On Sat, 2008-04-05 at 15:12 -0500, Les Mikesell wrote: > John wrote: > > >> One things GUIs can do is present a bunch of pre-set defaults or pick up > >> the current settings so you only have to change a few particular items, > >> and they can check the ranges and syntax of the entries before trying to > >> apply them. Webmin does a fair job on this considering the wild > >> variation in the applications it offers to manage, but you still have to > >> generally understand what the application does and what the options mean > >> in order to use it. A task-oriented tutorial using webmin might get > >> people through some operations where they'd have trouble with man pages. > > > > Case in Point Here Now: My sister has been using Linux for a year now. I > > can see her now when I tell her to install Webmin, Open a Browser and > > type http://localhost:port_number. > > There's an rpm for the webmin package (somewhere...) and you can > bookmark the browser link. The remaining problem is that all it really > can do is help you get the syntax right. Well that's a women for you though. Now I just started an argument. But wait that is only just One not all of you women. > > > Now that's getting into Admin > > territory not the user base. Although that's a better idea than most > > would concieve of. > > The issue that isn't going to go away even if you try to cover it up is > that you have the full range of administrative decisions and commands at > your disposal and, depending on what you want to change, you may need > them. But 75% don't know how to. All they know is they downloaded the cds. Took them a week to figure out how to make a bootable install disk. Then finally 24 hours to install the OS. Six hours to get on the Internet. Another 5 hours to setup email. Email is a good one "Evolution" I can devote time to that also. Configuration with something like GMail. > > > When she needs something done that does not have a GUI or Pictorial > > directions it's like me baby sitting my son hand in hand. > > The first question is what a new user needs that isn't done by default > and fix it so it doesn't need to be done at all. The only problematic > parts are the ones that need questionably legal components (mutimedia > codecs, etc.). Would be nice to have a Multimedia Install Disk??? But then there's all the Legal questions > > > Having things > > of this nature is saying CentOS is Competent Enough to stand on its' own > > two feet and not rely on the outside world for how to do something. > > But, is the 'something' you want to do more like picking out a cold > remedy from the corner drugstore or doing major surgery. You have the > full range of tools for both, but some details need a little more > thought than others. I'll send a mail to the Docs List for discussion of a few. > > > Ahh, there was mention of the User Documentation in another mail from > > March, that for some of it I even can't make heads or tails out of it. > > Some things still need a How To where it is in the User Docs or not. > > 'Some things' is a pretty broad range. > -- ~/john OpenPGP Sig:BA91F079