A Helping application for beginners Linux and Open Source in General

[Anne Wilson]

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On 31/01/13 19:52, Draciron Smith wrote:
> Instead of a search engine what would be useful is an equivalents
> app with lots of choices including non-KDE software in many cases.
> Most of the time the best of breed for an app is a KDE app. Nothing
> approaches K3b in my opinion though there are now imitations of K3b
> for Gnome and other desktops. However there are some apps like Gimp
> that there is no KDE app which comes close and realistically no
> point in writing a KDE app to do what Gimp does. Gimp does what it
> does extremely well and duplicating efforts makes no sense. Sane
> with apps like Audacity and Cinalera, etc.  The reason I say
> choices is a lot of KDE default software to be blunt is pretty
> sorry. I'd be eternally frustrated if I had to use Dolphin on a
> regular basis. For me Krusader is MUCH more efficient and intuitive
> and powerful. There are a few things which Dolphin is easier to use
> but very few. In terms of playing music I want it simple so I use
> XMMS or Audacious.  For Winamp users using Audacious or XMMS is
> going to be almost no learning curve and that's one of the key
> things about helping people new to Linux is to reduce the learning 
> curve without transporting M$ insanity to Linux. KDE is by far the
> best desktop for people migrating to Linux from Windoze. KDE uses
> the same key strokes so no re-memorizing shortcuts, the look and
> feel is easy to grasp even if you've never seen Linux before, the
> display is simple but can be stunning with a little modification.
> The feature rich environment just says "USE ME I LIKE IT" lol.
> However we need to give folks good equivalents and easy choices.
> Try to avoid inflicting really bad software on them. New Linux
> users are used to being dictated too. There is one and only one way
> of doing things and if the default sucks tail pipes they will think
> Linux sucks tailpipes. Most distros are guilty of using some really
> horrible apps as defaults. Something that KDE cannot help. The
> distro itself is responsible for that, BUT KDE CAN integrate and
> equivalents finder which will help new and even experienced users 
> discover new software and old standards they never knew about
> because they just never needed to do XYZ before.  I'd be happy to
> work on the project though my C++ skills have atrophied to nothing.
> I can still hack out Python code though. Gambas even better.
> Shouldn't be too difficult to do something like 
> http://www.linuxlinks.com/article/20070701111340544/Equivalents.html
>
> 
or
> http://wiki.linuxquestions.org/wiki/Linux_software_equivalent_to_Windows_software
>
> 
Then programatically check to see if that distro and versions
> repositories support that software and offer easy options to
> install what is supported by repositories.
> 
I'm sure you realise that previous experience and personal preferences
will always be a consideration.  You dislike Dolphin, I love it, and
there will be similar arguments for and against all applications.

We did start a page on UserBase to help people migrating from Windows
or a Mac, but at that time didn't want to stray from the goal of
introducing KDE applications.  Personally I'm not confident that that
was the right decision.  UserBase is a wiki - http://userbase.kde.org
- - and any registered user can add to it.  I see no problem in having
another column headed "Also consider" or "Non-KDE alternatives".  Why
not add one?

Also, that page hasn't been updated for quite a long time (November
2011) and other, newer applications have arrived that maybe should be
added.

UserBase need more people to add (small, if you wish) information
about applications, and using them.  Anyone that can spare more
regular time, even if not in huge chunks, might like to join the team
that looks at organisation issues, etc. (and we are aware of many).

Finally, UserBase is aware of the needs of new users, and label many
pages as Category:Getting Started - you might like to look at
http://userbase.kde.org/Category:Getting_Started

Hope that helps a little - and encourages you to add some more help :-)

Anne
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