Part 7
Guess the whole Hackergotchi thingy didn't work so between loads of laundry today I will be working on that. Guess what! My Hachergotchi is now working....found out about 8:35pm(yesterday). Wrote the 1st sentence about 6:30am (yesterday). Gimp won a few battles but in the end I at least got a usable Hackergotchi. Now I just have to work on a better on. As soon as I have a better picture. (I left in the work didn't work statements, because I wanted to document that I battled with with Gimp and persistence worked. That and rereading the instructions a million times and being patient with myself.)
I am getting so caught up in learning that there is this whole huge wonderful world of a thing known as the Open Source Community stuff out there and I am being assimilated into an Ubuntu BORG :) (I like it I must say) Hmmmm I thinking this might just be a good thing. Hey, I am less than two weeks in, I think I am doing quite well for not understanding anything about code,scripts,or programming languages because you don't have to to run Ubuntu. All I want is my stuff to work "out of the box" and so far Ubuntu is doing just that. (you just have to apply some updates and use the add/remove tool, but it is easy. (love that tool btw))
(I still have to try Fedora 10, just have to swap out hard drives and see if I can get a disk. I know, I know just download it. I didn't have to do that with Ubuntu, why should I with Fedora. I don't go to the Mac store and they point me to a website, no I purchase a disk and I take it home and install it. Speaking for myself I want a disk not a website to download an operating system. I just don't think I'm there yet, could be wrong)
(In the Spirit of full disclosure if my husband had not given me a disk and that t-shirt I promise I would not be switching OSs right now, fair comparison or not that is just the way it would be, so now I am begging him for a spare computer, I know he has to have one somewhere so I don't have to change out hard drives and go without Ubuntu for a while)
So I found out today there are some places I can buy A DVD for Fedora for $5.00 +/- a few cents.... It was suggested that I use BitTorrent to download Fedora and burn a DVD and that it could be done rather quickly. I have no Idea what BitTorrent is but I am going to find out, and see how well I can burn a DVD with Ubuntu. (I find it funny that I am going to be using one flavor of Linux to get another) (but I'm going to try)
Ok so I was happy about the bug I filed until I got a question back. Basically asking why this was important. I even put in the report it was a Usability Issue with FireFox or at least I thought so. I thought it would be nice if there was a downloads folder in Ubuntu (so you don't have to create it and if Firefox came pre-configured to put the downloads in there. (see early posts I had trouble finding the downloads as I thought it would be like my Mac, little did I know they were all hidden behind the windows on the desktop). I even told them (the bug people)I was a new user.
This is the question I got back..."How is not having a downloads folder a mozilla issue? Ubuntu/nautilus
would be the problem since we don't offer that folder on file system?"
???? I was left scratching my head so I replied with the following, I hope I used the right language and terms.
"I think it is both. Firefox/Mozilla [Ubuntu] should be pre-configured to put things in the downloads folder for ease of transition from other OS systems. SO why can't both teams fix it together. Or can it just be reassigned [to] the [right] package team.
It's a problem on both sides. There needs to be a downloads folder and Firefox needs to be pre-configured to put downloads there.
Since I am a new user, this is one of the issues that made it confusing to switch systems."
[bracketed words added after submission]
MagicFab - Thanks for understanding what I was trying to say about the issues and the bug. I was beginning to feel stupid for suggesting it.
another PS here I'm happy....I HAVE KARMA NOW...(just a little but I think it is sooooo cool) Let me pause to explain how I understand this so, my friends don't think I've lost my mind. I have this Launchpad account, it's where you file bugs for Ubuntu (bugs being problems). When you file bugs and reply and do "stuff" in Launchpad you get Karma. Kinda like in Facebook when you can send Karma to your friends Laundpad gives you Karma for participating in the process of helping make Ubuntu better. I think I got that right, as I understand it for a user of 8 days now.
I'll let you know what happens next...:) I am just happy I figured out how to file what is termed as a Usability Bug vs A Bug that breaks things or causes them not to work. I learned reading on the Ubuntu sites and in #Ubuntu-women, that bugs in OS and applications are different, just like in our homes we have different bugs i.e. spiders, Moths, crickets, etc.. around my house there are different types of bugs in the systems (as in my house) as well, some you can tolerate more than others and some you can't at all. Spiders (to me) are like those bugs that crash a system or applications, to me they need to be eradicated, Moths (again to me) though they are annoying, you can work around them, that I think is what is termed a Usability bug. I'm not a techie (I think that's the word), but I think I understand the bug thing now. Hope that helps the non Technical people understand as well.
With my Mac it just says an error has occurred send apple a report. Sometimes I say yes, most of the time I say No. depends on if I can repeat the error, or if it is Operator Error. :) (you know some silly thing I did to cause the problem, like being impatient)
I used 'sudo' for the 1st time....Thanks to dflock... I would have had no idea what to type in the command line if I hadn't been told what to type.
Here was the command: sudo apt-get install scribus-template create-resources scribus-doc
then all this *magic* stuff happened
Reading package lists... Done
Building dependency tree
Reading state information... Done
The following packages were automatically installed and are no longer required:
linux-headers-2.6.27-7 linux-headers-2.6.27-7-generic python-compizconfig
Use 'apt-get autoremove' to remove them.
The following NEW packages will be installed:
create-resources scribus-doc scribus-template
0 upgraded, 3 newly installed, 0 to remove and 0 not upgraded.
Need to get 9674kB of archives.
After this operation, 20.4MB of additional disk space will be used.
Get:1 http://us.archive.ubuntu.com intrepid/main scribus-doc 1.3.3.9-1 [4384kB]
Get:2 http://us.archive.ubuntu.com intrepid/universe scribus-template 1.2.4.1-2 [1873kB]
Get:3 http://us.archive.ubuntu.com intrepid/universe create-resources 0.1.3-2.1 [3417kB]
Fetched 9674kB in 34s (279kB/s)
Selecting previously deselected package scribus-doc.
(Reading database ... 118958 files and directories currently installed.)
Unpacking scribus-doc (from .../scribus-doc_1.3.3.9-1_all.deb) ...
Selecting previously deselected package scribus-template.
Unpacking scribus-template (from .../scribus-template_1.2.4.1-2_all.deb) ...
Selecting previously deselected package create-resources.
Unpacking create-resources (from .../create-resources_0.1.3-2.1_all.deb) ...
Processing triggers for doc-base ...
Processing 1 added doc-base file(s)...
Registering documents with scrollkeeper...
Setting up scribus-doc (1.3.3.9-1) ...
Setting up scribus-template (1.2.4.1-2) ...
Setting up create-resources (0.1.3-2.1) ...
I have to admit it was quicker than ticking the boxing and picking the stuff, but unless the command had been given to me then I would have had to do it the other way. Again I have to admit *sudo* is still above me/average mom here. Thanks dflock you saved me a ton of time. I'll let you know about the templates and if they work or not.
I think I found a template that might just work. Only thing I have noticed was all the templates are set for A4 paper (European Size Paper I think). However I think I can change that when I set up the template for use. I hope so. (I noticed a lot of "I thinks" in there) I'll keep you informed. Also thanks to D Anderson who pointed me to a great Scribus website. http://scribusstuff.org/Thanks:) Just maybe I'll get my Jan-Feb newsletter out by March now. (to my friends who are wondering what I'm doing, be patient I'll get it out remember; I told you I was learning something new, not to mention I was behind already.:) )
Learned about Identi.ca and mirco-blogging. It's like Twitter and there is and Ubuntu community there.:) I suspect there is one on twitter too, I'll check that out tomorrow.
I tried using BloGTK. I need to do some more research. To figure out how to do the color stuff. I still need to try Drivel also, not giving up yet. Just need to learn. Until then I will stick to what I know and go from there. (you know the KISS method kinda' works best for me, and "if ain't broke don't fix it")
OK Pgraner reminded me, about the "stay at home" mom thing. When he asked,(with a wink and smile) "Are you going to Vacuum anytime this week?" I said jokingly, "I suppose you want the laundry done more than once a week too?" He smiled, "yes that would be nice." I paused mention that because now I understand how easy and exciting the Open Source Community can be. It is as addictive as Facebook. I have to admit, when I got my Mac I did a lot of YELLING "hooooooonnnnneeeyyyyy, why doesn't this do what I am telling it to? Make it do (fill in blank) until I got the hang of a Mac." With Ubuntu I am doing my best to navigate this using the community and the tools available. It is easier that I thought and the community is very helpful to the non-technical person like me.
Enjoy! I know still am! :) Thanks again! More tomorrow (after laundry, and cleaning, oh and cooking dinner...etc... /me winks at pgraner)
Jonathan Thomas: More print-manager progress
51 minutes ago
10 comments:
I may be wrong, but I'm sure that on Windows Fx downloads to the Desktop by default. I'm not sure about Mac, however.
I also don't think this is a bug, due to the fact that it was deliberate. It's more a feature request.
Anyway, I have been enjoying reading about Linux from a Mac user's point of view. It's always good to have criticism. Keep it up!
FYI: Fedora has a free media program
http://fedoraproject.org/wiki/Distribution/FreeMedia
-jef
Alistair,
Thanks! I am learning "Bug" Protocol from the Ubuntu bug reporting page, and oh is there so much to learn...:)
Glad you are enjoying my Blog. I am not meaning to be overly critical. I am just trying to give my honest view point.
Hey Jef!
Thank you! I wondered where you went.:)
I will check out the link.
I'll give my feedback about it tomorrow...
:)
Alistair:
Firefox (er...Ice Weasel) on Debian defaults to (not sure which) either ~/Downloads or ~/Desktop/Downloads
It looks like the normal free media request process is down right now for an upgrade...hmm. That's bitter sweet.
You can't submit a request right now..but it means they'll be able to handle a higher volume of requests with the new system soon.
You'll probably have to get in touch with a human being. The North American lead for the free media program would probably be best and is listed at the bottom of the free media page.
You've got 3 or 4 somewhat late but relevant comments from me in your other blog posts that I wasn't around for.
I'm still very keen on understanding if your suspend/resume problem was caused by an update or if it was an out of the box problem.
Without knowing more about how the problem was introduced all I can do is suggest you read this:
http://people.freedesktop.org/~hughsient/quirk/index.html
The upstream hal-quirks effort that Fedora developers spear headed the formation of is constantly being updated by developers from different linux distributions with new systems that have new quirks. Your husband should know all about it. He's blogged about Canonical's new push to get suspend working better. Do me a favor and pull his ear a little to make sure Canonical continues to send corrections to the upstream hal project so all linux users can benefit.
Fedora made a big push to get suspend/resume working a year ago. But its ongoing work..each combination of hardware out in the wild has a potentially different set of 'quirks' that have to be adjusted for.
But your suspend/resume problem could be something else.. like a video driver problem. Knowing if an update introduced the problem could help figure out what the problem is.
Apple intimately understands how difficult it is to support a wide combination of core hardware components. That's why they don't. Apple computers work as well as they do partly because Apple considers itself a hardware company, and they only release a few computer models, with limited hardware upgrade capabilities and make it very very difficult for you to install OS X on non-branded Apple hardware.
Your a mac user... have you ever used time machine to roll back from a busted mac update? Updates are hard, and the one thing we really don't have in the linux world is a generally accepted best practise for how an end-user like yourself can roll back to a working system if an update causes a problem.
If mac's time machine allows you to do that on a mac, then we need to be taking a really hard look at implementing it as a crucial usability feature to help users like you keep your systems working in the face of update regressions.
-jef
Amber,
I think you misunderstand my wording of "criticism". Critics aren't always negative, criticism is a necessary part of anything. Be it software (free or proprietry), companies, clubs, whatever...and anyone who cannot take it (whether good or bad) shouldn't be doing anything to do with it.
As for bugs...you bet there is a lot to learn. I don't know everything...or anywhere near. But yeah, great work.
Alistair,
You should check to see what the xdg settings are for Debian upstream as well as Ubuntu. Is it deliberate or is it inherited from Debian and Canonical just hasn't really made a decision either way? I don't know. You could find out though.
If you don't like the system wide defaults you can change the config.
In the file /etc/xdg/user-dirs.defaults
you should see a line like this:
DOWNLOAD=_somewhere_
_somewhere_ is replaced by the name of the directory that will act as the download directory.
Fedora has DOWNLOAD=Download
My guess is Ubuntu has DOWNLOAD=Desktop
Does upstream Debian also have DOWNLOAD=Desktop?
If I were a betting man I would bet that firefox on Ubuntu is correctly picking up the xdg download directory setting and running with it.
Fedora's firefox picks up the default xdg setting. I justed editted my system wide default to DOWNLOAD=Desktop created a new user and the new user, logged in as that user and firefox used the Desktop for download.
and another FYI for Amber,
Firefox isn't the only xdg aware application. If you want the other xdg aware applications to use the Download directory as well you'll want to edit your personal xdg directory settings.
Per user settings for existing users can be found here:
~/.config/user-dirs.dirs
Even if Canonical chooses not to change the defaults to your mac-centric expectations like Fedora already does based on your in-the-trenches user usability arguments..you can edit that file you change the default behaviour for all programs which are xdg aware.... not just firefox. Perhaps you could tweak your husband's ear a little more and see if you can't get Canonical to invest some man power into working with upstream Gnome to implement a configuration UI to help you easily edit the xdg defaults.
-jef
The content of /etc/xdg/user-dirs.defaults (unmodified from the default Ubuntu settings, to the best of my knowledge):
# Default settings for user directories
#
# The values are relative pathnames from the home directory and
# will be translated on a per-path-element basis into the users locale
DESKTOP=Desktop
DOWNLOAD=Desktop
TEMPLATES=Templates
PUBLICSHARE=Public
DOCUMENTS=Documents
MUSIC=Music
PICTURES=Pictures
VIDEOS=Videos
# Another alternative is:
#MUSIC=Documents/Music
#PICTURES=Documents/Pictures
#VIDEOS=Documents/Videos
in the middle of using sudo, you found another bug (that I think it was already fixed on Jaunty (the next version of Ubuntu)):
"Use 'apt-get autoremove' to remove them."
should be
"Use 'sudo apt-get autoremove' to remove them."
typo: "mirco-blogging" > "micro-blogging" or µblobbing
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