My Parents have run Ubuntu for years now.
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| Author | Content |
|---|---|
| PaulFerris Jun 07, 2010 12:18 PM EDT |
Since 8.10 if I remember correctly. They rarely if ever call me for any technical assistance and they have it loaded on several home computers. When I say rare here -- it's maybe once a year I have to swing by for some hardware-related issue. It's never Ubuntu's fault. Contrast that with their sole Windows computer that so often got re-infected that I had to direct them to use a local computer company to re-image the thing every so many months. Some of the other variables: Their grand-kids use the computer equipment a lot. Ever since kicking the kids off of the Windows boxes and onto Ubuntu the re-load need on that one PC has gone to zero. And I never see that PC on -- it's like a door-stop mostly. My Mom and Dad are your typical non-tech people -- they surf the web and correspond with their other retired friends all the time. |
| techiem2 Jun 07, 2010 2:40 PM EDT |
My mom has been using various flavors of Linux for several years now too.
She wanted a computer, she helped me get the parts needed, I set it up for her.
I ran her through several distros and eventually just settled on a light Debian setup. Her new laptop booted Windows maybe twice before I hacked a chunk off the hard disk and installed Debian on it and set it up like her previous machine. I rarely hear any complaints. The most common would be the "can't open file in email" problem, which generally means I just need to set the association for that file type (and maybe install the needed viewer). |
| gus3 Jun 07, 2010 3:40 PM EDT |
I can see it now: Surveys that once asked, "What distro do you use?", will soon be asking, "What distro do your parents use?" |
| r_a_trip Jun 08, 2010 3:39 AM EDT |
My mom has been on Linux for several years now. Initially my parents had a PC that sat on the desk unused for years until my mom felt it was time to start using it. At first she asked me if she could get Windows, which I strongly discouraged. It was a bit of a fight, because as so many people she thought that Windows would be easier. I asked her if she knew either Windows or Linux. She said she didn't. I said that it wouldn't make a difference then where she would start. I did promiss her that whatever she "broke" or whatever problem cropped up on Linux, she just call me and I would come and fix it. Reluctantly she agreed. While Windows was being hammered by Code Red, Slammer, Nimda and what not, she was surfing the web without any problems and loving the fact she didn't have to worry about Windows malware. she still discovers something new every week. I rarely get any support questions. Last year the PC died and we replaced it with a nice, small Nettop. Unfortunately, Ubuntu refused to run on it. So I switched her over to Fedora 12. She was a bit apprehensive at first. Afraid it would be too different, but to her surprise she just eased into Fedora 12 with Gnome just as easy as ubuntu 9.04 with Gnome. She reitterated she is glad that she started using Linux instead of Windows, which she does on occassion when it becomes clear how much hassle she has saved herself by not going with the "mainstream". |
| TxtEdMacs Jun 08, 2010 7:29 AM EDT |
[serious] r_a ..., Quoting: [...] she is glad that she started using Linux instead of Windows, which she does on occassion when it becomes clear how much hassle she has saved herself [...]Great, but she tell her friends the same story? [/serious] YBT |
| gus3 Jun 08, 2010 12:13 PM EDT |
[sarcasm] Let's hope not. There's room for only so many in the inner circle. [/sarcasm] |
| PaulFerris Jun 08, 2010 4:44 PM EDT |
Txt: Great, but she tell her friends the same story? In the context of my parents, my Dad and Mom's view of Linux is very similar to that of r_a_trip's -- my Dad and Mom don't really care much about technology at all, for what it's worth -- it's just a solution that in this context has saved them a ton of hassles -- and he's told people so when they've asked. Recently, one of his childhood friends called and said he should switch to Linux (and it was worth a laugh). I know that I've been running into more and more people running it as a desktop lately for similar reasons as outlined in this thread. |
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