Could we get a list of the best common solutions?
 

It would be great if we had a list of the best common solutions. Gainroot for example can be accomplished in so many different ways. Many of the URLs are already 404 but are still found near the top in Google.

I have a life to live and do not like getting hooked into hours of reading these forums in order to find the best answers to simple questions for one of my least used tools. If the OS were Linux then I could get excited because the knowledge learned would transfer into what we are or should be using everyday at home and in the office. Learning a lot of extra stuff just because some people think the Nxxx should only be used to connect to the Internet is not exciting to me.

Re: Could we get a list of the best common solutions?
 

You might consider putting Debian on your tablet if you're not happy with Maemo because it's too different. None of the differences you're seeing are kernel-level, however, so claiming it's not Linux (presumably on account of Nokia proprietary code) is not only incorrect, but also misleading.

The wikis (http://www.internettablettalk.com/wiki/ (deprecated) and http://wiki.maemo.org/ (preferred)) are the proper repository for such knowledge as you're asking, and the only example you gave is covered.

Your solution is the problem Re: Could we get a list of the best common solutions?
 

Benson,
Thanks for trying. You get E for effort. Unfortunately, your solution illustrates the problem.

When I go to your solution, I read "
To enable Extras repository, just open this link on your tablet.

Or you can enable it by hand:

* Go into the Application manager.
* Tap the menu -> Tools -> Application catalog...
* Double-tap maemo Extras.
* Uncheck Disabled. "

I thought great. There is a way to enable root in a standard way without having internet access. I click on the icon that has a Blue and 3 Green squares. These squares do not have AMgr written on them, they just happen to be the only thing there except web, 3 people, and home. I click on every icon and do not see anything labeled menu or Tools. Since I am have dealt with a lot of discrepancies in computers I tap "Application manager" instead of the non-existing menu. When I tap Tools -> Application catalog... ; I only get the message "Exit offline mode." So now I am back to not having a pocket linux computer, only an InternetTablet that will work after you have already done what you want to do one time on the sometimes existing Internet. When I clicked OK to Exit offline mode, I got Network Connection error message as if I had done something wrong. And there are "brilliant" people who get on this forum and say how great it is that we only have an InternetTablet instead of something that can also double as a linux pocket computer.

http://oouc.wordpress.com/ tells what a great device the InternetTablet is. In addition it tells what a great company Nokia is. But this may need a great revision. After I got my N800 InternetTablet I never could find the cheap GPS or folding keyboards that were discussed on this forum. Who has cleared the market of these devices and left me without access is a big question in my mind. But back to the main point of this post. Maemo could easily develop a little SD card with all of the information that is necessary to gainroot or anything else that requires going to old links on the Internet. Then I and many other people could have a pocket linux computer for all of the times we do not now have the ability to do what we want. I cannot develop such a card without a lot of help because I like to use a real keyboard. I also really like documentation that says click on "Applications manager" instead of menu if "Applications manager" is indeed the place where I must click and menu is just a word for hotshot Geek Experts who would rather use technobabble instead of reality. I deal with many thousands of people who have never known anyone who knows more about computers and documentation than I. So how can I keep on recommending the Nxxx InternetTablets to the great unwashed if the documentation does not mean what is literally there, if they can't use the Nxxx to do many common linux things except when they are lucky enough to be near a hotspot, and etc.?

Am I going to have to carry all .deb files on an SD card and hope that using the standard means to install them is going to work on the Nxxx? I want to do things more important than debugging Nokia sw. This is the reason I went back to *nix after 20 years in a M$ jail. The Nxxx is not worth it to me nor the great number of people I deal with in everyday life unless this issue is solved.

so you need internet connection to download software, surprise?

the standard way (apt, yum) to install sofrware in standard linux distributions (ubuntu, fedora) also needs internet connection

Re: Could we get a list of the best common solutions?
 

I doubt that you can...

You seem genuinely lazy and the thing about the "unwashed" masses is; we don't mind, or are afraid of, a little work. :)

Sounds like you would be happier with an iPhone or suttin'.

Edit: Considerable effort has been put into the WIKI that answers most of >>Here ya go <<

Check out the 6th or 7th hit...

Re: Could we get a list of the best common solutions?
 

You didn't know where Application Manager was and had to go hunting for it? Seriously RTFM.


In most cases people here are helpful but they also have lives to live and don't want to get hooked into hours of helping people too lazy to do the most basic bit of research themselves.

Bottom-quoting in a post title? Can you _do_ that?!
 

OK, now you completed step 1. You got into the Application manager, mentioned in step 1; the correlation is no accident. (Also, page 43 of the manual explains step 1 in detail, so if when instructions didn't seem to match reality, you had skimmed the TOC of the manual, you'd have quickly gotten straight.
Now you have to click either the titlebar, with its menu icon or the menu key; they're the ones with the funky little symbols purporting to represent a drop-down menu, and universally referred to around here as "menu", for want of a representative glyph in most fonts. That's what "menu" meant, and until you tap one of them, you don't even see "Tools"Specifically, after you install software not present on the device, yes. I'm not sure how such software should mystically transport itself into your device without a network connection -- but then, the black arts were never my strong point.
OK, there are some who like and praise that aspect, but I fail to see how its usability in that simple role, or their praise for that, impairs it from serving as a Linux handtop.

Almost all software, especially F/OSS, is distributed online these days; I honestly wouldn't know where to start if I wanted to install an OS on my desktop without using internet access, either for torrenting a slackware image, or ordering CDs. The need to establish an internet connection to acquire and install software the easy way doesn't seem at all unreasonable, and it's not like that's the only way to get root (see the rest of that page), or even to install packages, and thus to use the rootsh method.

You seem to be implying Nokia bought them all up? Or that they never existed and the claims were Nokia propaganda?
I think if you looked a bit harder, you could get that question off your mind.

An ebay search for igo bluetooth is finding some south of $50 right off, and you could check the buy/sell forum here; almost sure a guy who's trying to sell off ~10 still has some left. You could check Google shopping, too, for keyboards and for GPS.

No, not "anything else". For example, finding what the Wikipedia article on London Assembly looked like at the end of 2004 requires going to an old link on the internet. Obviously, the line must be drawn somewhere, since there's more data online than what fits on an SD card. You could make a reasonable goal of having a cache of the extras repository possible, analogous to the set of packages available on a CD set of a typical PC distribution, but I'm not sure this would be of very great interest. The number of people who actually can't/won't obtain internet access once to populate their system with software is tiny.

Without first defining the purpose of "a Linux computer", nobody can develop such a card; I'm not sure what definition you're using, but perhaps most would disagree.

Ya know what the word "wiki" means? It is not short for "complain to management, please", and you could try to fix it if you really think it's inaccurate.
Let's see... you can't be bothered to search, can't be bothered to correlate the phrase "Application manager" between step 1 of the instructions and step 2 of your procedure, thus losing sync and confusing yourself, can't be bothered to fix a perceived simple substition error in the wiki, can't be bothered to delete the old text when editing a post title and refuse to make the distinction between use and setup use cases. Oh, but you're a bigshot who deals with thousands of people even less capable than yourself.Yes, I suppose these devices, and the community centered around them, is certain to fade into oblivion without your continued recommendation. Nokia might even go bankrupt due to the loss in sales. I can't begin to imagine why the board of directors isn't even now falling over themselves trying to apologize for this inconvenience to you, and ordering massive headrollage among management if this isn't fixed within a week. :rolleyes:

I'd guess that 90% of the poor folks you deal with don't use Linux, and that of the ones who do, 90% don't carry a DVD with all the packages for their distro around with them -- they install what they need (whether from an online repo, or from optical media), and then use the device. But yes, if you would download all the packages for your favorite distro, burn them on a disc, and carry them around with you everywhere (and hope your distribution's package tools work), then you should apply the same effort with the Internet Tablet.

Re: Could we get a list of the best common solutions?
 

Classic case of PEBKAC. There is only one person who is able to solve this particular problem: you.

A cheap & good BlueTooth GPS is easily found on eBay...

Re: Could we get a list of the best common solutions?
 

It's interesting that all the posts like this seem to share a common thread: People who provide "support" for "thousands" (or even millions) of people, but are too lazy or incompetent to spend 5 minutes acquiring an answer for themselves (or who, after managing that, seem to do their absolute best at failing to follow the directions).

It makes me wonder if they're all just the same guy or what in the hell kind of people these "support" groups (whatever is its they provide "support" for) are filled with. . . .

Re: Your solution is the problem Re: Could we get a list of the best common solutions
 

Number 1, how dare you slam the amazing people volunteering to help here, tacitly or otherwise, with your quotes around the word brilliant.

Number 2, what the hell are you talking about??? Who said what???

Are you actually insinuating that every single cheap GPS and folding keyboard was nabbed from the market, and no more were manufactured to replace them??? And that this was done to specifically spite you???

o.O

I think you may be better off returning or selling your tablet.

Re: Could we get a list of the best common solutions?
 

i've never used a device that u could install programs without downloading them somehow, either from the internet, from an external media (sd card, dvd, cd, ex. HD, flash drive, etc). please oouc, tell me where i can find such a device that can basically make magic...

This is also the first time i've ever seen someone buy something and refuse to spend even the smallest amount of time to figure something out. even my brother who is pretty lazy and i have to do everything for him...can figure out stuff. especially when there are websites and forums and users out there helping people, developing solutions and software...the community for the NITs is very helpful. Just because maybe pre-schoolers might not be able to follow the instructions doesn't mean it's hard to figure out...just use some common sense. but i guess as people say, common sense isn't really common :rolleyes:

I have no knowledge of linux (literally, a fresh newbie), yet i've managed to update my tablet, download and install applications, use the web browser, fm radio, etc. now given, i don't understand all the technical talk, i can still use the n800 as it is...an internet tablet. It's great that it has extra features such as xournal and liqbase...but it was never intended to be a full out linux computer. it's an internet tablet. Having an office suite, or sketching programs is a plus..not a given. what you're saying is "hey i just bought a smartphone that has wifi! now i can save money by not buying a data plan but can still go online at hotspots! wait just a minute...i can't send and receive email unless i'm in wifi range which is like never. what kind of crap is this. i thought its supposed to be a pocketable computer..."

Re: Could we get a list of the best common solutions?
 

If you have the appropriate cellular plan you can tether you N8x0 to your phone with bluetooth and always have internet access. Some network access is free and some costs. With the N810 supporting bluetooth DUN and WiFi all choices are yours.

Re: Your solution is the problem Re: Could we get a list of the best common solutions
 

Ba-hahahahhahahahaha! "Menu" is a buzzword. Hahahahahaha. *snif*, whew! You gave me the best laugh I've had all day.

I just wish you'd have spent as much time on google and ebay looking for the stuff you wanted instead of spending the time to type in this whiney diatribe.

I'm somehow reminded of the video I saw on youtube where "tech support" was helping a 14th century (or so) monk convert from scrolls to books. Wish I could find that, again.

Re: Could we get a list of the best common solutions?
 

It's interesting how many threads seem to show (to an objective observer) the need for a casual user site and how the people unsupportive of a casual user site are the same ones who post in those threads in a way that is somehow unfriendly to the posting casual user (and yes I realize that many of them like this guy have a bad attitude; and I realize there are threads where users are helped, but there are also plenty of other threads like this one). Casual users browsing these forums have a bad reaction when "the wiki should be dumbed down" and similar comments receive this kind of treatment.

Re: Could we get a list of the best common solutions?
 

The open source community provides an opportunity for anyone that identifies an issue to step up and contibute to a solution. Participation with contribution is the essence of membership. Whining and demeaning the efforts of those that freely contribute for the benefit of all is a sad state of affairs.

Re: Could we get a list of the best common solutions?
 

OMG is this guy really serious? and he is tech support? ironically people like him is the reason I have a job as tech support as well... google has so much potential yet he failed to do a simple search or RTFM...

Re: Could we get a list of the best common solutions?
 

I think he is talking about the installer files that you get each time you try to download a program instead of the program itself that could be saved for later.

Re: Could we get a list of the best common solutions?
 

It's also interesting to note that there's always at least one of these jokers who is so obviously perfectly neutral, impartial and perfect in all respects and not just as completely full of BS as the OP. :rolleyes:

Buddy, since you're so obviously a better person than anybody else here, why don't you step up and fix all of this guy's problems? Or do you just talk about how you think other people should do it?

Re: Could we get a list of the best common solutions?
 

When did they send the memo out that Linux users are supposed to evangelize to the unwashed masses? Because, honestly, i've been telling them to get a mac and an ipod touch.

Re: Could we get a list of the best common solutions?
 

There are no requirements for evangelism in the GPL nor is there an exaulted status awarded to Linux users. The open source community has a history of helping other users, even new ones. I wouldn't call that evangelizing -- it's participation in a community held together by the contribution of it's members.

Re: Could we get a list of the best common solutions?
 

Truism are great, but when help was offered to the OP he didn't act like someone grateful for the community support. He *****ed about the platform, the wiki, and those users offering support.

Re: Could we get a list of the best common solutions?
 

Objective does not mean perfect or better; it's about perspective. In my post, I didn't talk about what other people should do, except to temper their unfriendly treatment of casual posters. Advice which your posts show to be especially warranted in your case.

Re: Could we get a list of the best common solutions?
 

Which seems to be that you think it is perfectly OK for this guy to, as Texrat says, slam volunteers for absolutely no reason. Yeah, real objective.

Do me a favor. Go back and re-read the OP's first few posts in this thread, then tell me why you think this advice is applicable here.

Re: Could we get a list of the best common solutions?
 

No. it is not OK for anyone to slam volunteer efforts. Don't give an ad hominem insult in one post and ask for a favor in the next. You go back and re-read the posts where people complain that you too often insult those who have different opinions than you.

Re: Could we get a list of the best common solutions?
 

No, its best to ignore such post. Or one person replies (like Texrat's post) and the rest just leaves it as-is. Don't give the bugger needless attention. A simple explanation, without ad hominem, is all what is required. The OP will then conclude on their own due to lack of other input.

Re: Could we get a list of the best common solutions?
 

Take it easy there big fella...
I started the ball rolling with the first "unfriendly" response. If you look at my post history you may find that this is not a habit of mine.

I responded in an unfriendly manner because I perceived the original post to be unfriendly. Arrogant, pompous, and condescending are other words that come to mind in describing it as well.

I understand where you are coming from but, I don't think that in this case your reasoning applies.

Re: Could we get a list of the best common solutions?
 

It might be better to close the thread and/or ignore the poster ("a computer and software designer, counselor, business owner, and professor", also listed as a "disabled professor now developing open source sw "). His blog is at http://oouc.wordpress.com/.

Re: Could we get a list of the best common solutions?
 

I'll 2nd that.

Re: Could we get a list of the best common solutions?
 

aw but if the threads are closed then no more fun flaming the op who started w/ a bad attitude :rolleyes: at least people can get it out of their system for someone who deserves it and then help out the next friendly newbie ;)

Re: Could we get a list of the best common solutions?
 

I could never in my wildest thoughts refer to the OP as a "casual user". His own narcissistic and confrontational comments belie that description.