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Seven Essential Tips For Using Ubuntu Feisty Fawn
Ed Albro writes "Matthew Newton, a columnist at PC World, has a great article up on seven things you'll want to change as soon as you start using Feisty Fawn. Some are as simple as making sure the Alt key works right, another gives you step-by-step instructions for turning on the impressive Beryl interface. 'I could spend a whole 'nother column telling you about all the great packages that are not installed by default, but for now I'll just leave you with this bonus tip: If you're running Ubuntu on a laptop and your Wi-Fi card is not detected or supported, try installing the Ndisgtk package (listed as such in Synaptic, but as 'Wireless Windows Drivers' in Add/Remove Applications). Then select the new System, Administration, Windows Wireless Drivers entry in Ubuntu's menu bar.'"
this isnt even close to ready for the desktop
it doesnt even support the ati mobile chipsets
I tried on two different machines and it failed both times
whereas debian 4.0 is fine on both
back in the day we didnt have no old school
What's a terminal? Isn't that a place where planes and trains stop so people can get on and off? What's a command line? Am I supposed to line up somewhere? Copy what? Paste what where?
I know that like most geeks you don't realize or are unwilling to accept it, but you are an elitist. You judge how easy computing tasks are based on prior knowledge so extensive that you don't even consciously remember most of it, you just use it as if you were born with it. You think of this unconscious knowledge base as a set of skills and assume that all people have these skills, and that if they are confused by something you find simple they obviously aren't trying hard enough.
I know this because I'm also afflicted with this condition. I often deal with computer-illiterate people and have to bite my tongue to avoid saying something disdainful like, "How the hell can you not know how to copy and paste something into a terminal window?". They just don't. You have to accept it. When you're designing software, you have to constantly stop and ask yourself, "Do I know how to do this because it's really obvious, or because I have knowledge that helps me understand what to do?" You have to think, "Will someone who has never even seen a computer be able to understand how to fix this, or be able to easily search for and accurately find help for this issue from within the software?" If the answer is no, that's a bad sign for usability issues.
By the way, why are you comparing a single terminal command with 10 clicks in the GUI? Biased much? I know a lot of things are easier to accomplish in the shell, but worst case scenario of transferring any action to the GUI should be at most 6 total clicks. Any developer that can't get access to an action below 10 clicks is an idiot and shouldn't be working on usability issues. A smart developer should be able to provide a path to any commonly needed action within about 3 clicks or less. Doesn't the user also have to click something in the GUI just to open the terminal? Eh? Think about that.