Comments on: Training Tips for New Linux Users

By: Frank

Frank — Fri, 21 Aug 2009 01:20:58 +0000

@DJ:
Isn’t that interesting. When I was first introduced to Linux Gnome confused the daylights out of me. I had no idea that it was supposed to be more simple because it had less options. To me KDE was more natural because the options were laid out in a fairly easy to see and navigate manner. I was also a Windows power user at the time.

The basis of the article is sound. Not everyone uses their computers in the same way. People are interested in how well Linux can work for them with what they are currently doing. One of the biggest questions I have gotten recently, with all this netbook craze, is how easily can I share .doc files? OpenOffice makes this nearly a non-issue for most users. They don’t care if it is open source or not, they just want it to be as useful as their current computing environment.

By: cmltow

cmltow — Mon, 20 Jul 2009 23:16:06 +0000

This is great. I wish I had come across it sooner. I gave an informative presentation on Ubuntu for a college speech class. Everyone liked the presentation, even with my poor public speaking habits. I still got an A though. But man, these tips would have been a huge help.

By: Vadim P.

Vadim P. — Thu, 10 Jul 2008 12:26:07 +0000

There is ubuntuscreecasts, ubuntu video, and a whole lot of other resource websites available on the net already.

By: dru

dru — Thu, 10 Jul 2008 03:09:56 +0000

I seriously think that the thing most needed right now for Linux popularity is ‘alot’ of video tutorials/guides. Why only show 30 or so people how you did something when you could show a million?? big ups to showmedo and the few compiz show-offs on youtube… I learnt to use a computer (mostly) by looking over someone’s shoulder or following instructions over the phone and (like alot of other people) find this the easiest way to learn …I just hope that the Linux Community will catch on to this fact, ps: ubuntu has started using this approach but there’s “heaps” more to the OS than installing automatix dude…!

By: DJ

DJ — Wed, 09 Jul 2008 12:40:34 +0000

This was a fantastic article, really a help for me. While I don’t teach formal classes, I have installed Linux on my family’s home pc. This was before I left for college and did all my playing around on that computer. Since then my family gets frustrated when problems arise. This involves mostly my father, who gets really worked up over the fact that he can’t download and install games from Yahoo (Why you want 30 minute demos I don’t know;) ). This is to my fault though, I never showed him how to install.

@KDE advocates:
personally, KDE confuses the daylights out of me. When I first tried linux that is what was given to me by Xandros. Not that it’s bad, I just don’t know it. My favorite is Xfce, partly because of it’s speed, and to me, it’s intuitive, things are where I think they should be, again, partly because I’m used to it. So I suppose I feel KDE how Windows converts feel with linux, haha.

By: Stomfi

Stomfi — Wed, 09 Jul 2008 11:14:37 +0000

Great article. I agree with you about Ubuntu since I install this distro on refurbished PCs for the digital divide. Our small organisation of two permanent one day a fortnight volunteers manages to supply about 400 systems a year.

We set up our machines with all the codecs and some extra applications like a typing tutor, VLC, and TuxPaint.
We actually clone the drives from our currently updated generic source machine which only takes 10 minutes and run the video re-configuration and a few tests on the target.

We give clients a short 20-40 minute run down, where they boot the system and login. In the GUI we show them the applications, the places, and the system menus first. We launch OpenOffice and show them how to save a dot doc file,

We plug in a USB key that pops up a folder listing.
We open the home folder from places and show them how to find the file, drag and drop copy to the key and then delete the original file.

Next we show them how to add a new user, introducing the unlock sudo password. Then we get them to log out and log in as the new user and show them that sudo won’t work for the new user.

The penultimate application to show is Firefox before we let them loose on Compiz Fusion, always a big hit.

The final application, if you can call it that, is the Add/Remove button. This is missing on Mandriva although they have got the message about sudo for newbies. Add/Remove is a fantastic utility for newbies. The applications have icons and rating stars, and are listed in applications menu headings, making it much easier for newbies to identify application than on the geeky synaptic interface.

We get them to copy some howtos from our key onto the computer. One shows pictorially how to use synaptic. For those who show an obvious need another shows how to load and run a Windows shareware application, and yet another on howto setup and run XP in a VirtualBox. That usually eases all their fears as they never email for help.

If the client is a bit geeky, we give them a copy of the Mandriva Live install CD and let them play with it live for a bit before they take the system away.

Many clients already know about Linux, so they don’t need the full run down. They know that is what is going to loaded on the machine they ordered at least a week in advance. But surprisingly, here in the wilds of Brisbane Australia, a lot more people than one would expect from the supposed minute market share, know about Linux, and even about Ubuntu, Mandriva and Redhat.

Just a word of warning about the changing the installation sudo user on Ubuntu. If you decide to give a new user admin priviledges, and delete the install one, you may have to change the new user name ID to 1000, as some utilities like adding a new printer may not work without this ID.

By: rubbsdecvik

rubbsdecvik — Tue, 08 Jul 2008 17:50:37 +0000

@Egeman Metin Turan – I have not tried Pardus. I will have to look at it. Thanks for the tip.

By: Training Tips for New Linux Users : HowtoMatrix

Training Tips for New Linux Users : HowtoMatrix — Tue, 08 Jul 2008 16:14:11 +0000

[...] I can’t stress this one enough. Your presentations and instructions need to be tailored to your audience. If it isn’t, you can loose the interest of your audience or cause them to become lost. Who do you plan on training? I find that most users fall into one of three categories: Read more at Works With U [...]

By: Egemen Metin Turan

Egemen Metin Turan — Tue, 08 Jul 2008 15:42:36 +0000

You can choose Pardus which is aiming Desktop users. It is a KDE based distro. Provides lots of easy to use tools, including user, network, and package managers, and windows migration tool.

Pardus with its unique init rewrite in python boots very fast. With its other unique features it is very stable. You can use it as an server easily.

By: Jack Fuller

Jack Fuller — Tue, 08 Jul 2008 15:25:43 +0000

My Win XP desktop is set up with the taskbar on top – just easier for me to see, as it’s near all the other “bars”. Shorter mouse travel.

I don’t think it’s things like this that cause problems with Linux or any operating system. Whether KDE or Gnome is more like what the Mac or Windows user is familiar with isn’t “the issue”. It’s the USE of Linux – its ability to do the things that Windows/Mac users take for granted [wifi connections, ability to read DVDs, reasonably competent applications that correspond with Win/Mac apps] — that will carry the day [or not] for Linux.