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Linux In The Home |
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 What's that you say? Linux is not for end users? It's too hard to use and only for true geeks? Pff! Whatever!
My parents have been running Fedora (Core 1) Linux on their PC for over three months. I have only had two phone calls from them about it, and neither of them were about something silly like a BSoD or the system locking up on them or anything like that. Sure, I had to install it for them - but I would have had to install Windows for them too. With Windows they were so freaked out that they might get a virus or get hacked that prior to me installing Linux that their PC was turned off for at least two weeks!
I also installed Fedora (Core 2) on my wife's laptop after a virus worked her Windows system over so badly that it wouldn't even boot up. After Fedora, no problems. She has even been telling everyone she works with about it, and some of them are considering having me install Linux on their PCs. She is the best type of Linux advocate there is: she is not a geek and has no desire to be, and yet she runs "The Geek's OS". My parents don't tell people about it really, but then again they don't even know how to pronounce Linux; they just know they have a sense of security with their computer that they have never had before. I even assured my mom that she CANNOT screw it up, and the amount of time she spends on the computer has tripled.
Now, I'm not saying Linux is for everyone, but if a handful of non-geeks can figure it out with very minimal instruction and setup time on my part, it must be at least headed in the right direction. I also know other guys at work that have installed Linux on their parent's computers for the exact same reasons (in fact, that's where I got the idea), and they've also had tremendous results.
Obviously, another way to go is Mac OS X. I would absolutely love for my parents to have gotten a Mac - it would be perfect for them. Unfortunately, it wasn't within their budget to make a hardware purchase after having their PC for just a year. I'll be completely honest and tell you I wish I had a nice, beefy, fully-loaded 17" PowerBook (*wipes drool from mouth*) and an iBook for the Missus, but until I start making a bit more cash I will just have to keep tinkering with my 1GHz HP laptop running - yep, you guessed it - Fedora. Not that I mind, but I am ready for more power (and battery life) than I am getting from this one.
I know Linux isn't for everyone, but if you're sick of Windows and/or the problems it causes and you don't have the money in your budget to go out and buy a brand new Mac, just remember that you have options, and so do your parents. It doesn't cost any money to download and install Linux, just a little time on your part to learn something different. If you'd like to, you can me and/or checkout my Website for help. |
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August 19 2004, 6:19 PM EDT, by
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Comments:
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| sweetjimmyhugs |
8/19/04, 7:53 PM EDT |
Great article! You made words into sentences and made those sentences into paragraphs. Good jorb!
Seriously though, Linux is a great OS. I foresee it becoming THE OS in a few years. As soon as the population at large figures out that there is life outside of M$, Linux is going to take off.
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| moiety5 |
8/19/04, 10:07 PM EDT |
HERETICS!!!!!!! ;-)
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| This is me here |
8/20/04, 12:41 PM EDT |
What on Linux, can open a Word, Excel, or Powerpoint file? Not trying to be snotty--just wanna know. I know people who'd consider it, but most people who work for a living, gotta be able to at least open these files.
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| Cy Nonymous |
8/20/04, 1:04 PM EDT |
What on Linux, can open a Word, Excel, or Powerpoint file?
Try OpenOffice for starters; it's not perfect but it is usable (and free). I also believe AbiWord can open .doc and .rtf files.
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| HTML Samurai |
8/20/04, 1:32 PM EDT |
Yep, OpenOffice is about the closest to the M$ Office suite you can get on Linux. However, I do know that there is a project to be able to use actual M$ Word and the like on linux, check out Code Weavers for more on that project.
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| eXtra heavy |
8/20/04, 2:05 PM EDT |
I am using Mandrake 10 with Codeweaver's Office. Running Office 2000 or XP is a snap and is fully supported even though I like OpenOffice better. I can even run Dreamweaver MX, Photoshop 6 and Quicktime.
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| Jedbeck |
8/20/04, 11:52 PM EDT |
Damn you Samurai, I am installing Fedora on my Slave drive of my PC as we speak or as I type, one of the two.
:)
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| Jedbeck |
8/21/04, 2:00 AM EDT |
Beware of a weird glitch if you want to duel boot the machine. Had to do some searching but figured it out after a while.
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| HTML Samurai |
8/21/04, 12:25 PM EDT |
Dude, you gotta let me know how that goes!
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| Jedbeck |
8/21/04, 1:45 PM EDT |
It is going well. But some programs will not install. For example I am trying to install the firefox browser and i g through the little install program and it does nothing. I need to figure out installation of rpm and the like a little more.
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| Jedbeck |
8/21/04, 2:14 PM EDT |
And I actually am running Fedora Core 2.
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| stickman67 |
8/22/04, 8:52 AM EDT |
I tried a lot of things to open Word files, and found in the end that a quarter stick of gelignite did the job just right.
Mind you, I quickly learnt to take a disk round to a friend's house and open the file on their computer, not mine.
Say, come to think of it, none of my friends are returning my calls lately ...
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| HTML Samurai |
8/23/04, 8:08 AM EDT |
JedBeck, the Firefox installer sucks! Click here to download a much better version and then follow these instuctions for installing it as well as Java and Flash.
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| R3P1N5 |
8/23/04, 10:20 PM EDT |
2 guys, a mac and a website... now with LINUX. What could be better, than a primarily Mac OS X website discussing the benifits of "The king of all OSs", Linux. :)
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| nhmacusr |
8/24/04, 9:04 AM EDT |
Fedora is a very easy distrobution to learn and use. Mandrake is another. Also, there are some really good tutorials online here:
http://www.iosn.net/training/end-user-manual/print
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| Jonahan |
8/24/04, 12:01 PM EDT |
R3P1N5, we discuss Linux and OS X in the same sentence quite a bit. You should stop by more often :)
The destiny of both OS'es are really tied together quite tightly. They may not like it and ask for a divorce at some point, but that's just the way it is.
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