[TriLUG] Software for Linux newbies

[Ben Pitzer]

On Tue, 2002-05-28 at 16:35, Tanner Lovelace wrote:
> On Tue, 2002-05-28 at 16:07, Robert Floyd wrote:
> 
> > More dismaying for me was that, out of the box, there were some critical
> > applications that were NOT there, e.g., a DVD player and MP3 ripper.
> > While I understand the legal issues surrounding those, most newbies will
> > expect those capabilities right away.
> > 
> 
> I think this must be some new meaning of the phrase "critical
> applications" of which I was not previously aware.  I mean,
> please, not even windows includes those programs.  Having
> to get them from a different source isn't that bad a deal.
> 
> In Mandrake it's even easier.  Just go to http://plf.zarb.org/
> and follow the instructions there to add their repository into
> the software manager and then you can install what you need at
> your leisure.  Not having those capabilities "right away" isn't
> that big a problem when they can easily be installed.

I have to agree with Tanner here.  Give them the essentials:  Browser,
mail client, maybe news and chat (I'd have to say that one of the FIRST
things I looked for under Linux was an instant messenger client that
worked with AIM), then give options for the rest.  Those apps aren't
typically included with a default Windows install anyway, so it should
be a decent surprise to them later when they realize that they could
probably get it at install time just by learning what packages do what. 
That can come later, naturally.

As for Mandrake, well, that does soudn fairly easy.  Of course with
Debian, it's just a matter of selecting the package at install time, or
else typing 'apt-get install <package>' later.  Oh, and if you don't
know of an MP3 ripping application, 'apt-cache search mp3' provides you
with a fairly exhaustive list of mp3 related packages.  God, I love apt.

Regards,
Ben Pitzer