Is anyone here just a Maemo Fan and not a Maemo Expert?
 

Is anyone here just a Maemo Fan and not a Maemo/Linux Expert?

I was just wondering - I understand that this forum began as a hive for the developers and enthusiasts - but now with a mainstream device in the N900, there's going to be (or is?) a growth of N900 users/fans who are simply just that.

Just N900 fans (or Maemo/tablet fans) who just enjoy using it, but (as Andrew Flegg put it) probably don't know what a command line is or how to recompile the kernel.

Me - I'm just a tablet/phone user. I just know what features I'd like to see in phones and annoyances that I don't. I read up now and again on Symbian related issues but never delving into the overly technical side of things.

Re: Is anyone here just a Maemo Fan and not a Maemo Expert?
 

same boat mate, I'm really interested in user friendliness issues and some other random things but sadly I know nothing about coding

Re: Is anyone here just a Maemo Fan and not a Maemo Expert?
 

Also...!
I have read every n900 post here start to finish and watched (probably) every n900 video thus far! For me the strength of Maemo Nxxx is in this community and in its potential to fulfil individual needs. I don't want to code, I don't need the command line. What I desire is a pocketable and fully capable computer for when I'm not at my desk..... Fortunately this reality is near!

Re: Is anyone here just a Maemo Fan and not a Maemo Expert?
 

Practically everybody here started out as a Maemo fan. Back in 2006 with my 770 I didn't know very much about Linux and I knew nothing at all about Maemo. Developers and experts aren't spawned, they learn and grow over time. ;)

Re: Is anyone here just a Maemo Fan and not a Maemo Expert?
 

I'm a Maemo user. I know what the command line is, I've only recently learned a few commands for terminal. I'm sure I'll learn more over time. I've done simple coding in various programs/languages, so I understand the basic structure of how coding works. That's about where it end at this point in time though.

Re: Is anyone here just a Maemo Fan and not a Maemo Expert?
 

Well I'm Chris, and I blog about Maemo and other Nokia OSes as a bridge between the developers and end users. I don't code either, but will probably teach myself how on my journey to learn both sides. I want to be the Maemo almanac in a few years. Glad to see you guys here. We'll only make this community richer, and accelerate the innovation of new features and apps directly, which will be amazing. I've dreamt of what's about to happen for many years now. Let's just hope WE, not Nokia, can pull it off.

Re: Is anyone here just a Maemo Fan and not a Maemo Expert?
 

There are a lot of Maemo fans here that are learning just like everyone else. A lot of people got into learning Linux through their interest in Maemo, as people have said before.

Even just by lurking here on the forums, you'll learn quite a bit. Don't worry about your level of knowledge, don't worry about asking questions - someone will help you out and after a while you'll start helping others out as well.

Re: Is anyone here just a Maemo Fan and not a Maemo Expert?
 

I'm another non-developer/expert. My interest is more around how the device and platform can be used as a mainstream device, I want to understand why command line is meaningful to everyone and not just the developers in the crowd. I'm a product manager/marketing guy who is more interested in solving the functional case...

Re: Is anyone here just a Maemo Fan and not a Maemo Expert?
 

Put me in the Fan/User category. I can't code squat, sorry. But I've used Linux as my primary OS since 2001 and know my way around it some. Started out by building a mail server runing RedHat 6.2. A mail server which BTW, ran for 3 years untouched, no reboot, 'til finally the CPU fan seized.

But I'll probably use the N900 more or less as is. I'll do (most) app installs through the App Manager like any ordinary user would. Reliability is a high priority for me since I'll rely on the N900 for heavy work-related use, plus it's my only phone - no land line.

I'll put it this way...I've had a HTC G1 since pre-order and never bothered to root it. Never really needed to, and couldn't risk losing use of it. Oh, I'll do plenty of playin' aorund with the N900, but it will have to be of the low risk variety.

Re: Is anyone here just a Maemo Fan and not a Maemo Expert?
 

im in the same category.

Re: Is anyone here just a Maemo Fan and not a Maemo Expert?
 

Actually you don't need the command line to be a Maemo 'expert', as you don't need it to be an expert of any contemporary Linux distribution.

I'm a proud Linux user since 2002 and I have proudly escaped from the command line in order to squeez and tame the lovely free desktop.

Like others have said in this thread, the path of growth goes next to the community. The commandline is lovely if you need it for what you want to achieve. Otherwise, you can happily forget about it. And same with programming. There are many ways to get involved and become an 'expert' in your field of interest. Programming is just one of the possibilities.

Actually there are surely less programmers than you think hefe in talk.maemo.org.

Re: Is anyone here just a Maemo Fan and not a Maemo Expert?
 

count me in..i enjoy using it and all, but i have no idea have to code

Re: Is anyone here just a Maemo Fan and not a Maemo Expert?
 

I intend to learn how to wrestle control of the space shuttle remotely using the IR transmitter/receiver while sitting on my couch.

Re: Is anyone here just a Maemo Fan and not a Maemo Expert?
 

I'm embarassed to admit that although I helped launch the N800, supported 770 QA testing and field tested the N800 WiMAX tablet, I'm a major Linux noob. So no one should feel more shamed than I do! :o :D

We come from all walks to arrive here, and like GeneralAntilles said, not everyone starts off as a developer or superuser. I hope though that many coming here as interested buyers or casual users become interested in advancing their skills.

Re: Is anyone here just a Maemo Fan and not a Maemo Expert?
 

I am a C/C++ programmer by profession but never did any programming-for-mobile-devices or anything GUI. But, I love love doing that. After much thought and consideration, I have decided that I would be learning Qt. Now, I am looking for classes that offer Qt trainings. Have a lot of expensive bills to be filled now :(

Re: Is anyone here just a Maemo Fan and not a Maemo Expert?
 

Poll needs an "in between" option.

That's where I am. I'm sure I'm not alone.

Re: Is anyone here just a Maemo Fan and not a Maemo Expert?
 

I'm "just" a user. I don't program. I use Windows and Mac OS on my computers, never had a Linux computer.

But with this forum, I've done lots of Command Line inputs on my N800 -- I do them by rote! If I have a problem that needs a command-line solution, I carefully explain it on the forum, and one of the many generous souls here posts what I need to do. Likewise, I sometimes see tweaks offered on the forum, and I copy them verbatim.

By now, I can do a little command line stuff on my own, or modify lines I copy from the forum, but for the most part I'm just copying and entering what I see here ... and it works out great!

Re: Is anyone here just a Maemo Fan and not a Maemo Expert?
 

I am a Maemo user. I have 2 Linux desktops (one at work, and one at home). I am not in a programming, development environment at all. But Linux makes makes life a lot easier for some of the things that I do, esp at work. I'm fairly comfortable with command line, but am no expert. I am a Maemo fan though, and that has been fruitful for me, in terms of exposing me to new technologies, a rich user community (t.m.o) and most recently, by the gratiousness of Maemo Devices - sponsorship to the Maemo Summit in Amsterdam. This community is simply amazing - don't be afraid to be a Fan!

Re: Is anyone here just a Maemo Fan and not a Maemo Expert?
 

I started using linux (first Suse (but it automatically canceled my internet connection after 10 min inactivity and I couldn't reconnect) than ubuntu) as my only OS about three years ago. I was never afraid to use the search function, I was never afraid to ask and I was never afraid to use the command line. But that hardly makes me an expert.

Nevertheless, I'd really like to start some programming once. But as it is not on top of my list this might take another year before I give it a try.

yo

Re: Is anyone here just a Maemo Fan and not a Maemo Expert?
 

I'm a developer that came to Maemo through development. Nokia happened to show off the brand-new 770 at the GNOME User and Developers European Conference (GUADEC) back in summer 2005. I got a developer unit of the 770 for a discount later in 2005, and since then I'm here.
While I'm currently doing Unix systems administration and application management in my daily job, I love programming as a hobby. The internet tablets are fun to work with.
I guess that makes me one of those "Maemo experts". But at my heart I'm a Maemo fan! :)

Re: Is anyone here just a Maemo Fan and not a Maemo Expert?
 

Got hook on Linux back in 98, know enough about command line to get in trouble and find my way out of it. Last time I did coding was with Fortran. :) Came to the maemo community looking for Skype video on the N800 :( and heard that N770 and N800 are based on Linux, that is all I needed to hear.

I like to have some control and input over the apps on my hardware without having to wait for the blessing of the maker of the product.

Re: Is anyone here just a Maemo Fan and not a Maemo Expert?
 

I came here after reading about the N810 0n Cnet, to better learn about this awesome device that I seemed to be almost two yrs late for. being a cell phone junky and a gadget hound I knew this would be a fun new gadget to play with, but I never knew it would be such a milestone type of gadget "for me" that helped me learn a whole new way of life out side of windows OS and mobile device that run it ( i now have a newbie variant of ubuntu as a dual boot for my laptop and have learned tons of things from troll'n this site and yes though I'm fairly new I have actually helped others with questions that I once had, an also things that I've come across myself... Amazing .. but like the other members said, I hope this site attracts more ppl to help it grow because though some have more skill at certain things then others we all are here for essentially the same thing which is our love/interest for maemo. So with all of us doing what we can and sharing ideas an knowledge, we mite see this once small community turn into a big one that even non maemites and techies can partake in and be apart of.

Re: Is anyone here just a Maemo Fan and not a Maemo Expert?
 

Years ago we used to say an expert is the person assigned and a guru is someone that did it once. Despite being a software engineer for 45 years I'm a fan because my interest is in using my N810.

Re: Is anyone here just a Maemo Fan and not a Maemo Expert?
 

I'm just a user/fan as well, and ending my second term as Maemo Community Council member. Go figure. But, open source software is great in that regard -- just join in where you can and make history!

Tim

Re: Is anyone here just a Maemo Fan and not a Maemo Expert?
 

Linux user for fun and profit since 1999 (Red Hat Linux 5.2). Good old x11amp. :D at home I switched my main desktop with Red Hat Linux 6.0 which I borrowed from a math teacher. Because I had to learn command line and C I learned a lot due to experience in little time. My first handheld Linux device was a Sharp Zaurus.

Does the above matter? Hardly! The differences are so huge nowadays. Back then we had no Linux 2.6 (we had 2.0 and 2.2), no D-Bus, Qt was proprietary, we had hardware support issues, Debian was still a slow behemoth, there was no such thing as FD.o (FreeDesktop.org), there was no GIT, accelerated graphics sucked, GNOME had all kind of WMs, XFree86 still existed, .NET wasn't born, big corporations such as IBM, SUN, HP, SGI, Novell weren't much interested yet... and so on. If you experienced this you know the Linux desktop (on which Maemo 5 is partly based on; GNOME Mobile) has matured so much ever since.

If you compare from another platform then thats your reference point. Just learn to respect every platform as a unique entity instead of comparing to your reference point the whole time. And, if you do compare, at least acknowledge the bias of doing so.

Re: Is anyone here just a Maemo Fan and not a Maemo Expert?
 

Like I said earlier, I started with RH 6.2 on a mail server. Changed over to desktop Linux full-time with Mandrake 8.0. Those were the days...

I remember the Zaurus...big heavy sucker...never owned one though.

You said a mouthful there! It's a different world now. I'm still kinda hardcore though - never use Gnome, don't have anything KDE installed at all. I still use a very basic custom Fluxbox desktop, Midnight Commander, Mutt for email, etc. Old school.

Ok, I admit it - I can't stand M$. None too fond of Apple either. So now everyone here will know where I stand when they read my weak-minded comments.

Re: Is anyone here just a Maemo Fan and not a Maemo Expert?
 

This is a really cool thread, it is interesting learning people's backgrounds and how they got here. After the 1st leak of the N900 when I then learned about Maemo and the great community behind it I was even more excited the N900. Can't wait for the N900 and what the community will do with it!
My first post from May

Re: Is anyone here just a Maemo Fan and not a Maemo Expert?
 

I'm a fan. It's been a blast from the begining

Re: Is anyone here just a Maemo Fan and not a Maemo Expert?
 

I'm a user/(fan?) too. While I do know a little programming from my tinkering back in high school I do not have the profieceny of a programmer (though given enough time and access to wikis,books, online sources) I could probably figure my way around.

I do use Linux as my main operating system though (Windows Vista was.. meh. Though Windows 7 is the next best operating system since XP to me). I just try to spend my time answernig questions like I do on the Ubuntu forums since I don't actively help with coding (Though I do submit bug issues).

Re: Is anyone here just a Maemo Fan and not a Maemo Expert?
 

Long time listener, first time caller...I'm a fan! And yet to anyone I tell about my NIT, I'm an "expert". Been around PCs since the DOS days, have installed a few Linux distros over the years but don't work nor have Linux on my main personal machine. I'm not afraid of the CLI (I actually enjoy and use a lot of commands within the Windoze "shell") but don't know nearly enough Linux to do much on my own so I piece together what I need with my friend Google. I tend to find my answers for Maemo here but do poke around the internet for general Linux info or to see how the info provided here relates to the OS on the whole. I've played with various scripts, html, JS and VB off and on-some for personal reasons, some for work.

I'm a wannabe programmer, yet I probably don't even have enough experience to be a wannabe. I do enough tech work at my job that I know I could get into it/grasp it, but easily get sidetracked by other interests and thus don't dedicate enough time. But Qt has piqued my interest further, and I know it's not a first language to learn, so I'll likely just tinker around with it and fail but enjoy the learning experience.

I don't ask many questions, don't have many problems with my NIT, and know how to use Search when small items crop up that I can't get past on my own.

I never posted to the "new members" thread, do more shaking my head at some of the drama than anything, (flashbacks to ancient Yahoo chats haunt me in some threads) and cancel most of my posts rather than get drawn in. I can't wait for the first maemo.org boyfriend/girlfriend relationship and then breakup to occur. :D Then again, there are a few on here that make me think they're jilted ex-lovers trying to get back at one another. :rolleyes: (I jest)

I almost scrapped this post too.

Re: Is anyone here just a Maemo Fan and not a Maemo Expert?
 

I'm an IT graduate and used my n810 to do my C coding as assignments(some basic ones and all CLIs) but have never wrote any applications for tablet though. I did try using jalimo to write programs before in tablet as I only had java knowledge but never got anywhere maybe I was lazy or I was not satisfied with the comments on using jalimo in the tablet but now I know C, I'm going thru all the n900 developer guides and have also successfully installed scratchbox and maemo sdk in my computer. BTW, I started learning more about linux only after I got my n810 and yeah I'm also a big fan of maemo.

Re: Is anyone here just a Maemo Fan and not a Maemo Expert?
 

I always liked maemo and the this community but never needed just a table, so I was hoping that someday a maemo device with phone functions will be released. And that day is here :)
I'm not a stranger to coding but the last line I wrote was like 15 years ago :) so now I'm just a fan looking for extreme usability, monster multitasking and total freedom.
Now I have a thrill feel about maemo phones like a teenager who wants to discover everything about his girlfriend :))

Re: Is anyone here just a Maemo Fan and not a Maemo Expert?
 

As GeneralAntilles and timsamoff said, you start out as a fan, and if you hang around long enough, and are helpful enough to people coming in behind you, you end up on the council. :)

My biggest fear about this community is that, as new people join, we're going to lose some of that great spirit of, "Hey, here's what I've just learned, you should try it too!"

A good example of this great spirit is JayOnThaBeat. He joined us a few months ago while he was waiting for his N810 to arrive, joking around in the off-topic and speculation threads, but once he got his hands on his N810, he began asking lots of questions, then turning around and sharing stuff that he had learned. This is a great recent example: Using VNC Viewer Over an SSH Tunnel (Step-By-Step)

Stuff like that gives me the warm fuzzies and makes me think that, despite all the stupid flame wars and trash talk lately, we're going to be OK.

Re: Is anyone here just a Maemo Fan and not a Maemo Expert?
 

@qole

I don't think we'd lose that spirit. Even on popular devices like the iPhone, a community like ours exist.

Re: Is anyone here just a Maemo Fan and not a Maemo Expert?
 

I am an IT expert but with the N810 I am just a fan. My programming dates back to the punch card days. However I have supervised programmers rather than programming for decades so I can work my way through an IBM360 machine language dump easier than I can understand the source code for a Linux app.

That's not to say I wouldn't like to learn if anyone has any ideas about where to start.

Re: Is anyone here just a Maemo Fan and not a Maemo Expert?
 

Bought the N810 because I like tinkering with devices, and wanted something that would not bore me. Loved Maemo, loved the device, loved this community, was a big fan. But yeah, after hanging out for so long, you just learn things, and most people here like to help others as much as possible. I like helping noobs out, and like it even more when people help me (because I am also a noob). I don't think you need to know programing or stuff to be helpful or a "pro." I know a little (anyone remember pysnes?), but its more of a sense of curiousness and helping that matter.

Re: Is anyone here just a Maemo Fan and not a Maemo Expert?
 

I'm mainly a user, while occasionally tinering with shell script or modifying some python code.
But... Twenty-five years ago, I was coding in machine language :p because assembler wasn't available for my machine and basic wasn't enough :p;) and thirty years ago I was struggling with a 50-memory-cells programmable calculator.
When I retire - twenty-four years from now() - I want to go back to coding in the machine language of *whatever*

In the meantime I'm a self-defined Pocketable Machines Cavalier, and my weapons are my almighty Maemo tablet, my trusted Symbian phone,and my usb swords and microcables.
http://www.olsen-john.me.uk/hunter87/forum/cavalier.gif

Re: Is anyone here just a Maemo Fan and not a Maemo Expert?
 

I'm *just* a fan.

As an aspiring software developer (currently in the last of three years in university) I do have the intentions to learn how to develop for this platform. I knew the course last year in python would pay off sooner or later! ;-)

Got some basic Linux-knowledge as I've been running a web/db/mail-server on various distros the last.. 10? years, so I know my way around a CLI decent enough. :-)

Since I first saw the preview it was love from first sight (as long as you dont show this post for my gf ;)) and I knew this was the smartphone for me. Finally a worthy replacer for my trusty N95-1 :D

Hopefully I'll have time to play around more with the SDK soon, and learn myself and others how to make this platform cater to our needs as geeks... :)

Re: Is anyone here just a Maemo Fan and not a Maemo Expert?
 

Wow! So my feelings that this is a developer dominated site are totally off base. I think our readers are more advanced than most, but this is surprising.

Re: Is anyone here just a Maemo Fan and not a Maemo Expert?
 

I think the difference between Maemo and other software communities is the passion that develops behind the system when someone has a chance to experience Maemo. In this regard, even regular users become enamored with both the underlying technology and the people within the community. Then, what we're left with is a bunch of amazingly talented users who go out of there way to help make Maemo better (or try to anyway).

From what I've seen in other communities (and I've been both a member and admin for quite a lot of them over the years), a divide between users and developers never really goes away. People either come to (a) develop software (or supply patches and/or mods) or (b) to get help (but not necessarily stick around).

The Maemo Community has found itself with a bunch of users who want to learn more -- and some who have even become developers by sticking around long enough.

Pretty crazy. And cool.

Tim