[olug] Custom building desktop

Wed Apr 18 23:02:09 UTC 2012

I have a number of "senior" relatives that use Ubuntu.  It has/is working
out great.  They only want a web browser and printing for the most part.
Print pictures of the grandkids, etc that they get by email.  It also
really cuts down on unbillable support time too.

Then when the grand kids come over they find it much harder to mess up the
box with facebook, and the like when they can't install random questionable
software on the machine.

It is a gigantic win.  The relatives love having a stable usable machine.
 It does what they want, when they want.  Nice and reliable not the
squishy, smelly, always repaving mess that is called windows.

my 0.02

Jeff

If you love some one, set the FREE and Open Source.

On Tue, Apr 17, 2012 at 9:38 PM, Paul Lewis <phldml3 at cox.net> wrote:

> I lost my Ubuntu machine in a thunderstorm last year.  Machine hadn't been
> turned off for over 5 years and it was nearly 10 years old as is.  My wife
> loved it and she admits not to being tech savvy.  We bought a new Win 7
> machine and are both wishing to return to Ubuntu as Win 7 is a dog compared
> to XP.  Besides, now we can't work with our SAMBA server, web/ftp server.
>  I think you may be surprised how well she might adapt to a Linux machine.
>  The possibilities are endless and you have a less than perfect fall back .
>
>
> On 4/16/2012 11:38 PM, Chad Homan wrote:
>
>> Not sure if this helps.  But about 2 years ago I mostly moved my mom's
>> computer to
>> ubuntu.  Overall satisfaction was well received, she still uses it today.
>> Pretty much started
>> off slow with Firefox and went from there.  It will be interesting when I
>> upgrade it to 12.04 in
>> regards to unity.
>>
>> I said mostly because she has a few apps that worked like hell in wine at
>> the time.  Haven't
>> gone back yet to try the latest wine yet.  Either way, she has learned to
>> launch vbox and knows
>> how to shut it down.
>>
>>
>> Together We Win!
>> --
>> Chad
>> Creating A More Meaningful Life
>>
>>
>> On Mon, Apr 16, 2012 at 11:27 PM, Dan Staehr<staehrmedia at neb.rr.com>
>>  wrote:
>>
>>  Since the currrent computer is running XP, even the switch to Win 7 will
>>> likely be a change. So the idea of loading Linux, see how it goes then
>>> Windows if need be sounds good.
>>>
>>>
>>> Dan Staehr, President
>>> Staehr Media Services
>>> 6117 NW 4th Street
>>> Lincoln, NE 68521-3774
>>> 402-440-5869
>>>
>>>
>>> On 4/16/2012 9:43 PM, Craig Wolf wrote:
>>>
>>>  You can always purchase the hardware and load Linux on the box.  If
>>>> she can't do it, THEN go spend money for Winblows.  You are out
>>>> nothing but some time AND the possible positive effects of the open
>>>> source world in her life.
>>>>
>>>> Just my 2 cents...
>>>>
>>>> Craig Wolf
>>>> Wolf Computing Services
>>>> Omaha, NE 68136
>>>> (402)990-3010
>>>>
>>>> http://www.wolfcs.biz/wcs
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> On Mon, Apr 16, 2012 at 5:43 PM, Sam Flint<harmonicnm7h at gmail.com>
>>>>  wrote:
>>>>
>>>>  take a look at zorinos, it has windows xp skins and built in
>>>>> transparent wine support
>>>>>
>>>>> On Mon, Apr 16, 2012 at 4:58 PM, Dan Staehr<staehrmedia at neb.rr.com>
>>>>>  wrote:
>>>>>
>>>>>  Actually, she's basically been working a Windows environment, IE,
>>>>>> Windows
>>>>>> Live mail, etc.
>>>>>> I'd love to move her away from that if possible, just not sure how
>>>>>> much
>>>>>> to
>>>>>> "push the envelope".
>>>>>>
>>>>>>
>>>>>> Dan Staehr, President
>>>>>> Staehr Media Services
>>>>>> 6117 NW 4th Street
>>>>>> Lincoln, NE 68521-3774
>>>>>> 402-440-5869
>>>>>>
>>>>>>
>>>>>> On 4/16/2012 4:54 PM, Matthew Platte wrote:
>>>>>>
>>>>>>  On 04/16/2012 04:05 PM, Greg Gerke wrote:
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>  For a case like this, with an older non-tech savvy person I'd
>>>>>>>> actually be
>>>>>>>> leaning towards keeping her with what she already knows and perhaps
>>>>>>>> just
>>>>>>>> upgrade the hardware... unless you're planning on being the full
>>>>>>>> time
>>>>>>>> tech
>>>>>>>> support. ;)
>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>  Since we're playing "what if", I'll just ask: how much of "what she
>>>>>>> already knows" does she actually already know?
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> I'm predicting that her knowledge is sufficiently minimal that
>>>>>>> changing
>>>>>>> the OS and desktop will not significantly increase the confusion.
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> Especially if she's already using Thunderbird/Firefox then she would
>>>>>>> already have observed that none of her software is static; that it's
>>>>>>> always
>>>>>>> changing, especially over in Blogger/Googleland where, once again,
>>>>>>> some
>>>>>>> jackhat decided that Javascript everywhere is far, far preferable to
>>>>>>> a
>>>>>>> browser back button that actually works.
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> ... But perhaps I've slipped into another, unrelated rant....
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>  ______________________________****_________________
>>>>>>>
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>>>>>> >
>>>>>>
>>>>>>
>>>>> --
>>>>> Sam Flint
>>>>> flintfam.org/~swflint<http://**flintfam.org/%7Eswflint<http://flintfam.org/%7Eswflint>
>>>>> >
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-- 
Best,

Jeff Hinrichs
402.218.1473