On 04/05/2011 06:30 PM, Addison Higham wrote: > Hrm, being a unix user group, I am surprised no one has taken the > route of convincing you to try and just get your family to use some > linux flavor. > > Normally, I probably would just keep quiet, but all this fuss trying > to make an OS work that doesn't even support changing the desktop > background(!) seems a bit silly, especially when considering that as a > netbook it will be used for just word processing and internet > browsing, and really, can't be used for much else. > > I am not sure how technology literate your family is compared to mine, > but if you are currently serving as tech support, you probably have > spent plenty of hours cleaning up dirty window installs. Do them the > favor of giving them at least one computer in the house that won't get > bogged down with 2 years of windows buildup. Reinstall ubuntu (maybe > even the netbook remix, which is stupid easy to use), give a 15 minute > demo of how to use it and how to work with word documents and the > like, and let them take it from there. > > I would be willing to bet someone lunch that you would have about as > much success. > > Anyways, my two cents > > Addison > Bravo! I would have said the same thing, but didn't because I usually skip being bold and move straight to being overbearing.
My experience certainly backs up Addison's recommendation. It took several years of encouragement (and giving them an Alpine School District surplus PC) before my extended family started using Linux. Within a week, my dad was telling me and everyone else around him how much he wished he'd switched years ago; that it's faster, easier to use, more reliable, and all on 10-year-old hardware! Now the only calls I get is "can VLC record my stake conference's internet broadcast?" and "I installed yada-yada windows genealogy software in Wine and it complains about a DLL" followed the next day by "nevermind, I updated to the lastest Ubuntu and Wine, and now it works perfectly". I knew Linux was easier for me to use, but I never expected that (1) Wine would work with some random software out of the box, and that (2) Linux (Ubuntu in this case) would give the users the confidence and sense of empowerment they need to try fixing their own problems again. These were people afraid to defrag on their own before. So in addition to the free-as-in-speech, and free-as-in-beer slogan, let's add free-as-in-I-can-solve-my-own-problems and free-as-in-no-longer-acting-as-a-software-janitor-on-the-weekends. Coming back to topic, internet, email, some word processing and spreadsheets, and solitaire (or Farmtown as the case may be) is really all most people will use their computer for (especially netbooks). By the time you get back, they might be showing you the coolest things you can do with Linux. ;-Daniel -------------------- BYU Unix Users Group http://uug.byu.edu/ The opinions expressed in this message are the responsibility of their author. They are not endorsed by BYU, the BYU CS Department or BYU-UUG. ___________________________________________________________________ List Info (unsubscribe here): http://uug.byu.edu/mailman/listinfo/uug-list
