Re: [ubuntu-uk] serious advice
Alan Pope wrote: snip I probably won't put Ubuntu on it initially, but leave the existing software install for Sophie Clare. Then maybe I'll buy the 10 version when it comes out next year for myself :) Al, Have you seen this? http://www.eeeuser.com/2007/11/14/rumors-about-10-eee-pc-8g-are-false/ -- ubuntu-uk@lists.ubuntu.com https://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/ubuntu-uk https://wiki.kubuntu.org/UKTeam/
Re: [ubuntu-uk] serious advice
Alan Pope wrote: On Fri, 2007-11-16 at 08:19 +, Jim Kissel wrote: Alan Pope wrote: snip I probably won't put Ubuntu on it initially, but leave the existing software install for Sophie Clare. Then maybe I'll buy the 10 version when it comes out next year for myself :) Have you seen this? http://www.eeeuser.com/2007/11/14/rumors-about-10-eee-pc-8g-are-false/ Have you seen this:- http://linkpot.net/augur/ Last two pictures show an Asus 1001 with a larger than 7 screen. Nice, but it ain't going to fit in the pockets of any of my jackets. ;-( -- ubuntu-uk@lists.ubuntu.com https://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/ubuntu-uk https://wiki.kubuntu.org/UKTeam/
Re: [ubuntu-uk] serious advice
snip I've found that educational games are a mixed bag (I have three daughters aged 7, 5 and 18 months). I have one set of educational programs called something like 'PC Click and Learn' which is created using some Macromedia package (not Flash or Shockwave, I think it's Authorware or something like that). These programs wouldn't work under Wine. I got sound but no graphics. On the other hand I have a Reader Rabbit Keystage CD from about 1999/2000 and that works well (apart from no music unless I setup Timidity). Would it not be possible to install something like VirtualBox and then run Windows 98 or XP on top of that, or as mentioned before, dual boot XP and Ubuntu? We will dual boot as the most flexible. Maybe you could give her a few copies of The OpenEducationDisc to give out to her friends as Christmas presents? They could all then get to grips with things like TuxPaint, TuxTyping and TuxMath (actually, I'm not sure if they're all on there, I've been working on a custom branded OpenDisc of my own which I'm going to distribute in my local area). What a community spirited thing to do and one which I am sure will be welcomed. Norman -- ubuntu-uk@lists.ubuntu.com https://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/ubuntu-uk https://wiki.kubuntu.org/UKTeam/
Re: [ubuntu-uk] serious advice
norman wrote: snip I've found that educational games are a mixed bag (I have three daughters aged 7, 5 and 18 months). I have one set of educational programs called something like 'PC Click and Learn' which is created using some Macromedia package (not Flash or Shockwave, I think it's Authorware or something like that). These programs wouldn't work under Wine. I got sound but no graphics. On the other hand I have a Reader Rabbit Keystage CD from about 1999/2000 and that works well (apart from no music unless I setup Timidity). Would it not be possible to install something like VirtualBox and then run Windows 98 or XP on top of that, or as mentioned before, dual boot XP and Ubuntu? We will dual boot as the most flexible. Maybe you could give her a few copies of The OpenEducationDisc to give out to her friends as Christmas presents? They could all then get to grips with things like TuxPaint, TuxTyping and TuxMath (actually, I'm not sure if they're all on there, I've been working on a custom branded OpenDisc of my own which I'm going to distribute in my local area). What a community spirited thing to do and one which I am sure will be welcomed. Norman :-) well I can't program very well so I thought it might be a way of giving back to the community (and most of the work is done so it's a case of adding things and changing a bit of HTML code which I can manage). Even if I only do copies for my kids to give to their friends at school and in the street it's a start. Rob -- ubuntu-uk@lists.ubuntu.com https://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/ubuntu-uk https://wiki.kubuntu.org/UKTeam/
Re: [ubuntu-uk] serious advice
Hi Norman, As someone who tries to get everyone I help off Windows and onto Ubuntu, I've had to come up with some unusual solutions. For most needs excluding 3D graphics I'd recommend installing Windows 2000/XP on a virtual machine. If you switch off system restore and automatic updates in Windows it should run nice and fast even with 192 or 256MB of RAM allocated to it. The nice thing about virtualising it is that you can just close Windows like an ordinary application and it will be paused in the state you left it. You can run it in a window or in full screen mode, it really is almost seamless. Until recently I have been using VMware but recently I've switched to VirtualBox and I'd strongly recommend it over the former (although you will need the freeware closed source edition to get USB device sharing. I don't recommend Wine for most purposes because despite enormous efforts it cannot give you a real Windows environment. Using Windows itself allows you to use nearly any software and it doesn't necessarily need a monster PC to cope. My laptop is a Pentium 4 1.4GHz with 768MB RAM and I run Windows XP and Win98 alongside each other under Ubuntu quite happily. You can also utilise a virtual machine running in the background (say with the freeware VMware server) to have Windows applications running seamingly natively in Ubuntu using terminal services (remote desktop) and a couple of tricks - more info here: http://www.venturecake.com/10-minutes-to-run-every-windows-app-seamlessly-on-your-ubuntu-desktop/ . A similar feat is supposedly possible using VirtualBox alone (article here: http://www.venturecake.com/virtualbox-15-the-good-the-bad-and-the-ugly/) but I haven't tried that yet. With a bit of ingenuity and often some fiddling, you can get even the worst software to run and usually work better than on Windows alone. Regards, Tom norman wrote: I am contemplating buying my 9 year old granddaughter a new PC for Christmas. Presently, she has a fairly old PC and has been using Windows both at home and at school. (I hear cries of shame). She is of course familiar with Ubuntu when she uses my machine and it would be my intention to wean her onto Ubuntu on her new machine. Where I need advice is in selecting the best way to enable her to join in with her classmates, if and when she may need to, with regard to such things as educational games and suchlike which do not play on Linux. I know of Wine and Crossover Office but neither of these appear to be what is needed. So, fellow Ubuntu users, what would you advise an old codger to do. Norman -- ubuntu-uk@lists.ubuntu.com https://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/ubuntu-uk https://wiki.kubuntu.org/UKTeam/
Re: [ubuntu-uk] serious advice
Hi Jim, On Thu, 2007-11-15 at 08:44 +, Jim Kissel wrote: Should be here today. Where did you order your's from? RM. If you or anyone you know are working on getting Ubutnu running on the eeePC, please let me/the group know. http://community.zdnet.co.uk/blog/0,100567,10006278o-2000331777b,00.htm http://www.mobile01.com/topicdetail.php?f=233t=427281last=3902234 I probably won't put Ubuntu on it initially, but leave the existing software install for Sophie Clare. Then maybe I'll buy the 10 version when it comes out next year for myself :) Cheers, Al. signature.asc Description: This is a digitally signed message part -- ubuntu-uk@lists.ubuntu.com https://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/ubuntu-uk https://wiki.kubuntu.org/UKTeam/
Re: [ubuntu-uk] serious advice
Alan Pope wrote: Hi Jim, On Thu, 2007-11-15 at 08:44 +, Jim Kissel wrote: Should be here today. Where did you order your's from? RM. Have they delivered? If not have the given any indication of when they will deliver? Why? I've noticed eBuyer and Dabs are sold out. Dabs shows Due in 3-4 weeks! If you or anyone you know are working on getting Ubutnu running on the eeePC, please let me/the group know. http://community.zdnet.co.uk/blog/0,100567,10006278o-2000331777b,00.htm http://www.mobile01.com/topicdetail.php?f=233t=427281last=3902234 I probably won't put Ubuntu on it initially, but leave the existing software install for Sophie Clare. Then maybe I'll buy the 10 version when it comes out next year for myself :) I too would like a 10 version, though I'm not prepared to wait till the next of forever to get my hands on one. Dabs just delivered my 701 Thursday afternoon. My initial impression of the 701 is it much nicer than the Classmate. Better (bigger) keyboard. The case build quality seems better. -- People choose Microsoft Windows for their PC in the same manner that the citizens of Soviet Russia elected the General Secretary of the Communist Party during the cold war. Jim Kissel Open Source Migrations Limited w: http://www.osml.eu e: [EMAIL PROTECTED] p: +44(0) 8703 301044 m: +44(0) 7976 411 679 -- ubuntu-uk@lists.ubuntu.com https://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/ubuntu-uk https://wiki.kubuntu.org/UKTeam/
Re: [ubuntu-uk] serious advice
Damn you Daniel! You beat me too it! Ciarán -- ubuntu-uk@lists.ubuntu.com https://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/ubuntu-uk https://wiki.kubuntu.org/UKTeam/
Re: [ubuntu-uk] serious advice
Why not buy an asus laptop with linux on it and introduce her to linux games, there are a number of education ones for linux also. Or if you do want to still use linux/oss, why not look at reactos? You didn't say how much your wanting to spend, you could get the ubuntu box from tescos and stick a copy of windows on it if she really needs to use it. Regards, Daniel -Original Message- From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of norman Sent: 14 November 2007 09:51 To: ubuntu-uk Subject: [ubuntu-uk] serious advice I am contemplating buying my 9 year old granddaughter a new PC for Christmas. Presently, she has a fairly old PC and has been using Windows both at home and at school. (I hear cries of shame). She is of course familiar with Ubuntu when she uses my machine and it would be my intention to wean her onto Ubuntu on her new machine. Where I need advice is in selecting the best way to enable her to join in with her classmates, if and when she may need to, with regard to such things as educational games and suchlike which do not play on Linux. I know of Wine and Crossover Office but neither of these appear to be what is needed. So, fellow Ubuntu users, what would you advise an old codger to do. Norman -- ubuntu-uk@lists.ubuntu.com https://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/ubuntu-uk https://wiki.kubuntu.org/UKTeam/ -- ubuntu-uk@lists.ubuntu.com https://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/ubuntu-uk https://wiki.kubuntu.org/UKTeam/
[ubuntu-uk] serious advice
I am contemplating buying my 9 year old granddaughter a new PC for Christmas. Presently, she has a fairly old PC and has been using Windows both at home and at school. (I hear cries of shame). She is of course familiar with Ubuntu when she uses my machine and it would be my intention to wean her onto Ubuntu on her new machine. Where I need advice is in selecting the best way to enable her to join in with her classmates, if and when she may need to, with regard to such things as educational games and suchlike which do not play on Linux. I know of Wine and Crossover Office but neither of these appear to be what is needed. So, fellow Ubuntu users, what would you advise an old codger to do. Norman -- ubuntu-uk@lists.ubuntu.com https://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/ubuntu-uk https://wiki.kubuntu.org/UKTeam/
Re: [ubuntu-uk] serious advice
You've already mentioned the two ways of getting the Windows games to work on linux. More help could be given if we knew what programs that would be needed to be shoe-horned into Ubuntu. If your thinking of a PC, why not something like the ASUS Eee with Edubuntu installed? I can imagine one scenario where all her friends would like an Asus Eee too, as it has all the whizz-bang fun educational games. Just a thought. Good luck. Ciarán On Nov 14, 2007 9:50 AM, norman [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: I am contemplating buying my 9 year old granddaughter a new PC for Christmas. Presently, she has a fairly old PC and has been using Windows both at home and at school. (I hear cries of shame). She is of course familiar with Ubuntu when she uses my machine and it would be my intention to wean her onto Ubuntu on her new machine. Where I need advice is in selecting the best way to enable her to join in with her classmates, if and when she may need to, with regard to such things as educational games and suchlike which do not play on Linux. I know of Wine and Crossover Office but neither of these appear to be what is needed. So, fellow Ubuntu users, what would you advise an old codger to do. Norman -- ubuntu-uk@lists.ubuntu.com https://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/ubuntu-uk https://wiki.kubuntu.org/UKTeam/ -- ubuntu-uk@lists.ubuntu.com https://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/ubuntu-uk https://wiki.kubuntu.org/UKTeam/
Re: [ubuntu-uk] serious advice
norman wrote: I am contemplating buying my 9 year old granddaughter a new PC for Christmas. Presently, she has a fairly old PC and has been using Windows both at home and at school. (I hear cries of shame). She is of course familiar with Ubuntu when she uses my machine and it would be my intention to wean her onto Ubuntu on her new machine. Where I need advice is in selecting the best way to enable her to join in with her classmates, if and when she may need to, with regard to such things as educational games and suchlike which do not play on Linux. I know of Wine and Crossover Office but neither of these appear to be what is needed. So, fellow Ubuntu users, what would you advise an old codger to do. Norman I'm not sure if this is what you're after, but I used to use Cedega for some games. It's worth is a bit patchy though If games are going to be a problem, dual boot the machine and put Edubuntu as the primary boot option. Windows is only really good for games after all (thats all my windows box is used for really!). -Matt Daubney -- ubuntu-uk@lists.ubuntu.com https://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/ubuntu-uk https://wiki.kubuntu.org/UKTeam/
Re: [ubuntu-uk] serious advice
Hi Norman, On Wed, 2007-11-14 at 09:50 +, norman wrote: I am contemplating buying my 9 year old granddaughter a new PC for Christmas. Presently, she has a fairly old PC and has been using Windows both at home and at school. I have a policy of not supporting Windows on friends and families computers. There are a couple of exceptions to this, but I won't take on new people and certainly wont touch vista. The reason I mention this is because one of the exceptions is my sister who has 3 daughters. They have a PC which I supplied them with XP installed. I didn't give them Ubuntu because the girls wanted to play a lot of (non-educational) games on it that I knew would not work under WINE. I also know that the thought of installing them inside a Windows virtual machine under Linux would be too difficult for them, and the PC wasn't beefy enough to do that anyway, and under a VM the guest has no access to the 3D hardware. I also didn't dual boot because I'd be pretty sure that the Linux partition would probably not get used that much. (I hear cries of shame). She is of course familiar with Ubuntu when she uses my machine and it would be my intention to wean her onto Ubuntu on her new machine. Where I need advice is in selecting the best way to enable her to join in with her classmates, if and when she may need to, with regard to such things as educational games and suchlike which do not play on Linux. I am in a similar quandary with my own daughter. She is 4 and has just started school this term. In school they have a windows PC in the classroom on which she plays various educational games. At home she rarely uses a computer at all. She has done a little typing here and there and played some online flash games, but not much more than that. I have ordered a couple of Asus Eee PCs, one for my wife to use and one for Sophie. I wanted to get something small and lightweight which runs normal software. I have just called the school to get a list of all the software that Sophie uses, and if it's any good I'll see if I can get it working under WINE, or get someone to write an alternative in python so everyone can benefit :) Hope that helps. Cheers, Al. signature.asc Description: This is a digitally signed message part -- ubuntu-uk@lists.ubuntu.com https://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/ubuntu-uk https://wiki.kubuntu.org/UKTeam/
Re: [ubuntu-uk] serious advice
On Wed, 2007-11-14 at 09:50 +, norman wrote: I am contemplating buying my 9 year old granddaughter a new PC for Christmas. Presently, she has a fairly old PC and has been using Windows both at home and at school. (I hear cries of shame). She is of course familiar with Ubuntu when she uses my machine and it would be my intention to wean her onto Ubuntu on her new machine. Where I need advice is in selecting the best way to enable her to join in with her classmates, if and when she may need to, with regard to such things as educational games and suchlike which do not play on Linux. I know of Wine and Crossover Office but neither of these appear to be what is needed. So, fellow Ubuntu users, what would you advise an old codger to do. Norman Why not install Ubuntu/Edubuntu in dual boot on the machine she already has and ask her which she prefers? A lot of the on line edu game run in flash which is available. This only leaves the cd based games. Wine should run the majority of them as they don't actual pull that much power from the system so why not try them on your machine and when your happy that they work transfer them to your daughters. -- Seek That Thy Might Know signature.asc Description: This is a digitally signed message part -- ubuntu-uk@lists.ubuntu.com https://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/ubuntu-uk https://wiki.kubuntu.org/UKTeam/
Re: [ubuntu-uk] serious advice
norman wrote: I am contemplating buying my 9 year old granddaughter a new PC for Christmas. Presently, she has a fairly old PC and has been using Windows both at home and at school. (I hear cries of shame). She is of course familiar with Ubuntu when she uses my machine and it would be my intention to wean her onto Ubuntu on her new machine. Where I need advice is in selecting the best way to enable her to join in with her classmates, if and when she may need to, with regard to such things as educational games and suchlike which do not play on Linux. I know of Wine and Crossover Office but neither of these appear to be what is needed. So, fellow Ubuntu users, what would you advise an old codger to do. There are a lot of educational and similar games for ubuntu, however, they will not be the *same* stuff that she sees her friends using, and she may feel left out, however good the OS is that she is using. What will happen is that her friends' PCs will often give problems in many ways, while the ubuntu will be reliable and stable. The 'ubuntu only' option is an ambitious one, unless you are very nearby and in very frequent contact. Since she is not in your immediate household you might have difficulty being close enough for immediate support - if something needs to be configured in ubuntu for example. If you are not careful a situation will arise where she does not know enough to continue using ubuntu exclusively and becomes disappointed (socially) and gives it up completely. A solution I would consider is to use an xp machine with ubuntu as default in dual boot, and with a lot of space. The practical problem will be to get xp because the retail pressure is on vista now. Any internet related activities can be arranged for ubuntu - firefox, email, pidgin messenger etc, and also as many games as you can find. The remainder can be windows, if necessary. Which ever machine you decide upon, get comments about its capabilty with ubuntu (and compiz - it is fun!), and if relevant, windows. -- alan cocks Kubuntu user#10391 -- ubuntu-uk@lists.ubuntu.com https://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/ubuntu-uk https://wiki.kubuntu.org/UKTeam/
Re: [ubuntu-uk] serious advice
Lots of excellent advice, thank you. To make things quite clear my granddaughter is cared for by my wife and myself so there is no distance factor. She has a very good monitor, keyboard, mouse, etc so I was contemplating buying just a box. If I got one the same as I use there would be no compatibility problems and she has a wireless link via my router for her internet needs. Additionally, she could have use of both a laser printer for her text work and a colour printer for any arty crafty stuff she wanted to do. As with lots of children the main difficulty to be overcome is being able to fire her interest sufficiently so that she will enjoy sitting at and using her computer. Without this, sitting on your own can be very off putting. I would hope that with email, internet and interesting software (she is already starting to be interested in Gimp) she will not need windows. Thanks again Norman -- ubuntu-uk@lists.ubuntu.com https://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/ubuntu-uk https://wiki.kubuntu.org/UKTeam/
Re: [ubuntu-uk] serious advice
Well just buy a desktop from tescos then and use that, nows the time for her to learn, otherwise she might be stuck like the rest of the blind windows users. Regards, Daniel -Original Message- From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of norman Sent: 14 November 2007 11:52 To: ubuntu-uk@lists.ubuntu.com Subject: Re: [ubuntu-uk] serious advice Lots of excellent advice, thank you. To make things quite clear my granddaughter is cared for by my wife and myself so there is no distance factor. She has a very good monitor, keyboard, mouse, etc so I was contemplating buying just a box. If I got one the same as I use there would be no compatibility problems and she has a wireless link via my router for her internet needs. Additionally, she could have use of both a laser printer for her text work and a colour printer for any arty crafty stuff she wanted to do. As with lots of children the main difficulty to be overcome is being able to fire her interest sufficiently so that she will enjoy sitting at and using her computer. Without this, sitting on your own can be very off putting. I would hope that with email, internet and interesting software (she is already starting to be interested in Gimp) she will not need windows. Thanks again Norman -- ubuntu-uk@lists.ubuntu.com https://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/ubuntu-uk https://wiki.kubuntu.org/UKTeam/ -- ubuntu-uk@lists.ubuntu.com https://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/ubuntu-uk https://wiki.kubuntu.org/UKTeam/
Re: [ubuntu-uk] serious advice
To continue the saga, I introduced my granddaughter to Edubuntu this evening and, after assuring her that I would keep windows for her games etc., she asked me there and then to do it. Her machine is fairly old and somewhat slow so I expect to be in for a long session. Norman -- ubuntu-uk@lists.ubuntu.com https://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/ubuntu-uk https://wiki.kubuntu.org/UKTeam/
Re: [ubuntu-uk] serious advice
Dave Morley wrote: On Wed, 2007-11-14 at 09:50 +, norman wrote: I am contemplating buying my 9 year old granddaughter a new PC for Christmas. Presently, she has a fairly old PC and has been using Windows both at home and at school. (I hear cries of shame). She is of course familiar with Ubuntu when she uses my machine and it would be my intention to wean her onto Ubuntu on her new machine. Where I need advice is in selecting the best way to enable her to join in with her classmates, if and when she may need to, with regard to such things as educational games and suchlike which do not play on Linux. I know of Wine and Crossover Office but neither of these appear to be what is needed. So, fellow Ubuntu users, what would you advise an old codger to do. Norman Why not install Ubuntu/Edubuntu in dual boot on the machine she already has and ask her which she prefers? A lot of the on line edu game run in flash which is available. This only leaves the cd based games. Wine should run the majority of them as they don't actual pull that much power from the system so why not try them on your machine and when your happy that they work transfer them to your daughters. I've found that educational games are a mixed bag (I have three daughters aged 7, 5 and 18 months). I have one set of educational programs called something like 'PC Click and Learn' which is created using some Macromedia package (not Flash or Shockwave, I think it's Authorware or something like that). These programs wouldn't work under Wine. I got sound but no graphics. On the other hand I have a Reader Rabbit Keystage CD from about 1999/2000 and that works well (apart from no music unless I setup Timidity). Would it not be possible to install something like VirtualBox and then run Windows 98 or XP on top of that, or as mentioned before, dual boot XP and Ubuntu? Maybe you could give her a few copies of The OpenEducationDisc to give out to her friends as Christmas presents? They could all then get to grips with things like TuxPaint, TuxTyping and TuxMath (actually, I'm not sure if they're all on there, I've been working on a custom branded OpenDisc of my own which I'm going to distribute in my local area). Rob -- ubuntu-uk@lists.ubuntu.com https://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/ubuntu-uk https://wiki.kubuntu.org/UKTeam/
