Is Arch the best distro for a friend with a "computer curse?"

whiteychs · 2010-01-03 03:45:57

Seriously, PEBKAC.

It's hard to break any system if you follow official wikipages and man files. Perhaps you should sit down with your friend and go over any questions he may have and teach him how to find a solution should he actually encounter a problem.

I don't know why you chose Arch, tbh. It's a great distro, but requires text file manipulation and at least some knowledge of linux structure and bash. Linux Mint has worked well for my mother close to a year without any problem and she doesn't even know how to open a terminal.

ralvez · 2010-01-03 04:13:12

I have a friend who has a "computer curse." It runs in his family as well.

If the computer is cursed then get rid of the computer, if the friend carries the course then no computer or OS will help.
You have two options: (1) exorcise the friend, failing that (2) find a non-cursed friend

R.

Last edited by ralvez (2010-01-03 04:14:39)

mvdvarrier · 2010-01-03 07:40:35

Hai Mr. rbrownclown
I am from Kerala State of India. In this state we speak a language "Malayalam". Some of us believe in rebirth. In our language there is proverb that " Your worst enemy in the previous birth is your son in the current life". In your case it seems changed as this friend. Get rid of him as soon as possible!!!
mvdvarrier

sHyLoCk · 2010-01-03 07:57:53

Wow! I gotta say, so many useless pointless replies to a pointless thread. Well done!

R00KIE · 2010-01-03 12:34:49

sHyLoCk wrote:

Wow! I gotta say, so many useless pointless replies to a pointless thread. Well done!

And here goes another one

The problem there is between the input devices and the chair so why not just give him ChromeOS ? I really don't like it, I'm always suspicious of something that stores private things online, but anyway, he can't fiddle with it so should be harder to break

If that doesn't work tell him to buy a programmable calculator, when things stop working, tell him to look at the back and press the little reset button with a pencil, problem solved

tlaloc · 2010-01-03 12:51:30

Tell him to buy an Abacus.

wolfbytes56 · 2010-01-03 17:10:13

give hime full root access and install two distros one stable distro and then archlinux or gentoo and make him learn and better understand linux itself that way when he has issues he can overcome them

http://tldp.org/guides.html there are several books there that could help

The OH NOES KEEP HIM AAWAY FOMR ZA KEYBOURDZ idea seems illogical to me

also make sure he does his experimenting on the testing distro and to not mess with to stable one all that much

crouse · 2010-01-03 18:51:57

Install Arch, don't give them the root password. Install more than one user for them, along with a backup user in case they fubar their current users and call you in the middle of the night, you can direct them to use the "spare" user account you setup for them until you have time to "fix" their screwups. Problem solved.
If this is just a desktop OS, there really isn't a reason they will need the root password. If no servers are running, then the "risk" factor is almost zero, updating isn't a necessity.

If for some strange reason you/they think things MUST be updated, then take care of it remotely and only update packages that present a security risk if they are not... say firefox, openoffice etc ...
I've done this for years with my folks computer, using Arch.

Arch Linux

#26 2010-01-03 03:45:57

Re: Is Arch the best distro for a friend with a "computer curse?"

#27 2010-01-03 04:13:12

Re: Is Arch the best distro for a friend with a "computer curse?"

#28 2010-01-03 07:40:35

Re: Is Arch the best distro for a friend with a "computer curse?"

#29 2010-01-03 07:57:53

Re: Is Arch the best distro for a friend with a "computer curse?"

#30 2010-01-03 12:34:49

Re: Is Arch the best distro for a friend with a "computer curse?"

#31 2010-01-03 12:51:30

Re: Is Arch the best distro for a friend with a "computer curse?"

#32 2010-01-03 17:10:13

Re: Is Arch the best distro for a friend with a "computer curse?"

#33 2010-01-03 18:51:57

Re: Is Arch the best distro for a friend with a "computer curse?"

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