I feel like Ubuntu (Or Linux in general) is super hard to start with...first I had problems installing a software, and now I still have problems minimizing some windows because they don't have any minimizing button. But that's not the question here:
I'm coding right now. And for that, I need square brackets [ ]. No problem to do in Windows...but in Ubuntu when I press CTRL ALT it doesn't let me make square brackets or for example the ~ symbol. Instead of that, it opens a list of things in the top left corner..how to I change that? This is just super weird...
Linux definitely can be daunting when starting out. Do you have the correct keyboard layout set? https://wiki.ubuntuusers.de/Spracheinstellungen/#Tastatur
(sorry for german link)
Also keep in mind that ubuntu makes learning linux a lot harder than is necessary, as it abstract aways a lot things and thus makes them more complicated to learn and understand. What might help is trying a more barebones distro like Arch where you really do have to do everything yourself to get started. They have an excellent wiki that covers many common topics on how to do everything. It takes a lot more work, but in the long run is more rewarding in my opinion.
Im german myself so the link is fine (atleast for me), but yes the keyboard is set to german. Even that was hard and weird already...but apparently CTRL ALT, which you use in windows to do stuff like {},[],\,~ and so on, is not useable in ubuntu. When i press CTRL ALT some menu on the top left corner opens..the way i CAN do the symbols is by pressing ALT GR instead of CTRL ALT, but this feels super weird..i always movew my left hand to the right to press the button, and then back to the WASD buttons etc...so dumb
I've always used Alt Gr, I didn't even know you could use Ctrl Alt
lol...well im used to it now after years of windows using. But using ALT GR now is..uuuuuugh pls no
It's really a problem of ubuntu, and not as much a problem of linux as a whole.
Well i took a look at Linux mint, which is supposed to look like windows. Same problem with CTRL ALT etc...any Linux thats good to enter the world of..linux?
Those are both based off of debian, perhaps try another distro, Arch linux or opensuse.
I'm using arch linux. When you first install it, it just throws you into a terminal. From there on you have to install the entire system yourself, including the desktop environment. It's easier than it sounds though. The arch wiki is a great and expansive resource and covers a broad range of topics.
The power of Linux is that you have full capacity to fix things yourself, there's no arbitrary limitations.
You can just make a binding to a script that xdotool's a bracket if you wanted a quick and dirty hack to type brackets with any button combination.
Just write a script like this in your home directory. Lets call it `type.sh`.
#!/bin/bash
xdotool type "["
You'll want to make sure it's executable by typing `chmod +x ~/type.sh` somewhere in a terminal.
Then in your keyboard settings, add a keyboard binding to run `/home/<yourusername>/type.sh`
Make some other scripts to make your keyboard do whatever you want with whatever button combo you want. This should work on most modern DEs.
Though there's probably a better way to fix it, I've never had that kind of problem as an english speaker and typer so I wouldn't know any better. Sorry!
It sounds like you've entered Linux and expected a opensource version of Windows. Linux works in a whole different way that Windows does (in your words, weird).
It's certainly not for everyone, and you really have to go in with a open mind if you ever want to get used to it. Do not expect things to work as they do with Windows at all.
For me, I have the identical experience the other way, using Windows is weird and a pain, but that is only due to me being used to how Linux acts and works.
Also, I disagree with @DrLuke and @Topgamer7 as Ubuntu is not the "issue" here, and you'd likely only get a even harder time with distros like Arch and Opensuse, they are certainly not any more "doubleclick friendly".
It's not about being "doubleclick friendly", but about learning how the OS works. Ubuntu obfuscates many things and thus makes them unnecessarily complex. Distros like Arch require a lot more work to get started with, but once you're there you know how your OS works (at least the most important parts), which makes you better at fixing issues.
After all linux is a OS that requires some amount of maintenance. This work is then rewarded with a system that is more stable and optimized for the user's needs.
IMO this is what holds Linux back for very many. One should not need to learn how a OS works and how it's put together to be able to use it, and with many distros today (Linux Mint and (X,K)Ubuntu are notable mentions) you do not.
Also, I would not say that Ubuntu obfuscates things, it just allows you a more familiar starting point where you have all user and system services configured already, with a package repo based on stable packages. If you later want to dig into how it works or change it then there is nothing stopping you. It's just as "configurable" as Arch is.
Windows is not unnecessarily complex even if you do not know how Powershell or batch works.
Canonical have done a great job with Ubuntu, and as far as I know you are not required to open a terminal for any daily tasks or maintenance. However the issue as I see it is that no-one is teaching to use these tools, the first results for any search when you need to fix or do anything refers to the terminal right away without mentioning that much of it could be done with a graphical counterpart as well.
I do understand why, as the terminal is (at least for me) much more effective than clicking around, however it will seem a whole lot more complex for beginners that does not yet grasp the syntax and meaning of the words they blindly enter into the scary black window (which in itself is a security issue too).
Linux should not have to be a hobby or research project before one may use it, and as far as I understood @Trackster he wanted to use the system, not build it.
Well I disagree with you on this topic. You always have a tradeoff between "it just works" and things being configurable exactly as you want them. With OSes like OSX or Ubuntu everything is fine and dandy as long as you use it exactly as the devs intended it. If you want to do something differently you get the short end of the stick.
Some tasks can be handled by graphical tools, and ubuntu and similar distros do a good job to make the most important desktop-settings completely configurable from a graphical tool.
Linux doesn't have to be a research project to use a terminal. You just have to be able to read the appropriate wiki article on how to do things and you're good to go. If you do something that is so complex that a wiki article on the topic doesn't exist yet, you probably are treading in advanced linux territory anyways and should be more familiar with how the system works.
Is there anything you can do or modify with Arch/Fedora/Opensuse/etc that you cannot with more beginner friendly distros like Ubuntu or Mint? Ubuntu has quite a rich community of power-users and documentation. Due to the size of the distribution you also have the largest support from familiar vendors (see Steam, Spotify, Skype, etc), which is quite crucial for simplifying the adaption for new users IMO.
And why should one have to be reading up on wiki-pages to use Linux? I've never seen anyone needing to read instructions from random places on the net to use neither Windows, MacOS, nor Android or iOS. Neither is it required to be able to use Linux as long as one uses a distro tailored for use, and not one made for tinkering.
Also to add, learning how Linux is built up and what the magic words in Bash does and means is not a simple weekend task for most. Simply copying "lines of code" from the net into a black window until stuff somewhat "works" is not that much of a satisfying experience unless you're really invested into learning, studying and researching why. I strongly feel that the best way to eventually be a power-user of Linux is to actually use it first, starting by doing basic web-browsering, text editing, multimedia and file management. If you are a power-user at heart you'll find things you'd want to tweak and change as you go and use it, and suddenly you'd become a Linux-whizz without even realizing it yourself.
Uh, I have to look up how to do things on a regular basis when using other OSes.
..you talk about Ubuntu, and then give us a hotmail customer service? What?
welcome to facepunch
Hotmail doesn't even exist anymore, it's Outlook Live Mail now
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