Making My Grandparents Leet Linux Users - Part 1
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| It was time for a new computer for my Grandparents. Their ancient Windows 98
| PC had become so slow that it was unusable. The replacement, an inexpensive
| Acer PC, came with Windows Vista preinstalled. It was up to me to set up the
| new computer and support it. So I decided to wipe out Vista with a Debian 4
| base install and set up an easy to use environment for my Grandparents. In
| this multi-part series I will tell you about how I did it, starting with my
| reasons for choosing Linux over Vista.
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http://tomdryer.com/blog/index.php/2007/08/17/making-my-grandparents-leet-linux-users-part-1/
Related:
Grandpa Gets a Dell with Ubuntu Linux Preinstalled
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| I'm very happy with my computer. I feel the price was reasonable, and the
| service was good. In fact, Dell appears to have gone to the "Scotty school of
| engineering" -- project how long you expect a project to take, then double
| the time. Then, when you come in under that time, you look like a whiz.
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http://www.groklaw.net/article.php?story=20070725085521830
Ubuntu for your grandmother.
,----[ Quote ]
| They say its for geeks, they say its for nerds, they say its for those
| whose pinkie finger has the imprint of the enter key tattooed on it. We
| say its for your grandmother ! Yes my friends, I kid you not, for all
| of those who are afraid to dip their little toe into the great Linux-Lake
| let us reassure you : If your grandmother can do it ? So can you. Before
| we start , let me clarify : We are not talking about turning your
| Linux machine into a clustered database server with SQL, PHP, Apache,
| Samba and what have you. We are talking about the advantages of using
| Linux .. as a desktop.
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http://www.knightwise.com/content/view/154/9/
Desktop Adapted for Dad
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| I set my father's computer up with a GNU/Linux operating system. One
| basic feature of Linux is that each user has their own login to the
| system, and normally you do not login to the system as the super-user.
| This limits what my father is able to do on the system as he is not the
| super-user. To my surprise my father was delighted that he was restricted
| in that way, because then he knows that he cannot break the system by
| accident.
|
| To conclude I would say that my experience with my father and other
| inexperienced computer users convinces me that the modern desktop software
| is not obvious but that with basic training it is very easy to use. I
| firmly believe that anyone can use a computer, but it is essential that
| users have a properly configured desktop suitable for their use, as one
| size does not fit all.
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http://www.debian-administration.org/articles/466
[H]omer:
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| Here's some interesting comparisons between Debian Etch and Vista:
|
| Project Life-cycle:
| . Debian - 1.75 years (Etch)
| . Vista - 5.50 years
|
| Supported Architectures:
| . Debian - Sparc, Alpha, PowerPC, i386, ia64, PA-RISC, MIPS, ARM, IBM
| S/390, AMD64 and Intel EM64T. (Older custom versions for the
| Motorola MC68K series)
| . Vista - Technically ... none, since it doesn't really work.
|
| Available Desktop Environments / Window Managers:
| . Debian - 3D-Desktop, 4dwm, 5Dwm, 9wm, aewm, AfterStep, amiwm,
| Blackbox, Compiz/Beryl, CTWM, dwm, EDE (Equinox),
| Enlightenment, EvilPoison, evilwm, Fluxbox, foXdesktop,
| FVWM, FVWM95, FVWM-Crystal, Gnome, hackedbox, HaZe, IceWM,
| Ion, JD4X (Java Desktop), JWM, Kahakai, KDE, KWin, Larswm,
| Luminocity, LWM, Matchbox, Metacity, Metisse, MWM (Motif),
| OLWM/OLVWM, Openbox, Orion, Oroborus, PekWM, PLWM, PWM,
| Qvwm, ratpoison, ROX, Sawfish, Scwm, Stumpwm, swm, The GREAT
| Desktop, TrsWM, twm, UDE, uwm, Waimea, WindowLab, Window
| Maker, wm2, WMI, wmii, XD640, XFCE, Xfwm, XPde, XPwm, XWEM
| . Vista - Aero
|
| Price:
| . Debian - £0.00
| . Vista - £187.48 (Home Premium - a.k.a. The "real" version) [Amazon]
|
| License:
| . Debian - Mainly GPL/LGPL. Full sources available at no cost.
| . Vista - Proprietary. SDKs only. (Limited Sources available to select
| partners and government agencies).
|
| Role/Deployment:
| . Debian - Server, Desktop, Media Centre, Office, Cluster /
| Supercomputing, Any Purpose.
| . Vista - Experimental Desktop, Toy, Practical Joke.
|
| Summary:
| . Debian - "Support for Debian is among the most complete you can find
| in the open source world. Debian is traditionally a
| distribution of developers that connect with each other and
| with users via email or IRC. Developers respond to bug
| reports promptly. Several mailing lists in all supported
| languages have high traffic and people that like to help.
| If you're in a hurry, you can join the #debian IRC channel
| on the freenode network. You can even pay for support if
| you want to; debian.org has a list of companies that will
| take your money and answer your questions.
|
| Debian is the most truly community-driven distribution,
| proud of its GNU name. It supports lots of platforms, and
| its software quality assurance is excellent. Security flaws
| are fixed in the Etch repositories quickly. With mirrors
| all around the world, installation of new packages is
| quick. Even if any single Linux company disappears, Debian
| will remain intact -- as my desktop OS."
| - http://tinyurl.com/yqg3cq (newsforge.com)
|
| . Vista - "I found [Vista] to be a dangerously unstable operating
| system, which has caused me to lose data ... unfortunately
| this product is unfit for any user.
| - http://tinyurl.com/3bpfs2 (hardocp.com)
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