New user advices

[jos poortvliet]

Op Saturday 28 April 2007, schreef Diego Costantini:
> Hi, I am a new ubuntu user.
> I tried for a few time Ubuntu and Kubuntu, and I would like to help
> improving KDE because switching from Gnome I consider KDE more good looking
> but less "smart".
> I am a noob, so I probably will write noob things, but please don't be mad
> at me :)

nobody is mad, i just wonder, as this mailinglist is for ppl who want to get 
involved in KDE, if you would like to help out?

>  - I choose to show Settings in KMenu (forget about why I want to do that,
> if there is the option to do it, I am supposed to use it for some reason ;)
> ), if i go for example into network settings, I can't change anything
> because it writes "click the administrator mode button". Unfortunately I
> lost half an hour searching for it, because a such important button is not
> inside the window (so what is the use of the settings windows opened from
> something different than Control Center?), is not on the desktop, is not
> anywhere but in System Settings (but why should I go into system settings
> when I am supposed to be already there while modifying the network
> settings?). Why don't just show the password prompt when I need to do some
> change wherever I am, like Gnome does? (don't take it bad, I don't want KDE
> becoming Gnome ;) )
This is because Kubuntu has some own stuff for configuring things, you can 
always get where you want with the 'system settings' tool. it replaces 
Kcontrol, the native KDE control center. Apparently they left the native KDE 
network config tool somewhere? In any case, you should report this as a bug 
in Kubuntu on launchpad.net (or reach it from kubuntu.org).

>  - Why don't let the user choose if permanently bypass the Administrator
> mode button or at least for a session? (or if this option exists, why don't
> put it where a dumb like me can find it?)

This does exist (maybe, due to another change, not in Kubuntu), but it only 
relaunches the same app, not others. Doing that would be a security risk, as 
a hacker or virus-like stuff could then start a malicious scrit as root. So, 
this inconvenience is for your own safety ;-)
luckily, you don't need passwords that often in Kubuntu, at least as soon as 
you get things running properly ;-)

>  - System Settings, when i show the Settings menu, it changes its name into
> Control Center, why?

Dunno, report on launchpad ;-)

>  - Why all the windows, even for different virtual desktops, are shown in
> the same taskbar? It is quite against the logic of virtual desktops,
> because for example: I use 8 virtual desktops because I am suppose to work
> on 8 different environments, thus I will use at least 8 windows, but let's
> say more; now, why should I be interested in having really small window
> buttons in the taskbar including all the windows of different environments?
> (I hope you'll undersand what I mean, and again, Gnome handles better this
> point too)

You can configure this (like most things in KDE ;-)). It's there by default 
because we don't want ppl to be scared 'where is my app' when they switch 
desktops. Indeed, when you know how to use multiple desktops, it's not 
needed, so you should change it.

>  - another thing (I suppose would be easy to do if I wouldn't be so noob,
> but anyway...) why don't include an easy option to place somewhere in the
> bar the turn off red button like in Gnome? In the end you do all you need
> with 2 click instead of 3 including waiting for the KMenu to open; this
> looks like windows, and it's not a compliment :)

yes, there is a kicker applet for that. Not sure if they are installed by 
default in kubuntu, but you can use the find line in adept to locate the 
package with extra kicker applets.

>  - last point I have in mind right now, is that sometimes application just
> pretend to load and just disappear without any message or window (this
> didn't happen with Gnome, but maybe using it more could happen).

Well, seems the app crashed before the KDE crash handler could even catch it - 
sounds serious. Maybe if it happens a lot to a certain app, you can try to 
remove it's configuration (go to ~/.kde/share in konqi to find your 
configuration). If it doesn't help, report a bug in launchpad :D

>  - even if this is a more technical issue I'll post here because nowadays I
> consider it as quality of a system: developers should care a bit more about
> wireless and security keys (like WPA), because this will be the way of the
> market, and I think it should be a priority to make it work when a new
> distibution is released, and in my experience I really thought to give up
> with Linux because I couldn't make my Wireless Intel3945 work with WPA in
> both new Ubuntu and Kubuntu. In the end I decided to temporarily use WEP on
> router and give a chance to Linux, but many people won't be able to do
> anything and Windows will continue with its monopoly...

Mostly a Kubuntu issue again, report there. It's hard to get wireless to 
properly work, you know, the vendors don't really help us.

> I hope I haven't forgot anything :)
>
> I remind you that I am a noob and I just wrote what I felt wrong on KDE
> during my transition WindowsXP -> Gnome -> KDE and I hope you will improve
> it solving this "issue", or better just make it more comfortable ;)

That's ok, if you report the bugs properly, that would sure help already. And 
if you feel like learning c++  ...  ;-)

> Cheers,
> Diego

grtz


-- 
Disclaimer:

Alles wat ik doe denk en zeg is gebaseerd op het wereldbeeld wat ik nu heb. 
Ik ben niet verantwoordelijk voor wijzigingen van de wereld, of het beeld wat 
ik daarvan heb, noch voor de daaruit voortvloeiende gedragingen van mezelf. 
Alles wat ik zeg is aardig bedoeld, tenzij expliciet vermeld.

Please avoid sending me Word or PowerPoint attachments.
See http://www.gnu.org/philosophy/no-word-attachments.html

   A: Because it destroys the flow of the conversation
   Q: Why is top-posting bad?
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