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Idea #14706: Introduce Ubuntu to new users in a very slick way!

Written by vs8 the 22 Oct 08 at 18:23. Related project: ubuntu.com. Status: New
Rationale
When you use the live cd or install Ubuntu there's not even a welcome screen showing the features of Ubuntu. openSUSE has a welcome screen and some PDF files displaying what it is and what you can do with it.

Ubuntu should have something like that too. It could have some videos on how to get stuff done in Ubuntu like a video tour, the different ways of installing applications, configuring drivers, showing off Compiz Fusion etc, etc.

Why videos? Because it's visual. Watching a video is better and more fun than just reading a "how to", right?

Some simple video Ideas:

1. What is Ubuntu?

Well duh, explain Ubuntu and a brief story of our beloved Linux Distro.

2.What can I do with Ubuntu and how to be productive with it?

This video should show the basic desktop that ships with Ubuntu. It should discuss every (or almost every because there are a lot of them) application on the default menus and how to edit the menus.

3. Why multiple Workspaces instead of a single one?

This should help the new user understand the concept of "instead of having a multitude of windows opened on a single desktop, why don't I have multiple desktops with windows well organized across them instead"

4.Compiz Fusion:

How to set it up and how to use it in a productive way. This video should teach the new user how to use Expo, Window Picker, Desktop Cube/Cylinder/Sphere you know, the "stadard plugins" that almost every Compiz Fusion user uses etc.

5. How to install applications:

What is Synaptic and how to use it, what is APT, Installing packages from the Command Line, Add/Remove Programs or downloading apps from websites like getdeb.net etc.

6. Setting up Restricted Drivers: (Man we need to change the word "Restricted" to something more user friendly instead, like "Propieatry" which makes more sense to those who come from Windows and Mac).

Well, how to use their hardware drivers!

7. Explain how to use Gnome and tell the people about the flexibility of it and other User Interfaces (Desktop Environment is a scary word) and window managers like KDE, XFCE, LXDE the boxes etc.

Well these are a few ideas. You see! It would be great if Ubuntu changed the common Linux language and starts speaking normal english (and other normal languages) like we Human Beings do! Get it?

So, how to present these vids? I don't know! But they should be very slick. The dude or chick that speaks/appears in the videos should have a very cool voice/image, and he/she should not look or sound like a geek/nerd/dork. We need to get rid of the Linux stereotype, Linux is the coolest OS and we know that, so this dude or chick should be good looking/sounding.

If you guys have more video or presentation ideas post them on the comments section below.

If I have more video/presentation ideas I'll keep posting them here.

Remember keep it for Human Beings, ok?


--- Look what I found---
http://www.apple.com/mac/

Now, that's what I'm talking about!
We need to do this with Ubuntu, Apple really knows how to make their products look good! That's real marketing!!!

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Solution #1: Auto-generated solution of idea #14706
Written by vs8 the 22 Oct 08 at 18:23.
Ubuntu Brainstorm was updated in January 2009. Since the idea #14706 was submitted before this update, its rationale and solution are not separated. Please vote accordingly, and if you have the necessary rights, please separate the rationale from the solution. Thanks!

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Comments
dotancohen wrote on the 22 Oct 08 at 18:35
> Watching a video is better and more fun than just
> reading a "how to", right?

No, I like to read and don't even own a television.

I'm withholding voting until you post more details about the video's content.

superfoor wrote on the 22 Oct 08 at 19:13
As retarded as it sounds when I started my sisters macbook for the first time the intro video did blow my mind. you got my vote

dotancohen wrote on the 22 Oct 08 at 19:36
@superfoor: Please be very specific in what the video taught the user how to do. This is entirely possible to get moving.

andruk (Idea reviewer) wrote on the 23 Oct 08 at 01:41
If you don't own a television but you own a computer, you are either in college, or you are in the minority.

Linux is different, and we need to show new converts/refugees what is different to make them feel "at home" in Linux.

+1

Squichie wrote on the 23 Oct 08 at 03:20
would there even be room on the cd

I looked at the current examples of intrepid, and it looks like they took nelson mandella out, and replaced it with a crummy stopmotion vid.
Its neat, but not something that reflects ubuntu.

glotz wrote on the 23 Oct 08 at 04:04
Videos take massive disk space.

-1

vs8 wrote on the 23 Oct 08 at 04:25
Glotz you have a point there, but there should be at least welcome screen to help you with your Ubuntu! Not everyone knows about computers or how to use them. What if someone bought a Ubuntu PC by accident and sees Ubuntu instead of Windows? Huh?

We need to make Ubuntu easier to use every day.

You know what? That Welcome screen should have a:

"Want to know what is Ubuntu and what you can do with it?"
--Click here--

And then you end up in the What is Ubuntu? website (I just invented this thing). There should be every video ready for download in a free format... or if there is an alternative to flash video, well it could have some video streams. I don't really know!

But what I know is that new users NEED a guide, not just a guide, but a very cool and handy guide to Ubuntu. That's it.

I really want to let people know about Ubuntu, and I want that everytime you install Ubuntu on a friends PC/Mac he can say good bye Windows/Mac. That's it!

Squichie wrote on the 23 Oct 08 at 04:35
I think that the firefox initial start page should link to a video or something like that, showing an intro of the os and how to navigate it... etc. Just like what you said.

However, a neat intro video would be cool.

If I were the director, I would imagine something short and sweet, with its theme largely organic. A powerful timelapse of the african planes or something, with a deep african musical chant in the background, demonstrating how wild ubuntu is. Luckily, organic is very stylish, and it is distinguishable from the shiney metal mac, and the plastic leathery (pleathery) windows.

Magnes wrote on the 23 Oct 08 at 06:43
Application with simple tutorials and tips (like: "how to install a program" or "how to monitor temperature of your CPU") would be better.

baruch60610 wrote on the 23 Oct 08 at 10:53
By the time someone has a Linux CD in their drive, they've already become interested. Adding a video is somewhat preaching to the choir, so to speak.

I think the video idea is not a good one. The distro is supposed to fit onto a CD. It's already pretty crowded, without trying to cram yet more stuff onto it. What will you remove, so as to be able to add the video?

Possibly some informative material would be good. Text is fine, or images. No need for a video.

BTW - I also like to read and don't have a television. Maybe we may not be as rare as you'd expect...

Eldmannen wrote on the 23 Oct 08 at 12:53
If something needs an introduction its probably not user-friendly and intuitive enough.

nicoladimaria wrote on the 23 Oct 08 at 14:21
online video, and first startup popup text.
then *complete* (written) guide of ubuntu features as you described it.

vs8 wrote on the 23 Oct 08 at 16:33
Eldmannen no matter how user friendly Ubuntu is, new users need a guide. I came from Windows to Linux almost a year ago, and the transition was hard for me, but I was determined to learn Linux and I had to learn it the hard way. Not everyone has the determination we have.

The first Linux distro I ever used was PCLinux because they said it was similar to Windows. Not! KDE3.5 is similar to windows only in the desktop area, everything else is different. Then I tried Ubuntu, it was so much better and easier to use! Yes it was easier to use bacuse I had some Linux expirience before. But what about those who are familiar with Windows? What do they think when they see this new interface? Gnome Desktop Environment? What the hell is a desktop environment, and you tell me there are doxens og it? Hey this is to complicated, everything is different here, I want Windows back.

That happened to my friend. He told me that he wanted a distro that was exactly like Windows but it had the security of Linux. I told him, dude this is Linux, it's different! You can't make a Windows using the Linux kernel! Windows is Windows, Linux is Linux, they are two different OSs, they use different structures, it's supposed to be different!

But when people use Mac OS they know it's a different OS and that it works different than Windows. The worse part is that they become productive in just a few moments with it.

This is why we need to educate people on what is Ubuntu and how to use it and be productive with it.

Squichie wrote on the 24 Oct 08 at 03:09
I slapped a video together for a idea of what a intro video to ubuntu might look like. This is not a tutorial, but sort of goes along the lines of the mac leapord intro video (http://www.metacafe.com/watch/1696880/mac_os_x_10_5_leopard_welcome_movie/)

Rather than having the sleek, metallic, and spacey feel that characterizes Mac so well, I figured ubuntu would be better served with being more natural and organic, displaying the beauty of the world. Ideally, it would be sweet to have the timelapse of an african plane or something, but I dont live in africa, so I just used one of my own.

check it out:
http://www.metacafe.com/watch/1915778/ubuntu_ibex/

vs8 wrote on the 24 Oct 08 at 11:36
That's a good idea, at least you got something there.

It would be cool if there was an animation about an ibex running using similar colors and art style like the Ibex wallpaper.

Squichie wrote on the 24 Oct 08 at 15:27
I appreciate that Idea as well. It depends how ubuntu wants to image itself. Fun and cartoony as linux has been in the past, or earthy and natural, closer to the philosophy.

celiz wrote on the 30 Oct 08 at 10:43
Wouldn't a simple link to a online video be the simplest solution? or a "new to ubutu" webpage stuffed with all kind of fancy stuff?

vs8 wrote on the 31 Oct 08 at 05:12
Celiz that's a good idea too, this concept could be implemented in a lot of ways. The thing is to make the new user comfortable with Ubuntu as soon as they boot it. That's the point!

danroger wrote on the 31 Oct 08 at 19:36
wouldn't the video take a lot of space?
how about put it in links so for thous who want to see the video can stream it from the Internet?

borsook wrote on the 31 Oct 08 at 21:50
I think some sort of introduction is planned for 9.04

grigio wrote on the 23 Nov 08 at 18:58
I did some videos about Linux Ubuntu (in Italian)

http://grigio.org/tag/linuxcast

The topics currently are:

Ep01: Different ways to install software on Ubuntu
Ep02: The Terminal
Ep03: The "Linux Operating System" (Ecosystem)
Ep04: How to play DVD video on Linux Ubuntu
Ep05: $HOME where are stored the software settings
Ep06: The ROOT and the Linux Hierarchy
Ep07: Practical GIMP usage


shinkanzen wrote on the 23 Nov 08 at 23:09
i think this is a thing the local communities could provide and after installing you get led to videos/tutorials in your mother tongue

chauncellor wrote on the 29 Nov 08 at 15:52
While I'm very indifferent to the idea, I urge the implementation of a very easy way to not have to watch them. I use LiveCDs a bit, and if I were to have to dance around trying to stop all the fancy vids showing me how great Ubuntu is, that would be a great disappointment indeed.

Mayhaps a simple toolbar notification at boot-up would suit the purpose nicely if this ever takes off.

aysiu (Brainstorm moderator) wrote on the 29 Nov 08 at 16:23
A tutorial slideshow during installation is already planned for the next release:
http://brainstorm.ubuntu.com/idea/136/

Well, technically, it was planned for this release and deferred to the next release.


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