Do your parents use Linux?

jaco · 2011-04-03 14:22:25

I'm a parent... I've never used anything but Unix since 1995... Linux (the first one was installed from floppy disks... a Slackware, as far i remember), then FreeBSD/NetBSD, then Mac OS X, then back to Linux...

My two kids (12 and 17 years old) are using Windows since they mostly use their computers for gaming... They're not curious about OS, for the moment.

My wife is using OS X, mostly for surfing, emailing and the like.

I don't despair to convert my oldest child to install Linux on its laptop when he will be at the university

Last edited by jaco (2011-04-03 14:23:11)

DustinCasler · 2011-04-04 00:16:04

My parents don't really care so much about their computers. My mom has a laptop that she uses for work running a 2-3 update behind version of OSX(won't let me upgrade it for her no matter how many times I offer(and I have a friend that works for apple, so said updates would be free)). My dad runs I think windows 7 on a box he just bought, he has no real reason that he uses windows other than that it's what came on the computer so it has to be right. My stepdad runs windows xp on an old computer. I've got 3 parents, none of whom are at all interested in any help with their machines or running anything that didn't come on them.....

zenlord · 2011-04-04 11:58:33

DustinCasler wrote:

I've got 3 parents, none of whom are at all interested in any help with their machines or running anything that didn't come on them.....

In my experience, that can change quickly when (not 'if') the next virus/worm is spreading on the internet...

Gregorz · 2011-04-04 12:22:22

Greetings,

this is my first post here (coming from the German forum), therefore a small 'hello' and thanks for your great work here to you all (and please excuse my bad English).

BTT:

My mom was constantly nagging about not having a computer at home. So she got one from me for Christmas.

At work she uses a very old windows version ( I don't know which) and since Vista or W7 would have been a big change for here anyway I decided to install Ubuntu on the machine. I think she barely notices that it is different and seems to be happy with it (and I don't have to free the machine from viruses and spyware every three months as I am used to it with my sisters computer)

DustinCasler · 2011-04-05 02:44:14

zenlord wrote:

DustinCasler wrote:
I've got 3 parents, none of whom are at all interested in any help with their machines or running anything that didn't come on them.....
In my experience, that can change quickly when (not 'if') the next virus/worm is spreading on the internet...

Man, I wish it were that simple. It took my friend fixing my windows box and getting my data with a Linux live disc twice before I asked him to just show me how to use what he was fixed it with both times. My parents however seem to just accept that you are supposed to get viruses and your machine is supposed to become unusable after a few years........

zenlord · 2011-04-05 07:38:36

DustinCasler wrote:

My parents however seem to just accept that you are supposed to get viruses and your machine is supposed to become unusable after a few years........

Google is coming to the rescue: if they suspect dubious activities on your account, apparently they make you change your password. The one colleague in my office who let him persuade by his wife to buy a windows-laptop has been struck by a virus and came to me when he was not getting any emails for two days... The answer was simple: change your password and ditch windows. I might be able to remove the virus, but I refuse to do that. Linux or nothing, out of principle, but more than that because I don't have the spare time anymore to help people frequently with removing malware.

PReP · 2011-04-06 06:28:37

Funny enough (and/or great) my mother runs Arch Linux with Openbox and slim.
Though "runs" is taking it to far, as all she has to do is switch between her programs and shutdown the computer.

I figured that since Arch, and linux in itself, is so malleable, i could create an interface even more simple to use than windows or ubuntu,
but still just use as little junk as possible on this old machine.

What i did was this:

. Installed arch, openbox and slim.

. Made slim start and log in automatically at boot.
. Made openbox have two desktops.

. Put a simple bmpanel2 bar at the bottom of the desktop

. Set her solitaire game to start automatically on desktop 2, labeled: GAME

. Set Google Chrome to start automatically on Desktop 1, labeled: INTERNET and get focus at start

. Set Google chrome to open Her facebook and hotmail in tabs at start.

Then it was just a matter of getting her used to click between GAME and INTERNET,
and shutdown the computer with a neat red icon doing: sudo halt.

The only downside is that now i seldomly ever get any cries for help, and a possible reward

But i do get to avoid viruses, program debugging, constant reinstalling,
and above all, i can now tease people jokingly by saying: "Even my mother is more l33t then you, she runs arch linux"

cs_student · 2011-04-06 06:52:04

My parents use windows because that is what came with their computer. However they were interested in getting my two sisters a computer (both under the age of 10), so I told them that they could take my old desktop (I only use my laptop anymore). I installed ubuntu on it. Pretty much everything they needed came right out of the box. I went back for spring break not long ago and it seems as though my dad has been keeping up with updating it (simply by accepting the updates).
I also have it set up as a server in case the seedbox/server at my friends house goes down I can still acquire movi.... erm archLinux iso's from my dorm (you can't torrent in the dorms).

vitoreiji · 2011-04-11 04:14:25

My parents have a desktop running Vista and a laptop running Ubuntu. My dad doesn't use the laptop much, but my mom seems to get along just fine with it.
Also, my girlfriend has been using Linux even since before I met her (Yeah!). She's currently using Ubuntu, which I maintain, but I'm considering installing Arch there, since she's been complaining about speed and stuff...
And, curiously, sometime in February, my little sister asked me to fix her netbook. "You got Windows there right? Can't help you, haven't used it in like 6 years.", to what she replied "OK, install that Linux thing for me here, then.". I did it, when the installation process had finished, I said "OK, now we just need to configure some things and we're done. I just got to go to the bathroom, BRB". When I came back, she had set up her MSN account, Facebook app (?) and said to me "this looks much cooler than before!". +1 happy user
Oh, I almost forgot, my girlfriend's mother happily used Ubuntu on an old laptop of my girlfriend's for quite some time, until she got herself a new netbook which came with Win7 and stuck with it...

kolos · 2011-04-15 01:30:02

i live far from home, so just the thought to make 'em install some distro giving instructions by phone.... ah, the nightmares are back...

s922183t · 2011-04-15 04:35:56

My mom uses Kubuntu.

I still remember that day she came to me and said:

"You're taking too long to install linux for me."

I scratched my eyes and looked at the ceiling, it was still there, the floor was also in place, then I realized, was not dreaming or having a nightmare. LOL

Last edited by s922183t (2011-04-15 04:36:20)

Marklar · 2011-04-19 02:28:01

My mom came into town and stayed over. She used my computer all weekend (this was a couple of years back). I had Arch with Gnome2 and Compiz running and she loved it. She asked me to build her a computer just like mine when she has the money for one because she loved how fast it was.

Now this could have been because she has a Windows XP era e-machine and my computer is about 10x better than that. So was it Linux or the hardware that she love so much?

I think if she ever does actually have me build her a machine I'm going to install a linux distro for starters as an experiment. As long as she uses it for internet and facebook she'll be fine but she has a bunch of cheap bargain bin games she picks up at walmart, her favorites being Luxor and Bejeweled. If those will run in Wine she won't care what OS she's running.

Or I could just try and convince her to let me put Linux on her e-machine.

Last edited by Marklar (2011-04-19 02:29:05)

cbrunos · 2011-04-24 11:46:55

When I went to college, 4 years ago, my parents decided it was time to learn how to use a computer, to pay bills via the internet for example. So they began using the computer that was in my room which was running XP at the time. A few months later, said computer was full of malware, was slow and it was simply impossible to work with it.

So I downloaded Puppy Linux and burnt it on a cd and left the cd in the trayer. I told them that know they would be using Linux instead of Windows but if they don't like it, they can take the cd out and use XP again. My dad couldn't believe his eyes; he thought that the computer was slow because it was getting old, like an old car that gets less reliable after some years. He then understood that the problem was windows, that gets slow with time. I remember him saying: «Que se foda o Windows!» («Fuck Windows» in portuguese) and now they bought a new computer and they've been running Linux Mint 9 for months now, without any problems.

null · 2011-04-24 14:29:50

just installed ubuntu on my father's new netbook and so far he loves much more then w7. Probs because it needs more then a minute to shutdown properly (it's a clean new installation without any programs on it) and allmost the same for starting.
An he really loves unity but I only get headaches all the time I have to help him with it. It's just searching all the time for the right button which does the thing u want. And try to don't get confused with synaptics, software-center and update-manager together. Who needs so many programs just for package managing? <3 pacman!

Beelzebud · 2011-04-26 18:14:35

Tried it once, and realized that Linux isn't for everyone. Mom just wanted to use her familiar proprietary photo programs, which she couldn't under Linux, and Wine didn't quite run them correctly. I'm happy to use Linux, and now I just suggest it to people I'm sure would be willing to learn. That is the key. Some people like to know how things work, and some people just want to use their computer like an appliance. It depends on the person.

mrmylanman · 2011-04-28 00:23:59

My mom dropped her laptop and it got completely destroyed so she asked me to find her a laptop "as cheap as possible".

So I found her one on craigslist for around $60, and it didn't have Windows, so I just put Xubuntu on it, figuring it's somewhat lightweight, while at the same time super simple (my mom is not very computer-literate). She hated it because it didn't resemble Windows, and even though I laid the screen out similar to Windows (task bar on the bottom, etc.) she just looked at it and immediately decided it was too hard without hardly trying it lol.

Some people just don't want change.

manzdagratiano · 2011-05-01 04:38:53

My Mom still uses Windows, but that is because I haven't been around home on the other side of the world much to convert her.
My Father- and Sister-in-law-to-be has been completely converted to Ubuntu, so also my Brother-in-law-to-be and his girlfriend. So also my closest friend... and now I am trying to push Arch out there My Fiancee still needs Windows for her Dental School software (and she refused to even consider a Mac, which, though expensive and arguably evil, is at least Unix-based), but she uses Ubuntu most of the time as well.

I would like to but a LOT of FOSS gear, but right now I am a poor graduate student - I shall, once I finish my Ph.D. and get a real job.

archman-cro · 2011-05-01 09:09:42

I'm going to put Debian Stable on my parents' machine the next time I get home, since this winblows crap is sucking life out of a 2 GHz computer real bad.
They only need an internet browser (flash support is a _must_), a movie player and a picture viewer, so I guess that the transition wouldn't be a problem.
Looking forward to it.

Last edited by archman-cro (2011-05-01 09:10:05)

Arch Linux

#201 2011-04-03 14:22:25

Re: Do your parents use Linux?

#202 2011-04-04 00:16:04

Re: Do your parents use Linux?

#203 2011-04-04 11:58:33

Re: Do your parents use Linux?

#204 2011-04-04 12:22:22

Re: Do your parents use Linux?

#205 2011-04-05 02:44:14

Re: Do your parents use Linux?

#206 2011-04-05 07:38:36

Re: Do your parents use Linux?

#207 2011-04-06 06:28:37

Re: Do your parents use Linux?

#208 2011-04-06 06:52:04

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#209 2011-04-11 04:14:25

Re: Do your parents use Linux?

#210 2011-04-15 01:30:02

Re: Do your parents use Linux?

#211 2011-04-15 04:35:56

Re: Do your parents use Linux?

#212 2011-04-19 02:28:01

Re: Do your parents use Linux?

#213 2011-04-24 11:46:55

Re: Do your parents use Linux?

#214 2011-04-24 14:29:50

Re: Do your parents use Linux?

#215 2011-04-26 18:14:35

Re: Do your parents use Linux?

#216 2011-04-28 00:23:59

Re: Do your parents use Linux?

#217 2011-05-01 04:38:53

Re: Do your parents use Linux?

#218 2011-05-01 09:09:42

Re: Do your parents use Linux?

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