[lug] Linux for Dad

[Steve A Hart]

John,

I definitely agree with your plan.  If your dad was a bit more tech 
savvy I'd say go with Ubuntu but since you want to minimize the pain and 
suffering of managing the system with updates and manual configs,  
Foresight looks like the way to go.  I think I may consider that for my 
dad as well.  Thanks for idea!

Cheers

Steve

John Dollison wrote:
> Looking for some advice...
> My dad tells me he's sick of dealing with Microsoft problems and virus 
> issues, and has heard about this "Linux thing..." lol!  I explained 
> the basics to him, and he seems willing to try it.  However, I have 
> the following concerns:
>
> 1. Dad's got dial-up, so I'd have to send him a CD or pre-loaded PC to 
> get him started.
> 2. Dad's in another state, in the woods, far from anywhere.  I doubt 
> there's much in the way of face-to-face help if he needs it.  Usually 
> he just calls me.  And I'll admit right now that I don't know much 
> (don't tell my boss).
> 3. Dad's not a computer geek, but stubborn enough to figure things out 
> if he really needs them.  Otherwise, he just says "screw it."
>
> I called System76 to see about buying a pre-loaded system, but they 
> said their boxes don't have dial-up modems, and that dial-up support 
> is problematic in Linux. The guy also warned me that even though there 
> aren't Windows-style "critical updates" all the time, the constant 
> updating of packages means that there could be even more downloads 
> under Linux than under Windows.  Another issue is that System76 uses 
> Ubuntu, which follows Debian's strict all-free guidelines.  That means 
> more downloads and tweaks for dad, for things like DVD support (VLC / 
> libdvdcss), Google Earth, etc.
>
> I just found a distro called Foresight Linux, which sounds like the 
> kind of works-right-out-of-the-box solution my dad needs.  It uses 
> both free and non-free software, and claims to "eliminate the need for 
> users to know Linux" (I'm not trying to start a flame war; I'm just 
> trying to consider my dad's technical abilities.)  I'm thinking I 
> might send that to him.
>
> Anyway, I'm open to any ideas you might have.
> --
> *John Dollison*
> Westminster, CO 80021
>  
> .
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