Ubuntu users in Ontario, Canada?

[Tony Yarusso]

On Mon, Jun 23, 2008 at 8:52 PM, geo <yaktur at yahoo.com> wrote:
> I do have PHP5 and MySql installed (by the Synaptic.....by golly there's too
> much to choose from, this list should be pared down for us non-Linux folk!
> It's WAY too much useless information to pick and guess through).

That's why there's a search functionality built-in, plus the simpler
Add/Remove Applications interface for the most common things.  For
servers, during the installation process there is a screen asking for
common server applications/setups to install, one of which is "LAMP
Server", which would do all of the basic Apache and PHP stuff for you.
 This can also be accessed after the fact through tasksel, a tool
included by default for setting up different kinds of "tasks" for a
system efficiently.

> How come these things aren't geared for ex-Windows users? Don't the people
> at Ubuntu realize that by putting Ubuntu on Dell computers, this invites a
> whole community of non-Linux people to the software which is so stupefyingly
> complex to comprehend.

Can we take this to mean that you _have_ successfully installed Joomla
under Windows?  If so that will give a much better starting point to
work from.  (And if not, I'm not quite sure what your point is here.)

> This kind of stuff has to be ported successfully - away from the influence
> of Linux  culture and enthusiasts - so professionals and regular folk who
> aren't programmers, and who simply don't have the knowledge or time to spend
> on learning this stuff can still make good use of it at home or at work. The
> computer is supposed to do the work after all but some of this software
> makes you wonder what you bought a microprocessor for.

I am not a programmer - in fact, I doubt I could successfully write a
Hello World without at least one look at documentation.  However, no
professional would expect to be able to jump in and set up a server
without reading ANY of the documentation at all - that's just absurd.
Documentation exists for a reason, and that reason is so that people
without prior experience will read it.

> What am I supposed to do? Please advise? I still need a usable solution but
> something that is aimed at "more stupid" people who come from a Windows or
> Mac environment, something that will let me get the job done - configure the
> computer properly without guesswork, and not waste my time on stuff that
> should already have been done by the software.

You will either need to learn how to administer servers (Windows or
Linux - I can't see evidence of either), and something about the
software and platforms you want to use.  Alternatively, you could hire
someone to do it for you.  I don't know the specifics of what's
available in Joomla, but if you're going the Content Management System
route chances are there is access control built-in or available in
modules such that you wouldn't need htaccess, but instead would need
to learn the Joomla way of accomplishing that.  Since you haven't
bothered to read the documentation, how do you know what the software
plans to deliver, and therefore whether or not it should be done?

> Thanks,
> geo

No software is going to install itself, and certainly server software
is not going to do so.  You need to be willing to learn in order to be
successful, regardless of the operating system or toolkit.  Ubuntu,
like the other operating systems on the market, aim to make it so that
any user can send e-mail, write a letter, talk to their friends,
browse the web, listen to music, and that sort of thing.  The average
user does not set up a web server, and as you've found, understandably
so.  However, for those that do, there is guidance out there on how to
go about such things, and it's called the product documentation.
People contributed their free time bothering to write it, so the least
you can do is spend a fraction of that time to read it.

> Actually, for Mac users, Macintosh computers come preconfigured so you can set up a Webserver within OS X. I know this because
> before Ubuntu I was a Mac user (until the old Mac broke down and I couldn't afford to replace it).

Yes, but does it have PHP and MySQL working OOTB as well?

You will need to be modular about the way you go about things.  First,
is Ubuntu up and running?  Second, is Apache installed and working?
Third, is PHP installed, hooked up to Apache properly, and serving
pages?  Fourth, is MySQL installed, configured, and talking to the
other services?  And LAST, only after those things are done, try to
install Joomla.

-- 
Tony Yarusso
http://tonyyarusso.com/