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Alexa-Francesca,
<p>In response to your email, I have a few suggestions for you.
<p>1) The first is rude and undignified, so I shall refrain from sharing
it, and try to offer you some tidbits that will actually help you to understand
a few very important points.
<p>2) Insulting the program and/or its users and/or developers is going
to get you a big fat zero. No, actually it will probably get you some nasty
email responses. In fact, I would be willing to bet that you've already
gotten a few. Rules of common courtesy indicate that good manners are nearly
always requisite to getting any assistance you might request. Paid technical-support
personnel will generally deal with a minimal amount of abuse because ultimately
the user of the product is the one who puts bread on the support person's
table. The amount of abuse they will suffer for that end is still, however,
rather small. The folks who are a part of this mailing list are not (so
far as I am aware) paid to provide support for this product and therefore
have absolutely no incentive to help someone else out, except for the goodwill
and kindness residing in their hearts. That goodwill has a limit. Bend
it too far, and folks are more likely to tell you to take a flying leap
than to offer you any help. It might help to keep this in mind.
<p>3) Welcome to the Linux world: Documentation, if exists at all, is minimal,
full of technical jargon, sometimes outdated, and (unlike Windows software;
and this is a two-edged sword) assumes that you actually have a thorough
understanding of the operating system under which this software runs. Frustrating?
Yeah, sometimes. The Mailman docs are better than most. If the stuff you're
reading in those instructions doesn't make any sense to you, then some
training is in order. Pick up a few good books on Linux/UNIX in general,
or your flavor of OS in particular. Take a class at the community college.
Read some tutorials online. Enlist the help of a local friend or acquaintance
who can help you learn to navigate and manipulate your operating system.
Then come back and have another stab at installing and using the wide range
of software available to you. Chances are, it'll make a lot more sense.
<p>4) If all else fails, remind yourself of this simple fact: You get what
you pay for. The majority of stuff available for download for UNIX/Linux
systems is free. That doesn't mean the software isn't good (okay, there
are some that really suck eggs, just like for any other operating system)
- but it does mean that there's a limit to what you can expect. Some of
the most awesome utilities out there come with practically no documentation.
Trade-off? Perhaps. I personally would like to see the bar raised on the
average level of documentation provided with Linux-stuff. But at the current
time, the Linux world is still full of propellerheads (myself included)
and stuff for Linux is written accordingly. If you're looking for simple
no-brainer software, Windows and Mac software generally much better fits
that description.
<br>
<p>We now return you to your regularly scheduled programming...
<p>=)
<br>Amanda
<br>
<br>
<p>Alexa-Francesca Karliev wrote:
<blockquote TYPE=CITE><style></style>
<font face="Arial"><font size=-1>Please
be kind enought to e-mail me plain english instructions as to use your
program.</font></font> <font face="Arial"><font size=-1>Thank you.</font></font> <font face="Arial"><font size=-1>Alexa-Francesca</font></font></blockquote>
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