On Sat, 2004-07-17 at 06:47, Will Hill wrote: > Yes, I'm doing a lecture on gnucash and kmymoney.
Good. I have some questions regarding using GNUCash. 1. When you import your checking account from Quicken to GNUCash via a QIF export, the account is out of balance by the amount of the beginning balance. GNUCash uses a standard double-entry bookkeeping system. What is the proper way to make this work correctly? 2. When entering checks in Quicken, you can type "n" in the check number field and quicken will enter the Next number. Is this feature available in GNUCash? 3. Quicken can be set so that when hitting the "Enter" key, the cursor moves to the next field. Can GNUCash be made to work the same way? > > Got any suggestions? I have yet to give Dustin a good blurb. Sure. I have come to the conclusion that we basically have three different types of GNUBies that are interested in learning about Linux. The first group, lets call them Type I GNUBies, and, in my opinion, the ones that will make up the largest segment, will be the Window$ refugees, and I believe the types of folks that BRLUG hoped to draw with its alliance with the Cajun Clickers. This group will be the group that creates the momentum to break the Micro$oft monopoly and truly move Linux onto the desktop. The second group, Type II GNUBies, is the group that is the quintessential early adopter, the gadget head, the GIT (Geek In Training) with many, if not all of them going on the be computer professionals. The third group, I guess we could call them (us) Type G GNUBies, are the unfortunate soles like me that fall into BOTH of the the above GNUBie catagories, the Window$ user that is also an early adoptor, a gadget head, a tinkerer but has no aspirations of being a computer professional, .......... ok ........an ENGINEER!..... ALRIGHT ALREADY....... AN ELECTRICAL OR MECHANICAL ENGINEER!!!! It is my opinion that we need to address the 1st two groups individually and separately as their needs and wants are very different from each other. The third group will take care of itself as it will probably attend sessions targeted at BOTH groups. I know that I will. If we do that, we can meet the needs of each group without frustrating the other group. If we don't, I think that both groups will ultimately be lost as neither will be getting, in sufficient quantity or at an adequate speed, the help that they(we) are seeking. Think about it this way: If I as a Type I GNUBie show up at a BRLUG/Clickers GNUBies meeting with the subject being "How to burn an audio CD under Linux" and the instructor opens a shell and starts talking about creating shell scripts, writing TOC files, what the header and track specifications mean, placing CD-TEXT block in the global section of the TOC file, defining the CD-TEXT items, specifying the pre-gap, using VIM to create the CUE files, and then begins issuing commands like "cd /this/and/that" and "cdrecord -v speed=4 dev=2,0 -audio [EMAIL PROTECTED]" or "cdrdao write live.toc", the Type I GNUBies eyes are going to roll back into his/her head, with their respiration becoming shallow and labored and they VOW to NEVER return to this place to be subjected to such cruel and unusual punishment. For the Type II GNUBie, he or she, will be in geek nirvana and the Type G GNUBie will be intrigued but somewhat frustrated. Had the instructor fired up his Linux distro of choice, and clicked upon the K3B Icon on the desktop, K3B would have launched and the Type I's and Type G's would say "Hey, that looks a lot like EZCD Creator or Nero Burning Rom. I think I can learn to do this Linux Thing", but the Type II would be thinking "Yeah, yeah, yeah, I know you can be a wimp and do it with a GUI, but I am a Linux Geek wannabe, I want to know how to do it from the command line, DAMMIT!" Does the above example make sense? Is my logic all wet here? I don't think that it is because I have sat in past GNUBies meetings and had these thoughts and felt these frustrations, not necessarily for the Type G's, but for the I's and II's. SUGGESTED TOPICS FOR THE TYPE 1'S (In no particular order) 1. How does a Window$ user that has been using PhotoShop to retouch images do the same thing using Linux and The Gimp? (Hint: http://www.mozillaquest.com/OpenSource04/Gimp-Photo-Edit-Tutorial-01_Story01.html ) 2. How does a Window$ user that has been using Outlook/Outlook Express/Eudora get all of their saved mail into Evolution/Kmail/Mozilla Mail/Thunderbird? 3. How does a Window$ user that has been making CD's (audio/data, it doesn't really matter) using EZ CD Creator/Nero Burning Rom accomplish these tasks under Linux? (Hint: www.k3b.org). 4. How does a Window$ user that has been using Internet Explorer move their Favorites into Mozilla/Opra/Knoqueror/Firefox Bookmarks? 5. How does a Window$ user that has a home network running behind a router/firewall integrate a Linux machine into the network and share files. 6. How does a Window$ user secure his system from hackers, script kiddies, viri, worms, trojans, etc? 7. How does a Window$ user that has been using Micro$oft Project accomplish these same tasks under Linux? (Hint: Mr. Project/Planner - http://www.imendio.com/projects/planner/ ) 8. I, as a Window$ user, have program XXXXX and I can't find a functional Linux replacement for it. How do I run this program under Linux? (Hint: CrossOver Office www.codeweavers.com or WINE www.winehq.org ). 9. A series entitled Linux for Micro$oft Window$ Users. (Hint: http://www.mozillaquest.com/Linux4Windows/Linux4Windows01/Linux4Windows_01_01_Story-01.html ). 10. Mozilla for Micro$oft Window$ users. 11. I've been managing my personal information under Window$ with Micro$oft Outlook/Daytimer Planner/Franklin Covey/(pick your PIM of choice). How do I accomplish these same functions under Linux? (Hint: Evolution even though you can hardly find ANY helpful information at their web site since the Novel acquisition). 12. I use a Palm/Pocket PC/Blackberry....that syncs to Micro$oft Outlook. How can I do this under Linux? (Hint: Evolution - KPilot - SynCE). 13. I have been converting my vinyl recordings, cassettes, 8-tracks, (pick your medium of choice) to CD using Total Recorder/EZCD Creator/Nero Burning Rom. How do I accomplish these tasks under Linux? 14. I have been backing up my audio CD's under Window$ using FreeRip/EZCD Creator, etc. How do I accomplish this under Linux? 15. I have a TV card in my computer and can watch TV on it using WinTV (pick your tool of choice). Can I also do this in Linux and, if so, how do I install it, configure it, and watch it? (Hint: Any card with the Brooktree bt874 or 878 chip set, and there are others. TVTime, KDETV). 16. I just got the latest release of "Mystic River" on DVD and I can watch it just fine under Window$, but it doesn't work under Linux. How can I get it work and what program should I use to watch it. Note, non-copy protected DVD's work fine. Why is that? (Since this list is getting rather long and I have other things to do, I am going to just list topics for the rest of this, but I think everyone understands my thought process here) 17. How to use Win4Lin from NetRaverse who is also a sponsor of BRLUG. 18. How to USE (not demo) OpenOffice or StarOffice in place of Micro$oft Office. This could cover many months. 19. Package management under Linux (Synaptic, KPackage, etc, NOT apt-get for this group) 20. File Sharing applications - LimeWire - www.limewire.com Runs great on my Xandros installation. 21 How to use multiple desktops. 22. How to manage partitions under Linux (QTParted rather than Partition Magic) 23. How to do desktop publishing under Linux using Scribus 24. How to use Kivio in place of Visio 25. GAMES......for the TYPE 1's 26. How to use all of the various features of the KDE desktop. I think, for classes for the Type I's, their desktop should be limited to KDE, but that is just my opinion. 27. Creating Web Pages under Linux for the Window$ Refugee 28. Remote Desktop Sharing for the Window$ Refugee. NOTE: None of the activities described above require that a command prompt under Window$ or a shell under Linux be used. It is my opinion that since none are required, when teaching the TYPE 1 GNUBies, none should EVER be used. Additionally, it is my opinion that, where feasible, all of these sessions should be hands on with the GNUBies actually doing the exercises as the instructor is teaching, not just demonstrating the application or showing that an equivalent application(s) exist under Linux. Maybe a good idea would be to have everyone get a small USB thumb drive that is well supported under Mepis to allow for the saving and storage of examples, exercises, handouts, go-bys, etc., and to avoid having to actually write any files to the Clickers computers hard drives. I have two different thumb drives and they both work well with Mepis, Knoppix, Suse, Xandros, Mandrake 10, Libranet 2.8 and Linspire 4.5, to name a few. Addtionally, I think that the instructor should, where possible, boot from the same Live CD as do the students so that the desktops, menu's, etc are identical. I think some of the more advance topics, some of which will in fact require the use of the command line, that would be of interest to TYPE 1's as well as II's and G's would be: 29. How to use you IR Remote Control that came with you Hauppage TV card under Linux 30. How to use your Web Cam under Linux. 31. How to back up under Linux - QTParted, Mondo/Mindi 32. VMWare or Qemu ( http://fabrice.bellard.free.fr/qemu/ ) 33. How to program under Linux like one does under Window$, ie, VisualBasic, Visual C++, etc. 34. Compiling applications from scratch. Yes I have done this quite successfully for a number of applications and even created Debian distributable packages of the applications. And I could probably keep on going, but I won't. I realize that this is a huge list already and an overwhelming amount of work, but I think that if it is managed properly and tackled in bits and pieces by multiple individuals, it is totally doable. I have managed to become pretty good at some of the above and would be glad to volunteer to teach those that I have become somewhat proficient at and I am sure that there are others in the group that will do so as well. Further, I think that over time we will develop lesson plans complete with examples, screen shots, and exercises that most any of us could pick up and teach the classes. Maybe we should look at the model used by the Cajun Clickers for "Sharing The Knowledge" and build upon what they have developed by setting up an Linux GNUBies Educational Committee, the goal of which would be to develop "experts" within the LUG for specific areas of interest including programming, networking, graphics, multi-media, desktop publishing, CAD, etc. to teach in these various areas. SUGGESTED TOPICS FOR TYPE II's (In no particular order) 1. Linux File Structure 2. Writing Scripts 3. Managing a Linux Network. 4. Compiling and installing applications from source 5. Compiling the Linux Kernel 6. Linux Driver Management 7. Installing and managing servers - Web, mail, file, etc 8. Programming under Linux. 9. Network User Management. 10. Linux From Scratch. 11. HowTO Install Gentoo. And I am sure that many of you guys that are truly Linux experts and professionals can think of many more. I am eager to hear what thoughts others may have in this regard. I realize that I am a GNUBies here as well, but I have given this a lot of thought, thought that has been driven by my own frustrations as a Type G GNUBie and I don't think that I am alone in this regard. > Mark Lappin has been doing some good work. He's recently made CCCC mailing > lists on Debian to replace the Yahoo groups and had a howto, which I > unfortunately missed. Who knows, he might build a good replacement website. > I think that that is a great idea and if I knew ANYTHING AT ALL about HTML, I would volunteer to help and will volunteer to assist in the development of the content. Thanks for listening and considering my thoughts. Ed Richards Window$ Refugee and Type G GNUBie. PS: Could someone that knows how, (Mark, sorry that I missed your class) forward this message to the Clickers Linux SIG mail list, as I think that it needs visibility there too. Thanks!
