> Ah thanks a lot Rob... it's these little
> stumbling blocks that make Linux a mare for a new user.
Indeed. I have been Linux for a few years though and I see the blocks being removed little by little.
For example, when I first used Linux it was necessary to install each little tool needed for development one-by-one to get a useful setup. Ubuntu has a single package now, called build-essential which includes most of the tools to get you up and running.
I also saw a specification and a work-in-progress implementation recently for a "command-not-found" tool for Ubuntu which tells you what to install if the command is not found on the system. Hopefully that will be ready for inclusion by default in the near future.
For beginners the "Add/Remove..." tool on the Applications menu is the easiest way to get software, Synaptic is useful for power users as it has better searching facilities.
I personally find most software through the command line, as that is often the quickest way:
> apt-cache search <keywords>
To find software matching a particular query.
Then to install the software:
> sudo apt-get install <package name>
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