing stuff, it may be 'geeked out' but is a lot more powerful and usually a lot quicker than doing it via a GUI. In windows you want to check if the PC has wireless, navigate several levels of tab and windows. Linux, type

$ lshw | grep wireless
WARNING: you should run this program as super-user.
        capabilities: bus_master ethernet physical wireless
        configuration: broadcast=yes driver=ndiswrapper+bcmwl5 driverversion=1.45+Broadcom,02/11/2005, 3.100. ip=192.168.1.100 latency=64 module=ndiswrapper multicast=yes wireless=IEEE 802.11g

or many other methods, including GUI. In windows there is usually only one way to do something, Linux often has many ways of doing something. The Command Line is a very powerful tool and as a common denominator in systems will be the method many people give to sort something out.

Another thing i have noticed with linux, is people will often explain what is happening, rather than just saying that you have to do x, y & z to fix it, and usually expect the person asking to have at least attempted to work out the problem themselves, even if only a simple google search.

[claydoh]

Re: With all due respect.......

Another thing to think about is the true ease of describing the whole list of buttons to click, tabs to go to, where they are and all that
as opposed to a simple command that does the same thing.
yes, it may be 'geeky', but it quickly and easily can solve someone's problem.
The command should also be accompanied by an explanation of what it is doing.

I concur with everyone else here about windows registry editing and everything else concerning the differences between the 2 OS's,
I am frequently lost when figuring out some things in XP anymore simply due to lack of use.

I also bet you will find a lot of the people (here and elsewhere) offering these commands to help a situation are far from being geeks

[bgast1]

Re: With all due respect.......

I only joined this forum today, but I have been over at the regular Ubuntu forum and I basically stay in the Absolute Beginner's area. I have been given some geek replies before over there, and I have gone back and replied that I do not understand. I few folks over there basically reply in RTFM. But by and large most folks over there are quite willing to help you at your level.

I was brought up on DOS and for that reason the terminal window is preferred by me, but I bet the idea of using a terminal to someone who has only know GUI has got to be intimidating. This KDE 4 has got me baffled.

[yulester]

Re: With all due respect.......Bgast1

Well - - I'm not at your age level, but I do remember using AutoCad version4 when it could only be run from DOS since 3.1 didn't exist. From there it was a Windows world for me up until a few years ago. I didn't think twice about crawling the registry when digging out all the nasties I had coming into my systems at work. I also did Novell V4 for awhile, so the idea of a more modular OS was appealing to me.

I don't see all the "geek talk" as a problem, but more as a challenge. A perfect example would be the command reference above in this thread

- - sudo lshw | grep wireless

Well - - the command worked, but the results kinda blinked by the screen and disappeared so I tried

- - sudo lshw -class wireless

Hmmmm - - same results. Guess it won't help me at the moment, but I'll figure it out.

My point is that even though some of the folks may come of as 'geeks supreme', they are still here, and we can gather the info regardless. It takes a bit of everyone to make it all work.