Rowan wrote:
> I would certainly want to make it clear to anyone considering starting
> with Linux that unless they are already online with another machine (I
> am using a beat-up old sony running WinXP) it will be absolute hell for
> them to find anyone who can help them get started.
> [...]
Hello, Rowan.
I'm not unsympathetic to your plight, but I've lost count of the many
family and friends that I've helped to resolve problems caused by new
releases, or incompatible upgrades, of Windows that didn't recognise
hardware on their PC's. I don't think their Windows 'hell' was any less
frustrating than your experience with Linux has been to date: I've got
to say that I've found the online Windows community every bit as helpful
to each other as the Linux community are in resolving problems. Quite a
lot of knowledge is actually shared between these two user communities.
What I witnessed in response to your post on this list was many people
responding to you and offering to help you resolve your problem. I was
one of the people who responded, and suggested you tried booting from
the Ubuntu 'live' CD. Matt Daubney also suggested your try booting from
the 'live' CD and Rob beard suggested you look at some Linux magazines.
We were, of course, trying to help you to resolve your driver problem
yourself because that is part of what Linux is all about and why people
like to use it. However, what seems to have frustrated you most is that
few of us realised that you wanted someone else to solve the problem...
That's not unreasonable if you can't or don't want to solve the problem
yourself, but there is a community of people here who are used to a way
of solving problems that appears unfamiliar to you. I think you've put
your finger on a genuine problem, but I don't think that it's unique to
Linux. What I would say to anyone considering starting to use Linux is
that making contact with other people who are already using Linux can be
helpful, and an up-to-date list of UK LUG's (Linux User Groups) where
you can meet them is published every month in 'Linux Format' magazine.
Bye,
Tony.
--
Dr. A.J.Travis, University of Aberdeen, Rowett Institute of Nutrition
and Health, Greenburn Road, Bucksburn, Aberdeen AB21 9SB, Scotland, UK
tel +44(0)1224 712751, fax +44(0)1224 716687, http://www.rowett.ac.uk
mailto:a.tra...@abdn.ac.uk, http://bioinformatics.rri.sari.ac.uk/~ajt
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