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Thread: ~ Feature requests ~

  1. #1
    Join Date
    Jun 2006
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    Syracuse, NY
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    The First Idea!

    Ok, I'm not sure if this is entirely within our scope, but I have long thought that this is the biggest thing Ubuntu is missing.

    Why isn't there a new user manual/document on the desktop at boot? I feel like it would be very simple to write up a short document explaining some basic Ubuntu tips/tricks and also things like why mp3's won't play. We could even make it link out to various websites (udsf, wiki, etc.) for the detailed instructions. I feel like a lot of users need that place to start. As the beginner team we could keep track of the popular topics in the beginner forum, divide up the popular topics and write some helpful hints. Then we could put it all together and get the Devs to stick it on the desktop as a "need help? click here" thingy. It's been on my mind for a while as something that should be done, as I think it would help a lot of users find answers for basic problems.
    Desktop: AMD Athlon64 X2 3600+, Nvidia 8600GT, 3GB RAM, 80GB hd, Windows 7 Beta
    Lappy: Sony Vaio FW-140E, Intel P8400 2.26Ghz, 3GB Ram, 250GB HD, Intel x4500MHD, Windows 7 Beta & Kubuntu 8.10 w/ KDE 4.2

  2. #2
    Join Date
    Nov 2006
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    1,298

    Re: The First Idea!

    Absolutely.
    Not sure about the desktop docs bit - since the hints and tips etc. might change as things develop - e.g. beryl was but a twinkle in the eye (if that) six months ago.

    But anyway, I set up a thread/poll on this a few days ago. You can see it here.

    http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=375225

    (not intending to hijack thread - so maybe they can be merged?)

    ** EDIT ** Igknighted - Great minds clearly think alike! **
    Last edited by floke; March 5th, 2007 at 11:39 PM. Reason: Recognition of mutual genius

  3. #3
    Join Date
    Jul 2006
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    Pomezia, Rome, IT
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    825
    Distro
    Ubuntu 9.04 Jaunty Jackalope

    Re: The First Idea!

    That sounds like a good idea. Knoppix has it, for example, even though, being a KDE distro, it fires up Konqueror with HTML formatted docs. With Firefox it would take a bit longer to load... But yes, I think having some sort of guidelines and explanations about codecs (with an HOWTO for installing them, possibly) would be great for new users.

  4. #4
    Join Date
    Jun 2006
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    ~wfarr
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    409

    Re: The First Idea!

    I agree completely.

    I mean, new users shouldn't be so without aid that they have to ask things like "How do I install stuff?" or "Why can't I install SOME.exe?".

    IMO, there should be a simple, laid out tutorial that appears on first-boot (and has a desktop icon on the LiveCD) that walks the user through a very short description of Linux, Ubuntu, what's different from Windows (and why?), and how to do a few of the more simple tasks.

  5. #5
    Join Date
    Apr 2005
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    Parts Unknown
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    9,213
    Distro
    Ubuntu Development Release

    Re: The First Idea!

    Just passing through...

    Take a look at System->Help (in Gnome) and see what you think.
    what's a troll? | my blog | my writing | Ubuntu Unleashed

    Don't ask support questions in PMs--post a thread so everyone can benefit!

  6. #6
    Join Date
    Apr 2005
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    61
    Distro
    Ubuntu 16.10 Yakkety Yak

    Re: The First Idea!

    Quote Originally Posted by matthew View Post
    Just passing through...

    Take a look at System->Help (in Gnome) and see what you think.
    That's fine, if you've been using Ubuntu for awhile, or know - at least in general terms - what you're looking for. However, beginning users may not have the intuition to look for "Help" under a menu called "System," nor might they quickly find the answers they're looking for. As an example, two very common questions I've seen have been:

    "How do I install an application (or Application X)?" Followed very quickly by: "What is a Terminal and how do I open it?"

    Having not used the Help menu since Warty (I quickly gave up on it, since it wasn't clear enough - I still feel these forums are the best support, by the way) I felt I was a perfect test for the parent post. I would know what it was that I was looking for (the answer to the questions above), but I wouldn't know where to find it in the Help documentation provided with Ubuntu (Dapper, with Gnome as my GUI). Using nothing but intuition, which is what, I believe, what most beginners will use, I first looked under System -> Help -> System Documentation -> Applications under the heading Other document categories. Success! I got instructions on how to use "gnome-app-install" OK, on to question 2. Not as intuitive. I first went back to System -> Help -> System Documentation -> Applications Nothing there, so I tried Command Line Help under System Documentation and got as far as some basic commands, but not the very basic question of how to open a Terminal to get to a command line. Not seeing anything else that looked like it would help, I turned to the Online Documentation, and, honestly, I only found it right away because I knew I was using Gnome. Had I not known what to look for, I would probably have asked "WTF is 'Zoobuntu?'" opened "About Ubuntu" and been frustrated. Regardless, the experiment took under 15 minutes.

    So what have I learned? The Help menu has come a looooooong way since Warty, but new (beginning) users will benefit immensely from a small, simple tutorial that they can quickly access and read before installation. I feel that having some kind of help documentation on the Desktop covering common questions (including a definition of the command line/Terminal window and a howto install programs guide) and an OS installation walkthrough (since we all go through basically the same menus) along with a list of commonly used Windows/MacOS applications and their Ubuntu-available counterparts would greatly improve beginning-user satisfaction. And if it had an unambiguous title, such as "***READ THIS FIRST - Installation Walkthrough, Beginning Users Guide, and Simple Tutorials.xxx***" then all the better.

    Well, I hope that made sense to someone other than me (I have mono, so I'm typing through a fever and a sever bout of fatigue).

    P.S. - I just had one more thought: At the end of the Help document, there ought to be a hypertext link to these forums, and an explaination of what a new user can expect to find here.

  7. #7
    Join Date
    Oct 2005
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    Hidden!

    Re: The First Idea!

    I think this is a great idea! My first Linux experience was a nightmare, mostly because I didn't know what I didn't know and found it hard to even ask a question about the problems I was having. People who are courageous enough to give Linux a try, starting from dead zero, like I did, really deserve an extra helping hand.

    I wish there had been faq sheet on the desktop the first time I booted into Linux. I collected a lot of documents when I started using Ubuntu. None of them are more than a paragraph or two and none are terribly complicated; all of them were very important to me at the time. This is a very do-able idea.

  8. #8
    Join Date
    Feb 2007
    Location
    Dallas, TX
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    148
    Distro
    Ubuntu 10.04 Lucid Lynx

    Goto People

    I think it would be good to have "go-to" people for the Beginner Team as sometimes users need a quick answer but the forums may not be active for a solution.

    I would like to volunteer myself as a person who can help.

    Any user is free to shoot me a message via AIM to the name: ZeroEXR

    Edit: For those looking for an alternative to AIM, I'm also on Jabber: ZeroXR @ Jabber.org

    I want to assist any new converts who are a little "green" to the conversion.
    Last edited by ZeroXR; March 8th, 2007 at 05:22 AM.

  9. #9
    Join Date
    Jan 2007
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    83
    Distro
    Ubuntu 8.04 Hardy Heron

    Thumbs down Re: The First Idea!

    Just shooting this to you guys on the new feature of migration assistance coming out in Feisty

    http://www.michaellarabel.com/index.php?k=blog&i=83

  10. #10
    Join Date
    Feb 2006
    Location
    Minneapolis, MN USA
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    142

    Re: Goto People

    Likewise here.

    Find me on Yahoo IM as uma.sifu
    on Google Talk as nik.ogura

    I'm no expert, but I'm a teacher by profession, and I'm online at all hours.

    If I can help, just call

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