Ubuntu Wiki

Ubuntu Open Week - With a little Help - EfrainValles - Thu, Apr 30th, 2009

(11:01:03 AM) effie_jayx: ok
(11:01:05 AM) effie_jayx: Hello, My name is Efrain Valles from Maracaibo, Venezuela. I am a member of the LoCo (Local Community) Council and the Ubuntu Membership Board of the Americas. I am also an _on and off_ basic packaging contributor and I love lurking for tricks and stuff to do on Ubuntu.
(11:01:26 AM) effie_jayx: Welcome to "With a little help", This talk is intended for new ubuntu users that have joined the ubuntu world but would like to know how to find. I'll be sharing with you quite a few links so please have your bookmark ready in your favorite web browser.
(11:01:55 AM) effie_jayx: Also keep an eye for important _HINTS_ I will be giving you during the talk.
(11:02:32 AM) effie_jayx: As you may already know, all questions go in #ubuntu-classroom-chat, all you need to do is prefix your question with "QUESTION:", example: "QUESTION: Where is Maracaibo?" and it magically appears here.
(11:02:47 AM) effie_jayx: Let's get started.
(11:03:07 AM) effie_jayx: This is the Agenda for "With a little help":
(11:03:28 AM) effie_jayx: * Get to know your UBUNTU.
(11:03:28 AM) effie_jayx: * Command line and UI.
(11:03:28 AM) effie_jayx: * Meet the community help resourses.
(11:03:28 AM) effie_jayx: * Considerations when using community support.
(11:03:28 AM) effie_jayx: * The internet wilderness.
(11:03:29 AM) effie_jayx: * Enter Commercial support.
(11:03:31 AM) effie_jayx: * Help others.
(11:03:58 AM) effie_jayx: First of all, welcome to Ubuntu as well. It is a Free and Open Source software sponsored by Canonical LTD. and it is the result of a great effort of a global community of developers and a conglomerate of projects in the free and open source world. make sure you check https://help.ubuntu.com/community/CommonQuestions
(11:04:22 AM) effie_jayx: * Get to know your new OS
(11:04:36 AM) effie_jayx: Getting to know your new os is very important, this helps you feel confortable on the strenghs of (K)(X)ubuntu. You probably feel at home with your old os, but this is because you took the time to know the whereabouts.
(11:05:04 AM) effie_jayx: Ask these questions to yourself:
(11:05:11 AM) effie_jayx: * What version of Ubuntu, Kubuntu or Xubuntu are you using?
(11:05:25 AM) effie_jayx: * What desktop environment are you using?
(11:05:25 AM) effie_jayx: * What are the names of the applications you are using?
(11:05:43 AM) effie_jayx: All of these will provide to be good keywords for narrowing down searches and sorting through topics easily. make sure you check https://help.ubuntu.com/8.04/windows/C/glossary.html and https://help.ubuntu.com/community/Glossary
(11:06:07 AM) effie_jayx: Desktop Environments and Command Line Interface.
(11:06:33 AM) effie_jayx: You need to be able to find yourself in the graphical interface you are using so I suggest you check, the basic GNOME introduction. https://help.ubuntu.com/9.04/newtoubuntu/C/index.html/overview.html which will lead you to documentation on how to get stuff done on your new system. If your  use Kubuntu  you can try the KDE docuemntation http://docs.kde.org/development/en/kdebase-runtime/userguide/index.html. For Xubuntu users you c
(11:06:33 AM) effie_jayx: an check out http://www.xfce.org/documentation/4.2/.
(11:07:10 AM) effie_jayx: Some applications may be different from one another in Ubuntu, Kubuntu or Xubuntu so it is helpfull to remember the names for when you are doing a search on that particular application. Example if you want to fix and issue with your instant messenger in Kubuntu. "My account won't login using Kopete".
(11:07:38 AM) effie_jayx: Once you get acquainted to the interface I am sure you will feel right at home. :D
(11:07:56 AM) effie_jayx: One thing that many users are intrigued by is the Linux Command line. It is perhaps one of the most useful tools in every linux environment. Learning how to use it is really simple and to receive help I sugest that you learn to do basic tasks with it. https://help.ubuntu.com/community/UsingTheTerminal is a great place to start.
(11:08:30 AM) effie_jayx: And you might think I am imposing command line, but the truth is there are different Desktop Environments and the command line stays the same for most of them. Installing and application in a different Kubuntu may be different in steps if you compare it to Xubuntu. so installing from a command line will guarantee you get it done faster.
(11:09:05 AM) effie_jayx: Plus most of the help on the INTERNET at some point orients you to some command line usage. so it is always good to know the basics.
(11:09:44 AM) effie_jayx: _HINT_: always check the command you are using to get something done. if you intend to use "sudo apt-get install foo" then it is useful to check that apt-get is a command that actually does what you want it to do. You can check this using man.
(11:10:09 AM) effie_jayx: man apt-get
(11:10:16 AM) effie_jayx: With all of that under our belt. then we are ready to actually get some help :D.
(11:10:59 AM) effie_jayx: I do not see any questions up to this point so I will continue and check back with your questions later.
(11:11:14 AM) effie_jayx: Meet the community help resources:
(11:11:22 AM) effie_jayx: The community offers services that are oriented for different kinds of people. and they all encourage you to come and ask but also to consider that your questions or issues may have been already answered or solved.
(11:11:46 AM) effie_jayx: The Ubuntu Community offers:
(11:11:47 AM) effie_jayx: * Official Documentation: https://help.ubuntu.com/
(11:11:47 AM) effie_jayx: * Excellent Community Documentation: https://help.ubuntu.com/community and https://wiki.ubuntu.com
(11:11:47 AM) effie_jayx: * Web forums: http://www.ubuntuforums.org
(11:11:47 AM) effie_jayx: * Mailing lists: lists.ubuntu.com
(11:11:48 AM) effie_jayx: * LoCo (Local Community) Teams can help.
(11:11:50 AM) effie_jayx: * Live Chat (IRC): #ubuntu, #kubuntu and #xubuntu channels in the freenode server.
(11:11:52 AM) effie_jayx: * Answers through Launchpad: https://answers.launchpad.net/ubuntu
(11:12:14 AM) effie_jayx: and much more
(11:12:45 AM) effie_jayx: The Official Docuemntation: The Official Documentation is made available by the the Ubuntu Documentation Project, and it covers _supported_ versions of Ubuntu. It offers help from very basic tasks to advanced topics like installing server applications and such. https://help.ubuntu.com/
(11:13:28 AM) effie_jayx: The Community documentation available https://help.ubuntu.com/community is written by people like you, though who about sharing what they had learned. you can also contribute by registering and login into the site.
(11:14:05 AM) effie_jayx: The Ubuntu Forums, these are perhaps one of the key elements in the community support scheme. Its interactiveness and the great feeling of people that _live_ in this place is just fantastic. very organized and helpful people. I trongly suggest the basic Absolute Beginner Talk at http://ubuntuforums.org/forumdisplay.php?f=326 also check the Ubuntu Forums FAQ http://ubuntuforums.org/announcement.php?f=48
(11:15:25 AM) effie_jayx: _HINT_: please make sure you read and abide by the Forum Code of Conduct in the forums as it helps keeping it a great place. http://ubuntuforums.org/index.php?page=policy.
(11:16:08 AM) effie_jayx: Community support Mailing lists hosted in https://lists.ubuntu.com/#Community+Support are a great place if you are good at emails. there are several mailing lists available and searching the archives can be a very useful to and you avoid double posting. Subscribing to some of them is actually very good if you would like to find out what other people may be experiencing.
(11:16:48 AM) effie_jayx: _HINT_: Do not ask for Ubuntu CD's in the Launchpad Mailing lists use ship it shipit.ubuntu.com ;)
(11:17:16 AM) effie_jayx: LoCo Communities can help:
(11:17:17 AM) effie_jayx: LoCo Teams are a great group of people in almost every country in the world and they can certainly help you. they are close to you and they might be running event check out https://wiki.ubuntu.com/LoCoTeamList and see if they offer support.
(11:19:05 AM) effie_jayx: You can read more about LoCo teams at https://wiki.ubuntu.com/LoCoTeams
(11:19:40 AM) effie_jayx: Live Chat on IRC:
(11:19:40 AM) effie_jayx: Ubuntu help is always at hand with live chat. people from all over the world gather in support channels to help you solve your issues. The language used is English as it is considered a universal language but you can check a language specific channel or your LoCo team IRC channel and ask questions in your language. Check the list of channels at https://help.ubuntu.com/community/InternetRelayChat
(11:20:11 AM) effie_jayx: _HINT_: make sure you follow the CoC guidelines when using IRC https://wiki.ubuntu.com/IrcGuidelines http://www.ubuntulinux.org/community/conduct/.
(11:20:36 AM) effie_jayx: and do not feed the trolls :)
(11:20:56 AM) effie_jayx: Ubuntu being hosted at Launchpad.net offers Answers. this is a service that aims to make getting help simple. you ask your question and people answer. Pretty straight-forward. you can check it out at https://answers.launchpad.net/ubuntu.
(11:21:45 AM) effie_jayx: I'll take the one question we have got on Answers
(11:22:02 AM) effie_jayx: <ziroday> QUESTION: What is the difference between the forums and LP answers?
(11:22:43 AM) effie_jayx: well, Answers is a service of launchpad and its aim is to be straight and simple you as another answers
(11:23:37 AM) effie_jayx: the main difference with the forums being you do not need to cataloge you question before you ask and the content is strictly limited to questions
(11:24:04 AM) effie_jayx: where in forums you might have tutorials and more. the idea being Ansers is much more direct.
(11:24:28 AM) effie_jayx: ziroday, does that answer your question?
(11:24:38 AM) ziroday: effie_jayx: yep, thanks!
(11:24:59 AM) effie_jayx: Now that we know the community resources let's consider a few things
(11:25:06 AM) effie_jayx: * Considerations when using community support:
(11:25:17 AM) effie_jayx: - The work is done by volunteers so be patient and wait for your turn ;). Usually there is a great number of people volunteering so there shouldn't be a problem with getting help but if you ask on a Sunday at 04:00 it might make it a bit tough to get help.
(11:25:31 AM) Omarman: I'm on a laptop with Nvidia 8600 graphics (DELL XPS 1530), Jaunty install. Is there a way to activate external monitor on separate x screen without having to restart X?
(11:25:43 AM) sebsebseb: Omarman: wrong channel ask in #ubuntu :)
(11:25:55 AM) effie_jayx: hello Omarman  you might want to try that in  #ubuntu ;)
(11:26:05 AM) jcastro: hey, a live example!
(11:26:06 AM) Omarman: Thank you guys
(11:26:15 AM) effie_jayx: most definetelly :D
(11:26:25 AM) effie_jayx: - Demonstrate that you are trying to solve your problem. Read enough documentation or forum posts so that when people try to help you, you can visualize and internalize what people are trying to tell you by evoking prior knowledge. You are also letting whoever is helping you that you are trying hard ;)
(11:27:08 AM) effie_jayx: and if they know you are trying hard ... they will try even harder to help you
(11:27:31 AM) effie_jayx: - Follow the Ubuntu Code of Conduct at all times and always be polite when asking and follow specific guidelines for each service. Manners matter.
(11:27:58 AM) effie_jayx: - Make sure you always double check any suggestions you get from the INTERNET just in case you run into malicious code.
(11:29:15 AM) effie_jayx: - ASK you question, The only stupid question is the one that doesn't get asked. Aslo don't ask to ask ... just ASK
(11:29:58 AM) effie_jayx: - Make sure you add the words Ubuntu Kubuntu or Xubuntu to every search to narrow down results
(11:31:04 AM) effie_jayx: - If results are only available for other linux distros then check if those are specific to that distro or if they work with your ubuntu system.
(11:31:31 AM) effie_jayx: - It is not advised to add third party repositories to install applications that are not in the ubuntu repositories unless you feel confident the packages in that repository are safe. If you are in doubt then DON'T.
(11:31:48 AM) effie_jayx: and good call to sebsebseb
(11:32:39 AM) effie_jayx: Enter Commercial Support:
(11:32:40 AM) effie_jayx: If you need to be covered with a dedicated support line then you must get support from canonical https://shop.canonical.com/. they will give you that World Class support you expect from a software vendor. and since Ubuntu is free and Open Source. the money they ask for suport seems like a good investment :D. there is support for 5/9 (office hours) and 24/7 for an around the clock support availability.
(11:33:09 AM) sebsebseb: effie_jayx: for  reminding you that some software sources can possibily be bad
(11:33:46 AM) effie_jayx: most definetely
(11:34:17 AM) effie_jayx: Consider commercial support if you are not much of  power user
(11:35:58 AM) effie_jayx: the reson for this is simple. You want your system to work and since ubuntu is FOSS then it is wise to spend the bucks you were paying in third party apps like anti virus and office suites.
(11:36:30 AM) effie_jayx: Spend it on support. and you can call if anything goes wrong
(11:36:45 AM) LHC: CLASS IS IN SESSION
(11:36:57 AM) LHC: ubuntu > all according to this bible
(11:37:07 AM) effie_jayx: Help others:
(11:37:07 AM) effie_jayx: Ubuntu is all about helping one another. So help others and Share UBUNTU TODAY.
(11:37:34 AM) effie_jayx: that's it for my talk I will take questions from now untill my time is up. which is a bit more thant 20 minutes
(11:38:42 AM) effie_jayx: <BobJonkman>QUESTION: Can I purchase on-site support from Canonical?
(11:38:56 AM) effie_jayx: I am not sure, maybe jcastro can help us with that
(11:39:21 AM) effie_jayx: There is no world wide onsite support, for sure
(11:39:47 AM) effie_jayx: but I do not know if there is any in Uk, the US or Canada
(11:40:55 AM) jcastro: I am not sure
(11:41:05 AM) effie_jayx: QUESTION:  If I'm not comfortable using the command line, is add/remove or synaptic package manager better and how do I know which one to use when?
(11:41:17 AM) LHC left the room ("Leaving").
(11:41:47 AM) effie_jayx: well add/remove makes finding and installing packages very simple and intuitive
(11:42:38 AM) effie_jayx: synaptics is very powerfull but it includes libraries and onder packages. it includes installing packages by tasks
(11:43:30 AM) effie_jayx: if you do not feel confortable installing through a command line, ofcouse you can use add/remove. However this feature may be different in Kubuntu
(11:44:33 AM) effie_jayx: <akgraner> does that cover it?
(11:45:05 AM) akgraner: effie_jayx, yep!  :)
(11:46:53 AM) effie_jayx: sebsebseb is also pointing out that Adept is by default in Kubuntu
(11:48:01 AM) effie_jayx: also a very interesting point is that commands like apt-get is deprecated , and aptitude is the replacement
(11:48:16 AM) effie_jayx: sebsebseb, anything else we can add to that ?
(11:48:17 AM) sebsebseb: effie_jayx: no apt-get is deprecated in Debian, but not in Ubuntu
(11:48:31 AM) effie_jayx: ahh right. sorry ;)
(11:48:36 AM) sebsebseb: Ubuntu is based on Debian for those that didn't know,  with Debian being one of the first Linux distributions
(11:49:22 AM) effie_jayx: well "With a little help" of sebsebseb we sorted that :P
(11:50:25 AM) k-milogars: good
(11:50:34 AM) sebsebseb: aptitude is  better at dealing with dependancies than apt-get,  so  it's usually better to install big stuff such as  xubuntu-desktop, or kubuntu-desktop,  if running Ubuntu,  with sudo aptitude install   rather than apt-get install
(11:51:05 AM) effie_jayx: we got more comments just before we wrapp up
(11:51:31 AM) effie_jayx: Adept is not the default package manager in Kubuntu from jaunty on. it's replaced by kpackagekit
(11:51:38 AM) effie_jayx: thanks james_w :D
(11:52:49 AM) effie_jayx: akgraner, but it does prove the point that things do change in the desktop environment and command line comes in handy
(11:53:05 AM) sebsebseb: [16:51] <james_w> sebsebseb: apt-get isn't deprecated in Debian, and it now has the same handling of meta-packages as aptitude, so that doesn't matter so much anymore
(11:53:43 AM) effie_jayx: <^arky^> Question: There is very sparse information about Ubuntu a11y features apart from those from upstream Gnome. Also the Ubuntu installer selection of a accessible install is very difficult for the blind user. Is there any plans to rectify this
(11:54:29 AM) effie_jayx: I believe I can forward this question to the Documentation Team
(11:54:48 AM) jcastro: 5 minute warning!
(11:54:50 AM) effie_jayx: they held great sessions on tuesday on Docs Day
(11:55:03 AM) effie_jayx: and I believe you can help too :D
(11:55:20 AM) effie_jayx: ^arky^, does that cover your question?
(11:56:10 AM) ^arky^: Yes, I think so. But it would be great if you can forward this question
(11:56:41 AM) effie_jayx: ^arky^,I will
(11:57:34 AM) effie_jayx: well thank you all for coming by to learn a bit about how you can get some help. Special thanks to sebsebseb  and james_w  and all of you at #ubuntu-classroom-chat for such delightful talk
(11:57:48 AM) effie_jayx: jcastro, thanks