Re: [tlug] Suse blues

["Stephen J. Turnbull" <stephen@example.com>]

>>>>> "paul" == paul arenson <paul@example.com> writes:

    paul> Most recent attempt is here--->they said to try a japanese
    paul> forum since they did not know.  They said i needed a
    paul> japanese server, but even when I install in japanese I do
    paul> not get success.

    paul> big thread...
    paul> http://forums.suselinuxsupport.de/index.php?showtopic=512&hl=

Mike Fabian must be on vacation.

    paul> People have said that you need to do this and that (make
    paul> sure you have this program, like canna and that), but I
    paul> thought if I install in Japanese, it would be automatic.

Not necessarily.  Not everybody who installs in Japanese wants
Japanese support as a user; many servers, for example, will not need
Japanese input.

    paul> Sometimes I get no mouse cursor in my analog screen but only
    paul> in my digital one.  (Yet if I activate 24 bit color or use
    paul> my 3D accelerator--GEO FORCE something or other, I do not
    paul> have the option of using the digital interface, only the
    paul> analog).

This is probably a driver problem, it will probably be the same on all
Linux distros.  Vendors _must_ have Microsoft drivers, but they can
live without Linux drivers, so they tend to take a while before Linux
has good drivers.

    paul> (2) Should I install WITHOUT adding additional programs? I
    paul> just click things that look like I might want them and then
    paul> get told if there is a conflict and select RESOLVE conflict.
    paul> But so far, no Kanji entry and the other glitches.

No, that won't help.  I suggest you order some pizza and beer, and
invite a penguin over.  Really---Linux is very stable once you get it
running, but if you want the ease of installation that you get with
Windows, you have to pay for it.  (Local stores are charging 50,000
yen for Windows XP _Personal_, who do they think they're kidding?)

One way to do that is to make friends with someone who enjoys fiddling
with the machine.  Or get a girlfriend/wife/boyfriend/child who does
want to be a Linux guru.  That's cheaper in the short run, but a girl
with a computer habit can become expensive _really_ fast ("I'm sorry
dear, but anything less than a 4-CPU Itanium box just won't do, I'm
solving knapsack problems...").  I suggest you order up that pizza....

Free software is about sharing software with other people.  It's a
common misconception that only programmers have anything to share.
Everyone who uses computers has something to share, and even o-taki
like to have friends.  "Your mission, should you choose to accept
it...."

    paul> (3) Since I want a system that I don't have to become a
    paul> Linux guru to use--I just want to enjoy myself and get some
    paul> work done---should I opt for a DIFFERENT distribution?

Yeah, buy a Mac.  :-)

Seriously: SuSE is an excellent distribution, they produce high
quality, well-integrated packages, and (if it's any consolation) they
will probably have a fixed driver for your video card before anyone
else (they specialize in supporting that area of development).

What you need is to have your hand held, and once you've got someone
to do that, pretty much any distro will do.

    paul> (4) Can I just put a CD or DVD of any good installation and
    paul> write over it?

No, because you'll have different hardware etc.  Fix the installation
you've got, or find someone to fix it for you.

    paul> I have been tempted to go back to Windows 2000, but have
    paul> been told it is not easy to get rid of Linux and then go
    paul> back to another operating system...

Yes, having experienced the nirvana of an OS where you can hotswap
network drivers and even change your IP address without rebooting, one
where the string "Abort/Retry/Fail?" exists nowhere in the whole
system, you will find it very painful to have to reboot every so
often, and reinstall the whole OS every so often.  Not to mention that
if you bought an inexpensive box you probably didn't get a CD with the
OS on it, so when you try to reinstall you'll discover that all the OS
recovery and ACPI software is hosed because their hidden partitions
got overwritten, and the only remedy you have is to pay the vendor's
asking price.  Psychologically it is indeed difficult to "get rid of
your Linux" habit and go back to another operating system.

But technically installing Windows over Linux is easy.  All you need
to do is tell the installer to format the disk first, and there will
not be a trace of Linux left.  What is hard to do is to _share_ a
machine with Windows; Windows first tries to make Linux unbootable,
and then if that doesn't work, throws a tantrum, crashes, and refuses
to boot ever again.

    paul> I enetered SUSe in the serach engine and could not find any
    paul> post.

Do you mean TLUG's search engine?  That's broken.  Doesn't matter what
you enter, you will get ... nothing.

    paul> I do not want to spent most of my time thinking about or
    paul> learning the intricasies of Linux---just want it to work
    paul> with less trouble than Windows.

*shrug* Have you heard of "crackers" and "viruses"?  There are people
and their software creatures out there who hate you.  Windows is easy
to install, easy to use at a basic level, difficult to become very
expert at, impossible to use for some things, and certain to cause you
and others a lot of trouble at some point.

Linux will (at the current stage of Linux development) require a
certain portion of your attention for a while, and after a month (if
you get appropriate mentoring) what you need to do will be as
automatic and undistracting as brushing your teeth.

And as good for your health.  :-)


-- 
Institute of Policy and Planning Sciences     http://turnbull.sk.tsukuba.ac.jp
University of Tsukuba                    Tennodai 1-1-1 Tsukuba 305-8573 JAPAN
               Ask not how you can "do" free software business;
              ask what your business can "do for" free software.