Talk to the Non-Geek People
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I have installed a couple of different Linux OS on desktops and laptops and I have installed Touch on several Nexus 5s for me and some family members, so I am no greenhorn. I am, however, no expert either and learning the cell phone side of things has been fun but tedious.
My point is, this site is written and maintained by Ubuntu Touch geeks, and I say that with all the love in my heart, but you have to learn to write and speak to people who just want a phone but are tired of the add tracking and looking for some anonymity.
For example, in your documentation, there is no discussion on sims cards or carriers. There should be more information on what carriers work as well as the potential impact of VoLTE on the older phones.
Your user docs... I am not sure who the audience is there, but for someone totally new to Ubuntu and not technically savy, I would close the tab and go back to my Android phone. You don't even mention how to navigate or discuss any of the settings. Under "Daily Use" you talk about creating a container. The very first sentance under RUN DESKTOP APPS is "Libertine allow you to use standard desktop apps..." Great! What the heck fire is Libertine? Then you go on to say you can manage installation of the desktop apps through settings.... but what happened to Libertine? I thought that was going to be used for standard desktop apps? Then you jump into creating containers. Why do I have to create a container and what is a container?
I know... this OS has to be installed on an older phone so technically savy people have to be the ones installing this, and yes, I was able to figure out Libertine and play around with that, but average people want a phone that works. More and more of these average people are beginning to understand privacy and want out of the tracking madness. Your UBPorts software is great! I learned to install Touch on a Nexus 5 within a few minutes. People who come here need to know it's easy to do.
If you want more people to be using Ubuntu Touch then you have to make it more accessible for average people. If you are just looking for developers and phone manufacturers, then you need to spell that out. Figure out who your target audience is and talk to them. And stop with the geek speak. All it does is scare people away.
Nexus 5 - UT OTA 21
Pixel 3a - UT 2023-W13 -
@geekbone I will pass on your thoughts
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Since a discussion on this forum a while ago I am not sure who the targeted audience is anyway :
- Linux users ?
- Novice users ?
- Power users ?
- Weird guys like me who believe in a future where Convergence is a feature that everyone knows about and uses it every day ?!
I am just tagging along and keeping an eye on both Ubuntu Touch and Jolla Sailfish at the same time!
And then there is the large group of users who seem to be very heavy users of MMS and/or VoLTE for which proper Linux based phones are not the best choice at the moment...
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@geekbone said in Talk to the Non-Geek People:
Your user docs... I am not sure who the audience is there
I hear you. I'm laughing and crying a little bit at the same time. Yeah, that "daily use" header is so undeserved it's not funny anymore. And the prominently placed 'container' jargonfest wins an extra prize there.
Well, I could go on to rant about a community project with lots of volunteer work and how that doesn't gel so well with "If you want thisorthat, you should somethingoranother",but let me rather beat that other dead horse:
Contributions welcome!
And I'm not saying this to you @GeekBone . Of course your contributions would be welcome! But I don't think it's fair to bark this to a newcomer first thing. I'm saying this to ... "us" ... those of us who've hung around here for a while.
Maybe there is someone who wants to put together an actual daily use / getting started page. Maybe there is someone who was looking for a low-geek way to contribute. Well, this one we would need! Couple screenshots, swipe here, swipe there, ... settings ... app store ... nothing too geeky. I kinda anticipate that the majority of the volume of the docs will stay geeky, but there should be a 'safe' and welcoming place at the start. A place before we venture down the rabbit hole ....
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@doniks I might be willing to do that, both in french and english. I reckon the best way to go about it would be to make a nice pdf file with a summary, and then have someone fit the file in the website (or rather make it a dynamic webpage) if you like it. You don't want me to touch html code
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@nero355 as a non geek person I just use it because I like the aesthetic of the os
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Hi,
there are areas in life where a simple instruction manual and/or tutorial is not enough, even if it is written so well. For example, learning to play a musical instrument or simply driving a car (exceptions prove the rule).
That's why there are, even with U-Touch, pre-installed phones to buy, if I'm not mistaken.Of course, not only the operating system should get updates, but also manuals. But the best manuals come from the collaboration of <nerds> and averagely talented people.
U-Touch is an operating system, which depends on donations, or who can't donate, is invited to work on this project (work = do something * invested time).
Also on the things that are needed around the operating system.Greetings Mario
Translated with www.DeepL.com/Translator (free version)
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@geekbone : well, everyone has their own opinion and yours is respectable too but you see, sometimes you have to invest a little time to get satisfaction.
Are you stuck on Libertine? There is a category dedicated to Libertine on this forum
And there is a topic that explains how to implement Libertine in case the official documentation is insufficient. That's the point of the forum.
Have a good reading
Pulsar33 -
I understand and symapathise with both sides of the argument: technical folk are unable to explain things in non-technical terms, while non-technical folk are unable to understand the language of technical folk. It is almost a matter of two different languages in need of translators. As a decided non-geek I could not find a sensible explanation of what Libertines, containers, Anbox, API etc actually are so I gave up looking. As long as my phone can make calls, read the internet, remind me of appointments, show a map, and store a shopping list I simply ignore every other aspect of its capabilities.
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@cliffcoggin If you think of your phone as a big box and in that big box are two boxes that are the OS and Hardware(boards, speaker, chips all the phone stuff). In the OS box there are two smaller boxes lets call them sofware and UT apps.
Now Libertine, Waydroid and Anbox( forget this really) are all ways allowing you to run non UT apps from the UT sofware box without them messing up the main OS. This is the "container" part. So in effect you put a sealed box or "container" called Libertine, WayDroid and so on into the OS box. As they are sealed nothing can run, spill into the main OS box. You can put more stuff into those sealed boxes or chuck them out when your done without there bing a problem to the main OS.
Does that help or have I just made it worse Thats how I try to think anyway as a non tech. I bet it's not 100% correct but it works for me. -
@lakotaubp I have seldomly read a better explanation!
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Sometimes when you want to know something about something you have no knowledge about the only right thing to do is read more about and educate yourself!
So check out : https://duckduckgo.com/?q=what+is+a+container+linux
And have some fun reading about all kinds of new stuff!
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@lakotaubp Thank you, that very concise explanation tells me all I want to know at the moment, enough at least to decide that I can continue to ignore such matters.
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@nero355 I have seen those descriptions before and I rapidly get lost the moment terms like runtimes, libraries, userspace, and proprietary brand names are intoduced. I daresay if I was really interested in such things I could learn more, but the truth is that unless I can see them giving an advantage or improvement in the way the phone works I would rather spend my limited time on more useful subjects.
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@cliffcoggin said in Talk to the Non-Geek People:
@lakotaubp Thank you, that very concise explanation tells me all I want to know at the moment, enough at least to decide that I can continue to ignore such matters.
You most certainly can. I don't use Libertine either; there are no desktop Linux applications that I wish I could run on my UT phone. The apps that are on offer are enough for me.
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@cliffcoggin Moem is right. It's your phone your OS to do as you will and want with. That's Ubuntu Touch, you make it what you need not the other way round.
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@pulsar33 Thanks for the reply... and no, I figured out Libertine just fine, but my post was made in the Marketing Incubator section and is a suggestion for promoting the OS. I have always loved digging in and learning about things so this OS is right up my alley.
I have loaded Ubuntu Touch onto several N5s and have given them to family members and friends. I have no where to direct them to get more information on Touch than here. If they knos nothing about linux, Ubuntu or Touch then coming here should be helpful. I am just saying, if you looked at this sight as someone who knows nothing about any of this, they would probably move on and not bother as it is overwhelming.
All I am suggesting is to provide these new people with a place on the site to go for help/getting started, etc. Keep all the geeky stuff and forums and dev talk. Not suggesting anything changes or goes away. IMO, if you want to promote Touch, you have to have a "safe" place for newbies to come and learn without being intimidated.
Nexus 5 - UT OTA 21
Pixel 3a - UT 2023-W13 -
@geekbone said in Talk to the Non-Geek People:
All I am suggesting is to provide these new people with a place on the site to go for help/getting started, etc.
You're not wrong, and in fact people are talking about it and working on it right this very moment!
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@moem We have people, good people working on it right now Dr Jones
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@geekbone said in Talk to the Non-Geek People:
@pulsar33 Thanks for the reply... and no, I figured out Libertine just fine, but my post was made in the Marketing Incubator section and is a suggestion for promoting the OS
Oh sorry, I better see your point of view now. For me, I can contribute easily on a (this) forum but I've more difficulties to include my work in recent "team tools" that I don't know. This is why I wrote some text as the links I mentionned above (or some others). If someone find them usefull and wants to include them in the official documentation, I would feel happy.
BR
Pulsar33
