Re: [newbie] Playing god with friends new laptop (Moral question)
There should be no problem. The lady in question is a computer newbie. She will most likely want to use email and word-processing initially, so there should be absolutely no issue, since all such programs are standard on Mandrake at no extra charge. Most importantly, she will not have to bother with the time-wasting and expensive activities which surround Windows in its capacity of virus magnet. How any newbie copes with the whole vicious circle of infection, re-installation, protection, updates, etc., defeats me. I have installed Mandrake on several senior citizens' computers and generally a bit of help is required every now and then, but it is normally sorted out over the phone, or for a few minutes, accompanied by a cup of tea and a chat. There is also no problem getting Mandrake to see wireless networks. We don't have such luxuries where I live, but when I was in Europe on holiday, I had no trouble connecting to the hotels' access points with Mandrake 10.1beta2 (at the time, August last year). I was using an Orinoco PCMCIA card. Unfortunately the ADSL infrastructure does not exist yet in our beautiful seaside village. I believe it is due in 2006. cheers Duncan (from the South Coast of KwaZulu-Natal) August last year). I was using an Orinoco PCMCIA card. Unfortunately the ADSL infrastructure does not exist yet in our beautiful seaside village. I believe it is due in 2006. br br cheers br Duncanbr (from the South Coast of KwaZulu-Natal)br /body /html Want to buy your Pack or Services from MandrakeSoft? Go to http://www.mandrakestore.com Join the Club : http://www.mandrakeclub.com
Re: [newbie] Playing god with friends new laptop (Moral question)
On Saturday 22 January 2005 09:38 am, Duncan Anderson wrote: There should be no problem. The lady in question is a computer newbie. She will most likely want to use email and word-processing initially, so there should be absolutely no issue, since all such programs are standard on Mandrake at no extra charge. Most importantly, she will not have to bother with the time-wasting and expensive activities which surround Windows in its capacity of virus magnet. How any newbie copes with the whole vicious circle of infection, re-installation, protection, updates, etc., defeats me. I agree here whole heartedly. I dont know how to teach her about updates, when to turn on and off autoprotect etc. I have installed Mandrake on several senior citizens' computers and generally a bit of help is required every now and then, but it is normally sorted out over the phone, or for a few minutes, accompanied by a cup of tea and a chat. There is also no problem getting Mandrake to see wireless networks. We don't have such luxuries where I live, but when I was in Europe on holiday, I had no trouble connecting to the hotels' access points with Mandrake 10.1beta2 (at the time, August last year). I was using an Orinoco PCMCIA card. Unfortunately the ADSL infrastructure does not exist yet in our beautiful seaside village. I believe it is due in 2006. cheers Duncan snip I think what I'll do is make her windows environment as linux-like as possiblel firefox, thunderbird and so forth. Then I'll install linux (she has plenty of disk space) and show her how easy it is. She will always have the choice - but she will surely find linux easier. I dread going near her laptop with windows on it and it's brand new! What a shame. Regards, Jarlath Want to buy your Pack or Services from MandrakeSoft? Go to http://www.mandrakestore.com Join the Club : http://www.mandrakeclub.com
Re: [newbie] Playing god with friends new laptop (Moral question)
On Saturday 22 January 2005 03:42 pm, JR wrote: I think what I'll do is make her windows environment as linux-like as possiblel firefox, thunderbird and so forth. Then I'll install linux (she has plenty of disk space) and show her how easy it is. She will always have the choice - but she will surely find linux easier. I dread going near her laptop with windows on it and it's brand new! What a shame. Coming in at the end of this thread, some of this may have been commented on earlier... I did exactly as you did with my wife's laptop. In Windows I installed Firefox with a bunch of excellent extensions , and Thunderbird. After I described some of the extensions and let her experiment with how much better browsing is with Firefox, it became the browser of choice. Thunderbird does email nicely, and the switch was painless. I've a bunch of machines here that dual-boot, so I began having her walk through the Windows update procedures on them while I watched. The idea was to get her familiar with the pain that updating Windows is. Once she became familiar with the browsing and email programs on Windows, I had her boot into Mandrake and begin using the programs there. I did show her Kmail, which she prefers to T-Bird. Once she got over the double-click madness of Windows and learned how to single-click, everything went smoothly. All of my machines run so much faster under Mandrake than they do under Windows with all of the protection apps running, that it was really noticable to her. A bit later I showed her how to update Mandrake using MCC, and she never fails to comment at how easy keeping her machine up to date is. (I go over the updates usually yet on one of the machines, but she happily offers to update the other Mandrake machines, and does a fine job.) Soon, she'll be on her own. I've used a few wireless cards under 10.0 and 10.1 and earlier releases. Orinoco and Avaya cards (all cards 802.11b) worked fine, as did Prism 2.5 cards and IBM's mini-PCI based Prism cards. I haven't done anything with g yet. I don't know if anyone mentioned yet, but Mandrake has Mandrake Move available, a CD-ROM based distro that runs without installing anything on the computer, and one of the versions will support a USB memory stick, so your values , passwords, and configuration can be saved across boots. You could experiment with Linux without installing it, if all of your hardware is supported under the limited set of supported hardware of Move. It isn't as sweet as a real install, but it is non-intrusive. I've used lilo as a boot loader for years without issues on my dual-boot machines here. One thing you may want to look at is getting a recovery disk set for the new laptop. That way, should something go wrong, at least you'll be able to restore the original setup. I always get them for machines I have, and had to use them but once, for a non-Linux related issue. Rick Kunath Want to buy your Pack or Services from MandrakeSoft? Go to http://www.mandrakestore.com Join the Club : http://www.mandrakeclub.com
Re: [newbie] Playing god with friends new laptop (Moral question)
- Original Message - From: JR [EMAIL PROTECTED] To: newbie@linux-mandrake.com Subject: Re: [newbie] Playing god with friends new laptop (Moral question) Date: Sat, 22 Jan 2005 15:42:12 -0500 On Saturday 22 January 2005 09:38 am, Duncan Anderson wrote: There should be no problem. The lady in question is a computer newbie. She will most likely want to use email and word-processing initially, so there should be absolutely no issue, since all such programs are standard on Mandrake at no extra charge. Most importantly, she will not have to bother with the time-wasting and expensive activities which surround Windows in its capacity of virus magnet. How any newbie copes with the whole vicious circle of infection, re-installation, protection, updates, etc., defeats me. I agree here whole heartedly. I dont know how to teach her about updates, when to turn on and off autoprotect etc. I have installed Mandrake on several senior citizens' computers and generally a bit of help is required every now and then, but it is normally sorted out over the phone, or for a few minutes, accompanied by a cup of tea and a chat. There is also no problem getting Mandrake to see wireless networks. We don't have such luxuries where I live, but when I was in Europe on holiday, I had no trouble connecting to the hotels' access points with Mandrake 10.1beta2 (at the time, August last year). I was using an Orinoco PCMCIA card. Unfortunately the ADSL infrastructure does not exist yet in our beautiful seaside village. I believe it is due in 2006. cheers Duncan snip I think what I'll do is make her windows environment as linux-like as possiblel firefox, thunderbird and so forth. Then I'll install linux (she has plenty of disk space) and show her how easy it is. She will always have the choice - but she will surely find linux easier. I dread going near her laptop with windows on it and it's brand new! What a shame. Regards, Jarlath As far as wireless goes, it definitely depends on what sort of wireless nic you have. I have a Dell Inspiron with a Broadcom wireless card, and I came just sort of smashing it to bits out of utter and complete frustration trying to get that thing to connect under Mandrake 10.1. 8| The Broadcom ethernet card on the other hand, was a snap to set up. I tried both ndiswrapper and Linuxants driverloader with the wireless.no joy in Mudville at all. I agree with your decisions to use as few MS programs as possible, and to set her up a dual-boot. Dual-booting is what I had to settle with, and now I can go wireless if need be, albeit with MS, and I can stick with my beloved Mandrake most of the time by plugging in to the internet. My decision to buy this Dell, with it's linux un-friendly Broadcom wireless card, is just one of those little learning experiences that comes along once in a while. ;-) Too soon old and too late smart comes to mind. Best regards to you. --Angus Let us not look back in anger or forward in fear, but around in awareness. -- James Thurber *** ~Linux Laptop (almost), Powered (mainly) by Mandrake 10.1~ *** ~Reg. Linux User #278931~ *** -- _ Web-based SMS services available at http://www.operamail.com. From your mailbox to local or overseas cell phones. Powered by Outblaze Want to buy your Pack or Services from MandrakeSoft? Go to http://www.mandrakestore.com Join the Club : http://www.mandrakeclub.com
Re: [newbie] Playing god with friends new laptop (Moral question)
On Saturday 22 January 2005 11:15 am, Angus Auld wrote: - Original Message - From: JR [EMAIL PROTECTED] To: newbie@linux-mandrake.com Subject: Re: [newbie] Playing god with friends new laptop (Moral question) Date: Sat, 22 Jan 2005 15:42:12 -0500 On Saturday 22 January 2005 09:38 am, Duncan Anderson wrote: There should be no problem. The lady in question is a computer newbie. She will most likely want to use email and word-processing initially, so there should be absolutely no issue, since all such programs are standard on Mandrake at no extra charge. Most importantly, she will not have to bother with the time-wasting and expensive activities which surround Windows in its capacity of virus magnet. How any newbie copes with the whole vicious circle of infection, re-installation, protection, updates, etc., defeats me. I agree here whole heartedly. I dont know how to teach her about updates, when to turn on and off autoprotect etc. I have installed Mandrake on several senior citizens' computers and generally a bit of help is required every now and then, but it is normally sorted out over the phone, or for a few minutes, accompanied by a cup of tea and a chat. There is also no problem getting Mandrake to see wireless networks. We don't have such luxuries where I live, but when I was in Europe on holiday, I had no trouble connecting to the hotels' access points with Mandrake 10.1beta2 (at the time, August last year). I was using an Orinoco PCMCIA card. Unfortunately the ADSL infrastructure does not exist yet in our beautiful seaside village. I believe it is due in 2006. cheers Duncan snip I think what I'll do is make her windows environment as linux-like as possiblel firefox, thunderbird and so forth. Then I'll install linux (she has plenty of disk space) and show her how easy it is. She will always have the choice - but she will surely find linux easier. I dread going near her laptop with windows on it and it's brand new! What a shame. Regards, Jarlath As far as wireless goes, it definitely depends on what sort of wireless nic you have. I have a Dell Inspiron with a Broadcom wireless card, and I came just sort of smashing it to bits out of utter and complete frustration trying to get that thing to connect under Mandrake 10.1. 8| The Broadcom ethernet card on the other hand, was a snap to set up. I tried both ndiswrapper and Linuxants driverloader with the wireless.no joy in Mudville at all. I agree with your decisions to use as few MS programs as possible, and to set her up a dual-boot. Dual-booting is what I had to settle with, and now I can go wireless if need be, albeit with MS, and I can stick with my beloved Mandrake most of the time by plugging in to the internet. My decision to buy this Dell, with it's linux un-friendly Broadcom wireless card, is just one of those little learning experiences that comes along once in a while. ;-) Too soon old and too late smart comes to mind. Best regards to you. --Angus Thanks Angus, I managed to get my USR wireless pcmcia card working fine on a dell I4000. Linuxant.com allow you to upload the windows driver on your CD, and in return they give you a linux driver - if they have it. Finally, configuration was a nightmare at first, but this guy sorted out everything in a few posts. http://www.linuxquestions.org/questions/showthread.php?s=threadid=260990highlight=final+step+wifi Regards, Jarlath -- Copyrighting allows people to benefit from their labours, but software patents allow the companies with the largest legal departments to benefit from everyone else's work. Andrew Brown, The Guardian. Want to buy your Pack or Services from MandrakeSoft? Go to http://www.mandrakestore.com Join the Club : http://www.mandrakeclub.com
Re: [newbie] Playing god with friends new laptop (Moral question)
On Saturday 22 January 2005 11:05 am, Rick Kunath wrote: On Saturday 22 January 2005 03:42 pm, JR wrote: I think what I'll do is make her windows environment as linux-like as possiblel firefox, thunderbird and so forth. Then I'll install linux (she has plenty of disk space) and show her how easy it is. She will always have the choice - but she will surely find linux easier. I dread going near her laptop with windows on it and it's brand new! What a shame. Coming in at the end of this thread, some of this may have been commented on earlier... I did exactly as you did with my wife's laptop. In Windows I installed Firefox with a bunch of excellent extensions , and Thunderbird. After I described some of the extensions and let her experiment with how much better browsing is with Firefox, it became the browser of choice. Thunderbird does email nicely, and the switch was painless. I've a bunch of machines here that dual-boot, so I began having her walk through the Windows update procedures on them while I watched. The idea was to get her familiar with the pain that updating Windows is. Once she became familiar with the browsing and email programs on Windows, I had her boot into Mandrake and begin using the programs there. I did show her Kmail, which she prefers to T-Bird. Once she got over the double-click madness of Windows and learned how to single-click, everything went smoothly. All of my machines run so much faster under Mandrake than they do under Windows with all of the protection apps running, that it was really noticable to her. A bit later I showed her how to update Mandrake using MCC, and she never fails to comment at how easy keeping her machine up to date is. (I go over the updates usually yet on one of the machines, but she happily offers to update the other Mandrake machines, and does a fine job.) Soon, she'll be on her own. I've used a few wireless cards under 10.0 and 10.1 and earlier releases. Orinoco and Avaya cards (all cards 802.11b) worked fine, as did Prism 2.5 cards and IBM's mini-PCI based Prism cards. I haven't done anything with g yet. I don't know if anyone mentioned yet, but Mandrake has Mandrake Move available, a CD-ROM based distro that runs without installing anything on the computer, and one of the versions will support a USB memory stick, so your values , passwords, and configuration can be saved across boots. You could experiment with Linux without installing it, if all of your hardware is supported under the limited set of supported hardware of Move. It isn't as sweet as a real install, but it is non-intrusive. I've used lilo as a boot loader for years without issues on my dual-boot machines here. One thing you may want to look at is getting a recovery disk set for the new laptop. That way, should something go wrong, at least you'll be able to restore the original setup. I always get them for machines I have, and had to use them but once, for a non-Linux related issue. Rick Kunath Thanks for that Rick, The main thing stopping me now is the fact that it is quite difficult to intergrate Firefox with KDE. I'm still having konqueror come up as default at times and I've tried using the script suggested on various sites, but they dont work properly for some reason. I can script a little and program a lot so I'm not computer illiterate - I feel this is a genuine stumbling block. Jarlath -- Copyrighting allows people to benefit from their labours, but software patents allow the companies with the largest legal departments to benefit from everyone else's work. Andrew Brown, The Guardian. Want to buy your Pack or Services from MandrakeSoft? Go to http://www.mandrakestore.com Join the Club : http://www.mandrakeclub.com
Re: [newbie] Playing god with friends new laptop (Moral question)
- Original Message - From: JR [EMAIL PROTECTED] To: newbie@linux-mandrake.com Subject: Re: [newbie] Playing god with friends new laptop (Moral question) Date: Sat, 22 Jan 2005 16:28:46 -0500 On Saturday 22 January 2005 11:15 am, Angus Auld wrote: - Original Message - From: JR [EMAIL PROTECTED] To: newbie@linux-mandrake.com Subject: Re: [newbie] Playing god with friends new laptop (Moral question) Date: Sat, 22 Jan 2005 15:42:12 -0500 On Saturday 22 January 2005 09:38 am, Duncan Anderson wrote: There should be no problem. The lady in question is a computer newbie. She will most likely want to use email and word-processing initially, so there should be absolutely no issue, since all such programs are standard on Mandrake at no extra charge. Most importantly, she will not have to bother with the time-wasting and expensive activities which surround Windows in its capacity of virus magnet. How any newbie copes with the whole vicious circle of infection, re-installation, protection, updates, etc., defeats me. I agree here whole heartedly. I dont know how to teach her about updates, when to turn on and off autoprotect etc. I have installed Mandrake on several senior citizens' computers and generally a bit of help is required every now and then, but it is normally sorted out over the phone, or for a few minutes, accompanied by a cup of tea and a chat. There is also no problem getting Mandrake to see wireless networks. We don't have such luxuries where I live, but when I was in Europe on holiday, I had no trouble connecting to the hotels' access points with Mandrake 10.1beta2 (at the time, August last year). I was using an Orinoco PCMCIA card. Unfortunately the ADSL infrastructure does not exist yet in our beautiful seaside village. I believe it is due in 2006. cheers Duncan snip I think what I'll do is make her windows environment as linux-like as possiblel firefox, thunderbird and so forth. Then I'll install linux (she has plenty of disk space) and show her how easy it is. She will always have the choice - but she will surely find linux easier. I dread going near her laptop with windows on it and it's brand new! What a shame. Regards, Jarlath As far as wireless goes, it definitely depends on what sort of wireless nic you have. I have a Dell Inspiron with a Broadcom wireless card, and I came just sort of smashing it to bits out of utter and complete frustration trying to get that thing to connect under Mandrake 10.1. 8| The Broadcom ethernet card on the other hand, was a snap to set up. I tried both ndiswrapper and Linuxants driverloader with the wireless.no joy in Mudville at all. I agree with your decisions to use as few MS programs as possible, and to set her up a dual-boot. Dual-booting is what I had to settle with, and now I can go wireless if need be, albeit with MS, and I can stick with my beloved Mandrake most of the time by plugging in to the internet. My decision to buy this Dell, with it's linux un-friendly Broadcom wireless card, is just one of those little learning experiences that comes along once in a while. ;-) Too soon old and too late smart comes to mind. Best regards to you. --Angus Thanks Angus, I managed to get my USR wireless pcmcia card working fine on a dell I4000. Linuxant.com allow you to upload the windows driver on your CD, and in return they give you a linux driver - if they have it. Finally, configuration was a nightmare at first, but this guy sorted out everything in a few posts. http://www.linuxquestions.org/questions/showthread.php?s=threadid=260990highlight=final+step+wifi Regards, Jarlath Thanks right back at you for posting that link. ;-) When I get my courage up, I will probably try the wireless thing under linux again. Regards. --Angus Let us not look back in anger or forward in fear, but around in awareness. -- James Thurber *** ~Linux Laptop(almost), Powered (mainly) by Mandrake 10.1~ *** ~Reg. Linux User #278931~ *** -- _ Web-based SMS services available at http://www.operamail.com. From your mailbox to local or overseas cell phones. Powered by Outblaze Want to buy your Pack or Services from MandrakeSoft? Go to http://www.mandrakestore.com Join the Club : http://www.mandrakeclub.com
Re: [newbie] Playing god with friends new laptop (Moral question)
-BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE- Hash: SHA1 On Saturday 22 Jan 2005 03:02, JR wrote: My landlady gave me her laptop for the weekend to setup for her. It's 2.8 Ghz but runs slower than my 800Mhz machine - I'm assuming it's all the virus scanners, adware removal daemons and so on. I'm thinking of installing mdk10.1 on it and getting everything working, but she knows nothing about computers at all and I dont have time to teach her - so my questions really are snip I've been reading the thread with interest. I agree with most posters that there is little technical problem. People who are not M$-addicted can take to Mandrake with little problem. I do feel quite strongly, though, that there is an ethical problem. I would not under any circumstances install Linux without the permission of the owner. Forgive me if I have misunderstood you, but I got the impression that you were thinking of doing that. Anne - -- Registered Linux User No.293302 (http://counter.li.org/) Have you visited http://twiki.mdklinuxfaq.org yet? Mandrake at all levels -BEGIN PGP SIGNATURE- Version: GnuPG v1.2.4 (GNU/Linux) iD8DBQFB8o5PkFAvMr/nNX8RAu51AJ42kd9jHjczrZ6ItzQdasRaMI81bQCgnbcp wf2h9BRWwYJ1QaDeuSIeb2o= =+Qgq -END PGP SIGNATURE- Want to buy your Pack or Services from MandrakeSoft? Go to http://www.mandrakestore.com Join the Club : http://www.mandrakeclub.com
Re: [newbie] Playing god with friends new laptop (Moral question)
On Saturday 22 January 2005 12:33 pm, Anne Wilson wrote: On Saturday 22 Jan 2005 03:02, JR wrote: My landlady gave me her laptop for the weekend to setup for her. It's 2.8 Ghz but runs slower than my 800Mhz machine - I'm assuming it's all the virus scanners, adware removal daemons and so on. I'm thinking of installing mdk10.1 on it and getting everything working, but she knows nothing about computers at all and I dont have time to teach her - so my questions really are snip I've been reading the thread with interest. I agree with most posters that there is little technical problem. People who are not M$-addicted can take to Mandrake with little problem. I do feel quite strongly, though, that there is an ethical problem. I would not under any circumstances install Linux without the permission of the owner. Forgive me if I have misunderstood you, but I got the impression that you were thinking of doing that. Anne Hi Anne, She basically wants me to do whatever make life easiest for her. She has seen linux on my laptop and when she turned on her new pc, she had applications screaming at her like ferral children, asking for her to register this and update that... I've tried to explain Linux vs Windows to her, but it's meaningless to her. I actually think she would find Mandrake easier to use, but when you have to consider interoperation with Windows users - I'm not really sure what to do. At the moment, I've installed firefox / tbird and I've set them as the defaults. I've also installed openofffice and done the same. If I do put linux on, it will be a boot option. I will put an icon on her linux desktop to make windows default next time just in case. I'm still pondering though. Thanks for the input, I appreciate it, Jarlath -- Copyrighting allows people to benefit from their labours, but software patents allow the companies with the largest legal departments to benefit from everyone else's work. Andrew Brown, The Guardian. Want to buy your Pack or Services from MandrakeSoft? Go to http://www.mandrakestore.com Join the Club : http://www.mandrakeclub.com
Re: [newbie] Playing god with friends new laptop (Moral question)
On Friday 21 January 2005 10:02 pm, JR wrote: My landlady gave me her laptop for the weekend to setup for her. It's 2.8 Ghz but runs slower than my 800Mhz machine - I'm assuming it's all the virus scanners, adware removal daemons and so on. I'm thinking of installing mdk10.1 on it and getting everything working, but she knows nothing about computers at all and I dont have time to teach her - so my questions really are 1) On windows, wireless networks in the vicinity are auto-detected so you can connect to them. Can this be done easily under linux? She will be quite mobile. Depends on the wireless nic, but my cisco card is pretty good about connecting to open networks. I was at my brothers house a few weeks ago, and instead of wiring up through his cable modem, I just used his neighbors DSL line ;) 2) Is it fair to leave a linux AND computer newbie alone with linux in the world of windows when you dont have time to explain how to use what you've set up? I dont mean to insult the woman but she literally knows nothing bar how to use the mouse and type in a word processor. No, I don't think it is fair. It maybe okay if a person is open to change, but my experience with people like this is that they are not able to deal with the change. They simply want everything to be the same. IMO, there is a greater than 90% chance that she will be mad. 3) Do I really want to spend my first free weekend in ages installing linux again! I wouldn't :) -- /g Want to buy your Pack or Services from MandrakeSoft? Go to http://www.mandrakestore.com Join the Club : http://www.mandrakeclub.com
Re: [newbie] Playing god with friends new laptop (Moral question)
On Friday 21 January 2005 05:12 pm, Greg Meyer wrote: On Friday 21 January 2005 10:02 pm, JR wrote: My landlady gave me her laptop for the weekend to setup for her. It's 2.8 Ghz but runs slower than my 800Mhz machine - I'm assuming it's all the virus scanners, adware removal daemons and so on. I'm thinking of installing mdk10.1 on it and getting everything working, but she knows nothing about computers at all and I dont have time to teach her - so my questions really are 1) On windows, wireless networks in the vicinity are auto-detected so you can connect to them. Can this be done easily under linux? She will be quite mobile. Depends on the wireless nic, but my cisco card is pretty good about connecting to open networks. I was at my brothers house a few weeks ago, and instead of wiring up through his cable modem, I just used his neighbors DSL line ;) 2) Is it fair to leave a linux AND computer newbie alone with linux in the world of windows when you dont have time to explain how to use what you've set up? I dont mean to insult the woman but she literally knows nothing bar how to use the mouse and type in a word processor. No, I don't think it is fair. It maybe okay if a person is open to change, but my experience with people like this is that they are not able to deal with the change. They simply want everything to be the same. IMO, there is a greater than 90% chance that she will be mad. 3) Do I really want to spend my first free weekend in ages installing linux again! I wouldn't :) Thanks for that Greg. I think I'll settle for a happy medium. Use firefox as the webbrowser, thunderbird for mail and openoffice for wordprocessing. Ill wait till the new MSOffice 'lookalike' comes out. 'Cross-eyed drunk in the night club with the cheapest admission' it is so! Regards, Jarlath -- Copyrighting allows people to benefit from their labours, but software patents allow the companies with the largest legal departments to benefit from everyone else's work. Andrew Brown, The Guardian. Want to buy your Pack or Services from MandrakeSoft? Go to http://www.mandrakestore.com Join the Club : http://www.mandrakeclub.com
Re: [newbie] Playing god with friends new laptop (Moral question)
On Fri, 2005-01-21 at 22:12, Greg Meyer wrote: On Friday 21 January 2005 10:02 pm, JR wrote: My landlady gave me her laptop for the weekend to setup for her. It's 2.8 Ghz but runs slower than my 800Mhz machine - I'm assuming it's all the virus scanners, adware removal daemons and so on. I'm thinking of installing mdk10.1 on it and getting everything working, but she knows nothing about computers at all and I dont have time to teach her - so my questions really are 1) On windows, wireless networks in the vicinity are auto-detected so you can connect to them. Can this be done easily under linux? She will be quite mobile. Depends on the wireless nic, but my cisco card is pretty good about connecting to open networks. I was at my brothers house a few weeks ago, and instead of wiring up through his cable modem, I just used his neighbors DSL line ;) 2) Is it fair to leave a linux AND computer newbie alone with linux in the world of windows when you dont have time to explain how to use what you've set up? I dont mean to insult the woman but she literally knows nothing bar how to use the mouse and type in a word processor. No, I don't think it is fair. It maybe okay if a person is open to change, but my experience with people like this is that they are not able to deal with the change. They simply want everything to be the same. IMO, there is a greater than 90% chance that she will be mad. I was intrigued by your 'open to change' comment - most criticisms I've heard is that people are used to Windows want to stick with that - here there is no change involved. Might be worthwhile booting in with (e.g.) Knoppix or Mandrake Move to establish whther there would be any hardware incompatabilities with wireless cards, etc. Want to buy your Pack or Services from MandrakeSoft? Go to http://www.mandrakestore.com Join the Club : http://www.mandrakeclub.com
Re: [newbie] Playing god with friends new laptop (Moral question)
On Friday 21 January 2005 08:43 pm, Paul wrote: On Fri, 2005-01-21 at 22:12, Greg Meyer wrote: On Friday 21 January 2005 10:02 pm, JR wrote: My landlady gave me her laptop for the weekend to setup for her. It's 2.8 Ghz but runs slower than my 800Mhz machine - I'm assuming it's all the virus scanners, adware removal daemons and so on. I'm thinking of installing mdk10.1 on it and getting everything working, but she knows nothing about computers at all and I dont have time to teach her - so my questions really are 1) On windows, wireless networks in the vicinity are auto-detected so you can connect to them. Can this be done easily under linux? She will be quite mobile. 2) Is it fair to leave a linux AND computer newbie alone with linux in the world of windows when you dont have time to explain how to use what you've set up? I dont mean to insult the woman but she literally knows nothing bar how to use the mouse and type in a word processor. No, I don't think it is fair. It maybe okay if a person is open to change, but my experience with people like this is that they are not able to deal with the change. They simply want everything to be the same. IMO, there is a greater than 90% chance that she will be mad. I was intrigued by your 'open to change' comment - most criticisms I've heard is that people are used to Windows want to stick with that - here there is no change involved. I read this that his landlady was using windows, mostly because of two things he says. slow because of adware/virus tools, and reference to windows connecting to wireless nics. If she is not running windows and already running linux, then I think it would not be a problem at all. -- /g Want to buy your Pack or Services from MandrakeSoft? Go to http://www.mandrakestore.com Join the Club : http://www.mandrakeclub.com
