My experience with Ubuntu...not great
Microbe
I thought I would share my experience installing Ubuntu. As
background, I am the guy friends, family and neighbours call when they
have trouble with their Windows PC and am pretty good at it. I can
also find my way around a Linux terminal OK.
Having read about how good desktop Linux is nowadays I thought it was
time to give it a go.
The install of 9.10 was easy as you could want. The whole thing works
well and boots and shuts down quick smart.
I should add that the computer I was experimenting on is in my shed
(don't ask!) so not much at stake. All i do is listen to music, Skype
sometimes and look up something about my latest tinker project.
Well, the first problem was listening to music. MP3s were associated
with the movie player. I managed to sort that out easy enough but
even when I pointed MP3s at Rhythmbox, no go...it can't play layer1
MP3s or something. Not a good start.
OK, let's get Skype going. I downloaded the proper version only to
have the install fail with the friendly message about a dependency
needing dbus >= 4.3 I think it was. At this point I can imagine the
average mug giving up and I wouldn't blame them, but I was
determined.
It took me a while to find dbus to download but I did it. Oh shucks,
it depended on something or another XML. I grabbed that and guess
what...on and on it went. It was just too hard.
The long and short of it is that I never did get skype or music
working and can only assume that the idea that Linux is ready as a
windows replacement for the average punter is someone's fantasy.
It is a shame really because there needs to be an alternative (apart
from a Mac) but right now, this isn't it.
This is not meant as a troll, I am genuinely disappointed and look
forward to hearing from people about what you think...maybe even some
solutions, but I fear it is going to be ongoing dramas every time I
try to install something.
Which reminds me, a couple of games I from the built in installer?
Guess what....
Over to you, penguins.
--
ubuntu-au mailing list
ubun...@lists.ubuntu.com
https://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/ubuntu-au
Ishwor Gurung
2009/11/4 Microbe <xxxmic...@gmail.com>:
> Hey folks,
>
> I thought I would share my experience installing Ubuntu. As
> background, I am the guy friends, family and neighbours call when they
> have trouble with their Windows PC and am pretty good at it. I can
> also find my way around a Linux terminal OK.
>
> Having read about how good desktop Linux is nowadays I thought it was
> time to give it a go.
>
> The install of 9.10 was easy as you could want. The whole thing works
> well and boots and shuts down quick smart.
>
> I should add that the computer I was experimenting on is in my shed
> (don't ask!) so not much at stake. All i do is listen to music, Skype
> sometimes and look up something about my latest tinker project.
>
> Well, the first problem was listening to music. MP3s were associated
> with the movie player. I managed to sort that out easy enough but
> even when I pointed MP3s at Rhythmbox, no go...it can't play layer1
> MP3s or something. Not a good start.
libmad - http://www.underbit.com/products/mad/ (Choose one you like
down the bottom). Use Ubuntu's package manager called Synaptic to
install any software that are provided by a particular software
repository. http://packages.ubuntu.com/karmic/libmad0 has mad so you
need to install libmad0 using Synaptic. If you prefer command line
then -
$ aptitude install libmad0; as root.
> OK, let's get Skype going. I downloaded the proper version only to
> have the install fail with the friendly message about a dependency
> needing dbus >= 4.3 I think it was. At this point I can imagine the
> average mug giving up and I wouldn't blame them, but I was
> determined.
http://packages.ubuntu.com/karmic/libdbus-1-3. That's in Karmic. I
don't know how/why its asking for >= 4.3.
> It took me a while to find dbus to download but I did it. Oh shucks,
> it depended on something or another XML. I grabbed that and guess
> what...on and on it went. It was just too hard.
Yep. Always try and use a package manager _unless_ the need be for
source install.
> The long and short of it is that I never did get skype or music
> working and can only assume that the idea that Linux is ready as a
> windows replacement for the average punter is someone's fantasy.
Ubuntu software repository should have Skype.
> It is a shame really because there needs to be an alternative (apart
> from a Mac) but right now, this isn't it.
>
> This is not meant as a troll, I am genuinely disappointed and look
> forward to hearing from people about what you think...maybe even some
> solutions, but I fear it is going to be ongoing dramas every time I
> try to install something.
Most of the time, if you don't screw around manually with dpkg, it
should be fine unless you take some time to read man pages. Use the
packages provided by Ubuntu always as a first means unless source
installation is needed.
> Which reminds me, a couple of games I from the built in installer?
> Guess what....
>
> Over to you, penguins.
I thought we became tuz already. ;-)
--
Regards,
Ishwor Gurung
Lisa Milne
1.
Follow the instructions at https://help.ubuntu.com/community/Medibuntu
to add the medibuntu repository (which has skype in it)
2.
go to System -> Administration -> Synaptic Package Manager
3.
Search for skype in synaptic, check box next to it to install it
4.
search for ubuntu-restricted-extras in synaptic, check box next to it to
install it
5.
click Apply
6.
Do whatever you want while the system downloads and installs skype, as
well as a pile of media codecs, flash, and java, and any dependencies
they have.
7.
listen to mp3's, use skype, etc.
Instead of Synaptic you can also use Applications -> Ubuntu Software
Centre to do the installing if you like.
HTH
Lisa
Paul Gear
...
Well, the first problem was listening to music. MP3s were associated with the movie player. I managed to sort that out easy enough but even when I pointed MP3s at Rhythmbox, no go...it can't play layer1 MP3s or something. Not a good start.libmad - http://www.underbit.com/products/mad/ (Choose one you like down the bottom). Use Ubuntu's package manager called Synaptic to install any software that are provided by a particular software repository. http://packages.ubuntu.com/karmic/libmad0 has mad so you need to install libmad0 using Synaptic. If you prefer command line then - $ aptitude install libmad0; as root.
...
OK, let's get Skype going. I downloaded the proper version only to have the install fail with the friendly message about a dependency needing dbus >= 4.3 I think it was. At this point I can imagine the average mug giving up and I wouldn't blame them, but I was determined.http://packages.ubuntu.com/karmic/libdbus-1-3. That's in Karmic. I don't know how/why its asking for >= 4.3.It took me a while to find dbus to download but I did it. Oh shucks, it depended on something or another XML. I grabbed that and guess what...on and on it went. It was just too hard.Yep. Always try and use a package manager _unless_ the need be for source install.
I suggest you also use System -> Administration -> Software Sources to enable the universe, multiverse, and partner repositories before doing this - then Skype (and almost everything else you'll ever need) should just show up in there as well.
This is not meant as a troll, I am genuinely disappointed and look forward to hearing from people about what you think...maybe even some solutions, but I fear it is going to be ongoing dramas every time I try to install something.
Hope this helps - welcome to Ubuntu, and i hope your experience improves as you learn and explore!
Regards,
Paul
David Fawcett
Hey folks,
I thought I would share my experience installing Ubuntu. As
background, I am the guy friends, family and neighbours call when they
have trouble with their Windows PC and am pretty good at it. I can
also find my way around a Linux terminal OK.
Having read about how good desktop Linux is nowadays I thought it was
time to give it a go.
Sorry you've had a hard time of it, but good for you for checking it out.
Now lets see to these issues eh?
Well, the first problem was listening to music. MP3s were associated
with the movie player. I managed to sort that out easy enough but
even when I pointed MP3s at Rhythmbox, no go...it can't play layer1
MP3s or something. Not a good start.
Many people don't realise that MP3 is actually isn't an open source codec.
Due to these licensing restraints Ubuntu can't offer MP3 support out of the box.
That may be why you can't play MP3's because the codec has not been installed as yet.
Personally I like to use VLC. http://www.videolan.org/vlc/download-ubuntu.html
OK, let's get Skype going. I downloaded the proper version only to
have the install fail with the friendly message about a dependency
needing dbus >= 4.3 I think it was. At this point I can imagine the
average mug giving up and I wouldn't blame them, but I was
determined.
It took me a while to find dbus to download but I did it. Oh shucks,
it depended on something or another XML. I grabbed that and guess
what...on and on it went. It was just too hard.
Dependency hell is what that is called and it's easily avoided by either using the Software Center or downloading .deb packages.
That being said I was unable to replicate your fault.
I noticed that a few people have suggested using the software center already but I used the following link without any problems: http://www.skype.com/intl/en/download/skype/linux/choose/
For your reference I downloaded and installed the Ubuntu 8.10+ 32 bit .deb package without any issues.
Lastly it's a Skype beta and pointing the finger at your OS for issues with a beta product isn't really a fair call. ;)
Aryan Ameri
> OK, let's get Skype going. I downloaded the proper version only to
> have the install fail with the friendly message about a dependency
> needing dbus >= 4.3 I think it was. At this point I can imagine the
> average mug giving up and I wouldn't blame them, but I was
> determined.
One of the habits that Windows users find difficult to shake off when
using Debian/Ubuntu is installing applications directly from the
provider. In Debian/Ubuntu, we really don't install software from the
provider directly. Rather, we let another developer, usually someone
from Ubuntu or a third party developer, 'package' the software for us,
to make sure that it works with our distro, that security is being
maintained, and that newer versions of the application are automatically
installed. This has many advantages. In fact, the biggest reason my
girlfriend loves Ubuntu is that all updates for all applications happen
in one central place, and she doesn't have to worry about this program
and that program always wanting to update themselves.
In order to get mp3 playback and skype etc. working on Ubuntu, as others
have suggested, you need to add the Medibuntu repository to your list of
repositories (this can't be added to Ubuntu by default because it covers
software such as mp3 which is covered by software patents in the US and
therefore can't be legally distributed there). You should also install
the package called 'Ubuntu-restricted-extra' to get Java and Adobe Flash
and some other desktop necessities working.
One good place to start is this blog post called "10 Useful Things to Do
After Installing Karmic Koala". I don't recommend doing all those 10
things, but doing 1, 3, 5, and 6 is probably a very good idea to have a
usable Ubuntu system.
http://www.omgubuntu.co.uk/2009/10/10-useful-things-to-do-after-installing.html
Oh, and BTW, welcome to Ubuntu! Hope you like it out here.
Cheers
--
Aryan Ameri
Giles Richardson
i totaly agree that it can be a bit of a workaround to get some of those
things going that is if u dont know about this script: prefectbuntu just
type than into your firefox address bar (it will take you
to:http://www.category5.tv/linux_scripts/perfectbuntu.php) and click the
download button it will then bring it up as a page which u can just
save(no extention required) once you have saved it go to it in the
file-browser right cick>properties then go to the permisions tab and
check the allow execution tickbox, close the properties window then
click on the script and click run in terminal. this should setup
everything that you choose and all work(only downside is firefox may
call its self shiretoko but wil still work fine)
Gilles Richardson
Paul Gear
> ...
> One good place to start is this blog post called "10 Useful Things to Do
> After Installing Karmic Koala". I don't recommend doing all those 10
> things, but doing 1, 3, 5, and 6 is probably a very good idea to have a
> usable Ubuntu system.
>
> http://www.omgubuntu.co.uk/2009/10/10-useful-things-to-do-after-installing.html
Latitude D830) on jaunty (i haven't upgraded yet), i found #2
(installing the proprietary driver for my NVIDIA graphics card)
essential. If i didn't, dual screen never worked, and neither did power
management.
I've also got to say that #3 & #5 are less than useful to me - i want
minimal distractions on my desktop, so i use the icewm window manager,
which provides similar features with a lot less visual noise.
(Admittedly, i'm a little old-fashioned, and i still do a lot of work in
terminal sessions.)
And #10 is a must! If it's not better than Windows & Mac, why are we
doing this? :-)
Paul
Aryan Ameri
> Aryan Ameri wrote:
> > ...
> > One good place to start is this blog post called "10 Useful Things to Do
> > After Installing Karmic Koala". I don't recommend doing all those 10
> > things, but doing 1, 3, 5, and 6 is probably a very good idea to have a
> > usable Ubuntu system.
> >
> > http://www.omgubuntu.co.uk/2009/10/10-useful-things-to-do-after-installing.html
> I've also got to say that #3 & #5 are less than useful to me - i want
> minimal distractions on my desktop, so i use the icewm window manager,
> which provides similar features with a lot less visual noise.
> (Admittedly, i'm a little old-fashioned, and i still do a lot of work in
> terminal sessions.)
[..]
I still do a lot of work in terminal as well, and I freely admit that
Compiz doesn't add anything to usability, it's just a gimmick. A pretty
cool one though.
There was a time I used to care about memory usage and running a lean
and light desktop, but these days frankly RAM is so cheap that I just
don't care anymore. I've thrown 8 GB at this machine I built recently,
and it barely cost me a grand. Most of the time, I'm not even using a
fourth of my ram.
Gnome Do on the other hand, I think is an absolute must. It's so much
easier to launch programs by just hitting a keystroke and typing the
first two letters of the program, than to use menu/mouse and hunt for
the application in the menu. I believe Gnome Do has been a major
inspiration for Gnome Shell, which will appear in Gnome 3.0, so I guess
the Gnome developers felt the same way about it!
Nevertheless, the good thing about Linux is that it gives you choice. I
was once an Enlightment user, then a die-hard KDE fan, and now I find
myself using Gnome. I've also used LXDE and XFCE at various times.
Choice is good, it's the underlying strength behind OSS and I love it!
Cheers
--
Aryan Ameri
Dave Hall
> > ...
> > One good place to start is this blog post called "10 Useful Things to Do
> > After Installing Karmic Koala". I don't recommend doing all those 10
> > things, but doing 1, 3, 5, and 6 is probably a very good idea to have a
> > usable Ubuntu system.
> >
> > http://www.omgubuntu.co.uk/2009/10/10-useful-things-to-do-after-installing.html
Is #6 the latest attempt at automatrix with most of the same problems?
> That was an interesting read. I have to say that for my laptop (a Dell
> Latitude D830) on jaunty (i haven't upgraded yet), i found #2
> (installing the proprietary driver for my NVIDIA graphics card)
> essential. If i didn't, dual screen never worked, and neither did power
> management.
I have a dell d830 as well. I went with the intel video card. I have
full compiz running without any problems. I have found karmic is pretty
good on my laptop. I have dual screens working without a problem,
either in the d-dock, with a projector or external LCD. Dual 1920x1200
with wobbly windows is always nice :)
It was stabler 2 weeks before launch than at launch, but that seems to
be the way with ubuntu releases from dapper onwards - it goes downhill
from the beta as rushed fixes introduce regressions.
Cheers
Dave
Paul Gear
...
That was an interesting read. I have to say that for my laptop (a Dell Latitude D830) on jaunty (i haven't upgraded yet), i found #2 (installing the proprietary driver for my NVIDIA graphics card) essential. If i didn't, dual screen never worked, and neither did power management.I have a dell d830 as well. I went with the intel video card. I have full compiz running without any problems. I have found karmic is pretty good on my laptop. I have dual screens working without a problem, either in the d-dock, with a projector or external LCD. Dual 1920x1200 with wobbly windows is always nice :)
Sounds like the way to go - tried any games needing 3D acceleration? I play a lot of games with my kids - they love playing Spring RTS and Runescape MMORPG, both of which seem to eat video cards for breakfast, and no matter how good a machine i throw at them, it never seems to be enough. I'd be a bit concerned that the Intel card wouldn't have the raw grunt to handle those sort of things.
Paul
Microbe
someone would do something about it.
Deciding to persevere I have been trying to install Medibuntu for the
last 24 hours based on suggestions (thanks!)
Sure it starts off OK...then
Ign http://archive.ubuntu.com karmic-security/multiverse Packages
Ign http://archive.ubuntu.com karmic-security/multiverse Sources
Err http://archive.ubuntu.com karmic/main Packages
404 Not Found
Err http://archive.ubuntu.com karmic/restricted Packages
404 Not Found
Err http://archive.ubuntu.com karmic/main Sources
404 Not Found
etc etc etc
That's today. Yesterday it was that security.ubuntu.org (from memory)
could not be found.
Sorry people, but despite your best efforts right now Ubuntu is just
for geeks.
Being obstinate and because I enjoy learning to overcome these sort of
obstacles I am still going to keep trying, but there is no way I would
recommend Ubuntu to anyone as a Windows replacement.
Daniel Mons
The problems you are having are not "geek" problems. They are
popularity problems.
Karmic has just been released. Like the last 5 releases, the worldwide
mirrors hosting the data are under huge stress from people upgrading
(both in terms of bandwidth issues, and trying to keep up to date with
the master repos). The popularity of Ubuntu is massive and growing, and
the infrastructure hosting it is struggling.
As any good marketing person will tell you, in business there are
problems you DON'T want, and problems you DO want. Being "too popular"
is a problem you DO want, as it's something you can fix over time.
As for Ubuntu not being good enough for geeks - a few years back I
helped a local Brisbane PC sales place sell systems with Ubuntu on them.
I got a support call one day from an elderly lady in Rockhampton who
had installed Ubuntu herself and had troubles connecting to the
internet. Upon query, it turns out she had installed it fine, and was
merely checking that it was safe to plug in the network cable from her
ADSL router to her PC.
This same octogenarian had many troubles installing Windows, as she
couldn't figure out how to load drivers properly (versus Ubuntu which
worked "out of the box"). I don't blame her, as hunting down
third-party drivers is quite stressful for non-technical people.
If an 80 year old grandmother with zero technical experience can install
and configure Ubuntu Linux, I think it passes the test with flying
colours. You on the other hand are confusing your 10+ years of being a
Windows end-user with the software being "easier". ArsTechnica covers
this in their article, titled "Confusing familiarity with superiority"
To solve your problem above, be patient. Over the next 30 days the
tidal wave of users (80 million was the number I heard thrown around at
Canonical) will die down, and the mirrors will return to normal. If
however you can't be patient, then by all means return to the software
you are more familiar with. Ubuntu Linux certainly isn't going any
where (it's only going to get bigger) and will be here when you are
ready to return and trial it with an open mind.
For what it's worth, some would probably consider me an "expert" Linux
user (10+ years of commercial Linux server experience, 7+ years of
commercial Linux desktop experience). This email is being typed in 9.04
Jaunty, which will stay on my systems for another 30 days before I
migrate to Karmic. Why? Because it'll be a whole lot easier to do when
the mirrors are zippy (and up to date) again, and the masses have
stopped smashing the tubes. Even being an "expert" won't magically rid
me of http 404 messages. :)
-Dan
Paul Gear
> ...
> To solve your problem above, be patient. Over the next 30 days the
> tidal wave of users (80 million was the number I heard thrown around at
> Canonical) will die down, and the mirrors will return to normal. If
> however you can't be patient, then by all means return to the software
> you are more familiar with. Ubuntu Linux certainly isn't going any
> where (it's only going to get bigger) and will be here when you are
> ready to return and trial it with an open mind.
>
> For what it's worth, some would probably consider me an "expert" Linux
> user (10+ years of commercial Linux server experience, 7+ years of
> commercial Linux desktop experience). This email is being typed in 9.04
> Jaunty, which will stay on my systems for another 30 days before I
> migrate to Karmic. Why? Because it'll be a whole lot easier to do when
> the mirrors are zippy (and up to date) again, and the masses have
> stopped smashing the tubes. Even being an "expert" won't magically rid
> me of http 404 messages. :)
If your ISP has a good local mirror [1], it's worth switching to that in
System > Administration > Software Sources. If that doesn't work, try
another Australian mirror from the list. I find iiNet's stays pretty
well up to date and is reasonably reliable lately.
Paul
[1] You can find out whether it's "good" here:
https://launchpad.net/ubuntu/+archivemirrors
Aryan Ameri
> Damn I wish I had blogged my entire experience with this - maybe
> someone would do something about it.
>
> Deciding to persevere I have been trying to install Medibuntu for the
> last 24 hours based on suggestions (thanks!)
>
> Sure it starts off OK...then
>
> Ign http://archive.ubuntu.com karmic-security/multiverse Packages
> Ign http://archive.ubuntu.com karmic-security/multiverse Sources
> Err http://archive.ubuntu.com karmic/main Packages
> 404 Not Found
> Err http://archive.ubuntu.com karmic/restricted Packages
> 404 Not Found
> Err http://archive.ubuntu.com karmic/main Sources
> 404 Not Found
>
What exactly does getting a 404 error have to do with the subject of
this thread?
Or do you recommend people not to use windows when they come across a
404 as well?
Maybe Ubuntu isn't for everyone, after all...
--
Aryan Ameri
Daniel Mons
> If your ISP has a good local mirror [1], it's worth switching to that in
> System > Administration > Software Sources. If that doesn't work, try
> another Australian mirror from the list. I find iiNet's stays pretty
> well up to date and is reasonably reliable lately.
>
> Paul
>
> [1] You can find out whether it's "good" here:
> https://launchpad.net/ubuntu/+archivemirrors
Particularly around release time, iiNet have a bad habit of falling
behind (often up to 3 days from the main mirror). Not that I blame them
(they're providing the service for free, after all). What happens is
the main manifests are usually up to date, but attempting to
install/upgrade packages results in a 404 when the exact version of the
software the manifest points to is missing.
As before, the solution to release-time 404s for me continues to be
"wait until 30 days after a release". The other upside to that is any
release-day bugs (which objectively speaking are common, despite the
effort that goes into betas and RCs) are generally squashed by that
time, and upgrades/new installs tend to go quite smoothly.
No matter what the software, it seems early adopters continue to be my
army of personal beta testers. And I thank them for the service. :)
IKT
http://forums.whirlpool.net.au/forum-replies.cfm?t=1294027
I felt (especially during the days of heavy updates) that the mirror should be rsyncing maybe twice a day just to keep up.
It's harder to test when one of the first things to do is make sure your packages are up to date.
- IKT
Timmy
sounds like your hardware is incompatible
> ubuntu...@lists.ubuntu.comhttps://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/ubuntu-au
Microbe
I can now see why someone described this whole process as dependency
hell.
It is a frustrating tail chasing exercise.
Bye Bye Linux.
I'll be back when you are ready.
Lisa Milne
> Maybe that's it.
>
> I can now see why someone described this whole process as dependency
> hell.
>
> It is a frustrating tail chasing exercise.
>
> Bye Bye Linux.
>
> I'll be back when you are ready.
I tend to think it is more a case of you'll be back when _you_ are
ready. At present you're trying to drive a car as though it were a
motorbike, and blaming the car.
Scott Evans
There is a lot of information on Ubuntu forums, but there is also a lot of mis-guided information there as well, so in some sense you will be told "hey do it this way" then to be told "no don't do that... this is how!" etc... etc... again let recall your first experiences with Linux!
So we should respect that Linux isn't for everyone just yet! (but hopefully one day!)
(Oh here's another thing, the default setting on this list is to reply to the sender! not the list! so another newcomer issue there too!)
|
-- Scott Evans <sc...@vk7hse.hobby-site.org> |
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Brett Hennock
I don't think Ubuntu is at fault here in so much as your understanding is. Don't take that as a criticism, I'm just pointing out that I think your blame is miss placed, and we all have to learn a new system, it's not just inherited.
Firstly I dsisagree, I have been using Ubuntu for over 2 years now and only rarely use Windows, and even then most of the time I just run XP on Virtualbox right on my Linux desktop. I am never going back.
Having said that, the only thing it doesn't do well is games. But again, that's not entirely Ubuntu's fault as much as it is that the games developers either aren't willing to code for the Linux market or are locked into the Windows platform. MY solution is any game I can't run directly on Linux, either natively or via Wine (which I admit I really don't have much success with), then I reboot into Windows to play my games. But as I don't play them as often as I used to then that in itself is rare.
But I'd like to address your specific problems. I don't use Skype but it was my understanding that it was installed by default. I have it installed on mine (9.04 - and working fine), and I didn't install it myself, so I can only assume it was installed by default.
But you said you installed the proper version but then had dependency issues? I really can't work out why because you shouldn't need to deal with dependencies directly at all..... in 2 years I have never once had to manually deal with dependencies, and I have installed alot of apps!. Ubuntu takes care of it automatically. Just go to System>Administration>Synaptic Package Manager and as long as you have a working internet connection, just do a search for Skype, and when it comes up mark it for install and apply. If it does need dependencies it will tell you about them and have you "ok" them. It will then automatically download and install it, and when done you will find it under Applications>Internet (in the case of Skype). It quite literally is as easy as that. Nothing in Windows is that easy.
While we're on it, most applications you'll ever want can be installed the same basic way.
As for your issues with MP3s, are you sure you have installed MP3 support yet? Some people may not realise that Ubuntu cannot, for legal reasons, come pre-installed with the right codecs to play MP3s and commercial DVDs. However, getting this functionality is really very easy.
I thought Rythmbox prompted to install them for you anyway, but there are built in instructions. Just go to System>Help and Support. Or alternatively if you just open Synaptic (see above), and do a search for "restricted extras", and then install the "ubuntu-restricted-extras" package I believe that installs everything you need for Rythmbox, or anything else, to play MP3s.
For setting up DVD playing I recommend the steps in the Ubuntu Help as noted above.
The crux of it is not to be disheartened and blame the operating system because you're not quite understanding the different way it does things. I'm sure I'd be pulling my hair out after 30 mins of playing with a Mac, but that's because I'm not used to the system and how it specifically works. Once I did I'm sure I'd love it.... at least, more than Windows. But I doubt it would ever top my Linux install, I absolutely love it!
MP3s and Skype should have no trouble working universally in Ubuntu regardless the hardware (as long as the hardware is actually working).
I hope some of this helps.
Cheers.
---------------------------------------------------------------------- Message: 1 Date: Sat, 7 Nov 2009 03:13:46 -0800 (PST) From: Timmy <mulli...@gmail.com> Subject: Re: My experience with Ubuntu...not great To: ubun...@lists.ubuntu.com Message-ID: <e152b2e5-0691-4f5a...@u25g2000prh.googlegroups.com> Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1 try it on a different computer sounds like your hardware is incompatible On 4 Nov, 23:00, Microbe <xxxmicrobe...@gmail.com> wrote:Hey folks, I thought I would share my experience installing Ubuntu. ?As background, I am the guy friends, family and neighbours call when they have trouble with their Windows PC and am pretty good at it. ?I can also find my way around a Linux terminal OK. Having read about how good desktop Linux is nowadays I thought it was time to give it a go. The install of 9.10 was easy as you could want. ?The whole thing works well and boots and shuts down quick smart. I should add that the computer I was experimenting on is in my shed (don't ask!) so not much at stake. ?All i do is listen to music, Skype sometimes and look up something about my latest tinker project. Well, the first problem was listening to music. MP3s were associated with the movie player. ?I managed to sort that out easy enough but even when I pointed MP3s at Rhythmbox, no go...it can't play layer1 MP3s or something. ?Not a good start. OK, let's get Skype going. ?I downloaded the proper version only to have the install fail with the friendly message about a dependency needing dbus >= 4.3 I think it was. ?At this point I can imagine the average mug giving up and I wouldn't blame them, but I was determined. It took me a while to find dbus to download but I did it. ? Oh shucks, it depended on something or another XML. ?I grabbed that and guess what...on and on it went. ?It was just too hard. The long and short of it is that I never did get skype or music working and can only assume that the idea that Linux is ready as a windows replacement for the average punter is someone's fantasy. It is a shame really because there needs to be an alternative (apart from a Mac) but right now, this isn't it. This is not meant as a troll, I am genuinely disappointed and look forward to hearing from people about what you think...maybe even some solutions, but I fear it is going to be ongoing dramas every time I try to install something. Which reminds me, a couple of games I from the built in installer? Guess what.... Over to you, penguins. -- ubuntu-au mailing list ubuntu...@lists.ubuntu.comhttps://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/ubuntu-au------------------------------
Samuel Jackson
*** Results 1 - 10 of about 427,000 for play mp3 ubuntu. (0.23 seconds)
Claiming software is not ready when you don't have the foresight to do
a simple websearch? Mmm..
Andrew Swinn
> On Sat, 2009-11-07 at 20:13 -0800, Microbe wrote:
> > Maybe that's it.
> >
> > I can now see why someone described this whole process as dependency
> > hell.
> >
> > It is a frustrating tail chasing exercise.
> >
> > Bye Bye Linux.
> >
> > I'll be back when you are ready.
>
> I tend to think it is more a case of you'll be back when _you_ are
> ready. At present you're trying to drive a car as though it were a
> motorbike, and blaming the car.
This prompted me the think about the whole Linux IS NOT Windows thing.
See http://linux.oneandoneis2.org/LNW.htm
Expecting Linux to behave the same is not correct and it should be said
that there is still a need for awareness and what expectations you
should be setting for your experience/needs.
That document above to be a very good one to point out for anyone
looking for some clarification on this issue and some assistance on what
you should expect.
I also wanted to point out a personal success with Ubuntu 9.10. I have
this old IBM workstation that has always frustrated me because it
wouldn't work with my 1440x900 monitor resolution. Only ever displayed
the 4:3 ratio resolutions (ie 1024x768) and never looked right on a
widescreen. Loaded 9.10 on it yesterday and lo and behold it is
displaying 1440x900 from the get go. A big box full of win for me.
(Note: your experiences will vary greatly, as will be the same in the
Windows world too).
Regards,
Andrew Swinn
Andre Mangan
I agree with you that Ubuntu is absolutely fan-bloody-tastic but ... would someone, please, get out the mosquito lotion or the Glen 20 (that is supposed to kill microbes) to dispatch this irritant who is having fun stirring up the Ubuntu-au community.
"Boy, am I going to be popular ;-)"
Andre
George Patterson
>
> Next!
Yes, Beam me up Scotty, there's no intelligent life here.
David Fawcett
I tend to think it is more a case of you'll be back when _you_ are
ready. At present you're trying to drive a car as though it were a
motorbike, and blaming the car.
Sridhar Dhanapalan
Medibuntu should be straightforward to get going, and it takes care of
all the dependency rubbish that you shouldn't have to think about.
You have asked a reasonable question, but unfortunately some of the
responses have been far more complicated than they should have been.
No wonder you've been scared off.
I don't think that Linux is hard, it's just different. As an open
system, there are lots of ways to do the same thing, but for most
stuff you'll want to do there's a relatively easy way that is
generally recommended by the community. In this instance, it's setting
up the Medibuntu repository and then installing Skype via the normal
Software Centre.
2009/11/8 Microbe <xxxmic...@gmail.com>:
--
Bring choice back to your computer.
http://www.linux.org.au/linux
Microbe
experimentation. But that was my point really.
I have no problem with Ubuntu or Linux as such, my issue was that
Ubuntu in particular is being touted as a windows replacement.
To be successful at that everything has to be REALLY easy for the
mugs. Being the local geek, I do family and friends tech support so I
know how little people really know. They want it to work out of the
box. If they install something e.g. skype, their experience and
expectation is a click or three and it is done.
In this case it was pretty much a nightmare, but as I say to people
"you only learn by doing it" so I persevered and through a few hints
(but no real answer) in the right direction, I solved the problem.
It ended up that the key was to be at a command prompt and use
"aptitude install" but I had to figure to add sudo in front and then
trial and error gave me package names.
Adding audio codecs was similar. Each time I tried to play something
new I had to go get the codec and the process, while not difficult for
someone with geekiness, was not intuitive.
Actually, I think the root of the problem was that nowhere was there
advice to reload repositories in the synaptic program manager. That
seemed to be something that made the difference ultimately...I
think :P
Anyway, where I was about at the point of giving up, I now have Ubuntu
running pretty much as I want it...for a shed :) I figured how to
start firefox on boot, straight to my favourite online radio
(www.abc.net.au/dig) and skype is good so I am happy.
Thanks to everyone who made a suggestion and to the trolls, I assume
you look like one as well :)
Microbe
experience might have been a contribution.
Clearly it isn't seen that way.
Some "community" this is...sigh...
On 8 Nov, 17:04, Andre Mangan <andreman...@gmail.com> wrote:
> Come now folks, this is becoming very much like an evangelistic Sunday night
> meeting where every one has to stand up (after being challenged) to declare
> their allegiance to the one true god who is Ubuntu Linux (as most
> intelligent people would know).
>
> I agree with you that Ubuntu is absolutely fan-bloody-tastic but ... would
> someone, please, get out the mosquito lotion or the Glen 20 (that is
> supposed to kill microbes) to dispatch this irritant who is having fun
> stirring up the Ubuntu-au community.
>
> "Boy, am I going to be popular ;-)"
>
> Andre
>
> 2009/11/8 Andrew Swinn <and...@swinn.id.au>
>
> > On Sun, 2009-11-08 at 15:04 +1000, Lisa Milne wrote:
> > > On Sat, 2009-11-07 at 20:13 -0800, Microbe wrote:
> > > > Maybe that's it.
>
> > > > I can now see why someone described this whole process as dependency
> > > > hell.
>
> > > > It is a frustrating tail chasing exercise.
>
> > > > Bye Bye Linux.
>
> > > > I'll be back when you are ready.
>
> > > I tend to think it is more a case of you'll be back when _you_ are
> > > ready. At present you're trying to drive a car as though it were a
> > > motorbike, and blaming the car.
>
> > This prompted me the think about the whole Linux IS NOT Windows thing.
>
> > Seehttp://linux.oneandoneis2.org/LNW.htm
>
> > Expecting Linux to behave the same is not correct and it should be said
> > that there is still a need for awareness and what expectations you
> > should be setting for your experience/needs.
>
> > That document above to be a very good one to point out for anyone
> > looking for some clarification on this issue and some assistance on what
> > you should expect.
>
> > I also wanted to point out a personal success with Ubuntu 9.10. I have
> > this old IBM workstation that has always frustrated me because it
> > wouldn't work with my 1440x900 monitor resolution. Only ever displayed
> > the 4:3 ratio resolutions (ie 1024x768) and never looked right on a
> > widescreen. Loaded 9.10 on it yesterday and lo and behold it is
> > displaying 1440x900 from the get go. A big box full of win for me.
> > (Note: your experiences will vary greatly, as will be the same in the
> > Windows world too).
>
> > Regards,
>
> > Andrew Swinn
>
> > --
> > ubuntu-au mailing list
> > ubuntu...@lists.ubuntu.com
> >https://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/ubuntu-au
>
>
>
> --
> ubuntu-au mailing list
> ubuntu...@lists.ubuntu.comhttps://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/ubuntu-au
--
Daniel Mons
> I have no problem with Ubuntu or Linux as such, my issue was that
> Ubuntu in particular is being touted as a windows replacement.
By whom?
Ubuntu is not designed to "replace Windows". No Linux distribution is.
I think you'll find that when it comes to development of Linux, the
people actually writing the code generally aren't doing it to replace
some other bit of software, but rather just because they are interested
in developing their own system for their own needs.
Objectively speaking, if you don't like Ubuntu you have two choices:
1) Assist in it's improvement (this can come in all shapes and sizes:
coding, testing, constructive criticism)
2) Stop using it.
Note in (1) the use of the word "constructive". An important point.
Throwing around phrases like "just for geeks" and "not recommending it"
aren't constructive criticism. Instead, jump on Launchpad, create an
account, and start listing the problems you are having and what you
think a better way of doing things are.
Particularly when it comes to small/annoying issues with the user
interface, the "100 papercuts" project is something you should look at:
https://launchpad.net/hundredpapercuts
If all of that is not your cup of tea (and that's fine if it's not -
some people would rather do other things than assist in software
development and that's OK), then feel free to quietly walk away.
Fly-by insults being flung at the Ubuntu-AU mailing list is not the way
to assist anyone at anything ever. Nor is it a way to gain sympathisers
to your issues if at some point in the future you want help.
-Dan
In the scrub
On 7 Nov, 03:40, Microbe <xxxmicrobe...@gmail.com> wrote:
> Damn I wish I had blogged my entire experience with this - maybe
> someone would do something about it.
>
> Deciding to persevere I have been trying to install Medibuntu for the
> last 24 hours based on suggestions (thanks!)
Good Day Microbe ,from a new member on this list and only been using
Ubuntu
for since ver 8 something or other .
Although posting using windows xp & Firefox as a browser (dual
boot)
So had a bit of a smile and thought it was not only me type thoughts .
Not sure if my post will help you But my early experiences were much
the same as yours
When first installed ubuntu ran it from the live disc and thought hey
that works for me .I will install
Then it started a bit like your tale of woe .
I buggered about got all twisted up fiddled with packages grub and
eventually stuffed up things pretty badly .
So out came G parted and I wiped every partition except windows .
Created some free cspace and resized .
Closed down went to bed
Next day (weekend ) started afresh Just installed largest
contiguous space IIRC
shut down rebooted and fiddled with pppoeconf to get connected
started upgrade via
update went and mowed the lawns
Came back needed a reboot because teh machine said so :)
Did that =sweet as a nut EXCEPT NO SOUND !
went to google 3 mins and found the fix ( it was not restricted
packages by the way but an alsa fiddle (now back it appears in 9.10
but cant fix it)
so reverted to earlier version sweet as a nut again .
I am at a bit of a loss when trying to replicate your problems
(using 9.10) on another machine (that I can use without fear of
buggering it up)
Then same thing happened Yikes I said he is right ------------
WRONG it was the upstream provider of our ISP that was having
bottleneck problems both with telstra and singtel ?
Next try at about 3 am No problem .
Thus I fixed things but no idea how :) But reckon it may be some
left over crud from early attempts
Thus G parted and a nice clean install and try again may be the
go ?
> Sorry people, but despite your best efforts right now Ubuntu is just
> for geeks.
I can sense what you feel having thought exactly the same thing
but the problem was my haste and lack of knowledge and no way am I
even close to a geek
And to be honest some of those geek types have really educated me
in nice simple terms
and 99.8% the error was my inability to stop thinking in windows terms
and inputs .
That said you see on a lot of the forums cryptic short hand that is
Linux centric with some of the terminology
Take me away from sudo and apt get then I am lost ---- in some of
the chatter
But I admire how helpful strangers are and so damned fast in
replying with the try this or enter this string and send me x or y
so we can have
a look at it and help etc .
If they are geeks thne they are bloody nice bunch and always in my
experience able to get me out of the spot which increases my learning
curve no end .
> Being obstinate and because I enjoy learning to overcome these sort of
> obstacles I am still going to keep trying, but there is no way I would
> recommend Ubuntu to anyone as a Windows replacement.
You know I have never thought of it (ubuntu) as a 100% windows
replacement
but a very powerful and at last easy to use adjunctive add on .
Perhaps because work forces us to stay with MSOFT gear a fair bit.
I must say my productivity and pleasure at 'puters is now far more
enjoyable .
But every now & then I wonder why do things like sound and soem
graphics printers etc
just work out of the box .
A large part is the drivers but now not as much a pain as say a year
ago EXCEPT LEXMARK
which are just plain deaf to requests and useless
Nvidia came up with a fix after a request and nwo is a blinder on a
24 inch screen (better than when in windows for some reason)
Again not sure this post helps you but you are not alone when
starting down the different path
Not sure what part of the Country you are in but when all else fails
a nip or two of moonshine and a sleep on the problem often fixes it
Just wish at times what I did to come up with that fix :)
However, I have ditched 9.10 and gone back to the version before
and the systems are back to being bullet proof
HTH
Cheers
Cheers
>
> --
> ubuntu-au mailing list
> ubuntu...@lists.ubuntu.comhttps://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/ubuntu-au
--