[GLLUG] Ubuntu Woes
Roger T. Webster
websterr at atmosphereannealing.com
Wed Mar 23 09:38:50 EST 2005
Chick Tower wrote:
> I installed Ubuntu 4.10 on my PC and I've been playing around with it
> some. Maybe it's just because I usually use KDE, but I sure didn't
> find it easy to do things with Ubuntu and/or Gnome. It feels to me
> like something big is just sitting right in the way of where I want to
> go when I try to do things.
>
> Getting it to use my modem was a nightmare. I'll bet I entered the
> phone number at least eight times before realizing it doesn't like a
> hyphen between the third and fourth digits. That was only when I
> noticed that the <Forward> button on the screen became inactive when I
> typed the hyphen. No other indication of an incorrect entry appeared.
> What idiot programmer thought to watch out for "extraneous" data,
> prevent the configuration utility from proceeding in such a case (but
> let data entry continue), and not bother to tell the user what's
> wrong? Is this what Gnome's famous human interface guidelines
> suggest? Then, when I finally figure out that it accepts 7547800 but
> not 754-7800, and get it saved (another lengthy exercise in futility),
> I can't get the damn thing to dial out. So I give up, and when I exit
> the configuration utility, the modem begins dialing. Great. The
> <Activate> selection seems to do nothing, so why wouldn't closing the
> application cause the modem to activate? Seems intuitive to me.
> NOT. Thankfully, my PC has no equipment to allow Gnome to determine
> if my body position or apparel are satisfactory for its programmers's
> purposes.
>
> Then, my Web browsing experience was so slooooow, even for a modem,
> that it was unbearable. I don't know if it's because of the Firefox
> 1.0 release candidate that came with Unbuntu, the fact that I'm not
> using Privoxy to filter out ads, or the connection speed. I didn't
> even see any indicator that I was connected, let alone how to check
> the connection speed.
>
> I also can't stand the way they've configured Nautilus, the file
> manager. Maybe it's the spatial Nautilus I've read about, but it sure
> is annoying. It would be nice to see a directory tree somewhere,
> instead of opening new windows for every directory. I can't even
> retreat to the console and Midnight Commander, because mc isn't
> included! They can pack in vim, emacs, and nano (with no indication
> in the Gnome menus that they exist), but not mc? Hell, they've even
> got the text of a commercial book, _Dive into Python_, in their help
> system, but not mc?
>
> I'm not asking for help, I'm just letting off a little steam. I
> really like the ideas behind Ubuntu, Gnome doesn't seem to be
> difficult to use otherwise, and it looks sharp, but it sure seems to
> get in my way when I know what I want to do. It's not like I'm an
> idiot; I've been using Linux for about four years, and Slackware for
> the last year or two. Maybe coming up through DOS and Windows
> molded/warped my mind to make it a poor fit with a Gnome that seems to
> hide the existence of console tools. But I'm glad Eric brought in all
> those Ubuntu CDs. At least I got a recent version of OpenOffice.org,
> just in time to do my taxes. And the included "live" CD allowed me to
> use my girlfriend's laptop to work on my taxes without having to use
> her Corel Office Suite.
>
> Chick
>
> P.S. Do I even dare to mess with Synaptic?
>
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>
Sorry, but I am not sure about the modem problem, but I found this a
while ago (http://www.ubuntuguide.org/#disableipv6-mozilla) and think
it may help your web br. speed up.
In fact, this site has many useful hints for Ubuntu that I have used.
I also have it installed on 2 computers and also have "messed w/
Synaptic" to enable "universe" repositories. After you do that, a vast
number of packages (including mc and KDE) are available to you.
-Rog
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