Re: [tlug] Trying to clarify the idea of a "Bye-bye Windows"

["Josh Glover" <jmglov@example.com>]

On 01/08/06, Shannon Jacobs <shannon.jacobs@example.com> wrote:

> However, I wouldn't have minded if
> someone wanted to use the machine I brought along to demonstrate the
> solution to a problem or two.

Well, they say "ask and you shall receive", but you have to ask before
you can receive. I would have been happy to help you out, had you
asked me to, and I am sure others (especially those who are more
knowledgeable about Ubuntu) would have as well.

> However, I was actually just hoping to bounce a few things off
> of someone after the meeting.

As meetings are currently set up, *before* the meeting is a better
time for the bouncing, because after, well, we have more important
things on the brain. Specifically, the nomikai. :)

Seriously though, next tech meeting, arrive 20 minutes early, fire up
your 'top, walk over to someone, and just ask them your question. If
they don't know the answer, I am sure someone else in the vicinity
will. Don't be shy about asking someone to show you something.

> At work I normally have two machines running, one on Linux, and one on
> Windows.

This sounds like a plan.

> I haven't even been able to print a PDF document from the Linux
> side since the office uses a kind of network printer (5587?) with a driver
> that isn't available for Linux.

But can it do PostScript? Give us the manufacturer and model of the
printer, and we might be able to help. Also, if it is setup to print
from Windows as a shared printer, you might be able to use Samba to
print to it.

> Another example was that I made a number of
> attempts to access Java from Firefox, and eventually concluded it was more
> trouble that it was worth.

That's funny, I have not had trouble with Java in Firefox since it was
released. Post to the list, telling us *specifically* what you have
tried, and what the results were in each case.

In short, Shannon, help us help you. You have to ask one question at a
time, giving as many details as possible.

Asking, "how can I switch from Windows to Linux?" is not a good
question for this list. Asking, a la Dave, "how can I use my damned
Palm Pilot in Linux?" is better. Asking--again using Dave as an
example--"How can I sync my damned Palm Pilot in Linux, using
gnome-pilot? When I plug in my device, I see foo in /var/log/messages,
but when I press the hotsync button, I see bar." is best.

-Josh