Do your parents use Linux?

Spacenick · 2010-08-03 17:10:27

I hate it when people don't understand that by far the biggest enemy of any market is a monopoly not someone selling cheap or for free.
Some market I won't name has had better service for free then the payed segement for the last 3000 years and^^

.:B:. · 2010-08-03 20:20:47

Gentlemen, let not turn this into a topic about how free or unfree the 'free market' really is. I'd hate to see this topic closed because of that.

http://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/For … ial_Topics

Thank you for your consideration.

lilsirecho · 2010-08-03 21:42:30

My parents are long since gone. I am a parent now of six children, eight grandchildren and eight greatgrandchildren.

I will be 85 next weekend and have been archer for seven years.

Vamp898 · 2010-08-04 08:33:33

lilsirecho wrote:

My parents are long since gone. I am a parent now of six children, eight grandchildren and eight greatgrandchildren.
I will be 85 next weekend and have been archer for seven years.

Than let us hope that your children and grandchildren and so on will grow with Linux

hurleyef · 2010-08-04 22:28:06

My father uses Fedora 9. He's a pharmacist that never cared for microsoft, so I have a lot of memories using os/2 as a kid. When that died he tried several alternatives (beOS, solaris, and several linuxes) before settling on redhat, then fedora.

mDuo13 · 2010-08-05 01:31:20

I put Ubuntu 64-bit on the computer I built for my dad a while back. It was fine for a while, but poor support for 64-bit Flash, his video card, and various rare peripherals he kept buying made me put him back on Windows XP. Still, I haven't really had a problem with his computer ever since I converted him from Internet Explorer to Firefox (Firebird at the time).

Last edited by mDuo13 (2010-08-05 01:32:19)

Vamp898 · 2010-08-05 08:17:15

1. Rule: Never put a 64bit OS an a newbies Computer. Newbies want+need closed-source apps which often have poor 64bit Linux Support

otterfox · 2010-08-05 09:19:42

My Dad's a network engineer but still manages to use windows on all his home computers. I keep telling him to use linux, but he goes on about his media streaming boxes...
My official policy now when I'm asked to fix people's computers is to tell them I only do linux, so if they want me to fix their computers they have to bake me noms and I install ubuntu for them.

syltman · 2010-08-05 20:06:50

My dad couldn't get agda, emacs etc to work properly on mac so I installed ubuntu for him and he seem to like it.

zenlord · 2010-08-06 07:41:19

My mother has used Archlinux a while, until her computer died and her new computer came preinstalled with windows 7. I haven't found the time to replace it with linux yet.

One of my uncles always had problems in windows XP, but then I replaced it with Ubuntu. A lot of moaning and grunting at first, but the complaints simply stopped after a while. Then he bought himself a laptop that came with Windows Vista and he didn't want linux on that laptop and what d'ya know? Approximately 2 months later it was unable to boot. Replaced it with Ubuntu and never heard of him ever since

My grandfather however (84 years old- yay!) is a hardcore Archlinux-user. Granted, he has never used a windows computer before, but still: he is able to browse the web, read and write emails and I'm continually helping him to do new things (online shopping, online banking etc.). The biggest problem he has is using the mouse and double-clicking the buttons...

IncredibleLaser · 2010-08-06 12:02:49

The biggest problem he has is using the mouse and double-clicking the buttons...

What's the problem? I do so too.

zenlord · 2010-08-06 12:23:44

IncredibleLaser wrote:

The biggest problem he has is using the mouse and double-clicking the buttons...
What's the problem? I do so too.

Imagine you never used a mouse before and that you have to control a white arrow on the computer's desktop with a device on your (bureau) desktop. Image you have to click rather securely on certain elements on-screen.

Next imagine that your hands and fingers are not as agile as they used to be. Clicking twice within a certain time-frame (even though you can make this time-frame bigger) *without* moving the mouse is not that straightforward...

IncredibleLaser · 2010-08-06 13:06:02

Ah, sorry. I got you wrong. I thought you meant it was a problem he did this, not that he has problems doing it. You might enable single-click for him, then.

seiichiro0185 · 2010-08-06 13:47:56

My parents have a computer running Ubuntu, for about a year now. Before that they had the machine running Gentoo set up by me. But since I moved and it became a bigger and bigger problem to do any install/change on the system without breaking it I installed ubuntu which my father can update and configure without it breaking. The administration work from my side is nearly zero since then At first I thought of using arch but then I would again have the problem that only I can manage the system (My father doesn't want to learn the console stuff).

dunc · 2010-08-06 17:46:18

zenlord wrote:

Granted, he has never used a windows computer before

I think this is important. Windows is only "easier" to those who are used to it. There's nothing inherently more difficult about the modern Linux desktop. My parents had only been using Windows for a couple of years when I gave them their Ubuntu machine, and as I said, the transition was painless.

(For what it's worth, I've never been a regular Windows user and it drives me nuts. )

Weegee · 2010-08-06 18:19:47

They have to - there are only 3 working PCs in this house, and merely one of them has access to the internet. So if they want to surf the web, they have to use Arch Linux

Mr Pink57 · 2010-08-09 06:08:14

My mother is a data modeler so she does use Linux in a server environment sometimes but mainly Windows. At home she just uses Vista and calls me when something doesn't work

gatonero · 2010-08-09 11:25:48

I'm using Linux since 10 years, my both children don't use it :-(

sonoran · 2010-08-10 12:02:34

zenlord wrote:

My grandfather however (84 years old- yay!) is a hardcore Archlinux-user. Granted, he has never used a windows computer before, but still: he is able to browse the web, read and write emails and I'm continually helping him to do new things (online shopping, online banking etc.). The biggest problem he has is using the mouse and double-clicking the buttons...

Have you tried a trackball for your grandfather? There are several large, bulky ones available. Much easier to use than a mouse if your hands aren't steady.

nXqd · 2010-08-10 15:06:35

My mother don't use computer much but I think I needn't to install linux in her netbook I study in another city so windows is better if she has problem in computer, there're not much linux user in my hometown I know
My brother knows about linux but he works with a lot of tools in windows, and he plays games a lot So there's no need to change.
I use both windows and linux, most of times for linux, and my windows is customized [ W7 + r7lite ]

jac · 2010-08-10 15:38:40

My dad uses GNU/Linux. So do 4/5 computers at my house. Also 1/2 at my mom's house. And 1/1 at my grandma's house. 1/2 at my cousin and aunt's house. So, on average my entire family does

Last edited by jac (2010-08-10 15:38:57)

nXqd · 2010-08-10 16:36:44

jac wrote:

My dad uses GNU/Linux. So do 4/5 computers at my house. Also 1/2 at my mom's house. And 1/1 at my grandma's house. 1/2 at my cousin and aunt's house. So, on average my entire family does

Wow, it's very nice I hope there's more and more people in my country [ VN ] use linux. Most of them use linux because of they're IT Pro, Windows' license is not the problem in my country [ you know ... ]

zenlord · 2010-08-10 17:16:01

sonoran wrote:

zenlord wrote:
My grandfather however (84 years old- yay!) is a hardcore Archlinux-user. Granted, he has never used a windows computer before, but still: he is able to browse the web, read and write emails and I'm continually helping him to do new things (online shopping, online banking etc.). The biggest problem he has is using the mouse and double-clicking the buttons...
Have you tried a trackball for your grandfather? There are several large, bulky ones available. Much easier to use than a mouse if your hands aren't steady.

No, I didn't - I'm myself not too familiar with a trackball device. Maybe I should've thought of that, but at the moment he's doing quite alright and I don't feel like teaching him something else...

Good idea though - I've always wanted to get the hang of it myself, but never got around to buying one...

zenlord · 2010-08-10 17:17:14

IncredibleLaser wrote:

Ah, sorry. I got you wrong. I thought you meant it was a problem he did this, not that he has problems doing it. You might enable single-click for him, then.

No problem
I didn't find that option in XFCE right away, but I just know it must be there - thanks for reminding me!

akurei · 2010-08-13 20:49:44

My mom does. But she's using Linux Mint with KDE (http://linuxmint.com), because I am not around all the time. My uncle's using Ubuntu, and so does my grandmother. I never heard complains except the OS-independend problems like: "Where do I plug in this" and stuff.
My mom has to use Windows Seven (in VirtualBox) sometimes though, because she works part-time for an insurance company and their software runs only on Windows.
My boyfriend's using Ubuntu Netbook Edition on his Netbook, and he loves it! Going to introduce him to kalzium sometime this week, because he starts to study chemistry next month.

My dad is the only reluctant one in the family. That's because my dad and mother-in-law, (believe) they need Office 2k7 to do all their household stuff. They also use the IE, because my mother-in-law uses some kind of browser-dependend (ActiveX?) application for agricultural management (the own a farm), and bavarian government only allows IE on this site, afaik.

Last edited by akurei (2010-08-13 20:50:07)

Arch Linux

#76 2010-08-03 17:10:27

Re: Do your parents use Linux?

#77 2010-08-03 20:20:47

Re: Do your parents use Linux?

#78 2010-08-03 21:42:30

Re: Do your parents use Linux?

#79 2010-08-04 08:33:33

Re: Do your parents use Linux?

#80 2010-08-04 22:28:06

Re: Do your parents use Linux?

#81 2010-08-05 01:31:20

Re: Do your parents use Linux?

#82 2010-08-05 08:17:15

Re: Do your parents use Linux?

#83 2010-08-05 09:19:42

Re: Do your parents use Linux?

#84 2010-08-05 20:06:50

Re: Do your parents use Linux?

#85 2010-08-06 07:41:19

Re: Do your parents use Linux?

#86 2010-08-06 12:02:49

Re: Do your parents use Linux?

#87 2010-08-06 12:23:44

Re: Do your parents use Linux?

#88 2010-08-06 13:06:02

Re: Do your parents use Linux?

#89 2010-08-06 13:47:56

Re: Do your parents use Linux?

#90 2010-08-06 17:46:18

Re: Do your parents use Linux?

#91 2010-08-06 18:19:47

Re: Do your parents use Linux?

#92 2010-08-09 06:08:14

Re: Do your parents use Linux?

#93 2010-08-09 11:25:48

Re: Do your parents use Linux?

#94 2010-08-10 12:02:34

Re: Do your parents use Linux?

#95 2010-08-10 15:06:35

Re: Do your parents use Linux?

#96 2010-08-10 15:38:40

Re: Do your parents use Linux?

#97 2010-08-10 16:36:44

Re: Do your parents use Linux?

#98 2010-08-10 17:16:01

Re: Do your parents use Linux?

#99 2010-08-10 17:17:14

Re: Do your parents use Linux?

#100 2010-08-13 20:49:44

Re: Do your parents use Linux?

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