Puppy Linux Discussion Forum

[johnywhy]

The murga forum is, as I understand it, mainly for Devs.

Support is offered to non-Devs like me only as a courtesy. While many Devs are happy to help, all too often the answer involves getting under the hood and learning puppy internals.

Not that I'm against that-- I'm a programmer. And I teach electronics to poor teenagers. Problem is, I'm not interested in learning puppy internals-- I have too much work to do

I understand that puppy is a kind of hobby project, and I admire the enthusiasm expert users have for getting under the hood. but it also seems that puppy has dreams of mainstream penetration.

For that to happen, there needs to be some reaching out to non-expert users who are looking for a windows or Mac alternative.

I've been using puppy almost exclusively for a year. I'd like to keep using it. I want puppy to thrive.

So please consider creating a support forum for non-experts. I bet a lot of people would be very grateful.

[Flash]

This is the support forum for non-dev Puppy users. The original and, I like to think, still the best. Pay attention.

[darkcity]

I believe this forum does try to offer support for non-technical users.

But there be limits and confusions

Firstly, many questions in the beginner section maybe don't belong there. Also 'beginner' is ambiguous - could mean anything from beginner computer user to beginner developer. Maybe the sections could further be broken down.

Secondly, a beginner question won't always require a simple answer - in this case the correct answer could be-

'your request can not achieved simply in Puppy'.

rather than

'open so and so file, and edit line 101, etc, etc, '

Two things need to happen-

A) the questioner need to state what level of answer they require.

B) the answerer need to state what level of answer they are prepared to give.

hopefully avoiding offending one ; -)

[johnywhy]

great points, darkcity.

one regular here commented last year that (i paraphrase), puppy and the forum are mainly for the benefit of the devs and linux geeks, and was offered to others (not paraphrasing) "as a courtesy".

so that's what inspired this suggestion.

one might ask, "who is puppy for?" If the answer is firmly "for the benefit of the devs and linux geeks", then i mustn't ask for more.

[darkcity]

developing and using is a two way thing, people are at all different levels and niches.

as far as I'm concerned, part of the open source philosophy is to make the tools of computing accessible to everyone and avoid duplication of human effort.

linux people who want tools only to be used by geeks and devs are elitist and self defeating (a tool most people can't use is of limited value). However, a lot of linux tools stay inaccessible because the amount of work required to make them user friendly is simply too great and tedious to be completed on a voluntary basis. Unfortunately, our economic system doesn't reward 'true' value and limits the intellectual commons.

puppy and the forum can be about self-help and mutual aid ; -)