Welcome wizzard

[Paul W. Frields]

On Wed, 2007-05-16 at 11:48 -0500, Dan Smith wrote:
> I like Jonathan's idea.  Pointing to the unofficial Fedora FAQ would
> be one good start. When setting up a new machine most people are going
> to want MP3 support, plugin support for the browser and many of the
> other topics covered by the unofficial FAQ.  How to automount windoze
> shares, SMB configurations and how to mount NTFS partitions will be
> very important to people using mixed environments and dual boots. 

Ha! Guess I wrote my earlier thread reply too soon.  Cf. "contributory
infringement."  We point to FedoraForum.org already, and I'm sure plenty
of people there are willing to help corrupt systems with non-FOSS
wherever needed.

> Even more important to windoze users first trying out LInux is going
> to be equivalents. Send them to VI and they'll run screaming into the
> night back to windoze. So Kedit/Gedit = notepad  Openoffice = Word
> GIMP= photoshop kinds of tutorials would be a big help. So too would
> how file permissions and such work. How to set up cups is pretty
> essential. Scanners, digital cameras and such as well.  Another
> crucial aspect is pointing folks toward K3b. It will make CD burning
> easy for even the most novice windoze user. Nothing comes close in the
> Linux world to K3b. Though this implies auto installing at least the
> KDE libs, technically you want to just install KDE. Folks that have
> space issues that would preclude KDE's installation are not going to
> use such a wizard anyway. That is one thing I wish Fedora would
> correct, the default install will put only Gnome on. That leaves half
> of the important apps uninstalled.  A default Fedora install is not a
> very friendly install to a new Linux user. Vets can easily remove
> things they don't want, so I feel the install should default more
> toward the kitchen sink rather than the lean install that is currently
> used. 

This is a huge scattershot of topics, but I think most of these are
covered in the sketchpad/checklists of topics for our guides.  Perhaps
you would like to actually contribute some content for these guides on
the wiki?  It is open for community contribution; please refer to
http://fedoraproject.org/wiki/DocsProject/Join for information.  If
wishes were horses... :-)

> The feedback I get from lots of first time Linux users is that they
> get lost. They have no idea what to do with their brand spanking new
> Linux installation. Some things like how to configure networking has
> to be local on the HD. Without it they cannot reach the FAQs on the
> net. 

Again, we are open to contributions in the docs.  I would consider this
a possibility for including in the on-DVD "README" file, if nothing else
than telling people where to find the easy network configuration tool
already present in the default installation.

> Other things like pointers to the better Linux games while not
> important for business users would help generate more interest in
> Linux. A tutorial on window managers with snap shots of what the major
> ones look like, how to install them and such would also be a big help.
> What is especially important is how to configure repositories. They
> will be unable to use the Unofficial FAQ to get anything through Yum
> without first adding a repository. I know Redhat does not add this
> repository to avoid getting sued over copywrites and such but don't
> see where there'd be any harm in using a certain repository as an
> example of how to add a repository :) 

See above.  Plus the software management guide, which could also use
your help.  Please feel free to contribute elbow grease as desired.

> Going a step farther and automating that process is actually a good
> idea. While Redhat couldn't support it because of various potential
> litigation it could point users to the scripts that would auto
> configure the system to play DVDs, MP3s, add a repository, grab the
> latest Firefox browser instead of the 1.5 branch that officially comes
> with Fedora but is nearly obsolete now. Plugins could then be auto
> installed. Even for Linux vets that would be a huge time saver.
> Creating a functional machine takes a good hour or two of downloading
> and installations. I usually wind up forgetting at least a couple
> plugins then when I need them I wind up having to restart my browser
> or putting it off. Novice users often get lost in the process. Get
> frustrated and it gives Linux a bad name. Fedora is also falling
> behind some distros in facilitating multi-media which is key to many
> home users. 

Feel free to write that script, publish it, and support it on your own
website.  The Fedora Project and its contributors (including me, a
non-Red Hat person) are passionately devoted to free and open source
software, and we want our solutions to be supportable in the sense that
the community has the power to take them apart and build on them at will
without legal repercussions.

> There is a learning curve no matter what we do but it can be made a
> whole lot less steep with Jonathan's idea and the script I am
> proposing. 

Again, I would urge you to step up and get involved beyond simply
listing areas where you feel there are weaknesses.  If you have time, we
have a number of documents in draft form that are waiting for energetic
folks to improve.  Thanks for your time and consideration, and we look
forward to hearing back from you.

-- 
Paul W. Frields, RHCE                          http://paul.frields.org/
  gpg fingerprint: 3DA6 A0AC 6D58 FEC4 0233  5906 ACDB C937 BD11 3717
      Fedora Project:  http://fedoraproject.org/wiki/PaulWFrields
  irc.freenode.net: stickster @ #fedora-docs, #fedora-devel, #fredlug
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