introducing myself

[Doodler]

Saying hello to be nice, I really need this forum! I am trying Linux as I want to know what all the fuss is about (I'm a manager in the SW development world and need to know this stuff first-hand); ubuntu was recommended by a friend. I was on 5.04, have now gone up to 5.1 Lots of problems and unless I have been extremely unlucky I believe Linux is still only for enthusiasts, it only half-works unless you get down & dirty with sudo commands and the like.

Anyway this is a very useful and important resource - glad to be here.

[Zelut]

I wonder if maybe you ARE one of the unlucky ones who had a problematic installation. I have had minimal issues with my installations (5 machines, 4 notebooks).

If you'd like some tips on cleaning things up I'd be glad to help.

[spdl]

Hi and welcome!

I'm still just a newb but, I would recommend that you reinstall ubuntu from scratch. Why? Because both my installs went smoothly without error. And the kernel and software updates went without a hitch! So maybe yours was a glitch or something. By any chance, what are/were the problems?

I am a happy ubuntu user. And I hope you find the same happiness. hehe

[earobinson]

Welcome

[jmcelroy]

welcome.

Don't think of them as installation problems, think of them as conversation starters for use with the ubuntu community.

[NotJustANewbie]

lol @ jmcelroy,

Welcome to the community!

[BLTicklemonster]

Welcome. Get ready for a totally new, frustrating, unique, challenging, enlightening, frustrating, mind-boggling, frustrating, tormenting, wonderful, frustrating, exhilerating, enjoyable, frustrating, confidence shattering, confidence building, frustrating, and exciting world. Please leave any preconcieved notions of "how things work" at the door. The learning curve is not as steep as it would be a few years ago, and if you hang in there and give it a month, and realize that most of what you encounter is not "made for the public to use easily" because .... um, it isn't, and that there are people striving at this time to find the hard to do stuff and make it easier, then I think after that month is up, you will find new confidence in your ability to implement and use linux as Ubuntu. Trust me, once you "accept" a few things, such as "the dudes who write the software and post on their sites on how to install it aren't literary giants" which means they say something like, "to install this, just make, install" or something vague like that, they don't take into consideration that there's people like you and me who are like, "yeah, you want I should levitate while I do that?".

Not as easy as Windows, just better, and getting better every day thanks to easybreezy, automatix, synaptic, and all that.

[earobinson]

lol @ jmcelroy +1

[Doodler]

Well, that's a welcome. I guess I owe it to you guys to persevere a bit more. I am using Ubuntu on a gateway pentium 450mhz with 384mb. 5.04 would'nt play any sound. Tried to upgrade to 5.1 w/o success, eventually did a new one from scratch the other day. Now:

Audio works but only on one of my two cards
Totem does not work at all
system initially did not give me the screen resolution matching my lcd
I can't look at the ubuntu drive from windows xp users on my home lan

This is just by way of answer to the suggestion that I re-install from scratch, not to look for solutions.

[Zelut]

I would suggest checking out the www.ubuntuguide.org for tips on fixing the sound & video. Totem is junk (IMO), I would use Xine (details on that page) and as far as sharing the drive to windows you'll need to install SAMBA..

[spdl]

I can't look at the ubuntu drive from windows xp users on my home lan

You need to install Samba. That allows Linux and Windows to dance. hehe

You should post each problem seperately to the support area Ubuntu 5.10 Support (GNOME) (http://www.ubuntuforums.org/forumdisplay.php?f=90). And also look at ubuntuguide.org as per kuyaedz reply.

[futz]

Totem is junk (IMO),
Not so fast there kuyaedz. The trick to getting Totem to work is these two steps:

1. Install totem-xine. Look in Synaptics for it. You might have to enable the universe repository.

2. Install the w32codecs pack.

Here's a thread that explains the steps and where to find w32codecs: http://www.ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=75278&highlight=w32codecs

After doing those two things, Totem is awesome. It plays everything I've thrown at it since. I also use it in Fedora4 and it works just as well there (used same instructions).

[Doodler]

Thanks everybody for tips, I was really just outlining my experiences. Had already installed samba without success. I know the answers to all of these things are there, so if I just keep on keeping on, I'll eventually get it all working the way I want it. It's just that as your replies indicate, ubuntu just doesn't work out of the box. Give it a couple of weeks and I might get a renewed interest in editing command lines etc. as a challenge.

Meanwhile the fact that so many of you have offered help and a welcome makes a great change from any other forum on any topic I've been involved in before.

If community spirit and charm were the only important things I would definitely be a linux convert.

[BLTicklemonster]

If you get fed up, walk away from it for a week or so, then come back. Sometimes you just need to walk away from some things.