Ubuntu made easy? A suggetion for improvement

[Nick_Jinn]

Feel free to move this if there is a better spot for it.....I thought I already posted it but it seems to have vanished.


Do you know what would be really awesome? A built in interactive tutorial that teaches users how to use the command line. Perhaps just starting with the 20 most useful command line codes. Include some cute animation and some kind of talking mascot. From there expand onto the 100 most useful commands. Have people try to use the commands and when they do it right the little guy will congratulate them. People need an introduction to using the command line that doesnt scare them off. They shouldnt have to read a novel to figure out how to use their OS.


Thats a little higher tech, but I think it would open the door to more people using Ubuntu.....and I realize that Linux in general tends to have an elitist crowd and some people wont give you the time of day unless you are a computer geek who can use the command line, but I like to think that Ubuntu is better in that regard since Ubuntu is supposed to be the user friendly version of linux that is for everyone.....and that means making it simple with GUI and front end interface that doesnt require memorization of command lines or an in depth understanding of how your computer works.




I have another suggestion, one that is way easier to implement....Why dont you have a little icon and when you click on it up pops a list of command lines that you can copy and past with an explanation of what they do? How about there is a big database of command lines and you can click on them to add them to your quick reference list and you can add your own? It has to be really user friendly and comprehensive.


Not everyone is a computer geek and not everyone can spell well enough or has coordinated enough hands to never mess up some code in the command line. Its way easier to be able to copy and paste your commands, but if there was a built in tool to organize your code then people could use code way more efficiently.


How about taking it a step further? How about some 1 click action so that when you click on the icon at the end of each string of code it automatically pastes into your open terminal? That way you only have to type out the code once into your code Rolodex and then from there you only have to use 1 click action to apply that code at any time without having to type it over and over again? Even for geeks this would speed things up....This would essentially make it really easy for people to come up with strings of code and then apply them really quickly and easily. You can customize your code tool and compile all your favorite commands on top of the ones that are already in there, and everything will move so much faster. Of course you can still add code that isnt in your handy Rolodex of code but its there if you want it.


This would be a simple tool that could make using the command line almost as easy as having a visual interface to worth with. You just program your commands and they execute with a single click, and this 1 application would do it for everything.

[cariboo]

Not every one uses the command line, it is more a matter of choice than a matter of need. Mostly everything can done using the gui apps.

I still have this (http:///fosswire.com/post/2008/4/ubuntu-cheat-sheet/) cheat-sheet hanging near my work-bench.

[pbpersson]

These sound like very interesting ideas. When will you be creating this for all of us? :)

[jpeddicord]

Moving to Cafe

It sounds like a fun side-project someone could take on; I could see people using it to get started.

I'm unsure about having a big "commands repository," I think people should learn what commands do instead of just copying and pasting.


Not every one uses the command line, it is more a matter of choice than a matter of need. Mostly everything can done using the gui apps.

I still have this (http:///fosswire.com/post/2008/4/ubuntu-cheat-sheet/) cheat-sheet hanging near my work-bench.

It still shocks me to see those sheets around. Not really in a bad way, but I'm surprised how well they spread. Perhaps I should update them..

[oldos2er]

Include some cute animation and some kind of talking mascot.

(Shudder....)

[koleoptero]

http://omploader.org/vM3hodw/clippy_ubuntu.jpg

[undecim]

I like this idea. A lot.

I don't think it would be difficult to impliment, either. The most difficult part I think would be making a good script for the tutorial (script as in "movie script", not "bash script)

In fact, if someone were to write the script and gives me some artwork for a mascot (or maybe I'll just use Tux), I can write the tutorial app in python. Sounds like a good project for me to practice GTK (I'm toying around with it in python right now).

[v1ad]

http://omploader.org/vM3hodw/clippy_ubuntu.jpg

hellll Nooo

[_h_]

http://omploader.org/vM3hodw/clippy_ubuntu.jpg

Oh no you didn't...

[jpeddicord]

http://omploader.org/vM3hodw/clippy_ubuntu.jpg

You know that once a mockup is provided, an application must be written.

[undecim]

The mascot should be a parody of clippy.

something like a binder clip or a staple.

[2hot6ft2]

I still have this (http:///fosswire.com/post/2008/4/ubuntu-cheat-sheet/) cheat-sheet hanging near my work-bench.
And this one Unix/Linux Command Cheat Sheet (http://fosswire.com/post/2007/8/unixlinux-command-cheat-sheet/)


It still shocks me to see those sheets around. Not really in a bad way, but I'm surprised how well they spread. Perhaps I should update them..
Yes. You should. They can be handy and thanks for creating them in the first place.

And where's that Monte Python foot stomping that silly paper clip when you need it. It should be a Penguin.
http://img716.imageshack.us/img716/8199/clippydeath.gif (http://img716.imageshack.us/i/clippydeath.gif/)

(or maybe I'll just use Tux)
There you go.

Sounds like a good idea.

[Regenweald]

Moving to Cafe
<snip>
It still shocks me to see those sheets around. Not really in a bad way, but I'm surprised how well they spread. Perhaps I should update them..

I think that is a great idea, a refresh for the lynx, commands like add-apt-repository and such....

[Khakilang]

http://omploader.org/vM3hodw/clippy_ubuntu.jpg

Not that again! Oooooh my head!!!

[2hot6ft2]

Not that again! Oooooh my head!!!
http://img716.imageshack.us/img716/8199/clippydeath.gif (http://img716.imageshack.us/i/clippydeath.gif/)
Stay down.:-({|=

[Mr. Picklesworth]

Stay down.:-({|=

I fixed it!
151243

Now we can get back to business :)

Personally, I don't think command line stuff fits an interactive, first-run kind of tutorial at all. The CLI is a basic programming language, plain and simple. If somebody wants to get extra productivity out of it, he has to invest time to learn it piece by piece. It takes a while to actually get to the point where you can use the CLI faster than the GUI, and that time is spent continually learning stuff.

A separate application designed to teach people the CLI without jumping in the way, however, could be nice and could be done right now by anyone who knows Python. I think it makes sense to build something that takes its time more than a run-once tutorial does, maybe with daily tips (the paperclip is dead, the paperclip is dead!) and some hacks to detect / correct common errors and things that could be done quicker. (For example if someone is individually picking files from a directory, demonstrate wildcards — or regex!). A “learner's shell,” if you will.

[2hot6ft2]

I fixed it!
151243
ROTFL (Rolling On The Floor Laughing). Nice one.
:guitar::lolflag:

[sudoer541]

Not every one uses the command line, it is more a matter of choice than a matter of need. Mostly everything can done using the gui apps.



^
this!!!!

I use the GUI 99.9 % of the time. For me its easier its faster and its more accessible. If ubuntu was a command line OS alone, I wouldn't even use it.

[switch10]

I started making some Youtube command line tutorials, but I got bored with it. It would be so much easier to just go buy a book ("Linux Phrasebook" strongly recommended), and learn that way.

[aklo]

make more things possible without having to use the command line.

Standardize, every single app should come in .deb just like what new users are familiar with .exe in windows.

Installing games in ubuntu is also a PITA. I'm not saying those that can be found on software center...but something like america's army. To be able to play it requires work around even though there is a linux version.

I installed AA 2.5, everything goes smoothly though i have to search on how to execute a .run file solution is simple but still i have to search for it.

Then i suppose i could run the game straight away but WAIT....some lib files are missing...***** it. So i proceed to use sudo apt-get install *filename* .....IT TELLs the file is not in the repository or something...

So i'm not really complaining here but this shows you how unfriendly installing an application can be...it may not be ubuntu's fault...more like the game developer fault...either way i have to go through so many steps and still not get a simple game working.

Most important rule for improvement...same as web design...
DON"T MAKE YOUR USER(ME) THINK.

I still like ubuntu :D but i am on dual boot for starcraft 2 / diablo 3 next time...

[Irihapeti]

In my Hardy install there is an entry in the Help menu:

Ubuntu Help Center -> Advanced Topics -> Using the Command Line

I haven't checked later versions, but I suppose it is still there?

That's what go me started with command line use.

We have something useful already. Maybe it just needs to be better publicised/easier to find.

(For more in-depth stuff, I like the Advanced Bash Scripting guide. I find it easier to follow than some other so-called beginners guides.)

[switch10]

In my Hardy install there is an entry in the Help menu:

Ubuntu Help Center -> Advanced Topics -> Using the Command Line

I haven't checked later versions, but I suppose it is still there?

That's what go me started with command line use.

We have something useful already. Maybe it just needs to be better publicised/easier to find.

(For more in-depth stuff, I like the Advanced Bash Scripting guide. I find it easier to follow than some other so-called beginners guides.)

Wow I had no idea that was in there :) This sounds like exactly what the original poster was looking for. It is still under help>advanced topics in 9.10

[swoll1980]

bash commands (http://ss64.com/bash/)
bash scripting for noobs (http://tldp.org/LDP/Bash-Beginners-Guide/html/)

[the yawner]

INX (http://inx.maincontent.net/) is a Ubuntu-based LiveCD intended as a command-line tutorial of sorts.

[swoll1980]

INX (http://inx.maincontent.net/) is a Ubuntu-based LiveCD intended as a command-line tutorial of sorts.

That's more like trial by fire.

[the yawner]

Trial by fire? How do you mean?
I think it's actually a fun project. It provides sufficient hand-holding with the menus and step-by-step instructions. Or at least, that's how I remember it when I first tried it.

[swoll1980]

When I use it. I get a CLI. Unless there is something I missed. I use it for school.

[Nick_Jinn]

The tutorial is just part of my idea. The Rolodex would help people get accustomed to using code, and even if they dont understand why the code does what it does at first I think people will start to figure it out just by being exposed to it through repetition....Whether they understand it or not, it would make it easier for them to use, and Ubuntu is in theory the version of linux that is for the masses and not just the elite users (but powerful enough to keep them interested as well).

When you get into the 1 click action and customizable commands, you end up making it so that using strings of code is 'almost' as easy as using GUI. You could almost use it as a tool for creating simple GUI's for programs, just wrapping up code and assigning it an icon.

And that is another idea.....Maybe it could even have a tool for creating a generic GUI based on assigning strings of code and assigning it visual buttons. May drag and drop? You can use fully customizable layout and link buttons to your saved lines of code or strings of code, so that when you click on this button it does this and that button to do that.....It would make creating programs so much easier. Anyone could do it. Maybe you could have a feature that saves your program and converts it into a torrent that self installs, so that users could more easily share their programs that they easily created from their code rolodex.....The only down side I can see to that is that if it became that easy it might increase the instances of malicious code....There would have to be sites where people could post feedback and report bugs and malicious code, but I think the potential benefits of more rapid innovation might outweigh that. You would have more people creating programs which makes Ubuntu richer in functionality, and people who already are masters of the command line could more readily share their code with the masses and even package it up into a GUI with the generic program.



I imagine this would have to be implemented in stages though. Just having the code rolodex for cutting and pasting (One that is customizable and has its own little icon) and based on the existing cheat sheets would be a major help already. Adding the one click action for code and even strings of code would be the next feature to add, and finally getting to where you can create programs easily based on saved strings of code would be the final goal.