Making it easier to adapt to Zorin Os

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#10

If you have an Nvidia GPU, there is a GUI method. If you have AMD, its going to be more difficult, because it requires manual download and installation of said driver, and that is more like Windows then anything else actually if you think about it.

Like I said, if you have an Nvidia GPU, then it becomes easier then Windows, cause you don't have to hunt down the driver to manually install it. Nvidia GPU drivers will be found in the Additional Drivers APP Menu.

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PS: Yes I am a big fan of Star Trek.

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#11

I remember my father said when I change OS a weeks ago. "New system, new learning."

Yeah, need to learn from scratch since it was different. As far I know, I'm just staring my second week after my distro hopping?

changing system for others isn't easy because they are used to that one. That is why my philosophy in this thing is never master any program/software/system/technology/(anything), rather get its concept. Easiest way to be able to adapt in any way.

When I started here, especially in AntiX where even installation of .deb are in terminal, all I do was research "how". Synaptic might not be user friendly though in my case, I love it. I don't know. Hahahhaa. When I'm in AntiX I try to read most of the packages in their, the installed, the uninstalled, the one under this kind of filter etc. Propriety drivers, I use intel so the problem with GPU drivers isn't my case. Though I have my own propriety driver and I just go to their site and download it.

Though depends on what distro you have, setting up your OS to your liking takes time (well this makes Linux, Linux.)

Lastly, Linux is an open source OS. Open source software usually hard for those who are used to propriety styles. For example, with GIMP. Is you are used to Photoshop, you will not easily learn GIMP. They are both Graphic Manipulator Program but what you can do with Photoshop, isn't that easy to do with GIMP.

I heard this to DT in youtube, "propriety supports propriety." That's why getting propriety pre installed in Linux is something, unless those company have an intention to fund Linux.

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#12

Funny, my husband only uses Synaptic and he loves it.
He is using MXLinux which is a spin-off of antiX.

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#13

I love Synaptic. But I admit that it was confusing and hard to figure out when I first began using it at @swarfendor437 's recommendation.
Once I learned it, it became user friendly and easy. But that first use of it is not so user-friendly.
I do not have good recommendations on how to fix that, other than if the first usage of Synaptic came with Pop Up Prompts like a guided tour that teaches you how to use it.

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#14

This is where KDE supersedes Gnome. I cheated having Windows on another drive I just copied the fonts I needed for work onto a thumb drive then used KDE Font Manager - so much simpler than having to take ownership of Fonts in order to copy and paste a font into the Fonts folder.

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#15

I think the focus of the discussion is being lost.
It is obvious that starting with a new operating system requires new learning. However, we are talking about Zorin Os, a distribution whose cover letter is to be an alternative so that those who come from Windows can easily enter the world of Gnu Linux. Under this prism the environment should be as friendly and familiar as possible. As long as this is not understood, Gnu Linux will not ostensibly improve its meager share (2%) on the desktop.
Greetings.

#16

I edited your post to add "," as previously said "The reason for what I wrote lies" I dont think you meant to admit to writing lies or untruths. :wink: Hope you don't mind.

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#17

How familiar are we talking here?
The key point is "easily enter the world of Linux" - If it is so familiar and friendly as to be a Windows Clone, then no one would feel the pressure to learn and enter the world of Linux.
I would opine that Zorin OS fulfills it's desire to allow easy entry into Linux, without being a Windows clone.
This may mean that in learning, it is not always too easy.

As It Should Be.

There is a big difference between making something "easy" and making something 'do for you' to the point that you don't have to think.
And once we lose that much control over the system, then we are Right Back to Microsoft.
With less driver support.

Humans naturally are inclined to want things to be easy and nature is naturally inclined to pressure us to have to step up to survive. Without pressure, our teeth weaken. Without pressure, our muscles soften and our fat reserves grow.
Without pressure, our hearts give out.

Sometimes in life, we need the thing we don't want.

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#18

I think coming from Windows, ZorinOS is a good lead-in to Linux Desktop, as the design and layout is not immediately alien and offputting to a new Windows refugee.

Where things go wrong here on the forum, is where a user expects exact Windows look, feel and fuctionality and being able to download and run Windows apps etc. i.e. expectation of a "Windows Clone" like you said.

As long as ZorinOS is intuitive, logical and performs well without scaring non-technical long term Windows users, I'm happy.

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#19

There are users that have been using Zorin OS for the past year... finally run into trouble... get on here on the forum and they cannot tell us if they have Core Or Lite.
They have no idea.

At that point, we have gone wrong.

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#20

Emphasis added

I think Zorin does a great job of making Linux easy and accessible to new comers. It is, after all, a different OS from Windows which means that there will be (for lack of a better term) a difference in your experience with it. But Zorin handles this introduction very well.

Attempt to install another distribution such Debian, Arch, Gentoo for instance, and it will become immediately apparent how user friendly Zorin really is.

Switching to another OS is similar to switching jobs with another company. You can't go into it telling your new boss that you did things differently at your last job and that you are unwilling to accept how things are done at your new position.

It seems to me that the real issue isn't so much how 'easy' Zorin is to use, but how 'identical' it is with something such as Windows. And Zorin never claimed to be identical with them.

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#21

That is exactly my take.
I once installed Macbuntu for the former Mac user but he could not take it. He asked me to revert his desktop back to the original Ubuntu.

According to him, the most problematic part is that while everything looks like Mac, it does not work like Mac.

Too much look-alike inhibits the learning process since our brain muscle memory kicks in.

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#22

Hello:
I don't know if I have explained myself well.
I've been using Gnu Linux (Linux Mint and Zorin Os, mainly) for 5 years. I am fully aware that it is a different operating system than Windows and that it requires a learning process to use it. I also agree that it is not a Windows clone, nor do I pretend it to be (even some distributions that imitate Windows too much, such as Linuxfx, make me reject it).
The only thing I tried to say was the possibility of making it easier for newcomers to easily incorporate those proprietary drivers and sources, necessary for the proper functioning of GNU Linux without having to resort to the terminal or Synaptic. I have no doubt that these methods are completely valid and easy to use when you know how. I have only tried to put myself in the situation of newcomers, with very basic knowledge, for whom, at first, this system may seem very complicated.
To tell the truth I was a bit surprised by some of the expressions used in my comments. I didn't think that what I said was such a big deal.
Regards

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#23

I thought most of us were generally agreeing with you that ZorinOS should not and is not a Windows Clone. Unless you misunderstood our posts :thinking:

#24

I am one of those people. I only recently migrated from many years of Windows, to Linux, via Zorin OS.
This is something that I try to keep to the front of my mind as I associate with newcomers to this day; That I Understand How It Feels.
You have been using Linux for far longer than I have.

What I said just above applies to this.
Remembering and knowing how it feels to be lost and confused by a new operating system is essential to not just relating to another person, but to also examining the new system.
I understand what it feels like to want Linux to be more like Windows when you are learning it. I understand what it feels like to want it to be easier.
And since this is recent enough; I understand how I went too far, not long ago, in pushing for Zorin to be more Windows-Like ( @swarfendor437 probably remembers that vividly...)

I imagine that Facebook probably did not intend to create a Nation Divided when they thought they had a good idea about Interest-driven marketing.
Opposition to an idea does not mean it was a Big Deal.
And giving other points of view does not make a person wrong; it allows for a thorough and careful examination of the Merits of Ideas.
I think you make a very valid point about Drivers.
On Linux, many manufacturers are limited in their support of Linux and Linux cannot change that; only public pressure on those manufacturers can.
But it is also perfectly OK for users to be exposed to some installation pressures sometimes. It is good practice and slower introduction than say, Gentoo would be.

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#25

The fundamental problem is that Windows users have been suckled on a GUI system when the power lies in the command shell. People like things to be easy. Just like getting into a car and expecting it to behave the same all the time. "Mary, I noticed the fuel consumption is increasing on the car!" "When was the last time you checked the tire pressures Joe? Have you checked the oil level too lately?"
Whilst many of us no longer need to #Get out and get under, to fix the automobile# (He'd Have To Get Under, Get Out And Get Under (To Fix Up His Automobile) | Peacherine Ragtime Orch. - YouTube) we should make the basic effort to try and understand how a system works. I remember a bit of a false debate as to which is better, GUI or Bash. One has to ask oneself how users are introduced to computers - if it is too hard they turn away (like me) with my experience as a Trade Union official at the local branch, staring at the letter C followed by a colon and oblique stroke and a flashing cursor - 20 minutes later I had the courage to ask a member of staff how to boot Windows 3.1 "Just type in Win 3.1" was the reply - that's when I headed off to Amiga dreamland when I purchased my Amiga 1500. After a few years of use I started to play with the Amiga Shell (CLI) and was just getting proficient at it when Windows 95 came along - I was off with stress at the time as the organisation had been restructured and all my dedicated clerks had been removed from their support role to me. I wrote commands for an Excel Spreadsheet that would have been an absolute boon but the IT Department had never any intention of providing IT equipment to the service I was engaged in! But that's another story!

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#26

This is also why if they are hesitant moving over to GNU/Linux, to consider investing in Linux specific hardware as Zorin promotes on their main page. For those with Desktops I would highly recommend https://www.thinkpenguin.com/ to look at hardware that is known to work with GNU/Linux Operating Systems.

#27

What makes people uncomfortable with Linux, whether it was in Zorin, Mint, Arch, Antix whatever it is, is the usage of terminal since the "common user" doesn't know the terminal. That is also the convenience of Windows, no use of terminal.

Given that part, should we say that "we should not do anything in terminal and just right click install?" just as usual in windows? Oh not to mention, should we take out the "password" whenever we are installing or changing anything "as common user doesn't like remembering passwords"?

Then, If we change this two basic things that you can see in ALL LINUX, what makes Zorin OS, Linux? Or you want Zorin OS to be another Windows?

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#28

I wonder with the propriety drivers.

Come to think about it, I don't have problems with GPU drivers. Is that Intel is much more open with this than NVIDIA or what? Cause I see lot of NVIDIA problems.

My Veikk driver that I install for my graphic tablet, isn't a problem because this company really try its hardest to be compatible in many platform.

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#29

Actually we see more and more Radeon issue here in this forum.
NVidia could be problematic, but quite often we can find a solution. But for Radeon.... Since it is supposed to be supported in the kernel, it can be difficult to pin point the issue.

The worst combination I saw was AMD CPU integrated Radeon + NVidia card. Users get quite frustrated and some of them even become aggressive and abusive to the volunteers. I saw this happened more than once.

Be earnest with you, I am now very reluctant to get involved in threads related to AMD GPU issues.

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