Comments on: Yes, my grandma can run Ubuntu Linux

Can a normal, average person use Ubuntu? You bet.

[kiwibuntu]

My Granddad is 90 and he is using Xubuntu on a PIII. Can anyone beat that? ;-)

My father-in-law is almost 91, and he uses KDE on Fedora (which I've locked down tightly, as he tends to rest his hands on the Alt and Ctrl keys). He loves to send and receive email.

[zelrikriando]

"Despite having root access on the machine, it kept telling me I had insufficient permissions to make the change."

When you write any command line that needs root access to it, put 'sudo' (means Super User Do ...) in the front. As an example this is how you would install pidgin ( an IM client )

sudo apt-get install pidgin

Also if you need to talk to people for any help there is IRC (channel is #ubuntu, server is irc.freenode.net)
You can easily access it from ubuntu by installing xchat :

(in a terminal)

sudo apt-get install xchat

You can also search for xchat in the package manager :)

Hope this helps

[Aeuta]

I think he wanted to edit a specific file outside the terminal interface. Although it can be done inside with sudo it is rather crazy and I still can't do it without sweating. The best option is to open up a sudo gedit.

[DotCommunist]

Synaptic package manager saves you the trouble of installing things through command line, also theming is easy, all you do is go to www.gnome-look.org and look for either a metactiy or gtk2+ theme you like and drag it to the theme window. also if you had this on a PC try installing Compiz Fusion (requires a nice graphics card) and put some effects and cool themes on it. imo compiz is BY FAR better than anything AERO can do on vista.

[Aeuta]

Alright for your problem with the editing specific files...you can't do it directly through the graphic interface (Yet. It is being demanded on Ubuntu brainstorm though...so in the future maybe). But the solution is rather simple type sudo gedit /usr/share/hal/fdi/information/10freedesktop/20-video-quirk-pm-lenovo.fdi this opens "gedit"

which is basically a text editor for the files with root privileges given by sudo...it took me a while to figure that out.

Oh yeah Matt sudo get me a sandwich

[Aeuta]

Again if you have a very specific problem or it takes longer then 15 minutes to search up and enact a solution go to the irc channel, they have cookies.

[miksuh]

"Alright for your problem with the editing specific files...you can't do it directly through the graphic interface"

Why not? You sure can do that in Debian, and I'm sure you can do that in ubuntu too. Here is one way to do it in Debian, you can modify this for the ubuntu:

1) Open Alacarte menu editor and go to Accessories menu
2) Add new menu entry
3) Go to menu entry properties and add these

Name: Root Text Editor
Comment: Edit text files
Command: gksu gedit %U ( or gksu -u root gedit %U )

Click icon selection button and add this icon:
/usr/share/icons/gnome/24x24/apps/text-editor.png

[TimBowden]

Matt, Interesting that you found the experience so easy. In some respects hardened computer users find changing more painful than beginners, because they have well developed ideas about how things should look and act. Perhaps Ubuntu has found the balance between what people are used to and what Linux on the desktop can potentially be.

The biggest hurdle I can see is the lack of experienced linux users out in the wild that can help the more curious and adventurous who want to try out linux. Yes, there are Linux User Groups which provide great support, but that's a small base to work from. It's going to take time. Fortunately it appears Vista is going to give Ubuntu the time it needs to get a critical mass of "non IT" users. Perhaps in a few years we will look back and say Vista was the Ubuntu tipping point.

[3rdalbum]

Your other problem, with enabling desktop effects, is that not all graphics chips are supported. But more of them are than with Vista! For ATI and Nvidia graphics cards, you need the ATI or Nvidia driver installed. The Restricted Drivers Manager can do this for you, but you need to enable the extra repository first.

System > Administration > Software Sources
and then enable all the repos, and when it asks you if you want to update the package list, go to OK.

Then System > Administration > Restricted Drivers Manager
and enable them.

After a reboot, you'll be able to turn on the effects, unless you have a more obscure or Linux-unfriendly card. The vast majority of cards will work though.

[miksuh]

Well my 50 year old mother has been using Debian Etch over a year now. She know nothing about computers and had only used Windows earlier at work. There has been no problems at all using Debian, and that's good because I live about 120km away from her.

[aquaadverse]

Unlike OSX or Windows there are multiple choices for a GUI. It can be a whiz bang like 3D compiz cube or a simple basic one. This is more than the theme switching option on other OS's.

[tobiax]

"my biggest complaint with Ubuntu is that it feels too much like Windows. I use a Mac precisely to get away from the utilitarian ugliness of Windows."
I'm a bit lost as to what makes Ubuntu (GNOME, for those in the know) more like Windows than OS X - I would love for you to elaborate on this.

Other than that, a fantastic test/article on the subject of Linux on the desktop.

[ebozzz]

"The difficulty, however, is that there's precious little assistance available if things go wrong, as most people are Windows drones or Mac OS X people. Yes, there's always Google (i.e., others out on the 'Net), but I was directed to go to the command line so often via this route that I just can't see most people being able to resolve their issues in this way."

The Ubuntu Forum, http://ubuntuforums.org/ , is an excellent resource to use in resolving problem that arise. I have never used Google to search for an Ubuntu answer. For Windows, yes but bot for Ubuntu. Check it out. I think that you find that the "help" is not as limited as you mentioned. There is also an option to pay for support (http://www.ubuntu.com/support) if you are interested.

[safampc]

"All in all, however, I am very impressed with Ubuntu. It still has a ways to go to match Mac OS X in elegance and simplicity. "

You Can Make Linux The Most Stylish And Most Simple

You Can Also Make Linux The Most Crappiest and Most Tough ..

Thats Linux.

[jakey1954]

I am new to ubuntu linux, how can i install my software on linux that works on winxp pro.

[sirjoebob]

one option you may want to look into is WINE. It allows you to install many windows programs (including many games if you have the hardware to support it) and run them in Linux. It is pretty easy to setup and a quick google search will give you all the direction you need to be happily on your way. Good luck and feel free to email me at sirjoebob[at]gmail.com if you have any further questions. Just copy and paste your original post into the email so I will know who it is.