Is Linux OS/Kubuntu/KDE desktop too complicated for me??

[Duke_Zuper]

Re: Is Linux OS/Kubuntu/KDE desktop too complicated for me??

I'm glad I found this forum after some minor searching..

My dilemma is this: I've a foundation in Mac OS as I'm a former Graphic Designer. I can make things look pretty, but I hand things off to the "coders" who make it work. Hence, I don't know "squat" about DOS, etc.. BUT, that's not to say that I'm Window's illiterate, but I still know nothing of DOS. I was (unfortunately) able to switch to a Dell computer for many reasons, #1 being the cost of the Mac. But I'm STILL a die hard fan of Mac OS. It's just simpler, easier, and INTUITIVE being a key factor. I'm now working toward Priesthood and am in Seminary, so I'd like things to be easier and more intuitive so I can apply my research toward God as opposed to the computer. The irony here is that the community in the "Holy Arena" predominately uses Macs! (hmmm.. I wonder why!)

Since switching to a Windows environment, I've had to "adapt" to various things which began to introduce me to Open Source Software. Now I've ALWAYS been a fan of Linux/Unix systems for obvious reasons. Primarily stability, secondarily cost. AND EVEN MAC USES UNIX NOW!, but has a monopoly on their OS. I believe in and will choose the collective Godliness of the Open Source Systems versus man's monopoly in corporations ANY DAY! Do I hear an Amen?

So here I am. I've installed Kubuntu 9.10 (AMD 64) on my Dell Inspiron 1525 (by trial and error after reinstalling EVERYTHING, first giving Ubuntu a try and was THOROUGHLY confused and "soured" but found Kubuntu more pleasing). My Laptop has an Intel Pentium Dual CPU T2370 @ 1.73 GHz with 3.00 GB of Ram and a 32-bit Windows Vista Home Premium OS and can dual boot using either systems because I "believe" the computer can handle it. Its also got 250 GB on the HD, so I've plenty of space.

I'm fascinated by Kubuntu's looks and "similar" but familiar ease of usage being that I've noticed a combination feel of Mac AND Windows with it, HOWEVER, I'm confused and perplexed at the difficulty in learning YET ANOTHER system jargon. And yes, I will be reading the information previously posted, however, I do not have the time (nor funds) to invest into buying a book on Ubuntu or Kubuntu (if there's one out there) and will none the less, place my faith in.. (...fill in the blank) and wait to receive the "most righteous" answers to my dilemma... God willing.

But here is a couple of questions I need help with. 1) My wireless isn't working with Kubuntu but I can connect with ethernet; when I want to use wireless, I have to switch to the Windows system. How do I correct this situation? 2) I have no sound when I swim the internet and am in Kubuntu. How do I correct this situation? 3) My wireless mouse doesn't acknowledge being used on YouTube when I want to choose the next video in the video window but can choose off the selection to the right of the video. Is there a way to correct this situation or is it YouTube dependent? 4) How do I put a stop to the annoying prompts of a password EVERY time Amarok wants to open? It says a KDE Wallet Service needs my password. What's a "wallet"? Why should a media program need my password?

Please remember, I'm a BIG noob goober to DOS.

Blessings to you all and the OSS!

[The Liquidator]

Re: Is Linux OS/Kubuntu/KDE desktop too complicated for me??

Hi Duke and welcome.

You should find the starter guide at tuxradar (referred to in my earlier post) a big help with the basics.

One other point is there is a project forked from ubuntu called ubuntu christian edition which you might find of interest. See http://ubuntuce.com/features.htm although the default desktop will be gnome as opposed to KDE.

Don't hesitate to post here if you get stuck with anything.

Ian

[GreyGeek]

Re: Is Linux OS/Kubuntu/KDE desktop too complicated for me??

...
I believe in and will choose the collective Godliness of the Open Source Systems versus man's monopoly in corporations ANY DAY! Do I hear an Amen?

You've just stated the "Tux Doxology"!

So here I am. I've installed Kubuntu 9.10 (AMD 64) on my Dell Inspiron 1525 .....

Excellent choice. Finest bouquet and flavor. 8)

HOWEVER, I'm confused and perplexed at the difficulty in learning YET ANOTHER system jargon. And yes, I will be reading the information previously posted, however, I do not have the time (nor funds) to invest into buying a book on Ubuntu or Kubuntu (if there's one out there) and will none the less, place my faith in.. (...fill in the blank) and wait to receive the "most righteous" answers to my dilemma... God willing.
....

Your prayers have been answered. The Flock (of Penguins) is coming to your aid!

First, if you haven't already, install Synaptic. Leave KPackageKit for the security and other updates that the notifier tells you about. Then, in Synaptic, search for BibleTime and install it. Open its Book Manager and install one or more of the various translations freely available, along with Strong's Hebrew and Greek Concordances, and other aids as you see fit. The writings of Josephus are interesting.

To keep your hand in the graphic arts you might want to try xalarx and xalarx-examples, or Inkscape. If you are really adventureous and want the full power of vector graphics to the point of making animated movies then try blender.

Telengard assembled this excellent collection of Kubuntu & KDE references. You may want to bookmark the online Kubuntu Karmic guide.

Also, to avoid impurity and remain free of Sin, never install MONO, Moonlight or any apps which require them, that your days in LinuxLand may be long and prosperous. Amen!

[Duke_Zuper]

Re: Is Linux OS/Kubuntu/KDE desktop too complicated for me??

Your responses have been quick and I thank you kindly! I'd forgotten to mention that I wanted to install other themes as well, and have downloaded them, but how do I get them to work? They don't typically install themselves as I'm so used to with Mac and Windows. Another question I have (I feel really naive here y'all!) is why doesn't my files show up on the desktop? I've chosen to download to my desktop but nothing shows up.. and in order for me to download Synaptic, how would I install it? Sorry, like I said, I'm a total "noob goober" to this.

[GreyGeek]

Re: Is Linux OS/Kubuntu/KDE desktop too complicated for me??

Under your home account is a directory called "Downloads". That is where your downloads should go if you use FireFox (and set it to download to that directory). The "Desktop" is also a directory under your home account, but the system uses it. I wouldn't store anything in it or make any changes in it using Dolphin or other utilities or use it for your own purposes.

Here is how you can put an application icon on the desktop: First, make sure the widgets are "unlocked". Right click on the desktop or panel and choose "unlock widgets", if they are locked. Click on the "K" gear (same as "Start" in Windows) and navigate to some application you want to put on the desktop. Left mouse on that application, hold the mouse button down, and drag the icon to some spot on the desktop and release it. Or, right mouse on the application in the menu tree and select "Add to Panel". When you are done with your changes right mouse on the desktop or panel and choose "lock widgets". If you want to remove an icon from the desktop hover your mouse over it and a dialog tab will appear next to the icon. Click on the "X" in that tab. The wrench is a settings icon. The circular arrow is a refresh icon. The square box is a resize icon. The configuation tab will not appear IF the widgets are locked.

If you want to rearrange your panel icons, unlock the widgets and click on the "Cashew" on the right end of the panel. A second "panel" will appear above the actual panel. When you move your mouse over an icon on the panel a four pointed icon will appear. Hold your right mouse down and drag the icon to some other place on the panel. When you are done you can click the red "x" on the temporary "panel" and then lock the widgets again.

[The Liquidator]

Re: Is Linux OS/Kubuntu/KDE desktop too complicated for me??

Just to add, linux is not like Windows/Mac in that you will rarely need to trawl the internet for applications as the distro producers have already arranged most of everything you will ever need in repositories and the OS has alraedy been configured to access most of them.

The killer app is synaptic which is probably the best package manager we have. Once you have it installed and can run it I expect much to become clear. The quickest way to install it is to hit alt+F2 and a box will appear. Type in konsole and you will see an icon for that application appear. Click on it. This will open a terminal window. Now please bear with me here, type in the terminal

sudo apt-get update

Hit return. You will be asked for your password, type it in and hit return.

The package lists will then be updated - obviously ensure you are on the 'net.

Then

sudo apt-get install synaptic

It will then offer to install synaptic and all dependencies. type y and hit return and everything will be downloaded and installed. Synaptic will then be available either from the kmenu (it will be in the system section) or by hitting alt+f2 and typing synaptic. No offence but by the time you have typed "syn" the synaptic icon will be visible so so long as you know the program name this can be a very quick way to launch it.

Once it is installed you will be able to browse the available applications and select those you require.
Hope this helps

Ian

[Duke_Zuper]

Re: Is Linux OS/Kubuntu/KDE desktop too complicated for me??

Ian and GreyGeek,

Thanks for your patience and explaining what you've done, however, recent issues have been that I'd get an error message which indicates something not working or opening and as such for whatever reason, I can't even connect to the internet through ethernet at the moment. So, I'm back on Windows right now trying to get things resolved and hopefully something will click.

I'm thinking it might be a conflict with Windows and the system change that is preventing Kubuntu from working on at least the ethernet. (weird!) At the start up of the computer, I use the Gnome boot menu to choose, I wonder if that's causing some conflict (?). I hadn't made any changes to anything particularly because I don't know how to make any changes (yet! :P) and this just started on its own. But never the less, I'm anxious to get Kubuntu off and running smoothly so to release the "claws" of Windows.

Any suggestions as to the newest issue with my system? (not connecting with ethernet as well as wireless) When at least I am able to connect to ethernet again with Kubuntu, I can get Synaptic and get started.

Additionally, I briefly reviewed the Ubuntu Christian site and am anxious to explore more as well. Btw, I previously bought Logos Bible Software, if any of you are familiar with this program, I wonder if you know of any potential problems with it running on Kubuntu. I'd of course check with them also and hope I can use it as well, since it had been running on my Windows system. It might end up staying there.

GreyGeek - when I started the computer this past hour, I'd done pretty much what you'd described, (not sure about the order of events I took,) and I got the files on my desktop. Thanks! Additionally, I'm not quiet sure how I did it, but got some "see through" presentation on my desktop next to the icons which showed me the file names with kind of this "window" effect by just playing and exploring. So far, I'm liking what I'm finding, and I know it's just a matter of time and patience with my learning about what Kubuntu can do.

I have to go back and read the beginner's manual. I'm sure that will help.

Thanks all y'all, for taking the time to teach this "noob goober"! Btw, I like my title under my name: "always learning". Amen!

Blessings to y'all!

[sithlord48]

Re: Is Linux OS/Kubuntu/KDE desktop too complicated for me??

as to not hyjack this thread(not that the OP has returned..) duke you might want to start a new topic for you issues. please be sure to include some basic info such as the output of lspci , lshw and lsmod (run them all in konsole, you can find it in the kmenu). from that point the penguins will flock over and help you resolve your issues.

[Duke_Zuper]

Re: Is Linux OS/Kubuntu/KDE desktop too complicated for me??

Good point. Thanks Sith.