Mailinglist Archive: opensuse (5100 mails)

["Billie Walsh" <bilwalsh@xxxxxxxxxx>]

Just weeks before 9.1 was released I finally broke down and purchased SuSE
9.0. The decision to buy SuSE was made after talking to just about everyone
I could find for over a year. I had been told by numerous people that SuSE
was the best. I have to admit that installation was an absolute breeze. 9.0
found, and installed, everything in my box way better than Windows ever has.

Now I'm no computer idiot. My computer experience goes back to TI 99-4A and
CoCo days. CPM and DOS were the operating systems of the day. However, I'm
not a "programmer" and I think therein lies my problem with Linux. IMHO, for
at least the foreseeable future LINUX will primarily be an operating system
for "programmers".

When I was using DOS I spent an incredible amount of time writing complex
"bat" files to make running different programs and keeping things going the
way I wanted. If I still wanted to use a command line interface to interact
with my computer I would still be using DOS 6. GUI's are just much simpler
to operate.

Now don't get me wrong. I like Linux. It does things incredibly well. Most
of the package applications work better than Micro$oft products. The
problems I have/had are with adding things that I want that are missing from
the package, and maybe a couple things that are included.

"So far" I haven't found any genealogy programs. I would like to use my
Window$ program. For that I need Wine, or something equivalent. Wine comes
packaged with 9.0 but there is no "intuitive" way to make it operate. By
using KDE to search through every directory on the hard drive I did find
something dealing with Wine. [A "search" using Yast couldn't return one hit
for anything dealing with Wine.] There was also a "html" manual for it that
I bookmarked for later. I went to the website and looked for detailed
instructions. They talked about the versions that were packaged were
sometimes not the latest and greatest so I downloaded and installed the
"latest and greatest".  Well the manual that I had bookmarked is GONE.
Things are scattered all over the hard drive and I can't find anything that
makes it run.

I absolutely abhor graphical HTML editors. They make pages that are FAR
larger and bulkier than needed. I think I have found a Linux application
that does things the way I want them done. It's called CoffeCup. No problem,
just download and install right. WRONG. Download fine. Install???????? It
comes with an installation utility that does nothing. It runs just fine. BUT
it doesn't do a thing while it's running, then says installation went just
fine. HUH!!!!

Right now I just don't have the time to spend trying to figure all this
stuff out. We are moving and setting up a new house on our acreage. It's
just more trouble than it's worth right now so I'm back to running Window$
for the time being. *<[:o( In a while, when life settles down and I have
more spare time I will get back to fighting Linux.

IMHO Linux has great potential as an everyday operating system. BUT, until
it becomes much more intuitive to use, applications become much easier to
use, and there is less reliance on "command line interface" it will NEVER
become "everyman's" operating system. As a workstation in an office system
where someone keeps it up and running, Fine. As a home operating system for
everyday use, Ain't happenin'.

Sorry - Just my $0.02 worth.

Sorta PS - Someone needs to write a book Linux For Dummies with just BASIC
information on how to operate it. Step by step in baby language.

(o:]>*HUGGLES*<[:o)
Billie Walsh
The three best words in the English Language:
"I LOVE YOU."
Pass them on!