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Dude, you're getting Ubuntu (Linux.com)Dude, you're getting Ubuntu (Linux.com)Posted May 1, 2007 22:20 UTC (Tue) by allesfresser (subscriber, #216)In reply to: Dude, you're getting Ubuntu (Linux.com) by beoba Parent article: Dude, you're getting Ubuntu (Linux.com)
I just idly wonder how long it will be before people stop assuming that only geeks will want to run free software... years? months?
Of course, Microsoft would like to FUD all the technophobes out there and reassure them that they're not smart enough to understand technology, so they should let brilliant Uncle Bill & Co. tell them how to live their lives...
But hopefully some people will start to see the light and realize they're not as stupid as Microsoft wants them to think they are.
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Dude, you're getting Ubuntu (Linux.com) Posted May 1, 2007 22:42 UTC (Tue) by emkey (guest, #144) [Link] As much as I'd like to believe you are right experience tells me otherwise. The thought of my 70+ year old Mother trying to work with a Linux system is scary to say the least. She gets into enough trouble with Windows.
Then again in terms of complexity the differences between Windows and Linux aren't all that great when you scratch just beneath the surface. I'm a fairly technical guy with a lot of background in Unix/Linux and a modicum of Windows related experience. I have far more trouble diagnosing and fixing problems on Windows than I do on Linux.
Dude, you're getting Ubuntu (Linux.com) Posted May 1, 2007 23:46 UTC (Tue) by frlinux (subscriber, #27370) [Link] Allow me to disagree, my mother started with computers back 6 years ago, she was 60 at the time, she stated on windows, then i moved her (with a dual boot at the time) to Linux back 3 years ago. She is now exclusively using Linux.
Everything is possible (and no, i didn't have to give extensive training, i don't even live in the same country).
Dude, you're getting Ubuntu (Linux.com) Posted May 2, 2007 0:16 UTC (Wed) by frazier (subscriber, #3060) [Link] Ubuntu is a great choice for many 70+ year old mothers out there (if they're wanting a computer). There's a lot less evil things targeting the system, and so long as they're web browsing and checking web mail, it works well for that.
-Brock
Dude, your mother is getting Ubuntu Posted May 2, 2007 0:55 UTC (Wed) by man_ls (subscriber, #15091) [Link] Ditto. My young mother (she would kill me if I told you her age) is pretty happy with her brand new Ubuntu-upon-Toshiba laptop, and she comes from Mac OS 9 which is supposed to be much friendlier. True, I configured DVDs and MP3 playback for her, but I have not had to open a support ticket so far. At least I know that I will help her gladly, unlike with the default Vista install.
Dude, you're getting Ubuntu (Linux.com) Posted May 3, 2007 8:09 UTC (Thu) by bkoz (subscriber, #4027) [Link]
Ditto.
I did this for my dad and one friend, just because of the malware/email attachment issues. Safe browsing is a powerful argument in favor of linux and one that has gotten surprisingly little press.
(My mom uses a mac. One of these days...)
Dude, you're getting Ubuntu (Linux.com) Posted May 2, 2007 1:55 UTC (Wed) by dskoll (subscriber, #1630) [Link] The thought of my 70+ year old Mother trying to work with a Linux system is scary to say the least. Why is that? My 75+ year old mother and 80+ year old father have no problem with their Linux system. Neither, for that matter, do my daughters (aged 5, 9 and 13). Naturally, I set everything up for them, and I (very) occasionally tweak and maintain the systems. But I guarantee that they'd find Windows no easier than Linux, and I'd end up doing a lot more tweaking and maintenance.
Dude, you're getting Ubuntu (Linux.com) Posted May 2, 2007 16:42 UTC (Wed) by emkey (guest, #144) [Link] My mother likes to play Nancy Drew and other windows games. I've messed with various WINE solutions and while they are fine for me I didn't find them to be very compelling for her use.
And I don't want to provide her any support if I can avoid it. I'm 600+ miles away and her ability to mess things up in subtle and difficult to understand ways is nearly legendary. Wait, maybe I'm talking about myself in that last sentence. If I am then I got it from her, no doubt. :)
Dude, you're getting Ubuntu (Linux.com) Posted May 2, 2007 3:18 UTC (Wed) by leoc (subscriber, #39773) [Link] I switched my 65+ year old computer-phobe in-laws from XP to Ubuntu last year and they are much happier. Things "just work" and I have to spend a LOT less time at their place cleaning up viruses and junk software that they naively install. With Ubuntu, they can do their word processing, email, and photo downloading without any problems.
Dude, you're getting Ubuntu (Linux.com) Posted May 2, 2007 16:44 UTC (Wed) by emkey (guest, #144) [Link] Linux is only marginally less prone to viruses and such than Windows. As Linux gains popularity on the desktop we're going to start seeing more and more virus, etc.
Dude, you're getting Ubuntu (Linux.com) Posted May 2, 2007 19:07 UTC (Wed) by bronson (subscriber, #4806) [Link] This is absolutely true. People will *always* want to download whizzy customizations straight from the internet. Weatherbug, comet cursor, etc. It's just human nature. If Linux ran downloads from jails by default then I would agree that it was safer by default. As it is today, for the common user, Linux and Windows appear to be more or less equally vulnerable.
"You can delete all the files in my home directory but for pity's sake don't set my laptop's clock!!"
Dude, you're getting Ubuntu (Linux.com) Posted May 3, 2007 14:08 UTC (Thu) by peace (guest, #10016) [Link] Of course with Windows, you can delete all the victims files *and then* set their clock.
Dude, you're getting Ubuntu (Linux.com) Posted May 3, 2007 14:18 UTC (Thu) by peace (guest, #10016) [Link] Please define "marginally". I don't think that word means what you think it means. The numbers simply do not support your assertion.
Also, please note, that just because Windows is popular *and* insecure does not mean that Linux will be insecure at any popularity level. I'm not sure exactly what brand of false reasoning your exhibiting, but it does not compute.
Windows made it's bed in the mid nineties and now it has to sleep in it. Not every OS made such horrible decisions around security.
-peace
Dude, you're getting Ubuntu (Linux.com) Posted May 29, 2007 22:03 UTC (Tue) by emkey (guest, #144) [Link] I've been working with Windows and Unix/Linux like operating systems for twenty plus years now. I have a very good understanding of each and I'm here to tell you that while the Unix/Linux security model is generally superior it is only marginally less vulnerable to the sorts of problems that plague the windows world. viruses? Totally doable. Mallware? Totally doable. Trojans? Totally doable. You don't need escalated privileges for any of these. Throw in the fact that Windows has increasingly sophisticated firewall software that is enabled by default while most Linux systems don't and the overall picture starts to tilt in Windows favor.
I know exactly what marginally means BTW. Which is why I didn't hesitate to use it again in my response. ;)
And yes, I'm aware of iptables. I manually configure it on my home and work systems because I have to.
Dude, you're getting Ubuntu (Linux.com) Posted May 2, 2007 7:43 UTC (Wed) by nhippi (subscriber, #34640) [Link] I think you are making the common fallacy of mixing System administration with System usage. Your 70+ mother would be fine using ubuntu for most common enduser tasks (web, mail, openoffice). But she will fail attempting to administer it. Then again, most people fail to maintain their windows systems properly...
Dude, you're getting Ubuntu (Linux.com) Posted May 2, 2007 8:48 UTC (Wed) by job (guest, #670) [Link] My experience is that for non-technical users who doesn't install their own hardware or software, Ubuntu "just works" on a much larger degree than Windows does.
Dude, you're getting Ubuntu (Linux.com) Posted May 2, 2007 13:43 UTC (Wed) by copsewood (subscriber, #199) [Link] My 87 year old father's new Dell computer with Vista on it just basically didn't work, despite his efforts to get Dell to fix it (he had some problems understanding help desk staff for whom English is a second language). He is very happy with Ubuntu which I put on it for him, he does everything he used to on Windows 98, wordprocessing, web browsing and email. He manages to have figured out for himself how to keep it updated and he even dist-upgraded it himself from Edgy to Feisty without any problems.
Dude, you're getting Ubuntu (Linux.com) Posted May 3, 2007 11:42 UTC (Thu) by ekj (subscriber, #1524) [Link] This actually fails to be the case.Not only does my father (~60, nontechnical) use Linux, but so does my grandmother (~85), infact for both of them its much better than any of the alternatives. Notice I said *USE*. Not install, or configure, or maintain. But they'd both be unable to perform these tasks with *any* OS. Using Linux means they are, in practice, very unlikely to get viruses. It means they are quite unlikely to manage to mess up the entire machine. It means it can trivially be administered from afar. It also means the UI can easily be configured to only have what is relevant for her. If all she needs is 5 programs, then 5 app-launchers is all she needs. Additionally, we've got some very very userfriendly programs. My grandmother finds it trivial to find the favourite photo of the grand-grandchildren using Kphotoalbum. Finding all pictures of Wenche in Paris (for example) is literally 4 mouseclicks:
She doesn't do anything fancy. Firefox, Kphotoalbum, Kmail, that's pretty much it. Oh yeah, and Solitaire offcourse. Honestly, I don't see a single advantage Windows would have for such a user.
Dude, you're getting Ubuntu (Linux.com) Posted May 2, 2007 3:49 UTC (Wed) by proski (subscriber, #104) [Link] I just idly wonder how long it will be before people stop assuming that only geeks will want to run free software... years? months?And then we'll be able to buy Dell with Ubuntu and AOL preinstalled!
Dude, you're getting Ubuntu (Linux.com) Posted May 2, 2007 9:41 UTC (Wed) by NAR (subscriber, #1313) [Link] how long it will be before people stop assuming that only geeks will want to run free software... years? months?Decades? I tried to switch my uncle's PC to Linux, but failed miserably. The main problem was that none of the help files were useful: they were all in English, but he doesn't speak English. Some of the applications were also not localized. Also I wouldn't dare to try to install and configure the software required to syncronize with his mobile phone. It didn't worked on XP at first, but there at least he gets support from the operator. And there's the problem that one can't play DRM-ed porn on Linux.
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