I look forward to the return of LQ Radio. Currently I watch and listen to the webcasts DL.TV (http://dl.tv/), Cranky Geeks http://www.crankygeeks.com/ and the TWiT Newscast network http://twit.tv/.
That's three (3) Internet shows that cater to the Windows crowd. It would be great to have the same for us Linux users using a similar format and content.

Hi, Jeremy,
and Happy New Year!

What I'd like to see --and I don't know if you can do it based on this Forum software or not-- is if you can enable tagging of threads "Unsolved" and "Solved" -- and maybe "News" for threads that aren't really requests for help with a problem.

As a mod over at MepisLovers.org, I can say with certainty that feature, when our Admin enabled it, started to really improve our help response time, as experienced members can now tell at a glance which threads don't need checking, and can just read through the ones marked "Unsolved".

John Boice,
AKA "SilverBear"

Is it A good thing to ask for a data base for new to make drivers on klik and install level .
Or wiht yum coll for all distro?

I hate to burst our artist friends bubble, but I think this site really sucks. In the technical world, time is what counts. Maybe that is why our artist friend isn't making any money. Nevertheless, I think he should not consider a career change. That is why (That is time I mean)when I come here and look for something, and realize that instead of making your site user friendly, you guys have turned it into a maze. So immediately, I go to linuxbasics.org.

I'll give you a little background. I have been using linux consistently for about 2 years. The learning curve is starting to shoot stright up, and I often go to ubuntu chat and help many people solve problems with things that I have never done, and sometimes never even heard of. That is because things are clicking. I am starting to understand how it works. I don't know how to explain it, but that it's kind of intuitive. Anyways I have taught people to do things many times, and I have a special kind of understanding of how people learn.

Even though multitudes of linux people say they are so ready to help, truth is that is BS. Linux users have an air of arrogance to them. They think that they are bug stuff, and they will help you to a point, but that at a certain point you are cutt off. Many linux users are like people who are walking around with a shovel handle shoved up their backside, and they act like no-one knows it. Like their so innocent and so friendly and so community minded. LOL And that is the way linuxquestions.org is. I know, because I experienced it for myself. That is why I went to linuxbasics.org. Because their website is designed for the newbie.

First of all, every time I searched for something, it came back with something like no match for first term or you must have more of to add for the second term, or some kind of stupid thing like that. It wouldn't even come close to what I was searching for. You guys need to pull your heads out and learn how a USER FRIENDLY search engine should work for a NEWBIE. Try a google clone or something.

Second of all, I noticed someone mentioned organizing tutorials. Do you know what a pain in the butt it is to go through a list of about 1 or 2 or 3 hundred links to look for the tutorial that you need, and then to find out it's not even there??? COMMON!!! That's why they invented grep. If grep is such a powerful tool for linux users, then why the hell do linux user send newbies to a tutorial list that will take them an hour to read through, just to find out that what they need is not there? You guys really need to pull your heads out, because they are way up there!!!! A tutorial list must be organized in categories. Newbies need a Extra Big Bold Fancy font that say something for example: Web development, or cron, or terminal, or Scripting. And I hate to break it to you, but newbies need data redundancy. If something is listed in web development, but it also applies to scripting and/or cron, then you also need a link in cron and/or scripting

Thirdly Your website is horrendous in terms of friendliness. You need to modernize your page. It has to have categories displayed in big bold letters. Instead, its all in font size 12. As soon as a newbie sees that, they will run away. Categories my friends you need to think in categories. Big Bold and Graphic. I realize that you love your little text world, but you need menus with buttons. Even though Linux is a text based OS (as all are really) the new kids on the block still all want GRAPHICS. You can Phewie my comments, but I can guarantee that there will be a price to pay. I know from personal experience that I came here only briefly, and just turned away, because its just too hard to navigate your pages. You need to use graphics to fascilitate the users navigation. Graphics and Categories with subcategories and buttons.

Fourthly, there is one way that you can make a major improvement to linuxbasics.org. They have a linux course. It is a little e-book that I'm sure that many of you have seen. I'm not talking about the RUTE book. It's the basic beginner book. They call it a beginner book, but it is very cryptic in some places, and many of the things that are used for examples in it only make sense to a sys admin. If you were to take that book as a project, and have people go over it (by people, I mean the linuxquestion.org community in general) along with senior members, then we could build it into a major big text book, where people could get answers. for instance if someone wanted to find out a script on how to download and capture streaming music in a file, people could add those things to the book. In the scripting section, it could have menus with buttons with examples of scripts that people used to capture streaming audio into a file. The buttons could have categories like web development, or sys admin, or encryption, or anything you can think of with subcategories. Then as newbies read the manual, they could report on what seemed cryptic or hard to understand, and the more advanced members could take turns typing out a more clear and basic description of what is happening, and upon approval, it could be added to the chapter section, and make it more easily to understand. Furthermore, when newbies ask questions, they could often be referred to the pertaining section to give them a framework to stand on, before they get their question answered, and if they have a problem understanding what it is saying, then the group can learn more about how it can be explained better to newbies, and add it to the section.

This could be done with both the beginner book, and the RUTE book, since they are both (I believe) under creative commons licenses. You just keep the simple beginner easy "desktop user" stuff to the beginner book, and add to it in more layman understandable terms, and You put the more cryptic, and/or technical stuff in the Root Book.

Finally, you asked for it, and there it is, you got it. My opinion. It may seem to be a scathing opinion at times, but I only give it to you thusly for the hope that some of it might get through you linux user arrogant skulls. For you may be too deep into the recesses for the sun to shine. All joking aside, I hope you guy are succesful in your endeavor, and if you can get it right, then I would like to help. (otherwise, I really am not inspired to bang my head against a rock)

good luck

So it is, fully agree with You.
And a very successful 2009 for all of You.
Artfreddy

This is really more of something - Is it feasible rather than a suggestion

More and more users are moving to Linux...but when there comes a time to trouble shoot people want the old familiar way of clicking here and something gets fixed. They don't like logical stuff and it's very hard to move from windows philosphy of doing X to fix Z (which maybe just a rule encoded in their mindset)

To fix problems people generally post queries to forums like LinuxQuestions which of course tries to answers as best as it can, but sometimes people get frustrated by Vague answers and sometimes they don't understand the terms which are familiar to most Linux users.

What I see as a solution is to open up something for voice chat + online real time troubleshooting. Members who are willing to help others can give in their voice ID's (maybe via skype or wengophone) and remotedesktop connection can be used to solve issues quickly. I know it opens up a new set of issues of multiple pandora boxes...regarding security .

But it's up to the user if he / she wants real time help...and it's benefecial to other people also who are fixing the problems...coz they also can get accustomed to the real stuff. In ideal scenario of course this should be a packaged application with voice + online help combined into one....but if somehow this forum can be used for something of this sort...it will be really really different from thousands of forums existing today. And maybe move non linux users to linux.

You can already put an IM contact if you want, but the idea of a forum is to create a database of response, not to just provide a help desk.

I rather doubt they'd be many members prepared to give voice contact details out.

I would like some Christmas gift!

Dear Jeremy,
I have seen and seeked help from many forums when I was a linux newbie till I reached linuxquestions.org.Same like many members of this forum I am thoroughly impressed with the way I have been answered and the amount of linux enthusists across the world.

I would like see more apllication related documents on the site, for example Nagios or
splunk which can be run on linux. I feel application related docs will help Average Linux users like me to try hands on these and understand the power of linux at a short time, from where we can tweak more.

I wish all A very Happy 2009 and all the best.

Best Regards,

Athreya

_________________________________________________________________________
Dear N2fastbikes,

I've quickly checked your question then thought my answer may help you. I basically wroght something on my blog, but it is in Turkish anyway.

I had a simply same problem. When I updated the firmware of the wifi card, the wifi card started to work and also the WPA issue was solved.

First, open the Synaptic Package Manager and search b43 then install it. b43 indicates broadcom43xxx family group wifi cards.after installation is completed, restart your computer. Most probably that solves your issue.


I hope it helps you, good luck.



Selahattin Utus

Hate to be a stick in the mud, but IT DON'T WORK. Every forum I have ever belonged to has just such a document. At one forum, EVERY POST form includes just such text and yet every 3rd post is 'URGENT'.

Nice try but ain't gonna happen.

In this difficult financial crisis, people want to make the best use of the cash they do have. Linux has a role here.

Instead of splashing out on a full-spec laptop, a lot of punters are now going in for reduced-spec netbooks instead. Sales of these computers are booming - even in this crisis - and no wonder. They are small, fast, cheap, convenient and get the job done. It is a significant market sector now and is an ideal opportunity for Linux to increase its adoption rate.

So for 2009, I'd like to see more coverage of the netbook sector and similar - Asus eeepc. Intel Classmate and Acer - plus many others now as well.

To take the Asus eeepc as an example, this model has now got a sort of cult following. Both I and my spouse own one, alongside a normal laptop and several desktop PCs that run Debian and Ubuntu. The OEM Xandros Linux OS is a customised version of Xandros for the eeepc. They have done a good job with Xandros on the eeepc but it is a bit sluggish at times and there are issues with installing software packages plus it has no real desktop out-of-the-box. Tweaking Xandros is not really a task for the non-expert either.

I have been a long-time Puppy Linux fan. IMHO this is the best system to date for these Netbooks. It has to be said though, that Puppy also needs a lot of tweaking on Netbooks in order to take full advantage of modern netbook hardware.

So good support threads and help sections would be a big help especially for beginners in this area.

When you say every forum you've belonged to, I assume you exclude this one, because the sign-up letter is far from comprehensive, and seems to be the case for most forums of which I'm a member.

No need to shout either.

I appreciate both sides of this little problem. Noobs need tutorials, tutorials exist. As I think back to when I started using Linux a few years back I believe I just had an 'ah-ha' moment.

What was hard was knowing what question to ask. It's better now, but back then the Linux people spoke only Linux and the Windows folks spoke just Windows. Lots of hit or miss communications.

How about this? A table with column 1 full of 'stuff you do in Windows' and columns 2 to n 'how to do it in...'
'Ubuntu x.y CLI', 'Ubuntu x.y GUI', 'Gentoo x.y in CLI', 'Gentoo x.y in GUI', etc.

It might also be helpful to understand which versions of Linux are related to each other, who's the actual parent version and who's a derivative and why it might matter.

Finally, windows managers can be confusing to noobs. Gnome vs KDE vs whatever - in the MS world we get one manager (unless you're a real geek and know how to load others) and why should I care about over the other; not all the crap that the geeks care about but the stuff a basic user would see and have to deal with.

In fairness, all of this exists and can be found via Google but if it was clearly defined and well organized and in one place, oh that would be sweet.

Hi,
What about hot links for something on the lines that 'Larry Webb' suggested being placed into the 'Quick Links' for the 'Newbie' forum? I know that several links are kept. I do maintain 'Slackware-Links'. More than just Slackware® links! Something along the lines of multiple selected links or a list of links could be used within the 'Quick Links' for the 'Newbie' forum.