How To Install Miro & Arista In Fedora 16

[Pete Travis]

On 12/26/2011 05:17 PM, Swapnil Bhartiya wrote:
>> Sorry for the sweeping generalizations, but:
>>
>> Your last couple posts ar saying, in effect, "in Ubuntu, I used $METHOD
>> to accomplish $USER_TASK.  How can Fedora replicate the $METHOD I used
>> in Ubuntu? "
>
> Hi Pete,
>
>> You might run into some trouble, because the two distributions have
>> different $METHODS.  There is an important distinction to be made
>> between the end goal (putting videos on a tablet) and the method used to
>> do it (installing Miro, for example.)  I'm concerned that instead of
>> reviewing Fedora, you will end up reviewing your ability to turn Fedora
>> into Ubuntu.   Your struggle with the apparently unneeded fedora-utils
>> and proprietary nvidia drivers are evidence of the kind of bias I hope
>> your writing doesn't include.
>
> I totally understand and admit that coming for Ubuntu I have migrated 
> quite a lot of users from Windows to GNU/Linux. These are average 
> users who don't know much about computers and don't need to. So, I am 
> looking for ways how to help them and help me in using Fedora. I am 
> trying to avoid every possible scope for any flameware here as that's 
> not the goal. I am new to fedora and of course I will look at it from 
> the point I am familiar with.
>
> I am learning every day. For example now I managed to make my dual 
> monitor work without installing Nvidia drivers.
>
> I also understand that Fedora's audience may be different than the 
> Ubuntu's audience. This is an area where I am confused. I think Fedora 
> is targeted at more advanced users, so I will refrain from 
> recommending it to average users. I was under impression that may be 
> due to recent marketing on fedora home page the target audience 
> changed. I have not spoken with any Fedora guy for ages ever since I 
> stopped working for the LFY magazine.
>
>
>> I don't want to put words in your mouth, but :
>>
>> Instead of saying "installing nvidia drivers was very difficult, and
>> broke my installation so badly I had to reinstall" one could say "fedora
>> doesn't package drivers, such as the proprietary Nvidia binaries, that
>> it does not have the rights to redistribute, but the default open source
>> driver worked well for me."
>> Instead if saying "I had to use a 3rd party utility to install flash"
>> you could say "Fedora doesn't include flash,  but after a week I found I
>> was glad to be rid of it."
>> See the difference?
>
> That's interesting as I wrote a piece about how to install flash in 
> Fedora.
>
> http://www.muktware.com/articles/2917
>
>>
>> I'm going to assume that your impression of Fedora has been impacted by
>> this list as well.  I hope the list members are aware they are
>> representing our community here, and I hope that you, Swampil, realize
>> that you have not been providing enough information in your postings to
>> receive the full benefit of support the knowledgeable list members here
>> have to offer.
>
> I will improve and try my best to polish my queries before posting.
>
> Thanks for your suggestions. Will keep in mind.
>
> Swapnil
Hey Swapnil,

I understand you are writing for a specific audience, and you want to be 
able to offer them a 'vanilla' impression of Fedora, how it works out of 
the box.  I commend and appreciate your conversion efforts, and I'm sure 
you have plenty of experience explaining that things aren't the same in 
linux as they were in Windows.

I don't agree that fedora is only for advanced users, however, because 
most things just work out of the box.  There is an assumption that a 
user is willing to skim/search http://docs.fedoraproject.org - a 
resource that is seldom referred with the old, rude acronym - and users 
are generally encouraged to contribute bug reports, and follow up on 
them (read: help (us help) themselves.)  Now, my idea of the 'generic 
end user' is someone who needs an operating system to support a browser, 
and perhaps a media player or printer.  These things are pretty easy to 
set up in Fedora.  What I'd refer to as 'special case' software CAN be 
hard to find - Fedora's software GUI isn't nearly as approachable as 
Ubuntu's - but thankfully we have people such as yourself to assist the 
masses for the time being.

While I'm pondering my words, I am skimming over some of your articles.  
The one titled "Fedora 16 Review: When An Ubuntu User Tries Fedora" in 
particular has me reconsidering my suggestion of bias, as it seems that 
you are very open about your perspective.  I was under the impression 
from your postings that you had yet to get to a working Fedora desktop, 
but I see that you have done so and are moving on to the next tier of 
desktop configuration tasks.

  I've probably editorialized enough, and I'm sorry for hijacking your 
support thread. I hope you continue to use and enjoy Fedora.

Pete