Story Time: WindowsXP helped me turn a friend onto Linux
 

Recently I bought a new cheap good laptop from www.simply.co.uk. I turned it on to make sure it worked and as soon as it got as far as the Windows activation, I turned it off, whacked in a Linux cd and wiped Windows off it. I am happy:)

I told a friend at work about it and her eyes lit up, so she bought the same laptop. All seemed very well......

Today she told me that shortly after connecting the web, she'd been hacked and infected and the system was unusable. I explained about the fact that XP already had a stack of updates needed, but she said she couldn't even get that far. She then said she was considering switching to Linux. "Oh ho" thought I, another convert.

Casually, I said I had a stack of install disks if she wanted to borrow one. "But isn't Linux really hard to learn and use and isn't really suited to the desktop?"
"Ah," said I, "there are a range of distros to suit anyone - there are really easy installs (RedHat, Mandrake, SUSE) and there are the more challenging (Slackware, Debian)."

I then explained (as she is the Intranet Manager) that in-built you had several mail and web clients, at least one good HTML composer and a decent office suite which could read and write to all versions of Microsoft office up to and inclluding XP.
"Hmm", she said, "how about Macromedia Flash and Dreamweaver?"
"Well, no", I said, "those haven't yet been ported." Her face fell. "However", I continued, "we could just dual boot."
"What's that?" I explained that with Partition Magic's help I could give her a partition and she could choose between XP and Linux.

She asked me about install sizes. I then explained what those magic cds could give her - web server, ftp server, at least 4 versions of her desktop, firewall, mailserver, text and gui controls and programs.

Tomorrow, I will take in my Partition Magic cd, my Slackware Live cd and my RedHat and Mandrake cds and teach her to fly.

Sleep well children.

BTW: I also explained about how cool this forum was and the invaluable help it provides. So, to recap, I have a Linux convert and a potential new forum member. We should all give a big thank you to Microsoft and Bill Gates for being the biggest help to the Linux community. :p

I have Macromedia Flash (but not Shockwave or Director) working on my Linux machine... It was easy to install, else I wouldn't have it going!

Cool - I'm assuming you used Wine to get it going?

No need for WINE. just dowload the linux version of flash from macromedia.

http://www.macromedia.com/shockwave/...ShockwaveFlash

She is an intranet designer and needs the full version of Flash - I think I may put Wine on this laptop and see what will or won't run.....

I've had the best success running windows-only-ported programs under windows rather than via wine. Similar agruments arise every time someone mentions idealizing their linux distro for gaming - the best gaming systems are gaming systems (n64 ps2 xbox) and the best user systems are linux. Trying to do everything with one system usually ends up producing only adequate results in all areas.
So cheers on the convert, and don't push the total conversion until it's ready to happen.

I installed for her today at work (it was quiet in the office). Apt4rpm blew her away!

I have installed those packages to give her the greatest excuse to get booting into RH. I also showed her the Mozilla composer and Quanta.

Basically, the range of packages seriously impressed her. I can see her viewing Linux as a hobby (she's nervous about the commands). I gave her a number of links, esp. the Rute handbook, and I can see her getting more and more into it over time.

I even registered her here!