Do your parents use Linux?

Soumyadeep · 2010-08-02 12:30:34

My dad plays Chessmaster(through wine) on my archbox, after the one installed in my windows refused to start anymore.

Vamp898 · 2010-08-02 13:05:46

My mother uses Archlinux + KDE, my Father Kubuntu. My Girlfriend and my Cousin uses Kubuntu too. My Aunt uses Ubuntu and the mother of my Girlfriend too.

The Brother of my Father too

I installed every of these Systems

dunc · 2010-08-02 17:05:20

I installed Ubuntu on my parents' machine about 18 months ago, and they've had no more problems than they ever did with Windows ("It's not printing!" "Is the printer switched on?" "Oh."). They're both over 70.

I haven't had the nerve to update them to Lucid yet, though. I'm thinking of just switching to Arch, in fact. As long as I keep an eye on it, it might actually work out better: I reckon there's less chance of them screwing anything up by accident when there aren't any GUI system tools, for example. And I know Arch better...

Spip · 2010-08-02 18:27:22

My father uses my old lapotop which is on linux. He runs firefox and thunderbird only and I administrate this computer via ssh. My father do not know anything about computers. I keep it simple for him. Linux is obviously the best solution for that. (Sometimes, I can find .exe files on his desktop... )

Spacenick · 2010-08-02 20:32:10

I have switched my mum to linux, telling her I won't support Windows so well worked a charm, currently a weired prinitng problem where it works over the network with OpenOffice but not with gtk apps but won't support any windows.

shak · 2010-08-02 21:19:04

No they don't it's too complicated for them at the moment but maybe when i have some more time i will persuate them to use it

surfed · 2010-08-02 21:33:53

My Kids use Linux, so does my dad, my mum uses whatever it is, she has no clue but knows how to look for the firefox icon. All of us use it on our phones (Android)

SolomonKull · 2010-08-02 23:20:48

My parents used both Xubuntu and TinyMe before they got new machines and went the Microsoft route. At first it seemed like their entire world was falling apart, simply based on the word "Linux". After using it, they were amazed to see how much faster it was than the Windows XP SP2 they had installed on the hardware. They only did browser-based stuff so there was no problems at all. Then my mother decided to go back to college and needed MS-specific software. Upon that realization she bought a new laptop with Vista and I now own their old Linux box, which I use as a local file server powered by Arch.

I'm sure my parents would have no problem using Linux if they needed to.

Last edited by SolomonKull (2010-08-02 23:22:20)

filoktetes · 2010-08-02 23:45:05

My dad still uses the same Arch installation he used when this topic was started. I update it about once every year... He asks for help about twice a year.

Gullible Jones · 2010-08-03 03:15:35

My mom uses a Pentium 4 machine with Ubuntu 10.04. She says she prefers it to Windows... Which kind of makes sense, because she's got minimal computer skills, and Ubuntu/Gnome tends to hide anything that might scare a novice (as opposed to say OpenSuSE with YAST). IMO Ubuntu 10.04 is a pretty good distro for newbies - the default setup is pretty sane, no SSH running by default and such, and stuff doesn't go wrong with it very often.

My dad has at points contemplated switching to a Linux or Windows machine as a main workstation, but for now he's mostly tied to legacy Macs (mostly circa 1999, running OS 8.6 to 9.1). He's also got one Windows machine for browsing, which has gone through several security setups, none satisfactorily effective.

Last edited by Gullible Jones (2010-08-03 03:20:03)

kmason · 2010-08-03 04:31:14

My Father would be using Linux now if the old computer in the living room would boot off of something other than its hard drive. He even installed Ubuntu Netbook Remix on my old Netbook after I did a trade with him, and got it set up with barely any help from me at all. I think that he would actually have an easier time in the shell than the GUI however, as he used do programming on UNIX based systems for his work at Intel - he even still has his old Coherent install floppies. He doesn't have a Computer other than the one he was supplied with by Intel and thus needs to keep Windows on it, however.

My Mother, on the other hand, while she probably would easily be able to make the switch without losing any capabilities, I'm not sure she's willing to give up on Windows - she doesn't even feel like upgrading from Vista to 7.

So, I have Linux/UNIX savviness "in my genes" at least on my father's side. Also, sometimes, you can catch all four members of my family that live here, sitting on the couch using our laptops and watching TV.

Mountainjew · 2010-08-03 05:08:03

Nope, my dad is too big of a gamer to use anything but windows.

thepanu · 2010-08-03 06:45:02

Rewind 3 years and I was getting almost weekly support requests via phone from my parents about something or another not working on their windows machine. Then I installed Ubuntu 7.10 on their computer and *boof*, no more phone calls. Everything just works for their needs and as they are not taht computer literate it doesn't really matter which OS they are using.

Their box is running Ubuntu 8.04 LTS and I think I might change it to Arch next time I visit them. Or just update it to recent Ubuntu version.

ngoonee · 2010-08-03 07:22:00

thepanu wrote:

Rewind 3 years and I was getting almost weekly support requests via phone from my parents about something or another not working on their windows machine. Then I installed Ubuntu 7.10 on their computer and *boof*, no more phone calls. Everything just works for their needs and as they are not taht computer literate it doesn't really matter which OS they are using.
Their box is running Ubuntu 8.04 LTS and I think I might change it to Arch next time I visit them. Or just update it to recent Ubuntu version.

Linux - ruining family relationships since 1991! =p

gtklocker · 2010-08-03 07:42:22

My father refuses to use anything except Ubuntu. Though, he started using Linux many years before me. :-)

Cyrusm · 2010-08-03 12:20:28

I remember when I was in high school, I asked my dad what Linux was, and he said "An operating system put together by a bunch of communist flunky college drop outs who couldn't get a REAL job with microsoft and have no appreciation for our free market society..." yeah, he never used Linux.

.:B:. · 2010-08-03 13:10:45

And now he doesn't want to see you anymore because you went rogue?

mikesd · 2010-08-03 13:30:50

Just set my mum up with a new box running Windows 7 which is what it came with. I installed Microsoft's Security Essentials and set up OpenDNS's FamilyShield to try and block some of the phishing and malware sites. Even so I'm not overly confident that it will remain clean. I'll see how it goes but at the first sign of trouble I think I will throw Ubuntu on it.

It's great to see so many people going with Linux and spreading the word.

jskier · 2010-08-03 13:32:10

Cyrusm wrote:

I remember when I was in high school, I asked my dad what Linux was, and he said "An operating system put together by a bunch of communist flunky college drop outs who couldn't get a REAL job with microsoft and have no appreciation for our free market society..." yeah, he never used Linux.

Hilarious.

I had Linux on Shuttlebox for my folks for about 2 years, I think they thought it was another version of Windows. When they got a new machine I put XP on it, mainly because the occasional compliant about "the computer" aka Linux was not letting them install such and such Windows only app that I couldn't get up in running in Wine and no open source counterpart was available (rare since they don't compute much, but annoying nagging was had). It was nice though for 2 years after installing Linux for them- no worries about spyware or viruses, and things went fairly smooth compared to the initial XP install on the box. I don't live as close as I used to, otherwise I would have continued to support them using Linux. Now I forced them to use Firefox and antivirus in Windows, so the spy ware calls are almost now unheard of

nomilieu · 2010-08-03 15:23:06

Mountainjew wrote:

Nope, my dad is too big of a gamer to use anything but windows.

Ha, that's exactly the case in my family. He plays more games than I do.
(He tried Linux about 10 years ago and decided it was for nerds.)

Inxsible · 2010-08-03 15:33:18

My mother loved mahjongg and all the other games that came pre-installed with Gnome when I first gave them Ubuntu. But they live in a different country than me, so it was difficult to troubleshoot things if something went wrong. So I just gave up and one day over skype video call, I explained my dad how to get rid of Linux.

They use Vista now, which is bad, but atleast when they tell me about a problem they have, I just tell them that I have never used Vista and so I can't help them. I just ask them to call a local "computer repair man"

Last edited by Inxsible (2010-08-03 15:33:40)

Spacenick · 2010-08-03 16:55:35

@Inxsible you reckon what ssh is for? And maybe FreeNX on top?
I'd think it's pretty easy to support a Linux box from whereever I am as long as I got Internet and some SSH even if it's putty in an Internet Cafe.
My dad only uses a computer at his work at an insurance company, so Windows only. But he already agreed to switch to Linux when he retired,
my parents also know that I've got a zero tolerance policy when it comes to supporting Windows boxes.
I got Windows 7 on my Laptop because a friend got me to go to a LAN party, but I haven't booted it since and probably won't be for a long time.

Inxsible · 2010-08-03 17:01:28

@Spacenik ssh/FreeNX is pretty useless, when my parents cannot configure the pppoe connection that they get at home in India. Unless I visit them there fix it all up and hope that any package upgrades will not screw up the internet connection.

Last edited by Inxsible (2010-08-03 17:02:04)

Spacenick · 2010-08-03 17:02:50

Oh well, yeah that's much more difficult then the normal Box behind router situation we've got here...

dunc · 2010-08-03 17:05:40

Cyrusm wrote:

I remember when I was in high school, I asked my dad what Linux was, and he said "An operating system put together by a bunch of communist flunky college drop outs who couldn't get a REAL job with microsoft and have no appreciation for our free market society..." yeah, he never used Linux.

Argh. I hate it when supposed supporters of free markets don't understand what a free market is. FLOSS is a much more open - and, arguably, competitive - market than the Microsoft world. Sometimes you wish some people weren't on your side.

Arch Linux

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