Here's an ethical question for you. I have a middle aged friend who wants to "learn computers"; he's never used computers before (he's a builder). In exchange for some work he's doing for me, I'm going to install everything, get him connected to the net and teach him how to do email, use the internet, write basic documents, and whatever else comes up (eg playing music, watching videos). As a builder he also wants to be able to submit documents to councils - I haven't been able to pin down the format required by councils yet.
Do I install and teach him 'doze/M$ Office or Ubuntu? Or, setup dual boot and teach him both? Or, install Ubuntu and Cross Over office? The Linux lover and advocate in me says "Linux, of course", but is that ethical? What I mean is that some time in the future I mightn't be around to help him, then he'll be at the tender mercies of other friends, PC shops, ISP phone support, etc, who probably won't know Linux. If he goes to an internet cafe or reads a newspaper article, he'll also be stuck in a 'doze world. I can point him at SLUG, but is that really helping him? On the other hand, with Linux he'll get everything extra for free, won't have to learn about nagware/cracks, won't be stuck in the "upgrade treadmill", won't have virus problems, and generally have less problems... I'm not trolling here - this is a serious question - imagine if you were in the same situation with a friend/parent, and weren't going to be around for ever to help them. -- Sonia Hamilton. GPG key A8B77238. -- SLUG - Sydney Linux User's Group Mailing List - http://slug.org.au/ Subscription info and FAQs: http://slug.org.au/faq/mailinglists.html
