Re: What's next

Inline responses....

Quoting Lee Ross <leeross@gci.net>:

<snip>
>>
> Here is a message I sent to AKLUG last March in response to your
> suggestions. I saw zero response so I assume I'm the only one out here
> that's interested in the GUI end of Linux. Or maybe it got lost in
> so-called cyberspace.
>
> On Sun, 25 Mar 2007 20:22:33 -0800, barsalou <barjunk@attglobal.net> wrote:
>
>> I'd like to suggest that we do two things:
>> First, despite the fact that stereotypes may cause headaches, we need
>> to have what seems to be three levels of "expertise".
>> 1. User Level - This would include folks just coming to Open Source
>> and Linux. Possibly folks interested in using OpenOffice, Gimp,
>> Evolution, etc on Windows (and maybe the PC User group already does
>> that?)
>> 2. Intermediate Level - This probably includes a majority of the
>> AKLUG force, sans some newer members. These folks may have in-depth
>> knowledge of a particular package (Apache, Webmin, etc). Additionally,
>> they would have specific knowledge of a particular distribution like
>> Fedora, Ubuntu, etc.
>> 3. Advanced Level - This would include those folks who know how to
>> compile programs from source. Can reconfigure and rebuild a kernel and
>> have coded some of their own software (not necessarily C code, could be
>> Perl, Ruby, etc.)
>> Second, it seems reasonable to chart a course for those that are new to
>> our group. Growth is a motivator for some, although I suspect we will
>> see folks who 'just want the answer'. We'll have to decide if AKLUG
>> wants to be the sort of organization that just gives fish to people,
>> instead of teaching them how to fish on their own. I lean towards the
>> latter.
>> Of course, all of this is up for discussion and I hope that anyone who
>> is not in agreement with my ideas can provide an alternative that could
>> be further discussed. Anything else is just noise.
>>
>
> Mike,
>
> All of the above makes a lot of good sense to me. (semi-newbie user level)
> Even though there are people out there interested in the intermediate and
> advanced levels, I think there is much more potential in the user level
> where building a solid AKLUG is concerned. I talk linux up every chance I
> get and I find a lot of people that want to make the transition from MS to
> somewhere else but don't know much about that somewhere else. Most of
> these people are windows users and don't want to start a new chapter in
> their life that includes learning command line computing. Most of the
> millions of windows users would like to get out of that money trap and get
> involved in something new that's just as easy to operate as windows, not
> something that requires months and years of new training. If people only
> knew how simple it is to run the GUI in linux, they would come running.
> The majority of the public run a browser, email and word processor. Listen
> to a little music and do a lot of photo editing. I can say without a
> doubt, linux has more good free programming to offer in those areas than
> any other operating system.

I've had this same conversation with many people. This is surely where
things are headed. There are a set of people that are concerned that
AKLUG would become a free fish helpdesk instead of a free learn to fish
desk helpdesk. It's my personal goal to not become a free fish
helpdesk. I hope this fits with others as well.

>
> When I first started using Linux I hired a guy to teach me how to use the
> gui and I didn't understand the signifigance of passwording user and root
> levels. I made it very clear to this gentleman that I did not want to
> learn command line at this time, I just wanted to get the system working
> like windows so I could function without spending a lot of money on
> software every time I turned around. Unfortunately, after several weeks of
> trying to get him to show me how to operate the gui I had to stop the
> classes because he was unable to show me anything about the gui. I wanted
> to learn how to install programs via yast and he would show me how to do
> it via the command line yast. It went on and on like this till we went our
> separate ways. I finally taught myself how to use the linux gui by reading
> books, magazines and joining mailing lists, etc. There is very little gui
> support out there but it can be found.

Although I know this wasn't aimed at me, my recent experiences have
proven it is difficult for me to teach with only the gui. But I
believe you are on to something.

>
> I would really like to attend the AKLUG meetings and not be there just to
> get something fixed and when it was done not know what in the world
> happened to make it work. I remember one time when I screwed up one of my
> systems, I brought it to the lug meeting and someone, I can't remember
> who, went through this lengthy file system repair and got the system
> running again. I remember a conversation afterwards when he said,"don't
> worry about learning command line only as everything we did here tonight
> can also be done in the gui. It's just a matter of learning what and where
> it is." With that, I was able to concentrate on the gui and an now very
> comfortable with linux and use it for everything I do. I mostly have used
> Suse and most recently I'm testing Kubuntu on one of my machines.
>

It seems we are heading this direction. A good majority of this kind
of conversation can happen on the list. But a good in person
demonstration is always appreciated.

Would you be willing to talk about those sort of things on the list? I
personally am interested in how to do some of the things that I do on
the command line with some sort of gui tool.

We'll probably run into the KDE/Gnome conundrum. But let's give it a
try and see what happens. This will create some interesting
conversation about widgets, window managagers and whatever.

Thanks for taking the time to respond. Mike B.

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Received on Fri Jul 20 07:53:48 2007