Linux is Definitely not my Friend!

I have had my notebook since November last year, and was hoping that eventually I would grow to like Linux. But sadly we just don't seem to get on - and I still have no idea on how to do certain things!

I am not the most technically minded person, so when people start throwing technical jargon my way I get confused and basically switch off!

I don't seem to have any administrative rights to my notebook - I can't change desktops or backgrounds, I can't add anything to my desktop, and when I download programmes/games/documents, etc they go to my download folder and then I can't seem to open them. I have tried loads, but they all seem to have gotten lost somewhere in my little One's memory

I have managed to download Skype, but to open it I have to go a very roundabout way - the route of which I normally forget and end up stumbling across by accident!

Needless to say I am wanting to scrap Linux altogether and put Windows XP on my machine unless someone can explain to me how to resolve these issues. I know Windows....I like Windows! :roll:

This makes me sound pretty dumb, but like I said, technicalities baffle me - one of my colleagues is like a Linux pro, the only problem being when he got hold of my notebook he flicked through everything so quickly I couldn't follow, and he doesn't have the time to run through everything with me again.

Please help before I through the Linpus towel in for good :?

 

Hi,
I'm afraid to hear this, but then, if your friend can't be brought to make the steps he does on the machine more slowly then maybe he isn't such a pro after all? You know, many people try to hide something behind a bold appearance. Everybody who knows his trade can perform slowly, so you can see and learn.

I can't help you much with linpus, which I replaced with easy peasy, based on ubuntu. I think Linpus isn't that bad,but I personally preferred EP, which is based on ubuntu (www.geteasypeasy.com). This is more "traditional" Linux, which may only mean that I don't quite grasp the concepts that Linpus follows...

But, to be honest, in the end, you might be better of with windows, depending on what you want to do with your netbook. It's very difficult to use Linux just for doing things you want to do with Windows. On the other hand, if you just want to use a computer to get work done your way, or browse the web, than it's as well Linux as Windows.

Klaus

 

Hi Jody84

The standard Acer Linpus is rather closed down but you can access further facilities by activating what is called the advanced menu.

See the following link,
viewtopic.php?f=67&t=14484&p=90614&hilit=Advanced+menu#p90614

Once you have done this you should see Skype under Network.

Once you have opened this menu you can select another Acer background (not very exiting selection) by opening Settings then Desktop Settings and clicking the icon on the RH side of File under Image.

It also depends how technical you wish to get but you can have a standard Xfce desktop that looks like Windows and you can change the backgrounds by using your own photographs and also create icons on the desktop. You will need some knowledge or ability to follow some of the posts that are on the Forum.

You can install some additional programmes from here http://www.acer.com/aspireone/support/f ... nnect.html. This is fairly easy as Acer have provided all the necessary functionality.

You can also use the Add/Remove Software facility under System on the advanced menu.

If you post what you are trying to do someone can usually help.

Best wishes.

 

My Ubuntu desktop crashed three times this week. I almost infested this Aspire One with that virus. There is a reason why less than two percent of computer owners use Linux. Try and go to XP, life will be better.

 

well, this definitely is not the point to start a religious war, and even I said before, if you have a special need, you *might* be better of with windows, but I would not say the above statement is true just so... Linux is perfectly suited for day to day work on a desktop, and also security wise you're still a bit ahead because of the shere numbers still only (or something like 99.9%-mostly) windows system are the preferred target for crackers

@garrovick: how does your ubuntu desktop crash? I haven't seen ubuntu crashing for months, so there must be something definitely wrong. Linux, also on the desktop, is stable.

 

Virus, Ubuntu ?? I doubt it, also I have used ubuntu for 12 months on my AAO never crashed, locked or anything else, Just because you have a poor installation does not mean Ubuntu is at fault, Also don't quote micro$ofts figure of 2 percent, this is based on new machines shipped with windows, Just because something ships with windows does not mean the user stays with windows, I have 5 sets of windows in a box under my bed but strangely no machines with it installed, does this put me in the 98% or the 2%?

 

You're hardly alone, I bought my LInux AA1 from Newegg around last Thanksgiving because it was on sale and I figured I'd give Linux a shot..BIG mistake. I've managed to install FF 3 but the thing is a real pain...most of the time it just sits on my desk. I turn it on every couple of weeks or so, maybe download some updates but I've got 3 other Windows machines which are much easier to deal with. When I hear somebody extolling the virtues of Linux, I just smile to myself..you're always going to have a few geeks that like to play around but for the rest of us, it's all about sticking with a Windows PC or picking up a Mac...Linux sucks.

 

I'm glad that the people on this forum who are knocking Linux have actually tried it - i think if you've tried it and you dont get on with it then fair enough. What people don't seem to realize is that what make Windows easy to use is what makes it insecure and frail, in my opinion anyway. New users understandably don't make this connection, but i personally would prefer spending a little longer learning something new than rebuilding my PC and removing viruses.

I don't think its fair to say Linux is "rubbish", especially unless you've tried every distro out there, but its important to use what you're comfortable with i think.

 

Rochester,

Since you're not getting much in the way of satisfaction with Linpus, you may want to try the Fedora 11 release candidate on your AA1. No need to download FF3; its included in the distro

For that matter, if your AA1 is just doing its paperweight imitation because you don't have the time/patience/inclination to learn Linux, then put Windows on it and get some use out of it.

 

I've been using Linux for 15 years and I can't stand Linpus. I don't blame people for hating it. Shame that most people associate Linpus with Linux! There are many other fine distributions.

 

Too true, just try to run windows as a normal user, not as the default Admin account. Non computer-savvy people fail as well then ... And the pop up stating something along the lines of "... ask your system administrator..." always amuses me, especially for a zero administration touted os.

Still, somethimes linux definitely is a bit of a hurdle, I guess, owing to the great diversification of linux desktops and distributions. But a moderd Fedora, or Easy Peasy (or even ubuntu netboot remix) probably are very useable.

In my experience, while I found Linpus quite nice, hiding everything from the user and just doing it differently makes it not very easy for starters

 

Yup, i mean it always makes me laugh when people complain about using the terminal, and yes it does take a few hours to get used to. But if you hide everything behind a GUI for ease of use there will inevitably be some things that you simply cannot get to. I don't think i've ever had a problem with a Linux OS that i've not been able to resolve, with help of course.

 

Well, that's what these fora (?) are supposed to be for... Getting help for any kind of trouble you might have with the machine. You shouldn't turned off just because someone can't stand one's questions. Everybody starts learning, nobody knows all, and most of the time this kind of arrogance just is a sign of somebody trying to hide that he does not know the answer to a question just asked... (and beware of "geeks" who perform so fast you can't grasp it, they are trying to hide something, too ;-)

Klaus

 

It probably should be fora, or maybe even fori, but i think forums is the correct term - the English language is a bit silly lol.

Andy

 

I did never heard before that there are viruses for Linux , Windows made for lazy people that they want everything to go y just click, if you want to throw your money to Bill gate go back to Linux and then pay for the anti-virus licence ,for buying software ....etc
Linux has a big community and most of the Linux distributions now are easy to use, if you found problems with Linpus then try to install Ubuntu easy peasy ,puppy Linux ...
if you need any help don`t hesitate to ask and we will help you step by step to resolve your issues.

 

Thanks everyone for your responses. I think I might try some of these downloads - ubuntu easy peasy maybe and see how I get on before switching to windows.
Would I need to back everything up before doing this???

I suppose every hurdle is a learning curve. I will have a look at some of the other forums, and maybe ask my colleagues to slow down a bit whilst explaining it to me.

I do have one more question though....I recently acquired a LaCie USb external hard drive which claims to be Linux compatible. I can see the drive on my notebook, but can't transfer any files to it. Any ideas?

 

You could install Easy Peasy alongside Linpus, but even if you do this it is best practice to back everything up - all important files should be backed up already though?

Any questions or queries, shout out and we'll go through it as slowly as needs be - we all had to start somewhere!

With regards to your USB HDD, can you provide a bit more info please, i.e. error messages etc...?

 

Are the partition(s) on it mounted read/write for your user?

 

I have deliberately stuck with Linpus because it is optimized for the AA1. Thanks to people on this forum and the Macles* site, I've been able to re-arrange things on the desktop to my liking, and to install several additional programs. However, before making any changes of any significance, I created a recovery USB (to be able to restore to out of the box condition), and a backup/restore USB, so I could restore to a previously good state if I screwed up something or something unexpected happened.

After 5 months, I experienced my first problem today; without warning, it no longer recognized input from keyboard or trackpad. I may have had some warnings that something was amiss, because the screen was increasingly displaying what looked like odd memory leaks -- strange patterns, and cached bits of other screens. I tried a couple of emergency shutdowns and even ran fsck as root, but no luck, so I restored from my last backup, and was back in business in less than15 minutes.

Over the past 30 years, I've used Atari, MS-DOS, MacOS, Windows, and Linux-based computers. They all had their good points, but at some point, every one of them (except the Atari, which didn't do much) had some sort of catastrophic problem -- sometimes self-inflicted. My favorite remains MacOS (which is really just Unix with an attractive user interface), followed by various flavors of Unix. Windows remains my least favorite, mostly because of its instability, lack of security, and maddening inconsistencies. So far, I have managed to avoid Vista. Learning each OS required cracking some books, asking for help, and most importantly, developing good disaster-recovery habits.

Five months ago I was a Linux newbie. Thanks to helpful people here, I'm comfortable with Linpus, which (up until today) has been rock solid, and I have been able to install all the applications needed to make my AA1 do what I need. Although it has more capabilities, my iMac only gets about 10% of my time now -- mostly when I need more screen real estate to work with.