On Sun, Dec 03, 2006 at 09:09:58PM +1100, Sonia Hamilton wrote: > 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. > <snip> > 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.
Tis a difficult problem to be sure. One thing that I have noticed is that more important is how you teach him to do things. Rather than just, click this button, do this etc., teach him how to learn how to use the computer. Not only will he learn about the OS you eventually choose, but he will be better placed when he is in a different situation. Remember, even in the Windows world, things aren't necessarily consistent. If I was in this situation, I'd simply discuss it with him, and maybe set up a dual boot with KDE and Win, and let him see the similarities and the differences. In all reality, the major differences between the two come in configuration rather than usability aspects. The chance of you being able to teach him to that level is minimal if he has no experience. If you give him Firefox, Thunderbird and OpenOffice, then he can migrate to Windows in the future without losing everything he's learnt. I know I haven't really answered the question, but hopefully I've given you another take on it. Byron Hillis P.S. I recently had to do a similar thing for my father, and I went the Ubuntu route, even though he used to use Windows and is currently located in Perth and I in Sydney. He adapted quite quickly and I provide (rare) troubleshooting via SSH and VNC. -- SLUG - Sydney Linux User's Group Mailing List - http://slug.org.au/ Subscription info and FAQs: http://slug.org.au/faq/mailinglists.html
