Full Circle Magazine FR

If you have a simple question and want an answer that doesn’t involve taking sides in the “Amazon Lens” kerfuffle, contact me at copil.yanez@gmail.com. Today’s question is: Q: How do I get help installing/using/tweaking Ubuntu? A: You mean besides reading this magazine from cover to cover and memorizing everything in it, like it’s the Torah and your Bat Mitzvah is next week? Well, yes, there are other ways to get help. No, one of them is NOT asking your Uncle Leo, the one who says he can fix anything but actually just bangs on stuff with a hammer in the hope that it’ll fix itself. Below are a few suggestions on where to get help or find out more about setting up and using your Ubuntu install. But before you go, there are a few things you should do to increase your likelihood of success. Happily, putting on pants is not one of them. Hurray for things you can do in pajamas!

As you may have already discovered, the Ubuntu community is very helpful. But even the most knowledgeable user can’t guide you if she doesn’t have some basic information about your specific situation. Let’s gather that now. Before you ask someone to help you with a problem: 1. Know what version of Ubuntu you’re running. You can determine this in two ways. From the command line (which you can get to by pressing CTRL-ALT-T), type: cat /etc/issue This will tell you which version of Ubuntu is installed. If you prefer using menus, open the Dash search field and type System Settings. Click on the System Settings icon (looks like a wrench and a gear), and, in the window that pops up, look for the Details icon (just a gear). Click that and you’ll get a window like this. Same info, different presentation. Both work just fine.

2. Be aware of what you were doing when the issue arose. Does your monitor freeze after you click on a particular program icon? Does your network connection drop after doing a specific task? The more you know about what was happening when your problem or question arose, the more likely someone can help you. 3. Make a note of any error messages. Sometimes a window will pop up with strange hieroglyphics or incomprehensible tech babble. No, you haven’t been contacted by the Na’vi. That error code might not make sense to you, but it might be the key that helps someone else resolve your issue. Write it down or take a picture with your phone so you have it handy. Okay, so you have a problem; you’ve determined what version of Ubuntu you have installed and you made a note of what was going on when the problem occurred. Now you’re ready to get specific help. The most obvious choice is simply to enter the message (or error code) into your favorite search engine, being sure to include which version of Ubuntu you’re running. A lot of times this does the trick, especially if it’s a pretty common problem. The search engine will return a number of viable solutions and you’re on your way.

Of course, this method can return a lot of false positives, too. If that happens, you might feel like a sound engineer at a Nickelback jam session, wading through a lot of muck to find anything worthwhile. Don’t get too frustrated. Instead, head over to the largest Ubuntu forum http://ubuntuforums.org/. There you’ll find FAQs, wikis and forums – with thousands of pages of information. If your problem is a common one, it’s likely to be covered in a FAQ. If not, you can always ask in the forums. Before you do, though, be sure to do a thorough search to see if your question has been asked before. And if you do post a question, make sure it’s posted in the correct sub-forum. Nothing gets a frequent contributor’s knickers in a twist like seeing a post titled “How do I Change My Wallpaper?” in the Networking sub-forum. Sometimes, your problem will be specific to your particular derivative (Lubuntu, Xubuntu, Edubuntu, etc.). When this happens, head over to the specific website dedicated to the version of Ubuntu you’re running. In some cases, they’ll have a better idea of how to fix your, say, Lubuntu-specific problem.

Another place you can turn for your Ubuntu questions is IRC channels. These are like party lines where hundreds of users get together to discuss any topic you can imagine, each with its own category identified by a name that starts with a pound sign. One of the nice things about using IRC channels is that they allow for a back-and-forth with other users. If someone needs to know something about your specific machine to help fix your problem, but you don’t know how to get the requested information, the other user can guide you and answer questions along the way. Even if you can’t find your answer on an IRC channel, sometimes you will get additional information that you can use to post a question to a forum. To visit IRC channels, you need an IRC client. Empathy is the default in Ubuntu, and you can find it by typing Empathy into the Dash search field. You can also run an IRC client from a browser by going here http://webchat.freenode.net/. In both cases, you’ll be asked to choose a nickname (anything will do) and what channel you want to connect to. Try #ubuntu or #ubuntu-beginners. Don’t get too distracted by all the text. Just type in your question and then keep an eye out for any user answering you (usually referring to the nickname you entered).

Another community with a lot of active users is Reddit. If you’ve never used Reddit, it’s like a newspaper run by capricious and pun-happy netizens. Anyone can post links, questions and comments anonymously, and the rest of the community (known as Redditors) can respond. Just like with forums, however, be sure to do a thorough search to see if your question has been answered already. If not, post your question in the appropriate “sub-reddit.” Redditors can upvote or downvote both questions and answers. The best answers float to the top and less helpful answers move to the bottom (or at least that’s how it’s supposed to work - don’t be surprised if the top answer to your question is a jpg of Sarcastic Willy Wonka). Well, as you can see, there are a number of places to look for answers to your pressing Ubuntu questions. Never suffer alone with a problem you think is intractable. Likely, someone else has been in the same position as you, and found a way to resolve the issue – leaving a trail of breadcrumbs for others to follow. Your very last, most desperate move is to send ME an email with your problem. Seriously, I’m just as likely to get you arrested, I’m THAT ignorant. Let me put it this way. If you think of helpful Ubuntu sites as the 17 people in line to be President of the United States, I’m the Secretary of Energy. Sure, I’m not as bad as the Secretary of Education, but still. You can do better. Good luck and happy Ubunting!