hi! i've managed to make my mother switch to linux in summer. i installed everything for her and explained her the basics. i made the machine dual-boot (win and linux) and i'm glad to say that she never booted win since linux was installed. she really had the will to make the step to linux. she is very interested in knowing more, and when there are problems i try to explain the reasnons. e.g. some time ago my brother missconfigured her mail-client to use sendmail on localhost. since the computer is being masqued, mails did not go out. i explained her the important parts of the smtp protocol, and she was glad to know _why_ things did not work as they should. well, she is just a linux _user_, and it will take some time to show her the benefits of e.g. the command-line. she is really interested to know what happens "behind the scenes", but she is much to busy to expore the system on her own. anyways. she really learned to make her everyday-work with linux. she konws how to kill hanging apps, how to open strange documents, and well, she has her ways to get help (my brother, or if things are more complicated, myself).
i'm still waiting before i make the same steps with my father, because i feel that it will be much more difficult to make him "move". he is used to his envirnonment, and even changes make him worry. i don't really think this is gender-specific, in this case... it's just different people... greetings, -till p.s. this was not really "women in debian", rather "people with linux" :)
