Getting Connected?

[MidnightCowboy]

One thing I wish these guys could achieve consistency with is networking. My experience is all Gnome based distros enable for easy cabled connection and many now recognise both my mobile broadband modems too.

KDE though is like a world apart. Those with the previous network manager like I have in Mandriva 2010.2 work fine for cable, are fussy for wireless and mostly non functional out of the box with mobile broadband. The latest network manager has increased mobile broadband support but seems to have taken a step back with the rest. I tried Fedora 15 yesterday which steadfastly refuses to recognize my DSL connection although it allows me to input the details. Instead, it connects directly to "something" as soon as I plug the cable in but at a fraction of the speed. This "something" connection is no where to be seen in the network manager main configs or plasma widget settings. On the other hand I plug in my mobile broadband which nothing KDE liked before and bingo, I'm connected

Pardus 2011 did the same to me after a time when all of the settings options suddenly became greyed out, and nothing would connect. They must have recognized this problem at the outset by porting part of the Gnome network manager settings, trouble is they didn't last

To be honest I'm not interested in searching for "this fix" or that mile long forum post somewhere containing a work around, especially as for many they won't be online to do this anyway

This is such a basic and fundamental requirement now, I wonder why these issues have been with Linux users for ever and why they never seem to get properly fixed? Even from my own contacts here, I can guarantee this one issue alone is why so many potential Linux users never make the move from Windows, or why many of those who do end up going back.

[Remah]

Originally Posted by MidnightCowboy

... I wonder why these issues have been with Linux users for ever and why they never seem to get properly fixed? Even from my own contacts here, I can guarantee this one issue alone is why so many potential Linux users never make the move from Windows, or why many of those who do end up going back.

I'm not laughing at your predicament but I guess that's one positive from the epithet Windoze - I can rest from my labour. Whereas -NIX often leaves me with nada.

[MidnightCowboy]

Originally Posted by Remah

I'm not laughing at your predicament but I guess that's one positive from the epithet Windoze - I can rest from my labour. Whereas -NIX often leaves me with nada.

I guess I'm what can be referred to as a "transient newbie" with Linux Apart from what happens when you click it (like Windows) I'm OK with a bit of "su" this and "apt get" the other, plus more importantly I've worked out how to customize my own SuperKaramba themes

What frustrates me about this networking thing though is why isn't the Gnome manager being utilized more extensively for KDE? Nearly every "expert" forum reply I see advises the OP to install Gnome and delete the KDE network manager. Seems to be this could easily happen as a default installation unless my uneducated Linux status is preventing me from seeing a bigger picture somewhere?

Other than this though I find Linux far less stress inducing than Windows and a darn sight more reliable. I appreciate this doesn't apply to every distro, but when I start Mandriva it does just that, and in exactly the same order it did last time. I'm not plagued by security considerations, never see messages like " a background program is preventing Windows from shutting down, would you like to perform a myriad of extras functions to find out which one it is and then force it to close, or would you rather have a black screen next time Windows starts with an option to repair something (which won't work anyway), or "start normally", whatever that is"

[wdhpr]

MC said:

To be honest I'm not interested in searching for "this fix" or that mile long forum post somewhere containing a work around, especially as for many they won't be online to do this anyway

I have always wondered what the person was thinking that wrote:
"please check our online support for resolving your Internet connection error"

I am glad I have a hardwired DSL connection (which thankfully is very reliable)

[MidnightCowboy]

Nice one!

[MidnightCowboy]

I think this illustrates my point if you look at the recent deluge of networking issues affecting Fedora.

http://forums.fedoraforum.org/forumdisplay.php?f=10

Some it appears after upgrading to V15 and others after updating. IMO there is no fix being offered here that most Linux newbies will be capable of working through, and how of course can they gain access to the information anyway without a connection?

Stuff like this has to be one of the main reasons why such users move back to Windows and IMO for a supposed top distro is unacceptable for a release issue.

[wdhpr]

Stuff like this has to be one of the main reasons why such users move back to Windows and IMO for a supposed top distro is unacceptable for a release issue.

I almost went back to Windows for good although not for the same problems that are plaguing you.

Other than this though I find Linux far less stress inducing than Windows and a darn sight more reliable. I appreciate this doesn't apply to every distro, but when I start Mandriva it does just that, and in exactly the same order it did last time.

Is it only Madriva's Network Manager that handles your internet connection correctly or is it all Gnome based Network Managers? I'm just curious because as you know, there are distro's that offer both Gnome and KDE versions.

Very glad I don't have to deal with this aggravation.

[MidnightCowboy]

Originally Posted by wdhpr

Is it only Madriva's Network Manager that handles your internet connection correctly or is it all Gnome based Network Managers? I'm just curious because as you know, there are distro's that offer both Gnome and KDE versions.

Pardus was sometimes wobbly (but wouldn't see the modem connection), otherwise Mandriva 2010.2 is the only KDE version to handle my cable connection 100%. Of course this might be different if I stuffed another card in there, but this is an Intel wireless of the type most commonly used here so it should work. Maybe some previous KDE versions of other distros might be OK, because the problem is with the network manager development.

Of those I've tried, everything Gnome works. I've tried to like Gnome, I really have, but I cant love it

Never fear though because I found an answer today in the stable version of Bodhi which I just didn't (until now) have time to burn and run. Low and behold DSL is fine and it sees my mobile broadband out of the box.

I haven't had time to muck around too much with the settings but I can get the look (for my taste) better than Gnome although I get an OpenGL not supported message using the live CD. Whether or not Compiz will install and fix this I'm not sure but I'm sufficiently interested to find out.
There's so many customizing possibilities, gadgets and other stuff, I'll have to get round to giving this a proper install IMO Bodhi is much better than PCLinux Enlightenment. There's MacPup Opera 2 as well but I had a quick look at this and a few reviews and don't think I'll bother.

[wdhpr]

I've been interested in Bodhi since I first heard about It. Like a few other distros its offering a minimalistic OS that gives the user a wide range to finish building it to their liking. It also seems that Bohdi is making its mark on various forums and Linux websites including Distro Watch. My only criticism was I didn't agree that it was appropriate for users new to Linux.

PCLinux lacks the luster that is found with other distro's. The thing I like about PCLinux is its ease of use right out of the box a very good thing for those migrating from Windows. To be honest I feel like a kid in a candy store. There are so many distros and flavors of distros to choose from its hard to pick just one. So the minimalistic approach just may be the way to go after all.

[MidnightCowboy]

I used to think the same about Bodhi for newbies, but now I'm not so sure. I especially like how they've created two packages of extra software, one including the kitchen sink, and another more functional than fancy, which users can choose to either install or download. I picked Thunderbird and VLC from the full list, hit install, and both did just that and worked perfectly using the live CD.

I also like the way they split their wiki into different sections.

http://www.bodhilinux.com/wiki/doku.php

The other thing is the forum. I know if you're a Buntu user everything is in their forum somewhere, but it can be very frustrating trying to navigate through this sea of data. Smaller forums are much more personal and usually more relaxed. This still doesn't guarantee you'll get the answer you want, or in a way you can understand, but there's certainly more chance than some Linux forums I could mention.

http://www.bodhilinux.com/forums/