The terminal? Your post history suggests you are quite familiar with Linux. But I agree that those who are most prone to use random file conversion sites because they need something as PDF for work will be very confused by those instructions.
I am familiar with Linux but I avoid it whenever possible. I dailyed it for a couple of years but I’ve unfortunately moved on to Mac due to their deep dependency on terminal. If I have a problem and go and look up support, 99% of the time the advice is to open the terminal and start running commands, which is almost never the case for Windows or Mac. I’ve been using a Mac for about a year and I don’t even know where the terminal is. Even where there’s a perfectly suitable GUI solution, they’ll send you into the terminal anyway. Linux is made by and for devs and it is and will remain that way until the mentality of it’s creators change. And I am not a dev.
I can follow instructions. The problem is #1 I’m told “don’t type commands you don’t understand” and #2 no one ever explains what any of these commands do, so I never learn anything, and #3 the commands don’t work, and they return a generic error with zero diagnostic information, or sometimes just nothing at all happens. I don’t have time for that. I just want something that works.
I understand that you may not know the commands you are told by strangers, but many of these are tools are meant for professionals. ffmpeg, for example, is used by many industries and companies worth millions of dollars to handle production workloads. They often have documentation to tell you what they do, though
Obviously you won’t understand any of that because the command line doesn’t work for you, but for those of us who do understand it and can use it, it’s very informative.
I think handbrake is a gui wrapper on top of ffmpeg, but I never used it, I just memorized the ffmpeg commands and can type so much faster than i can click.
Im recommending them to anyone who wants free software and is willing to invest their time into understanding how to do things for free and without concern over their data. If you aren’t willing to invest the necessary time it isn’t for you and that’s why I said it. It’s okay if these don’t work for you. That’s valid. But it does, in fact, work for many others who are not you.
I mentioned the manual because you claimed you didn’t know what the commands do. If you read and take the time to learn the manual like you said you can do, you will, in fact, understand how the commands work. Additionally, this is public forum, my post may have been a reply to you but I understand other people may read my comment. Other people may have your frustrations but are not aware of the manuals that tell them exactly how the commands work. It only takes a bit of elbow grease, perhaps people other than you are willing to apply it?
I’m not sure if you saw it, but I did mention a gui application for converting files. I admit, I don’t use it, but many people also save a lot of money using it, so it might be helpful. I have no idea if it’s useful for your needs though.
Im recommending them to anyone who wants free software and is willing to invest their time into understanding how to do things for free and without concern over their data.
That’s just “random people” with more words.
If you read and take the time to learn
There’s a neat little guide
I keep telling you I don’t have time for a new career and you keep replying to me with more reference materials. I appreciate the effort but it’s misplaced. I’ve lost too many days trying to do things that people with no self-awareness (which may or may not be you, I don’t know) assure me is “easy”. I’m done. I’m not trying anymore. If a simple intuitive software is not available then I will just not do it.
The terminal? Your post history suggests you are quite familiar with Linux. But I agree that those who are most prone to use random file conversion sites because they need something as PDF for work will be very confused by those instructions.
I am familiar with Linux but I avoid it whenever possible. I dailyed it for a couple of years but I’ve unfortunately moved on to Mac due to their deep dependency on terminal. If I have a problem and go and look up support, 99% of the time the advice is to open the terminal and start running commands, which is almost never the case for Windows or Mac. I’ve been using a Mac for about a year and I don’t even know where the terminal is. Even where there’s a perfectly suitable GUI solution, they’ll send you into the terminal anyway. Linux is made by and for devs and it is and will remain that way until the mentality of it’s creators change. And I am not a dev.
I can follow instructions. The problem is #1 I’m told “don’t type commands you don’t understand” and #2 no one ever explains what any of these commands do, so I never learn anything, and #3 the commands don’t work, and they return a generic error with zero diagnostic information, or sometimes just nothing at all happens. I don’t have time for that. I just want something that works.
I understand that you may not know the commands you are told by strangers, but many of these are tools are meant for professionals. ffmpeg, for example, is used by many industries and companies worth millions of dollars to handle production workloads. They often have documentation to tell you what they do, though
There’s a manual for ffmpeg for example: https://ffmpeg.org/ffmpeg.html
Here’s imgemagick’s documentation: https://imagemagick.org/script/magick.php
Obviously you won’t understand any of that because the command line doesn’t work for you, but for those of us who do understand it and can use it, it’s very informative.
I think handbrake is a gui wrapper on top of ffmpeg, but I never used it, I just memorized the ffmpeg commands and can type so much faster than i can click.
Then stop recommending them to random people.
How many times do I need to repeat “I don’t have time for this” before you people will stop pestering me with this?
Im recommending them to anyone who wants free software and is willing to invest their time into understanding how to do things for free and without concern over their data. If you aren’t willing to invest the necessary time it isn’t for you and that’s why I said it. It’s okay if these don’t work for you. That’s valid. But it does, in fact, work for many others who are not you.
I mentioned the manual because you claimed you didn’t know what the commands do. If you read and take the time to learn the manual like you said you can do, you will, in fact, understand how the commands work. Additionally, this is public forum, my post may have been a reply to you but I understand other people may read my comment. Other people may have your frustrations but are not aware of the manuals that tell them exactly how the commands work. It only takes a bit of elbow grease, perhaps people other than you are willing to apply it?
I’m not sure if you saw it, but I did mention a gui application for converting files. I admit, I don’t use it, but many people also save a lot of money using it, so it might be helpful. I have no idea if it’s useful for your needs though.
Here’s “ffmpeg in 100 seconds” https://youtu.be/26Mayv5JPz0
Here’s a video on ffmpeg and imagemagick: https://youtu.be/sKBM4M-kuCg
Additionally, you can just learn how to read man pages: https://itsfoss.com/linux-man-page-guide/
There’s a neat little guide that’ll help you learn how to read documentation.
Once you’ve read through that let me know what confuses you about documentation.
That’s just “random people” with more words.
I keep telling you I don’t have time for a new career and you keep replying to me with more reference materials. I appreciate the effort but it’s misplaced. I’ve lost too many days trying to do things that people with no self-awareness (which may or may not be you, I don’t know) assure me is “easy”. I’m done. I’m not trying anymore. If a simple intuitive software is not available then I will just not do it.