Baudouin, Andrew wrote: > John, > > The comments were serious. He "seriously" doesn't help his sister because > she uses Windows. That's ridiculous.
read my other post. It's not ridiculous. And you've misunderstood what I said in the first place. > I use XPSP2 and its personal firewall. > I create Limited user accounts for people to use their computer with. > I educate users to buy the latest version of Outlook (2003) which blocks all > executable attachments. > I educate users not to go to gambling websites and stick with trusted sites > (msn, yahoo, google). good for you. My family linux users have the same capabilities and they didn't have to drop extra $$ on Outlook to boot. hooray. If they stumble across untrusted sites, they're not going to get some bizarre toolbar, have their homepage changed, etc. > Linux users that run as root all of the time would have the same problems as > a Windows user who runs with administrative privileges. Why do you think they run as root all the time? Do you? > If the family member wants to install, let's say, a card game to play on his > Xandros, how is that done? Do they know how to apt-get? What if they > wanted to stop at Wal-Mart and pick up one of the Hoyle Solitaire's for $5. > Would that run on Linux? They don't. they play one of the 30 or so games that comes on the box. Mom's not really a gamer though.... and yeah, they can apt-get if need be. > Let's say they wanted to install MythTV. Would they know how to recompile a > kernel for bttv/ivtv support and to disable preemption? Would they know how > to make sure their /etc/modules.autoload.d/2.6 stayed up to date? I don't know how this fits into a discussion of basic desktop usage. > There are no install CD's for device drivers for Linux. There is no > widespread cheap software library for Linux. There is no "standard" version > of Linux. It will forever be limited to us geeks. The sooner we realize > that, the better. You'd be surprised what they can learn to do on their own or with a little simple instruction. My brother installed Mepis on his own. He asked me a few questions. He is NOT a skilled user of any os. No worries about "device drivers". And they don't need device drivers when the box is installed and ready to go. And when he goes and buys a wireless NIC, I know from experience he's going to plug it in and have it recognized immediately and be up and running in minutes. Considering how much software the typical *nix desktop ships with, they rarely desire additional software. They know they can't buy off the shelf software from Wal Mart and here's the kicker: They don't care. And noo matter what they use, there is a learning curve. Don't kid yourself. Teach them and let them learn. > If you want to give something to your family members, > suggest they purchase OS X on a mac. I don't disagree and I've told cousins and uncles this when they've asked, "what kind of computer should I buy?" You use Windows a lot. You're comfortable in it. Therefore, you think it's the easiest and best thing for most folks. I use Linux a lot. I'm comfortable in it. Therefore, I think it's the easiest and best thing for most folks. Our points of view are based on our subjective experiences. -- Scott Harney <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> "Asking the wrong questions is the leading cause of wrong answers" gpg key fingerprint=7125 0BD3 8EC4 08D7 321D CEE9 F024 7DA6 0BC7 94E5
