if that is so ... then why wait ... ??

these sort of people generally stay with linux or any other good things for a longer time(if not forever during the rest of their life) ...

you dont use linux just for learning linux(thats terribly stupid if not "misleading") ... linux does has the tendency to expose people more to what they should at least have been aware of previously ...



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An observation I made some time ago http://www.linuxquestions.org/questi...4&postcount=39

Re. your limerick.
I find some of his posts hard to understand, but I wouldn't descend to personal insults like that. English is obviously not his native language.

Agreed, and I have commented in another thread that his use of English has improved markedly. However, if you go back to the thread that contains the limerick you'll find that this improvement had not yet occurred. His posts were completely unintelligible and this was in a thread devoted to riddles and word play (in English) - a place where his posts were clearly inappropriate. It would be like me posting in a Russian literary forum. Besides, I believed then (and believe now) that he didn't understand it anyway. I have very rarely taken advantage of the multitude of opportunities available to snipe at his posts, precisely because I realize that English is obviously not his native language. But this is a public forum. You're bound to take some abuse eventually. I know I have. The limerick was not really vicious anyway - more of a "tongue in cheek" jibe and in the spirit of that thread.

Back on topic: I take it the nice little old lady's computer is still running '98 - but now with 4x the RAM.

ok , he asked "How would you handle this situation?" ...

if i were him ... maybe i would try to do that way ... as long as i'm not receiving any money ...

whether he want to take my "suggestion" seriously or not is not that "important" ...



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I reckon that I'd have to agree with jordanGSU - if she is still using win98, she is probably not too worried about learning to use a new OS.

However saying that,if you really wanted to get her using Linux, you could put any distro on,
and then install VirtualBox, and put win98 on anyway (or do it the other way round)!

I'd put Linux on it, but only with her consent. You don't do these sort of things without people asking for it.

That said, what's with all the hate for that option? The only way Linux is going up is if you convince friends & family to check it out.

I don't think X would fail. In case it does, couldn't you always SSH into her box and fix it? And couldn't you just set her up as a low-level user? (Or sudo)

There were many good points made in this thread, and I appreciate everyone's input ... even those who's input was somewhat cryptic to others ...

In this specific instance, her computer was fine with her current installation, and was returned to her clean and ready to go. Of course it's on its original 8 year old hard drive, so who knows when it'll croak ...

To be more specific in my original inquiry, I suppose I was asking what you would do, should her Windows installation be bad. She doesn't have the original CDs, nor is Windows 98 itself supported by Microsoft, so patches can no longer be downloaded. Her computer is a slower Celeron, and would not easily support the newer Windows OS's. I did not iterate these facts to you all appropriately. Sorry.

I grinned at this statement. I was mentioning Linux as a possible replacement should her existing Windows installation fail. Not saying Windows as an OS is dead.

Right. This isn't my case. There were a few reasons I was considering Linux for her; her financial status, her hardware specifications, she doesn't have her 98 CD, MS no longer supports 98 ...

I have not ever pushed Linux for anyone who plays Windows games, or who rely on Windows-dependent products to do their tasks. I do provide disks for people in my circles who appear interested in technology, and are willing to learn new things.

Hmmm ... The desire to learn is EXACTLY why I use Linux now.

learning what ... ??

learning how to setup servers ... ?? or learning how to "repair" fresh linux installation ... ??


//try coaxing her into linux again on her pc next time ...


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Just my interest in learning a new operating system was good enough for me. However, to answer your question, I'm interested in learning Linux as a user, as well as a server administrator. I know a bit about Windows servers, and I'm very interested in learning how to make Linux do what I do on my Windows servers. If you'll look at my thread history, you'll see all sorts of questions about things ranging from Samba to VMWare to setting up a multimedia station ... And as I learn, I put much of it to use. (Though still no one has been able to help me with my Samba printer problems. )

Once again, I didn't attempt to coax her. Linux was just a mention, as a possible backup solution, should her windows installation go kaplooie!

I'm all for promoting Linux, but installing it on an older ladies computer who has been using Win98 for so long is only going to get you countless hours of phone support while she tries to figure out why everything is so different...and probably end in her being frustrated.

It's not /that/ different.

In distros like Xubuntu, everything is clearly labeled, and the look & feel of it... feels nice. The only difficulty would be pointing out what does what, and how to install new programs, and what to NEVER EVER do. (the classic rm rf / comes to mind) Which takes about 20 minutes. Assuming she used webmail, and not outlook-express+hotmail, you should be safe.

the trick is to tell her dont anyhow listen to her friends ... only listen to you , your suggestions and the sets of rules she has to follow ...

probably you can actually prepare few sets of apps and enviroments(updated frequently by yourself)and give them to her in predictable "ascending" stages(but not necessarily must all be installed ... it depends) ... and you can re-use them on other old people too ...

that old lady is going to compare herself with her friends ... make sure she is seeing two very different knid of people when doing the comparision ...



//but if she is some old lady who swear by things like ipod and iphone ... then i donno ... ^_^


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