Not enough detailed instructions to start and operate Rhythmbox, musicBrainz or Sound Juicer. Many a time the instructions tell me what to do but does not tell me where to go to do it.

[ted knerly]

Binary package hint: rhythmbox

I don't know if my problem is a bug. I do know that in almost every case with Ubuntu the instructions are never basic enough. I never know where to go to do what you want me to do or what I will see when I get there. As an example, I want to record music into my computer from some CDs but the instructions seem to be incomplete. I am 70 years old and know very little about operating computers. I wish all instructions were written for an 8 year old that never touched a computer before. I also want " Java Runtime" or something like it so I can use the " Interactive Charts " on " Bigcharts.Marketwatch.com ". I just can't seem to follow the instructions to install what is needed. I wish all the people that write the instructions would get someone who knows little to nothing about computers to proof read them for ease of understanding before they release them to the world. I would be glad to do that for free as I am retired and have little else to do. I can almost guaranty that when I write down instructions that anyone who can read will easily be able to follow them. Although my instructions will probably take up more space. But I think it would be worth it if we could get more people to use Ubuntu or other related operating systems that are free. Windows is still so much easier to use. But I still would rather use a free operating system. There are still billions of us people out here who would like to be able to use it. So far I have only met one person that knows a little about using Ubuntu.

ProblemType: Bug
Architecture: i386
DistroRelease: Ubuntu 8.10
ExecutablePath: /usr/bin/rhythmbox
Package: rhythmbox 0.11.6svn20081008-0ubuntu4.2
ProcEnviron:
 PATH=/usr/local/sbin:/usr/local/bin:/usr/sbin:/usr/bin:/sbin:/bin:/usr/games
 LANG=en_US.UTF-8
 SHELL=/bin/bash
SourcePackage: rhythmbox
Uname: Linux 2.6.27-11-generic i686

[Duane Hinnen (duanedesign)]

Ted,
Thank you for taking the time to submit your bug report. As Linux becomes less of a developers platform and more a mainstream OS I think it is important that we pay attention to your point exactly. I cant think of a distro where this would be more relevant. Ubuntu has the greatest chance of all the Linux distros to become commonplace in the desktop market. Therefore it is important that we pay attention to exactly the point you make.

Also I would like to applaud you on your eagerness to volunteer to help with Ubuntu. What makes Ubuntu, and all open source software, so great is the wide range of people who contribute to the process. If you are interested in helping with documentation check this link out.

https://wiki.ubuntu.com/DocumentationTeam

There are two types of Ubuntu documentation, the system documentation and the wiki documentation. The Wiki Documentation is a community edited resource that anyone can edit. I would recommend getting your "sea legs" there. As you get experience and start talking to some of the Documentation Team members you can continue editing the Wiki Documentation or you can join the Documentation Team and start helping with the System Documentation.

https://wiki.ubuntu.com/DocumentationTeam/WikiTeam
https://help.ubuntu.com/community/WikiGuide

Dh

[Dougie Richardson (dougierichardson)]

Ted,

I can appreciate your frustration. I just began reviewing this section and its extremely out of date. I've rewritten the current instructions for the music section with step by step instructions, having tried to carry out the functions in Rhythmbox. In fact, I just did importing music from CD's.

If you are interested in helping with the documentation then you can follow the links duanedesign gave - the team communicates mainly by mailing list. A lot of work involves writing the material in a standard format that facilitates translation and integrates with both web and yelp (the help browser). If you feel you want to put forward guides in English then I'm sure one of us would be happy to rewrite them in DocBook for publication, you can contact me direct if you like.

If you have only met one person who knows a little about Ubuntu then I can recommend http://ubuntuforums.org/ where there is a team dedicated to new users.

[Dougie Richardson (dougierichardson)]

This section has been quite heavily changed for Jaunty and I haven't heard anything further, feel free to re-open if needed.