Jamie's Random Musings
Various thoughts and adventures, including but not limited to Linux, Windows XP and Widows Vista, and assorted bits of hardware new and old.
Thursday 17 July 2008, 4:00 PM
Admission and Lesson - Don't Overcomplicate Linux!
The first Linux distribution I installed was Ubuntu, and one of the first things I wanted to do after installing it was get the wireless networking set up. Perhaps assuming that it would be rather complicated, I did a Google search on "Ubuntu Wireless", and found several articles that described how to use the "iwlist" and "iwconfig" commands to configure the wireless adapter. Again, to my disadvantage this fit rather well with what I expected from a Unix-based system. Then I found the "Administration / Network" settings, where I could predefine the SSID and key for the network, and that was clearly better... but it still didn't work terribly well, it seemed to have a problem connecting at least half the time. It still kept bothering me, anyway, that the Network configuration window had "Roaming" mode enabled by default, and I didn't see any use for that.
I also failed to pay much attention to the network icon in the task bar, since it generally just showed the status of the wired connection that I used most of the time. Finally, the light came on in my rather dense head... The network manager is accessible through that icon, and there you can get a list of currently visible wireless networks, select one to connect to, enter the key if necessary... and the whole thing "Just Works".
The moral of the story is, take the time to look for the obvious solution. Don't make it complicated just because you expect it to be! It's obvious that a lot of work has gone into Linux, and the various customized distributions of it, to make it easy. Oh, and remember, there is a LOT of old information, advice, descriptions and such on the web, which was often very good when it was written, but is probably out of date now, so when you do a Google search, and something comes up that is date 2006 or whatever, be cautious with it.
jw 17/7/2008
PreviousComments on this post
It takes time to get to know the vagaries of any Linux distribution. Having played with Linux since the first kernel and using it as my sole OS when X and WABI came along, I still found some things in Ubuntu confusing and had to be helped by a newbie who still gets most of his help from me, SuSE/openSUSE and Mandrake/Mandriva being the ones I could negotiate my way around easily.
I agree with the caution, some stuff on the web is old and may not always solve the problem in current versions of Linux.
I always hope things will "just work", and I get lost when they don't. I put Ubuntu on an old Thinkpad T22, but the wireless didn't work - and the screen didn't display. There was stuff on the web, but either it didn't work or I couldn't understand how to use it.
I think there's a knoweldge/skills gap with Linux. PC users get something that looks roughly like what they are used to, but is completely different underneath, and that can be scary.
There are other people, with Unix and Linux experience, who understand the guts of it, but I haven't seen that communicated well.
Peter, I think that I fell victim to just the opposite of what you are saying here. I expected it to be difficult and/or complicated, and that I would need to understand the guts of it, so I didn't even look for the simple solutions first. What I have found, at least in the case of both of the laptops I am setting up, is this: You want to set up wireless? Right-click on the network icon in the task bar. Want to set up power management, what the laptop does when you close the lid and such? Right click on the power icon in the task bar. Set up a printer? Just plug it in, and there's a good chance that it will be recognized and will work. Of course, not everything is that easy, but at least in my case, it seemed like my expectations of difficulty got in the way of me seeing the simplicity. I'm going to write more about this shortly...
Thanks for reading and commenting.
jw 18/7/2008
I did the same, I went after the complicated version first. I read everything I could find for about a year before I got up the nerve to give it a go. Now it is easier to install than windows, plus it installs faster. It doesn't slow down over time, like windows. I downloaded every live CD I could, and looked at each one before deciding on what distro was what I wanted. Everyone has a different approach, or they want everything a particular way. With Linux you customize it to look and act to suit yourself. It is extremely customizable. But, it still isn't for everyone. I work with a gentlemen who still can't burn a CD, under windows, so trying to get him to try Linux would be a waste of time, I think.
That's another good point, which I have mentioned to others several times. Unlike Windows, Linux is not a self-corrupting / self destroying operating system that is guaranteed to get slower over time, until you finally give up in disgust and reload from scratch. Also worth mentioning is that you don't get charged for bug fixes, which is essentially what Microsoft is doing with each new Windows release (especially Vista).
But I think your first point is the best one. A lot of people seem to be afraid, or at least hesitant, about Linux, either because of previous experience or just what they have read about it. Good heavens, I remember trying "Minix" when Tanenbaum's book came out - talk about scary! But the state of Linux today doesn't merit that fear, and many if not most of those people, just like you and I, would be very happy with it if they would just give it a try.
