On Tue, 13 Nov 2001 23:20:47 -0500 (EST), Steve <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:

> http://www.theregister.co.uk/content/4/22770.html

> Of course, M$ did have 3 wins over Linux.
> Three?  Is that all???  ;-)

> - Steve

Questions:

In the Linux world, are there any full-fledged word processor
applications having wysiwyg screen editors suitable for use by
dummies?  I am speaking here of something that might be comparable
to M$-Word or WordPerfect for Windows.

If so, can anyone recommend any particular such applications and
let me know how much they cost?

Here is the reason I ask these questions:

I am in the process of setting up a computer that was given to a
person who is a fast and accurate typist who is computer illiterate.
She wants to learn how to do word-processing with a computer.  All
she knows about the computer that was given to her is that the donor
told her that it doesn't work and that if she's really lucky she
might be able to find somebody that can fix it for her for a
reasonable price.

It was a Pentium 100 with a 1.6 MB hard drive and a 48x CD-ROM drive
and 32MB memory.  I fixed it for $2.69.  It needed a new CMOS battery
and the hard drive needed fdisking and reformatting.  I partitioned
it into two FAT 16 DOS partitions of about 800 MB each.  Another thing
wrong with the computer was that the ribbon connectors between the two
on-board serial ports and the external connector ports were plugged
into the mobo backwards.  Now everything including the CD-ROM drive
works and the C drive boots to DR-DOS 7.03.

Often it is easier for a rank novice to learn something entirely new
than it is for a person who has previous experience and skills with
something similar.  She thinks she wants to do Window$ 95 because
that is what everybody else does.  Whatever she does, whether DOS,
Window$, or Linux, she will be starting off as a beginner.

Does anyone think that this machine might be a good candidate for a
Linux box?  Would it be just as easy for a total novice to computers
to learn to work with Linux as it is to learn how to use Window$ 95?

If anyone thinks I should try to install some version of Linux on
this machine for this person, please give me some advice on how to
start.  I have never installed Linux before.  Also I will need to
install a word processor for Linux.

IMHO, Linux will never become a very formidable threat to M$ until
computer newbies start talking about how easy it is to learn to use.

I certainly will appreciate any advice I can get on this matter.

All the best,

Sam Heywood
-- This mail was written by user of The Arachne Browser - http://arachne.cz/

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