On Sunday 22 December 2002 01:25 pm, you wrote: > As a newbie trying linux for the first time, I find it very very > frustrating. Nothing is intuitive, and even basic text editors like vi or > emacs are difficult to use. I found myself wishing for good old MS-DOS > edit.
Download and install Pine. (It used to be included with the Mandrake disks, but due to some issues with the license, it no longer is. However, it is still free). The editor that comes with Pine is called "pico", and it is extremely easy to use, with no learning curve whatsoever. The trouble with vi and the console version of emacs is that you must learn the hotkeys. Now, IMO, these are definitely worth learning, but if you only edit occasionally, pico is the ticket. e. > > As an experienced Windows user with 12 years under my belt, I think I can > safely say that linux will never gain full acceptance with the majoity of > computer users in it's current state. Nothing is intuitive. Even adding a > new device is a royal pain. First, you have to know which file to edit, > where to find it and then try to figure out the cryptic messages within > while consulting huge manuals. The general public will never go for it. > Windows plug and play works wonderfully. There are no text files to edit. > Things just work. Plug in a scanner, windows detects, feed it the cdrom, > and in about 5 minutes you are using it. Try that with linux. This ain't always true. I just installed W2K pro and Mandrake 8.2--dual boot. W2K missed my sound card (SB Live Value), and put my external modem on Com 3, then gave me an error message that I didn't have enough resources for the serial port. Then I had to install my Nvidia Gforce drivers because it missed the card and gave me a 640 x 480 generic. Got my network card right though. Mandrake got everything right, except for my Sandisk card reader (I had to edit my fstab and change the reader from /dev/sdb to /dev/sdb1). Both systems got my zip correct. > > So, we have the chicken and the egg > syndrome. People won't use it unless it's at least as easy as Windows, and > it seems it can't be made that easy without the cooperation of hardware > developers writing linux drivers for their products alongside Windows > drivers. > > Anyways.. Sorry to rant. :) I do appreciate the help on this list, please > don't think that I don't. That's o.k. But, both systems have their quirks, and both require that you learn how they work. The biggest problem with Linux is manufacturer's not releasing specs/drivers for their hardware, not that Linux is difficult to use (my wife uses it exclusively, now, so it must be pretty easy). This system does require that the user pay attention to what hardware is being installed, but there really are plenty of alternatives that will be auto recognized. That attention is the price paid for not having to keep anti-virus software up-to-date, and for the low cost of the distributions, I guess. e.
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