What sends noobs running back to Windows?

[MurphCID]

Noobster seems to see Linux as something where anything can only be done in Terminal, how do we change that perception?

[Rooo]

Noobster seems to see Linux as something where anything can only be done in Terminal, how do we change that perception?

by using gui`s more in newbie questions,then easing them into using terminal??? like:-



"Try using this option,in this gui,then use this option,then this e.t.c ....

/some pictures - with what to click on highlighted





this can also be done easily in the terminal by simply entering this command ------- "




like it or not,Windows is a Gui driven o/s - and thats what most expect coming to linux - if you ease them in,they will stick around and dig around later

[MurphCID]

Noobster seems to see Linux as something where anything can only be done in Terminal, how do we change that perception?

by using gui`s more in newbie questions,then easing them into using terminal??? like:-



"Try using this option,in this gui,then use this option,then this e.t.c ....

/some pictures - with what to click on highlighted





this can also be done easily in the terminal by simply entering this command ------- "




like it or not,Windows is a Gui driven o/s - and thats what most expect coming to linux - if you ease them in,they will stick around and dig around later

I agree, ease them into it, get them comfortable with Linux first then have them start (SLOWLY) using terminal to do things.

[Rooo]

seems more work for the tech help guy at first,but once made those posts are re-usable .. anyone can re-quote the author

maybe a forum section,locked for us nooobs (but we can read it) ,where techies can easily draw from would help?

[Moem]

seems more work for the tech help guy at first,but once made those posts are re-usable .. anyone can re-quote the author

The GUI is too different between the desktop environments and themes that people use, and changes too often, for this to be feasible in my eyes. It's indeed a LOT more work for the tech help guys and gals here. They, after all, are only volunteers.

But it's perfectly fine not to be into terminal usage as a Mint user. If you can open one, and copy/cut/paste from and into it, that is really all you need to know. I see no need to want to ease anyone into it... if they aren't interested, they aren't interested. Just like me!

[Rooo]

The GUI is too different between the desktop environments and themes that people use, and changes too often, for this to be feasible in my eyes. It's indeed a LOT more work for the tech help guys and gals here. They, after all, are only volunteers.

But it's perfectly fine not to be into terminal usage as a Mint user. If you can open one, and copy/cut/paste from and into it, that is really all you need to know. I see no need to want to ease anyone into it... if they aren't interested, they aren't interested.

I`ve read a lot of great posts lost in threads ... was thinking something like a template section techies could draw from,save typing and searching over and over ... just an idea

Just like me!

says the techie with 13712 posts




defo need a thanks button /runs!

[Moem]

the techie with 13712 posts

All those posts and I still prefer the GUI!

[Drugwash]

Yep, I'm a GUI (and mouse) person too.

Coming from (old) Windows to Mint a couple years ago (or more?) I am still appalled at the lack of cascaded menus (in Cinnamon, at least; dunno about the other DEs), to name only one of the important things I miss. Ever since first installation I started tweaking and customizing desperately in an attempt to make it at least acceptable. Still haven't finished, probably never will. If I ever do it, assuming I'll still be alive, then my 19.2 version - which for various reasons can't and won't upgrade - will already be long obsolete.

Linux is taking so much after the new Windows lately that people probably just wouldn't bother with its learning curve on top of its own bugs and issues and shortcomings. Dropping support for "obsolete" - albeit perfectly working - hardware in kernels, dropping useful GUI features (Shade button in window titlebar anyone?), and other things - all this is bit by bit the M$ way and it's now in Linux as well. So why bother? Maybe - just maybe - because in Linux updates can be delayed or refused altogether, while in Windows they're forced upon users, in many cases at the worst possible time and with sometimes dreadful consequences. But give it time.

[Lady Fitzgerald]

the techie with 13712 posts

All those posts and I still prefer the GUI!

Yep, I'm a GUI (and mouse) person too...

And yet another GUI and rodent person chiming in (I hate, despise, detest, and loathe touch pads and touch screens; I also don't like them).

[Moem]

I hate, despise, detest, and loathe touch pads and touch screens; I also don't like them

I simply don't use them. I also do not like mice; my weapon of choice is the trackball and, when I'm using my laptop*, the trackpoint.

*which is most of the time

[Windows2LinuxNoob]

TLDR but I am one of those that is happy I know something many “typical” PC users don’t. Linux users are elite. They use a more powerful OS than the proprietary, closed-source systems. Whether it be something simple like the great Mint distro or Arch, you’re using an elite OS comparatively. I’m proud of that where I have the aptitude and patience to learn something that has shown me what real computing can be. Proprietary OSs deprive you of what you can truly do with your machine(s). I was tired of installing, configuring, repairing, etc proprietary OSs for not only my stuff, but others. Linux fixed that. Haven’t looked back since. Gotta love my username because I’m no longer a Linux noob…

[Lady Fitzgerald]

I hate, despise, detest, and loathe touch pads and touch screens; I also don't like them

I simply don't use them. I also do not like mice; my weapon of choice is the trackball and, when I'm using my laptop*, the trackpoint.

*which is most of the time

I wanted to learn how to use a trackball since they require far less desk real estate to use but I never could get the hang of them (mutter, mutter, mumble, mumble). Two weeks was the longest I could last using one before I was a candidate for a rubber room.

[Drugwash]

A good combination of settings can reduce the space required for mouse movement, but the hand (and the eye) may require a bit of training. Before this Mint notebook I used to use a Win98SE and a WinXP at the same time, with both mice on the same pad due to lack of space. And they were ball mice without wheel. So when there's a will there's a way.

[majpooper]

I hate, despise, detest, and loathe touch pads and touch screens; I also don't like them

I simply don't use them. I also do not like mice; my weapon of choice is the trackball and, when I'm using my laptop*, the trackpoint.

*which is most of the time

I wanted to learn how to use a trackball since they require far less desk real estate to use but I never could get the hang of them (mutter, mutter, mumble, mumble). Two weeks was the longest I could last using one before I was a candidate for a rubber room.

Same here - I just don't have the fine motor skills to operate a track ball - the pointer just darts all over the place - so my "mutter, mutter, mumble, mumble" has a few expletives. When ever I have to get on my wife's PC I have to plug in a usb mouse and switch it to right handed - even though she is also right handed she keeps the track ball on the left so she can write with her right hand while operating the track ball with her left hand . . . . . yeah, try that out.

[Lady Fitzgerald]

A good combination of settings can reduce the space required for mouse movement, but the hand (and the eye) may require a bit of training. Before this Mint notebook I used to use a Win98SE and a WinXP at the same time, with both mice on the same pad due to lack of space. And they were ball mice without wheel. So when there's a will there's a way.

I need a mouse to be as slow possible for when I have to make teensy weensy mouse movements. Even with my mouse settings as slow as I can get them, the little rodents still move too fast.

I simply don't use them. I also do not like mice; my weapon of choice is the trackball and, when I'm using my laptop*, the trackpoint.

*which is most of the time

I wanted to learn how to use a trackball since they require far less desk real estate to use but I never could get the hang of them (mutter, mutter, mumble, mumble). Two weeks was the longest I could last using one before I was a candidate for a rubber room.

Same here - I just don't have the fine motor skills to operate a track ball - the pointer just darts all over the place - so my "mutter, mutter, mumble, mumble" has a few expletives. When ever I have to get on my wife's PC I have to plug in a usb mouse and switch it to right handed - even though she is also right handed she keeps the track ball on the left so she can write with her right hand while operating the track ball with her left hand . . . . . yeah, try that out.

My old, arthritic hands are just too shaky for fine movements with a trackball.

I have a friend who has an external num-pad connected to his laptop to use with his left hand while driving the rodent or track pad with his right hand.

[Drugwash]

I need a mouse to be as slow as possible for when I have to make teensy weensy mouse movements. Even with my mouse settings as slow as I can get them, the little rodents still move too fast.

Tough.
Maybe someone could build a quick script to temporarily slow down cursor speed when a specific key (or combination) is pressed.

[Rooo]

the new Windows

i figure its easier to learn linux now than battling defender with its ever increasing superpowers ... wont be able to do anything in win soon

And yet another GUI and rodent person chiming in (I hate, despise, detest, and loathe touch pads and touch screens; I also don't like them).

i hate using pads n touchscreens ... they hate me!

...



i also have a trackball,made the mistake of getting one without a scroll wheel .. never thought of using it left handed,will try that,might be easier? thanks

---


one thing i do love is mouse gestures,i installed a mouse mileage tracking prog ages ago,its shocking how far we move our mice over a few months ...
Testing Easystoke on mint ... works kinda ok,will figure out its nits sooner or later ... gestures in Vivaldi rock! all good fun ...

those extra buttons on 5 button mice i miss (seen a few posts about enabling them on mint board,will get around to it ) - great to have them as rewind/fast forward in media players .. having a management program like windows Xmouse button control would be great (Easystroke kinda does it)

/goes to check new posts

[Drugwash]

i figure its easier to learn linux now than battling defender with its ever increasing superpowers ... wont be able to do anything in win soon

Possible. Haven't touched any Windows except for a virtual XP for the last couple of years, no idea how far their paranoia and thirst for control has gone.
At least back then it was possible to disable that dreaded tool completely, but only until next update that reverted most if not all user customization, which made things pretty hairy. Guess they should've called the abomination Windows Poltergeist or something.

Personally I don't like things to move around - as in settings changed, applications uninstalled, files/folders deleted etc. - especially when such operations are unannounced and user has no ability to stop/cancel them. Which reminds me that in this Mint 19.2 installation I'm running I see each midnight, few minutes after 12, the HDD LED lit for a few minutes, which means consistent activity - without any notification from any application or the system itself. Feels quite bizarre and have no idea how to search for an answer to that.

[MurphCID]

One of the best features of Mint is how easy it was for a hard core windows user (me) to come in and after getting help for a couple of minor WiFi issues, to just start using the desktop. Comfort came later, experimentation came MUCH later, but using it came very easily right off the bat. Even though I have used MAC OS, I was lost when confronted with a Gnome desktop.

[MurphCID]

seems more work for the tech help guy at first,but once made those posts are re-usable .. anyone can re-quote the author

The GUI is too different between the desktop environments and themes that people use, and changes too often, for this to be feasible in my eyes. It's indeed a LOT more work for the tech help guys and gals here. They, after all, are only volunteers.

But it's perfectly fine not to be into terminal usage as a Mint user. If you can open one, and copy/cut/paste from and into it, that is really all you need to know. I see no need to want to ease anyone into it... if they aren't interested, they aren't interested. Just like me!

As always a great point which is why you are a Linux Guru!