An attempt to convert my girlfriend to Ubuntu has failed!

[ThrobbingBrain66]

I was SO SO close. I had everything working perfectly for her (except for the precious button on her keyboard that opens up a calculator). The end of the story gets a little unbelievable, but it's true.

About a year ago my girlfriend bought a Compaq computer (Windows XP MCE) from BB. She was satisfied with it until about 2 months ago. It started slowing down to a halt. Opening programs, surfing the internet...everything was taking forever. I've maintained her computer ever since the day she got it. From the beginning I installed AVG, ZoneAlarm, Spyboy S&D, Adaware, CCleaner and Microsoft Defender. I installed Firefox for her as well, but she didn't always use it. Basically, I had her computer locked down like a maximum security prison.

For the last two months however, all these programs stopped making any performance difference. Her computer just started crawling along. Finally she got sick of her computer's attitude (and my bragging about Ubuntu) and asked me to install Ubuntu. Naturally I did so happily and chose Kubuntu cause chicks dig eye candy, am I right guys?:wink: It installed flawlessly and I had no trouble setting up the drivers for her ATI card.

After the first few days the jury was still out. She didn;t have any complaints or anything, but didn't gush about it either. Then for some reason her connection to the internet get really crappy. Some pages took 5-10 minutes to load. And then the bitching commensed:

"I want Windows back, linux (as she simply refers to it) sucks!
I hate linux! The next time you're hear you WILL take this off my computer!"

So I said:

"Let me see if I can figure out what's wrong baby, if i can't fix it I'll take linux off."

Immediately I booted into windows, and strangely enough in Windows she had absolutely NO internet connection. It was slow as a turtle in Ubuntu, but there was NOTHING in Windows. I repaired the connection in Windows but it was still slow...until I booted into Ubuntu. It was LIGHTNING FAST after fixing the connection and disabling ipv6.

This more than satisfied her for about two weeks, until the following exchange took place this morning:

"Linux is not user friendly at all. The names don't make sense. I can't figure out how to burn a CD. My burning program in Windows was SO much easier."

"Honey, it wasn't easier...Ubuntu is just different. Give yourself some time to adjust."

"No! I want windows back right now! Linux is so much faster, but the names are horrible."

"Ok, I guess I can take Ubuntu off your computer. But I don't know what else to do about how slow Windows is. Both your bother and I are out of ideas."

"That's ok. I'm gonna have my brother install that other one he has on his computer."

"He has Vista rc2 honey, you'll only be able to use that until june 2007 and after that it'll lock you out unless you drop $300 for a license.

"I don't care. That's like 8 months from now."

"Alright, I'm just trying to save you some hassle in the long run. But don't say I didn't warn you."

So currently she's grudgingly using kubuntu, but I'm sure it'll be gone shortly. It's a shame...I was so close...

[meng]

Hmm, maybe you should upgrade girlfriends! :D

[ThrobbingBrain66]

lmao

nah...besides this issue, she's great.

[Footissimo]

Gawd, sounds like it's just not worth the hassle! Put windows back on and do minimal maintenance on there - if there is anything that won't be killed by the free anti-spyware / virus progs then let her live with it!

I've given up on helping malware-ridden XP owners - last time I spent about 4 hours getting rid of loads (like over a hundred) of poop from a friend's computer, just so that she could avoid doing a format-reinstall...I ran out of time with just one persistent piece of spyware left, so I told her to bring it back the next day and I'd remove it for her..later on, I get a phone call saying that she'd got her partner to format-reinstall. *sigh*

[Reshin]

So did you show her the programs she was looking for? You didn't her alone to look for them herself, did you?

[Henry Rayker]

My girlfriend actually wants Ubuntu installed on her computer (dual boot ftw) but I can't, for the life of me, repartition the drives. The computer came from Best Buy pre-installed with the OS. If I try to use qt_parted (either on a standalone cd or the ubuntu installation) I get an error about disk permissions. If I try to use partition magic from within Windows, I get a size mis-match error or something.

Additionally, in qt_parted, the partitions are slightly off from Partition Magic. The only partition on the disk is fat32. In Partition Magic, the whole disk is one partition. In qt_parted, the disk is one partition that is flanked with empty space.

For now, though, I'm going to install Ubuntu on a tiny 8GB hdd and toss that in her system (the hdd is from my recently modded xbox). We'll see how my girlfriend conversion goes.

[Reshin]

Do like I did, teach them to use those cleaners.

[Old Pink]

You need a pie. Monitor it's simplicity.

Then think.

Why not just rename application in Kubuntu so it reads like Windows? ;)

Or at least add the windows counterpart in brackets. For example, rename all firefox launchers to "FireFox (Internet Explorer equivalent)"

GAIM becomes "GAIM (Windows Live Messenger equivalent)" :rolleyes:

Just until she gets used to it... :)

[Reshin]

You need a pie. Monitor it's simplicity.

Then think.

Why not just rename application in Kubuntu so it reads like Windows? ;)

DEAR GOD NO!

I was thinking more of a lines of "cd-burner", "movie-player", etc :p

[ThrobbingBrain66]

So did you show her the programs she was looking for? You didn't her alone to look for them herself, did you?

Certainly I didn't just leave her to the wolves. I showed her what programs did what, how to use them, etc. She just doesn't want to learn.

[ThrobbingBrain66]

Do like I did, teach them to use those cleaners.

I've done this also. She doesn't bother with them. Both I and her brother are fairly techie, so she relies on us.

[Old Pink]

DEAR GOD NO!

I was thinking more of a lines of "cd-burner", "movie-player", etc :p

Or that idea, depending on how much of a Windows lover she is/was. :)

[drr422]

I am considering installing it on my girlfriends computer, but I'm weighing the cost of time I'll put in to the real satisfaction she will get. Eventually, she will get tired of all the crap that i had to deal with, and just say enough's enough, but until that point, its a hard battle.

[snek]

It's a shame she can't get to grips with Ubuntu. It took me a long time as well, and I run it one of my pc's now, but I have another (gaming) machine which runs XP. Too bad she wanted Vista as well, otherwise I could have given some tips on how to maintain an XP box, but I don't have any experience with Vista yet since my Raptor drive is full, and my Ubuntu box has all my other harddrives ;) If you ever put XP back on it you might want to check these programs, they keep my gaming machine running smoothly. Even after a year or 2: - Registry Mechanic - PerfectDisk - Hitmanpro (runs tons of anti-spyware apps in a row) - and a decent antivirus app like NOD32 (not Norton, it slows pc's down) - decent light firewall (I love Look 'n' Stop, but might be a bit complicated. However, once setup you shouldn't have to look at it again unless she starts using different p2p apps or other programs which make complicated connections to the net) Course it helps to get her to use Firefox instead of IE (replace the icon, that's what I do for n00b friends lol) and install some funky addons for it like AdBlock & AdBlock Filter.G Updater

[ade234uk]

Its the stupid tiny little things that force people back to Windows. I have tried many times to convert my girlfriend but in the end I just gave up. She is however using Firefox and absolutely raves about it. She even tells people that IE is crap and should not use it. This was not because I brainwashed her, its because she finds it so easy to use, and so easy to apply her animal themes to the browser.

The biggest problem you have when it comes to computers is their is so many opionions especially with Windows. Everyone thinks they are experts, when they clearly dont have a clue. People in the know use Firefox or Opera.

My girlfriends dad was happily using Firefox until his turd friend told him not to use it anymore. When I looked at his machine last week I saw IE7 beta had been installed, now this makes my blood boil.

Anyway the other night his machine starting playing up and do you know why, Oh yea the culprit is IE7, I was of course very happy about this and then gave a world lecture on the dangers of Internet Explorer.

[bastiegast]

Maybe try gnome? The names dont start with a 'K' so that might be a plus for her. Burn CD? Open Banshee/Rythembox , select music, hit burn cd. For data, use nautilus intergrated burner OR nero which I believe has a linux version.

[TheWizzard]

the names in open source are a big problem. my father uses kubuntu and finding the right application is the most difficult part for him. firefox, amarok, kasablanca, ... there's just no relation between the name and the purpose. manually editing the menu seems to be the only solution :sad:
this is really one of the major barriers for new linux users.

on the other hand, my girlfriend loves linux :grin:
when we used windows a few years ago, she was always affraid to do something wrong or catch a virus or something. in linux she can do whatever she wants without being affraid to mess up the system. add some superkaramba themes to the desktop and girls love linux 8)

if you don't need to configure, linux is extremely userfriendly for non-technical people.

[chaosgeisterchen]

I do understand the problems which come with name convention changes. It's a simple fact that years of using the same software alter our perception of what something has to look like. If someone was using Nero for burning CDs his/her (computer-literate-)life long, it will be hard for him/her to break the chains of wanting the burning programm just to act and look like Nero. In fact, K3B which I am using with KDE is a very good burning program which does not lack any features - at least I do not miss any. But people are even not willing to re-learn a mere interface.

Interesting that Microsoft has a special status for them. If they are planning to change functionality with Vista, they're happily adopting it. It seems as if either Linux does something very wrong or people are not willing to leave their used-to-be computing habits.

Concerning attraction:

If your GPU supports AIGLX and Beryl would run just fine, install it and you have already convinced her I assume. If you think she likes eyecandy she will love Beryl.

[fuscia]

give her the old "i want to share in as many experiences with you as i can. that's why i need you to use linux." (make sure you refer to it as 'linux').

[chaosgeisterchen]

Good point, but does this also work concerning computers and operating systems?

[ThrobbingBrain66]

I do understand the problems which come with name convention changes. It's a simple fact that years of using the same software alter our perception of what something has to look like. If someone was using Nero for burning CDs his/her (computer-literate-)life long, it will be hard for him/her to break the chains of wanting the burning programm just to act and look like Nero. In fact, K3B which I am using with KDE is a very good burning program which does not lack any features - at least I do not miss any. But people are even not willing to re-learn a mere interface.

Interesting that Microsoft has a special status for them. If they are planning to change functionality with Vista, they're happily adopting it. It seems as if either Linux does something very wrong or people are not willing to leave their used-to-be computing habits.

Concerning attraction:

If your GPU supports AIGLX and Beryl would run just fine, install it and you have already convinced her I assume. If you think she likes eyecandy she will love Beryl.

i thought about this, but it would never work. Once my girlfriend has her mind made up, it's final. Even if she later realizes shes wrong, her way still goes. I'll get her to make the switch yet. I just have some strategizing to do.

[fuscia]

Good point, but does this also work concerning computers and operating systems?

i don't see why it couldn't.

[Henry Rayker]

i thought about this, but it would never work. Once my girlfriend has her mind made up, it's final. Even if she later realizes shes wrong, her way still goes. I'll get her to make the switch yet. I just have some strategizing to do.

Mine is the same way. However, she's always taken pride in being "fairly computer literate, for a girl" (her words, not mine). I think she looks forward to finding new programs to do the stuff she uses a computer for.

[chaosgeisterchen]

That's too bad, but it really seems as if most people never consider reconsideration of Linux as a whole.

@fuscia:

They could test it out. It sounds like some good psychological trick.

[aysiu]

On a much smaller scale, of course, but trying to "convert" your girlfriend to Ubuntu from Windows is a lot like saying, "Hey, I know you're used to living in Muncie, Indiana, but we're going to pick up and leave for Seoul, Korea tomorrow. Is that cool?"

Is Seoul any worse a place or less functional a place than Muncie? Some might argue even the opposite (since Seoul is a big city). Still, there would be some major things she'd have to get used to--culture, language, etc.

If someone's familiar with a way of doing things, she (not someone else) would really have to initiate a change in order to really be open-minded enough to adopt the new way of doing things.

[fatsheep]

Why can't she just use K3B for CD burning? I prefer it to any CD burner I've used in Windows... :-k

[Henry Rayker]

I originally brought up the question, actually, because my girlfriend expressed some disappointment at Vista's EULA.

I believe other people want to convert their SO's because the SO relies on him/her as sole system support. My brother is CONSTANTLY getting computer viruses/spyware/malware and always wants me to fix them. I'm going to get him playing with a live cd, and when I have the time, I'm going to set him up on a dual boot...let him test the water even more.

Sometimes it's more like saying, "Hey, I know absolutely hate (or even don't know how to continue) living in Muncie, Indiana, maybe we should consider moving to Seoul, Korea. I can get a decent job out there and help you find one too." It might be a good thing.


Oh yeah...for burning, I used GnomeBaker for the first time the other night and found it to be incredibly nice/simplistic.

[dca]

Naturally I did so happily and chose Kubuntu cause chicks dig eye candy, am I right guys?

You said you installed Kubuntu? I installed SimplyMEPIS (Kubuntu was unstable & unmanagable for some reason) for my wife for the same KDE-eyecandy idea and it's a great distro for recognizing the funny items. Same thing. Not necessarily just slow-ness but other issue(s). WiFi only worked on start-up some time, not knowing where to find things, yada yada. What ended up doing the trick was installing Ubuntu (GNOME), removing the top bar, editing the bottom bar (making it larger & transparent), and a few small other tweaks. Seemed to make her happy...

[chaosgeisterchen]

Great metaphor aysiu, it hits the mark. People are really enrooted with their usal way of doing things. It's a tough job to accomodate after the cultural shock. Especially if you are externally forced to accomodate yourself while the old option would still be possible.

[AndyCooll]

I had very few problems converting the missus to Ubuntu. I did it gradually however. Since the missus needs are fairly basic (Internet, e-mail, IM, photos and music), perhaps that made it easier.

I began initially by installing and changing the default Windoze apps in her profile to Firefox, OpenOffice etc.

We had a couple of boxes, so next stage was to introduce Ubuntu on one. I changed the main box with XP on it to dual-boot with Ubuntu. And I made Ubuntu the default and the timeout to be 3 seconds (so she had to be quick to choose XP!!).I also made her Ubuntu desktop look similar to her XP one. She used Yahoo! Messenger so initially I installed the Linux version (later I changed that to Gaim). And I introduced her to Amarok and Gwenview (for the photos).

Next stage after that was to put Ubuntu only on the other box.

By then I found that pretty soon she wasn't bothering with XP. There was no need to, and besides it was too much hassle to try and beat the clock at boot up!!

Conversion complete! :cool:

[meng]

My wife isn't particularly adept at using Windows (at work), so shifting to Linux wasn't much of a problem. That, and she doesn't use the computer that much at home anyway.

[bobbybobington]

I'm trying to convert my family to ubuntu on our home pc. I tried to convert them with suse, but that didn't turn out so well. I have since discovered ubuntu and have rethought my plan of attack:p. Right now i'm trying to use as many cross platform apps for windows as possible, firefox, vlc, thunderbird, inkscape, picasa, gimp etc... I've also installed a ubuntu human style. My parents will be easy, but my sister has no intrest in anything other than ms office. But hopefully she'll be moving out soon, so that problem will be fixed:-D . Now it's only a matter of her moving out and backing up and install. Besides i dont want to do tech support while im off at college when they get infested w/ spyware and viruses.

[AlphaMack]

I've given up on helping malware-ridden XP owners - last time I spent about 4 hours getting rid of loads (like over a hundred) of poop from a friend's computer, just so that she could avoid doing a format-reinstall...I ran out of time with just one persistent piece of spyware left, so I told her to bring it back the next day and I'd remove it for her..later on, I get a phone call saying that she'd got her partner to format-reinstall. *sigh*

Yup...I'm completely with you on this one. The last time I had to deal with a box running XP? It wasn't updated, had no firewall, outdated AV definitions, outdated anti-spyware, and had never been defragged. On top of all of that the owners have never backed up their files. Needless to say it was a long and painful 4 hours just to rid the machine of 130 pieces of malware. Thankfully no rootkits.

I never got around to installing any updates, Firefox, and Thunderbird along with performing other maintenance tasks. The owners balked at my insistence of reviving their PC. They kept calling it 'junk' and claimed that I was 'messing up' their computer (by running Spyware S&D and Ad-Aware - they didn't know what those programs were).

They seriously wanted to buy a new PC when the one they had was perfectly usable.

Some people simply cannot bother.

What makes it worse these days is the fact that almost all new PCs do not even come with recovery tools anymore - just a hidden partition. You would seriously have to either cough up the $$$ for WinXP Pro or find a friend with a copy if you wish to completely reformat the HDD. Of course, once that is out of the way, the great driver hunt begins. ](*,)

[weasel fierce]

I've seen disturbing amounts of people let their computer get destroyed by malware and viruses, then simply buy a new one, rather than try to revive the old one.

When our old laptop died from hardware failures, we discussed options, and I explained to my wife that I could either set her up with linux, or we could buy a mac (which she had wanted for a long time). If she got a laptop and insisted on windows, then it'd be up to her to maintain and fix it. Eventually one of the new mac's won her over, and I must admit its mighty sweet

[chaosgeisterchen]

If she got a laptop and insisted on windows, then it'd be up to her to maintain and fix it.

Nice way to convince someone to convert to Linux.

[tubasoldier]

My wife was like that at first. I put linux on her laptop and everything was working out well. (for me at least). Then she comes home one day and is all upset and says she wants windows back on her computer. So I comply with her request and spend the four hours to re-install windows. One week later she gets a virus and comes complaining to me about it. My response was, "huh, thats too bad." I went on with my life as if nothing was wrong. A few days later she comes back asking for linux again because she was tired of dealing with viruses. Funny, now she hates using windows and thinks linux is much more intuitive.

I put a dual-boot on my mom and step-dad's pc when they first bought it. My step-dad prefers linux. he too thinks it is much more intuitive than windows. And he likes not having to worry about viruses and spyware.

And last but definitely not least, I had a friend who called me up telling me he wanted to use linux because he was tired of those darn viruses and that spyware. Well that went well for about four months before he tried to re-install (dont ask me why. still to this day I can not figure out why he wanted to do that on his own.) He could not get his HP laserjet 4 working and could no longer watch DVD's and and and.... it seemed that the list would not stop. He no longer uses linux and comes across as having hard feelings towards it. However, it did teach him proper security on a computer. He now has a seperate account for a user. Not that it does much in windows...

So really when it comes down to it those that use linux and are willing to try the programs, even if they have to switch back and forth, are more likely to stick it out. Those who just try it and when it doesnt do exactly what they want when they want it the way good old windows used to, seem to leave linux much more quickly. Its a lot like classical music. Give it a chance and you will fall in love with it. Or cover your ears because it is too complicated for your brain to process.


And regarding girlfriends. Check this out. Upgrading from Girlfriend 6.0 http://www.math.unipd.it/~favero/varie/ragazzauk.html

[Mimsy]

Boys, boys, boys... You're going about this the wrong way.

Speaking as a girl (and girlfriend of a fantastic guy !), eyecandy is secondary, especially if the girl in question is already reasonably computer literate. Ease of use is what matters.

1. Is it obvious what I need to do to make things happen?
2. Can I still use my messenger accounts?
3. Can I get my email?
4. Do my favourite websites work?

"Is it pretty?" is not as high on the list as you would think. It's nice, sure, and for me personally it made the difference between the KDE desktop and Gnome, but if functions I crave had been available in the ugly one and not in the pretty, I would have put up with the ugly. Especially since the ugly can be changed to less ugly...

I would recommend basing your arguments on how easy it is to be completely in control of your desktop in Ubuntu. Power is very appealing.

...

Just a thought. :-\"

/Mimsy

[seshomaru samma]

From my experience I must agree with the last post. My wife is not concerned with what the desktop looks like and was unimpressed with XGL at all. She was however taken by Amarock and tabbed browsing. When I first installed Breezy on our desktop she refused to use it because of its terrible Japanese support (my wife is Japanese, the default Japanese input system offered in Breezy was horrendous) . With Dapper she agreed to make the switch , she still complains about not having a good photo editing application that does what she wants but found a solution by alternating between gthumb and gwenview .
I think the best way to convert people is to show them how easy it is and to have as many thing (to apear as if they ) work out-of-the-box.

[_simon_]

Converting my other half was easy.

I would sit at my desk doing what I wanted trouble free and she would sit at hers cursing. She asked me a few questions over 2 days then decided to go for it - complete format and install of Ubuntu, afterall if she didn't like it we could easily reinstall Windows.

She's been using Ubuntu for about 6 months now and wouldn't dream of going back to Windows. She actually gets bored with Ubuntu now as she doesn't have to scan for viruses or fix her registry lol

[ThrobbingBrain66]

Boys, boys, boys... You're going about this the wrong way.

Speaking as a girl (and girlfriend of a fantastic guy !), eyecandy is secondary, especially if the girl in question is already reasonably computer literate. Ease of use is what matters.

1. Is it obvious what I need to do to make things happen?
2. Can I still use my messenger accounts?
3. Can I get my email?
4. Do my favourite websites work?

"Is it pretty?" is not as high on the list as you would think. It's nice, sure, and for me personally it made the difference between the KDE desktop and Gnome, but if functions I crave had been available in the ugly one and not in the pretty, I would have put up with the ugly. Especially since the ugly can be changed to less ugly...

I would recommend basing your arguments on how easy it is to be completely in control of your desktop in Ubuntu. Power is very appealing.

...

Just a thought. :-\"

/Mimsy

The "eye-candy" part of my story was just meant for a laugh. I actually picked Kubuntu for her because of apps like amarok and frostwire (which i cant seem to make look good in gnome). Just as an update: She decided that she wants me to completely wipe out her hard drive today and reinstall windows xp so that "it works perfectly like it did when she first bought it." Anyway, seems I have my afternoon all planned out for me.

[chaosgeisterchen]

@Mimsy:

Computer literate. That's the key factor, I did not know whether the persons we're talking about are computer literate. And preferences differ, they always differ. So I assume that you are just as right as we are in several cases.

[AndyCooll]

"Is it pretty?" is not as high on the list as you would think.

Perhaps I wasn't clear about the desktop issue in my previous post. For my wife, it wasn't so much the "pretty" bit as the familiarity. i.e. ensuring there weren't too many changes all at once. Sure there were some but not too many, gradual change rather than wholesale.

Having the same FF shortcut on the toolbar in Ubuntu that had been in XP for instance ...that's what helped.

:cool:

[Mimsy]

The "eye-candy" part of my story was just meant for a laugh.

Likewise. That's why the whistling smiley was there. ;)

Though I must admit that I was actually partly serious, mainly because I've had guys recommend me software countless times, based almost entirely on how "cute" or "pretty" it is.

Apart from how annoying it is that these people seem to genuinely think that I believe that quality in an application is in its appearance (like with people, you know?), my opinion of what looks good tends to be radically different from what these guys think I think looks good... Yuck.

Can you tell this has been bothering me for years...? :D

</soapbox>

/Mimsy

[skirkpatrick]

My wife is really averse to change when it comes to her computer. Upgrading versions of Office or Windows would really get her frustrated because things weren't where they used to be. She has also told me that she doesn't want to have to switch between Linux at home and Windows at work. I have to agree with her on some level, if you don't use the computer very often, you don't want to have to keep remembering how to do things on the one you're using.

Needless to say, she has been using FF on my Ubuntu laptop whenever she wants to do some browsing from the couch. Also, now that I've figured out how to get Dungeon Keeper II to run under Wine, she is considering letting me wipe her 98SE machine.

[EdThaSlayer]

Hmm, maybe you should upgrade girlfriends! :D

:lol: funny but weird idea!

@topic creator-
ncie try! but just let your girlfriend see how slow her pc is...
and lets see in 8 months if she still wants to shell out $300 ;)

[Gargamella]

it is sad to say that not only the older generations but even ours will not be the Linux generation... probably the next one.Persons are still too close to try it and they can't game and use small windows based software upon them.

I hope we will be seen as a pioneer Linux generation.

[chaosgeisterchen]

We have to be seen as the Linux pioneers. We engage in using it while it has a realistic market share of under 5%. We are witnesses of Linux overtaking Windows in each and every aspect bit by bit.. the IT revolution seems to take place slowly, but I can see it coming. People in power try everything to hinder it (DRM, bluray, etc...) but we seem to be stronger.

[Mimsy]

Hmm, maybe you should upgrade girlfriends! :D

Regarding this comment: I very recently upgraded my boyfriend to fiance level, and I can report that it had no effect whatsoever on his opinions about Linux and Ubuntu.

Figures.

/Mimsy

[chaosgeisterchen]

Please report what happens when you upgrade him to 'husband'-level, will you?

[Mimsy]

Sure. :) Can you wait a year though...?

[chaosgeisterchen]

We have all the time in the world. Just tell us a day before Edgy +2.

[Mimsy]

Certainly.

I can picture it in my mind now... droves of Linux-fanatics rushing off to marry their respective girl- and boyfriends, just so they can throw out Windows for good! :D

/Mimsy

[chaosgeisterchen]

And a marriage cake with some round orange - orange-red - red symbol.

[dnzz]

Only thing i learned from a girl about computers is:


NEVER TOUCH HER COMPUTER TO MAKE IT MORE SECURE IF IT IS STILL WORKING


(Its not a problem if system is full of trojans and viruses or not)

[Lucifiel]

Only thing i learned from a girl about computers is:


NEVER TOUCH HER COMPUTER TO MAKE IT MORE SECURE IF IT IS STILL WORKING


(Its not a problem if system is full of trojans and viruses or not)

Hey!!!

Being a female, I take issue with this. :D :p

[ThinkBuntu]

I keep my Linux enjoyment to myself, although on occasion if my lady's computer is having trouble, I'll drop the name and suggest that she give it a try. Why pressure someone on it? She isn't doing anything critical, and I could care less how her machine performs unless she really wants my help with it. And the last thing I need is a reputation as "the guy you go to if you're interested in Linux."

[granite230]

Certainly I didn't just leave her to the wolves. I showed her what programs did what, how to use them, etc. She just doesn't want to learn.

My father is just like that. I even printed a home-made manual for him but he didn't even take a look at it! He just doesn't want to learn either. He doesn't care. However, there is one small advantage here: he doesn't know how to use ANY operating system. That means Ubuntu is just as 'hard' to use as Windows and that's why my dad is using Ubuntu! :D

He only uses it for administrative purposes. He knows how to do some online banking and how to use the spreadsheet. He knows that and just that. He knows how to use a digital camera with loads of options and buttons, but a 3 button mouse is just_too_hard!

I am the one who has to plug his camera into the computer and take off all his pictures. I am the one who has to check his e-mail, write most of his letters and I even have to use Google for him because he just doesn't care.

Now why on earth am I doing all that for him? Well... he pays my education. I can't really say no to him...

[jclmusic]

trying to 'convert' someone (force something on them) never works. wait till they ask for it or whatever. i converted, albeit unintentionally, my girlfriend to ubuntu by her using my computer when she was round and ending up quite liking it, and preffering it to her dad's windows computer (she doesn't have one of her own yet).

[Alterax]

I think the OP's girlfriend shows one of the biggest problems with "converting" people to using Ubuntu (or any other OS other than what they are accustomed to.)

There is an essay out called "Linux is Not Windows" that points out some really good ideas to consider. One of these is the inconsistencies that some people have when they decide they want to use Linux without doing their homework. One is this: That it is logically impossible for something to be superior to something else while at the same time being identical to it.

The OP's GF was expecting both sides of this: She wanted something that she perceived as better than Windows, but expected it to look like Windows and act like Windows. And when it didn't work out it was trashed for being not-user-friendly (non-geek-speak for "I'm not used to it and don't want to bother learning something new") and crap (non-geek-speak for "I'm frustrated because it's not what I think it should be.")

When it comes to introducing new people to Linux, we can do all of ourselves a favor by NOT comparing it to Windows. It's not; and that's okay. If we do, people will just see it as a stripped-down Windows knock-off, and we all know better than that. The most converts that I have seen aren't the people that are fed up with Windows (these types seem to want to complain about EVERYTHING that doesn't come with the Office Depot Big Red "EASY" button). So the people who just want to live free of Microsoft--forget 'em until they decide that they're willing to actually not live with Microsoft.

Instead, curiosity is what reels them in, at least for me. People I work with naturally want to know what the IT people use, so I let them poke around my station for a bit. Then they ask why it looks different (one guy actually thought my computer was Vista because it looked different than the XP stations. He had never seen Vista.) So I log off and let them play a bit with an account I have set up for guests. I don't bother explaining about free, open-source, anything like that because it's usually a waste of time (human psychology: free=inferior. Why this is I dunno). Then hint-hint, wink wink, they want a copy of it so I tell them I'll make one. And I do, and just let them know the CD doesn't need a license key.

Works every time. Tell them it's free and they'll think it's crap. Let them convince themselves they are stealing it, and it's the shiznik. (Nevermind that either way they aren't paying for it; humanity is quirky that way).

That's how I get the new ones. And after messing around with it for a bit, I've only found one out of about 20 decide they don't like it.

--Alterax

[Ram Crammer]

Some people are never happy. Others simply refuse to learn anything
new, even if it's better and will save them time and effort later.
Still others are easily swayed back and forth by other people's
opinions. And still others seem to need to be controlled and
manipulated.

I just spent several days and numerous emails convincing a friend to
switch from Windows to Ubuntu. His main concern was that he had to be
able to run Adobe Photoshop. Dispite showing him ample praise by
others for The Gimp, he simply refused to try another photo editing
application. He insisted Photoshop was the best, and that every
professional photog swears by it. His statement is obviously an
exageration, and I told him that, but, he remained adamant.

Okay, I can understand wanting to stick with a known application, so I
sent him several links to web pages that show how Photoshop can be run
in Linux and Ubuntu, using WINE or VMware. Finally, he agreed to try
Ubuntu, but the next day he said it was off. His Windows minion
friends convinced him to stick with Windows, so now he wants to buy a
new Dell with Vista. This, after many days of my explaining to him the
evils and dangers of DRM, proprietary formats, and M$ extortion and
monopolistic abuses, not to mention the inability to install Windows
on more than one machine or transfer it to another machine, as well as
the WGA issue, and the never ending cost of proprietary software, and
the endless hardware/software upgrade cycle.

However, after this, his latest reversal, I realized it was hopeless. I
told him to go buy a Dell, shackle it with Vista (Defective By Design)
and good luck. I also told him I would no longer be interested in his
computer problems, and that he would be on his own, since I have no
desire to waste my time with his spyware mal-ware magnet, and M$'s
"in-your-face" restrictive OS.

It seems that trying to win people over to Linux is a lot like arguing
religion or politics. Some people seem to find comfort in being
controlled and manipulated, whether it be by corrupt politicians or
religious leaders who abuse the pulpet. There simply is no hope of
getting some people to cast off the yoke of oppression. All we can do
is hope they'll eventually see the light.

[TheWizzard]

I just spent several days and numerous emails convincing a friend to
switch from Windows to Ubuntu. His main concern was that he had to be
able to run Adobe Photoshop. Dispite showing him ample praise by
others for The Gimp, he simply refused to try another photo editing
application. He insisted Photoshop was the best, and that every
professional photog swears by it. His statement is obviously an
exageration, and I told him that, but, he remained adamant.

Okay, I can understand wanting to stick with a known application, so I
sent him several links to web pages that show how Photoshop can be run
in Linux and Ubuntu, using WINE or VMware. Finally, he agreed to try
Ubuntu, but the next day he said it was off. His Windows minion
friends convinced him to stick with Windows, so now he wants to buy a
new Dell with Vista. This, after many days of my explaining to him the
evils and dangers of DRM, proprietary formats, and M$ extortion and
monopolistic abuses, not to mention the inability to install Windows
on more than one machine or transfer it to another machine, as well as
the WGA issue, and the never ending cost of proprietary software, and
the endless hardware/software upgrade cycle.



trying to convince people to make the switch is counterproductive. if your friend wants/needs photoshop and is happy with windows, let him use windows.

[shen-an-doah]

I think one thing that could sway some, is if they want to "go back to Windows", let them. But have them go back to just Windows. That means you don't install any extra software for them (well, if they're missing loads of drivers, you could chuck them in, leaving those out would be pretty mean). Let them see how "easy" Windows is when it hasn't been set up for them...

[daynah]

I think one thing that could sway some, is if they want to "go back to Windows", let them. But have them go back to just Windows. That means you don't install any extra software for them (well, if they're missing loads of drivers, you could chuck them in, leaving those out would be pretty mean). Let them see how "easy" Windows is when it hasn't been set up for them...


Fantastic idea! But leave out the drivers. I mean.. Ubuntu has basic drivers now. Let them eat cake.

Anyway, have you gotten details from her? Specifically what programs she has troubles with?

Or maybe she's like me and has a brain implosion everytime Kubuntu open. True KONVERSATION (hahahahahaha) with me and a kubuntu user.

"Oh oh Lemme check gmail... umm ... umm.. Where is your internet?!"
"It's right here, you idiot. It's just like ubuntu."
"That was a button?"

Now I wouldn't go straight away installing it. but maybe show her a ubuntu live cd. Ubuntu is pretty too.

Also, pm me for my email address and I'm sure a KDE girl will offer up her support also. It's annoying when I walk in on my boyfriend "Yeah my girlfriend just doen't understand the importancy of the joining of the universes in Crisi on Infin-- on hey hunny" so I like to talk to girls about comics who aren't going to talk about my comic knowledge inadequecies behind my back. Maybe joining up your girlfriend with a community will help her want to learn more.

Honestly, I don't pay attention to my boyfriend when he tries to explain (read: geeks out over) Crisis on Infinate Earths.

[Adamant1988]

I was SO SO close. I had everything working perfectly for her (except for the precious button on her keyboard that opens up a calculator). The end of the story gets a little unbelievable, but it's true.

About a year ago my girlfriend bought a Compaq computer (Windows XP MCE) from BB. She was satisfied with it until about 2 months ago. It started slowing down to a halt. Opening programs, surfing the internet...everything was taking forever. I've maintained her computer ever since the day she got it. From the beginning I installed AVG, ZoneAlarm, Spyboy S&D, Adaware, CCleaner and Microsoft Defender. I installed Firefox for her as well, but she didn't always use it. Basically, I had her computer locked down like a maximum security prison.

For the last two months however, all these programs stopped making any performance difference. Her computer just started crawling along. Finally she got sick of her computer's attitude (and my bragging about Ubuntu) and asked me to install Ubuntu. Naturally I did so happily and chose Kubuntu cause chicks dig eye candy, am I right guys?:wink: It installed flawlessly and I had no trouble setting up the drivers for her ATI card.

After the first few days the jury was still out. She didn;t have any complaints or anything, but didn't gush about it either. Then for some reason her connection to the internet get really crappy. Some pages took 5-10 minutes to load. And then the bitching commensed:

"I want Windows back, linux (as she simply refers to it) sucks!
I hate linux! The next time you're hear you WILL take this off my computer!"

So I said:

"Let me see if I can figure out what's wrong baby, if i can't fix it I'll take linux off."

Immediately I booted into windows, and strangely enough in Windows she had absolutely NO internet connection. It was slow as a turtle in Ubuntu, but there was NOTHING in Windows. I repaired the connection in Windows but it was still slow...until I booted into Ubuntu. It was LIGHTNING FAST after fixing the connection and disabling ipv6.

This more than satisfied her for about two weeks, until the following exchange took place this morning:

"Linux is not user friendly at all. The names don't make sense. I can't figure out how to burn a CD. My burning program in Windows was SO much easier."

"Honey, it wasn't easier...Ubuntu is just different. Give yourself some time to adjust."

"No! I want windows back right now! Linux is so much faster, but the names are horrible."

"Ok, I guess I can take Ubuntu off your computer. But I don't know what else to do about how slow Windows is. Both your bother and I are out of ideas."

"That's ok. I'm gonna have my brother install that other one he has on his computer."

"He has Vista rc2 honey, you'll only be able to use that until june 2007 and after that it'll lock you out unless you drop $300 for a license.

"I don't care. That's like 8 months from now."

"Alright, I'm just trying to save you some hassle in the long run. But don't say I didn't warn you."

So currently she's grudgingly using kubuntu, but I'm sure it'll be gone shortly. It's a shame...I was so close...

I'm sorry, but your girlfriend is ODD if that's the exchange that actually took place. She goes from reasonably tech-savvy sounding to completely idiotic in the span of a single sentence. That's not a sign of a girlfriend who can't use Ubuntu.. that's a sign of a poorly written script...

If you taught her how to use the CD-burning application, GAIM, etc. it is not a matter of learning after that. It takes a grand total of 30 seconds to figure out what GAIM does, I managed to explain it to my sister in a single sentence:

"Gaim is just like Trillian, except free"

This also doesn't make any sense to me because no real cd-burning application is named like a real CD-burning application. You've got 'Nero' and that whole bunch, but I've never been able to burn a music CD without using some other application with a completely different name.

I don't mean any offense but you make your girlfriend sound like a complete and utter idiot, which I get the feeling she is not. I have a technologically incompetent girlfriend and while she refuses to use Linux on the basis that she's not familiar with it (fair enough) and that Microsoft Word won't be available to her (fair enough) she has never once blamed the application names for her inability to spend 30 seconds learning what an application does.

I'm sure you actually did try to get your girlfriend to switch to Linux, but I seriously do not think that's the exchange that took place, or the real reason it took place...

[shen-an-doah]

If the names confuse you, you can always just hover your mouse over an application and read the description that comes up...

Though admittedly even that isn't useful sometimes, take Amarok's for example "Uncle Rodney says 10/10, Amarok is seriously super!" O_o

[daynah]

Why is it always the girlfriends that are computer illiterate?

...my boyfriend is computer, not illiterate, but slow. He had four My Documents, all containing the same things.

No, I don't know how it happened.

[shen-an-doah]

Why is it always the girlfriends that are computer illiterate?

...my boyfriend is computer, not illiterate, but slow. He had four My Documents, all containing the same things.

No, I don't know how it happened.

Did he not think this was unusual? O_o

[daynah]

He just complained that he was running out of space.

[LPomfrey]

"Converting" my girlfriend was easy. Her Windows install was trashed and she didn't have the original Windows discs, plus I'd already got her using Firefox, OpenOffice.org, and The GIMP. I asked if she wanted to try Ubuntu and she agreed. I ordered her a new ethernet ADSL router/modem (she had a USB one that I knew wouldn't work) then rebuilt her computer into a new case and stuck Ubuntu on. She loves it, the first comment I think was something along the lines of "Wow, it isn't really slow like Windows." :D

My dad on the other hand took a little bit of work. He was buying a new laptop and I suggested putting Ubuntu on it. He started up saying "If it's free how can it be good." I explained a bit about it and he still didn't want it. Everything changed after I told him he'd still be using Firefox by default, and if he refused to have Ubuntu or another GNU/Linux distro on there then I wouldn't be doing any maintenance or showing him how to do anything (he's practically computer illiterate.) Bit harsh but I didn't fancy removing spyware and viruses every 5 minutes.

[shen-an-doah]

All this talk about "converting" girlfriends reminds me of this quote (http://www.bash.org/?37390).

:-#

[darkworld]

Mines converted....and I am shocked! She actually asked me to change the default in grub to Ubuntu! yes! No more XP yipeee!

[enlightenment now]

I was SO SO close. I had everything working perfectly for her (except for the precious button on her keyboard that opens up a calculator). The end of the story gets a little unbelievable, but it's true.

About a year ago my girlfriend bought a Compaq computer (Windows XP MCE) from BB. She was satisfied with it until about 2 months ago. It started slowing down to a halt. Opening programs, surfing the internet...everything was taking forever. I've maintained her computer ever since the day she got it. From the beginning I installed AVG, ZoneAlarm, Spyboy S&D, Adaware, CCleaner and Microsoft Defender. I installed Firefox for her as well, but she didn't always use it. Basically, I had her computer locked down like a maximum security prison.

For the last two months however, all these programs stopped making any performance difference. Her computer just started crawling along. Finally she got sick of her computer's attitude (and my bragging about Ubuntu) and asked me to install Ubuntu. Naturally I did so happily and chose Kubuntu cause chicks dig eye candy, am I right guys?:wink: It installed flawlessly and I had no trouble setting up the drivers for her ATI card.

After the first few days the jury was still out. She didn;t have any complaints or anything, but didn't gush about it either. Then for some reason her connection to the internet get really crappy. Some pages took 5-10 minutes to load. And then the bitching commensed:

"I want Windows back, linux (as she simply refers to it) sucks!
I hate linux! The next time you're hear you WILL take this off my computer!"

So I said:

"Let me see if I can figure out what's wrong baby, if i can't fix it I'll take linux off."

Immediately I booted into windows, and strangely enough in Windows she had absolutely NO internet connection. It was slow as a turtle in Ubuntu, but there was NOTHING in Windows. I repaired the connection in Windows but it was still slow...until I booted into Ubuntu. It was LIGHTNING FAST after fixing the connection and disabling ipv6.

This more than satisfied her for about two weeks, until the following exchange took place this morning:

"Linux is not user friendly at all. The names don't make sense. I can't figure out how to burn a CD. My burning program in Windows was SO much easier."

"Honey, it wasn't easier...Ubuntu is just different. Give yourself some time to adjust."

"No! I want windows back right now! Linux is so much faster, but the names are horrible."

"Ok, I guess I can take Ubuntu off your computer. But I don't know what else to do about how slow Windows is. Both your bother and I are out of ideas."

"That's ok. I'm gonna have my brother install that other one he has on his computer."

"He has Vista rc2 honey, you'll only be able to use that until june 2007 and after that it'll lock you out unless you drop $300 for a license.

"I don't care. That's like 8 months from now."

"Alright, I'm just trying to save you some hassle in the long run. But don't say I didn't warn you."

So currently she's grudgingly using kubuntu, but I'm sure it'll be gone shortly. It's a shame...I was so close...

Why not try another OS? (either Linux or BSD)

[bclark]

He just complained that he was running out of space.

classic ;)

[@trophy]

My story about converting my girlfriend was a little bit more successful. Back in October our NTFS partition croaked a while back, so I had to reinstall XP. I have three legal copies of it, so I thought "No problem!" and I installed it, but it wouldn't activate. So I tried another one of my legal keys. Wouldn't activate. Tried the third. Wouldn't activate.

So I called up M$, and they gave me the whole "Prove to us you're not a pirate." 3rd degree, and gave me yet another key that STILL wouldn't activate. Then they told me "It's late... you'll have to call back on Monday and talk to our liscensing dept." (Basically they were gonna try to sell me a new key.) So I hung up on them and immediately installed a pirated copy of Windows, which magically activated just fine. LOL.

And I configured it, installed all my apps, etc... and within a week the machine was unusable because... I don't know... Windows was suffering from bit-rot. It wasn't spyware... Windows just started slowing down. Anyways, I had had enough. I informed my then-girlfriend (now my wife... love you, Amber!) that we would be moving over to Linux (which she had seen me use on my laptop) and she said ok.

I installed Ubuntu on the machine, and I haven't heard any complaints since. In fact, she cussed out our computer one time, and I was wondering what happened, so I asked: these were her exact words:

"In linux I just plugged in our printer and hit Print and everything worked... but #!@& Windows wants me to go download some driver and I can't find it and I just want to print my $#*&ing report!"

I had a good laugh at that one... but yeah she even tried to get her grandma to let me install it on her computer! We still have XP for Photoshop (me) and Sims2 (her) but we spend about 90% of our time in Ubuntu. So conclusive proof right here... chicks really do dig linux!!!

[shen-an-doah]

chicks really do dig linux!!!

Where do you find these girls and are there more available? :p

[@trophy]

Where do you find these girls and are there more available? :p

Umm she has a sister, but that sister is currently taken. I'm sure there'll be a girl or two at that conference thingie that's coming up in Portland...

[samschoice]

Re-install windows and let her computer alone. Using windows is like being an alcoholic. You have to realize that you have a problem yourself.

[eljalill]

I love that last post :)
Really, being a converted girlfriend myself that's exactly how it goes. If you always do this stuff for her, she'll never want to learn. If she thinks, she's computer savvy (or however you spell that word), well, than she can fix her windows problem herself, just hand her a knoppix CD. And if she comes to the conclusion that (k)ubuntu saves the trouble, so be it.

Although no I have started to wonder.... I think it was me, who first started on trying to install Fedora, but never really succeeding on a really old laptop...

The thing about the above is... and I guess, here is where being a girls might come in, but honestly I am not sure either... that she'll of course ask you for help. And of course she'll want you to actually help her. But at the same time, she'd love to be able to do it all herself and not need you to fix things.

[shen-an-doah]

My ex was fairly computer-savvy (even built her own computer, from what I remember), but she still used windows, hell she still used IE!

I worry about that girl...

[macogw]

chicks really do dig linux!!!

I once converted my boyfriend to Linux. He's not my boyfriend anymore, but he still uses it and just switched his mom and I think his aunt to it. Possibly his current girl too....

[Afoot]

Can you blame her? The CD burning app is called K3b, how the hell is she supposed to find out what that is? And that's just the tip of an iceberg of bad names. Why do they have to have a "k" in them, anyways? Can't they just be named after what they do? IMO the names in GNOME are much better, did you try installing plain Ubuntu for her? I know my post only contains sentences ending with a question mark, but what are you gonna do?

[mips]

Can you blame her? The CD burning app is called K3b, how the hell is she supposed to find out what that is? And that's just the tip of an iceberg of bad names. Why do they have to have a "k" in them, anyways? Can't they just be named after what they do? IMO the names in GNOME are much better, did you try installing plain Ubuntu for her? I know my post only contains sentences ending with a question mark, but what are you gonna do?

Hm, there are plenty KDE bashing threads on this forum, maybe contribute to one of those ?

[shen-an-doah]

Can you blame her? The CD burning app is called K3b, how the hell is she supposed to find out what that is? And that's just the tip of an iceberg of bad names. Why do they have to have a "k" in them, anyways? Can't they just be named after what they do? IMO the names in GNOME are much better, did you try installing plain Ubuntu for her? I know my post only contains sentences ending with a question mark, but what are you gonna do?

There's always the fact that if you hold your mouse over a menu item, it'll tell you what it does...

[garba]

apt-get gf-upgrade

[@trophy]

apt-get gf-upgrade

WARNING: You have to compile from source against the lib-ido headers, otherwise you'll get considerably reduced functionality...

[k99goran]

Can you blame her? The CD burning app is called K3b, how the hell is she supposed to find out what that is? And that's just the tip of an iceberg of bad names.
Couldn't they just have called it "KDE disc writer" or something?

Personally, I would have added quick launch buttons for the applications she most often uses. No need to really know the names of the applications as long as you recognize the icons.

[luca_linux]

WARNING: You have to compile from source against the lib-ido headers, otherwise you'll get considerably reduced functionality...
LOL! :D :D :D

[ThrobbingBrain66]

Wow, when I originally posted this thread it didn't cause much of a stir at all. Now though, it seems like a thread that won't die. :)

To bring everyone up to speed, a week or so later after I wrote this story I had to put XP back on her machine which she was happy with until it started acting up on her again.

Fast-forward to about 2 months ago when her brother got a pirated version of Vista. She saw all the eye candy and decided she wanted that too. Being the dutiful boyfriend that I am, I installed a copy of Vista Business that I can get through MSDNAA for free. I got everything set up the way she wanted (but in all honesty, forgot to install a couple programs like adobe, etc). There have been 4-5 instances where shes gotten all fired up about Vista but over all things have been pretty quiet on the OS front.

[DoctorMO]

It's interesting in a way, I know people who are very peer dependant who will only use software that everyone else uses and simply because everyone else uses it. I think it's the other exteme from the people on these forums who wish to learn everything they can; some people just don't want to learn and instead will lean on others brains so to speak.

The problem is that most people are malinformed about software and computers in general. most people talk out their **** or are parroting some political or corporate agenda. sometimes I think that's why the inquizitive folks get on with computers much more than the social group think folks.

I converted someone to Ubuntu, but they only used it so long as I was near; when I moved they got someone to install XP. even though they had to buy XP, even though there was no drivers available for their tv card (the main use of the computer was as a tv) so the whole point of the computer was undermined just so the user could use what other people use. I was so disappointed in such behaviour I asked her to never call upon me again except to apologise.

[ThrobbingBrain66]

@AdamAnt1988 (post #64)

You have to relax a little bit, man. I promise you that is the conversation that took place. I didn't not portray her as someone who is stupid or anything like that. While she isn't nearly as tech savy as I am, she does know her way around computers. Sometimes she has a bit of a short fuse and this is especially true with technology. Just take the story for what it is...an amusing anecdote, and move on.

[Detonate]

The problem is that most people are malinformed about software and computers in general. most people talk out their **** or are parroting some political or corporate agenda. sometimes I think that's why the inquizitive folks get on with computers much more than the social group think folks.


I never thought about it before Doc, but you may be on to something there.

[sinaen]

hmm... for a newbie linux person i would like her to use gnome. but i have only read the first page of this thread :D

[soapytheclown]

my girlfriend asked me to install ubuntu on her box and loves it! she despises windows, loves her compiz h8s beryl (as she regulary informs me its too unstable atleast on her machine) and has taught herself the basics has it all customised in a girly pink theme with pink gtk window decorations and background and her m8s are jelous simply because its pink and "has a spinning cube with fire and water". I tired to suggest getting her m8s to install ubuntu but they're too relucatant to give up windows on thier laptops, i told them that i couldnt help them with the pink or the cube in that case!

The best part is she (who comes from a completely computer illerate family.. to the point where her baby broter aged about 2 or 3 at that time broke the usb ports on the front of her tower and paid a pc world repair guy £50 to put the cable for her printer into the back of the tower) now knows how to fit her own hard drives, jumper settings etc and memory upgrades! nothing spectacular i agree but leaps and bounds especially for a girl ;)

[odiseo77]

I've only read the first and the last pages of this thread, but I don't get why some people is soo scared about linux. My brother is a systems engineering student working on a company in the area of tech security and he's freak out about the idea of using linux. Once he came and visit me to my house, saw my linux box, said something like "looks wonderful, hmmm, where's the terminal" then he typed in a couple of commands ('dir' and 'exit,' to be precise :D ) and that was it. As for me, believe it or not I studied literature at the university (though I'm planning to begin studying systems engineering at the end of the year) and I've been using linux for almost 4 years or so now, and though I don't consider myself a guru or something, I can say I'm an average linux user; I mean, I can use the terminal comfortably, compile sources, build .deb packages, set up a home network, etc.

I even installed and configured ubuntu in my mom's PC and she's so happy with it, she never (or rarely) boots into windows (well, all she does is to surf the web, open e-mails, write documents, etc. and as for administration, all she has to do is to click on the orange icon when the upgrades notification arrive, enter her password and she's done :D )

[waldorsockbat]

I am a somewhat new convert to Ubuntu. I have had 7.04 set up as a dual boot on a separate hd since release but have not used it much till about 2 weeks ago because of the lack of a driver for my(this machine was built as a water cooled gaming rig) X-fi card. I finally pulled that card and just use the AC97 on-board sound and I have to say 7.04 kicks ***. I have been using for everything except for gaming and will use as my primary os from now on. With that said I have also converted my wife to Ubuntu as well. She now uses it on her laptop as her primary(she still has to use windows for some things till I can get wine straightened out)os also. She loves how easy it is to use, how safe it is,no more Trojans, the laptop is much faster now and she loves synaptic, she cant get over how easy it is to install anything she wants and it is all free. This coming for a completely computer Illiterate person who doesn't want to know how it works or how to fix it cause as she tells me all the time "that's what you're here for" I now here about 20 times a night "OHHH COOL" or " THAT IS SO FREAKING COOL!! WHY CAN'T WINDOW BE LIKE THIS?" We both thank everyone involved with putting this os out and all the people here who take the time to help out us new converts out.

[sinaen]

my girlfriend asked me to install ubuntu on her box and loves it! she despises windows, loves her compiz h8s beryl (as she regulary informs me its too unstable atleast on her machine) and has taught herself the basics has it all customised in a girly pink theme with pink gtk window decorations and background and her m8s are jelous simply because its pink and "has a spinning cube with fire and water". I tired to suggest getting her m8s to install ubuntu but they're too relucatant to give up windows on thier laptops, i told them that i couldnt help them with the pink or the cube in that case!

The best part is she (who comes from a completely computer illerate family.. to the point where her baby broter aged about 2 or 3 at that time broke the usb ports on the front of her tower and paid a pc world repair guy £50 to put the cable for her printer into the back of the tower) now knows how to fit her own hard drives, jumper settings etc and memory upgrades! nothing spectacular i agree but leaps and bounds especially for a girl ;)


Sweet.. my gf is somewhat the same. but shes learning rapidly..
Im going to try to convince her to switch/try ubuntu. the live disk was slooooowwwing her computer down to the limit that the pointer jumped across the screen. her laptop isnt the best in this world i have to admit :)
but it fulfills her needs... .) and it has a spare partition im going to try installing the ubuntu system on :) mwahahah!

[GSF1200S]

Well, this isnt a comment about a gf, but rather a mom. My mother is 49 years old, and I put Ubuntu on her computer. She keeps telling everyone at work how easy it is to use and how fast it is. Nearly 3/4 of her coworkers have never heard of linux, and many of them have said things like "are you sure it has all the things windows does" and "are the files you use on linux capable of being used on windows?"

My mom knows nothing about computers. She managed to slow XP (or allow XP to slow itself) to a crawl in just 6 months. You know the score: norton av, norton ghost, google crap in the system tray, spyware galoure, and a whole host of other problems. Shes actually asked how to put shortcuts on the desktop for Windows. She tries, but she is a very simple computer user.

Since Ubuntu, she hasnt had to use Windows (I dual booted so she would be comfortable). She always says how fast it is and that she hasnt had any problems. She says that it looks nice (compiz enabled, window picker enabled, goodweather gdesklets as well as drive space monitors, black glassy panels for gnome, transparent bottom taskbar, and a custom icon theme).

The only windows dependency that ALMOST screwed me was Quicken 2000. I tried converting the .qif file into gnucash, but it didnt transfer right. When asked, she said she would just boot windows for her finance stuff. I was NOT cool with this. So, I spent almost 4 hours trying to get Quicken to work under Wine. It worked fine, but for some reason the password wouldnt come to the top, so Quicken was basically useless. I then went into wine config and tried the option that didnt let Gnome (metacity) be the window manager for Quicken. Doing this, the password box was seen fine, with the side effect of Quicken not being in the taskbar. Instead its kind of like windows 3.1 where the icon minimizes to the bottom of the screen. You can still have other windows open and see the icon on top of the taskbar, but its a little ghetto. Regaurdless, she doesnt even use Windows and she LOVES linux.. and shes not even of the computer generation.

Not to pick on any of your girlfriends, but alot (not all as proven by the GF's who have converted, will convert, and the women in this forum) of women today think everything should go there way. Once again, not all as proven here, but many. As such, they arent interested in doing anything that requires a bit of effort when an easier way is available, as a little smile and a little leg is usually all they have to do to get things that they want in life. Look at the short short skirts with no underwear on, no bras or pushup bras, and the excessive makeup. Its seen all over TV, and you see it in all the one sided relationships where men do every little thing there girl tells them to do. Considering MOST of the failed converts have had there boyfriends do all the work, and do all the work to put windows back, I would question there contribution to the relationship in general. Granted, if they decide to try it, cant get it, and politely ask to have it changed back, and APPRECIATE the inconvienience placed on their significant other, then thats different. But to have you do all the work, say "i dont like it, change it back" with little effort and little appreciation, is a perfect display of the mentality im listing as the failures culprit. A final time, not all fall into this category, and I mean no offense.

**EDIT** I really wanted to make myself clear so as not to offend any of the females who dont have this "mentality"

[macogw]

nothing spectacular i agree but leaps and bounds especially for a girl ;)
And those would be any LESS of leaps and bounds if she was a boy?

[Mimsy]

nothing spectacular i agree but leaps and bounds especially for a girl ;)

I have to agree with macogw here... what has that got to do with being biologically male or female?

[GSF1200S]

He put a wink next to that statement.. I think he was making a little bit of a joke based on the stereotype of women and computers. I dont think he meant to imply any biological aspect that would pose the limitations he suggested.

[Mimsy]

Perhaps, though being female in a world of geeks is hard enough without lame "jokes" like that making it worse. :)

Kidding aside, I've yet to meet a single woman who falls into that sterotype. I know lots of women who fall into the category of "never had a pressing need to learn about how computers work" but that's not quite the same.

My mother-in-law is a shining example. She started out knowing next to nothing about computers. I set up her home system on WinXP, and made sure to install effective freeware that keeps the nasties away, and now she is improving her knowledge of these things in leaps and bounds. She has gone from "My internet isn't working!" to "Spybot refused to update last night, even though I tried several different locations, and rebooted and everything. So I reinstalled it, but that didn't work either. Would you mind looking at it?" in less than a month.

She's approaching her sixties, but she is a very intelligent woman, and she learns quickly. Helping her with computer issues is becoming easier every week. So can we please leave male and female out of this?

[GSF1200S]

Perhaps, though being female in a world of geeks is hard enough without lame "jokes" like that making it worse. :)

Kidding aside, I've yet to meet a single woman who falls into that sterotype. I know lots of women who fall into the category of "never had a pressing need to learn about how computers work" but that's not quite the same.

My mother-in-law is a shining example. She started out knowing next to nothing about computers. I set up her home system on WinXP, and made sure to install effective freeware that keeps the nasties away, and now she is improving her knowledge of these things in leaps and bounds. She has gone from "My internet isn't working!" to "Spybot refused to update last night, even though I tried several different locations, and rebooted and everything. So I reinstalled it, but that didn't work either. Would you mind looking at it?" in less than a month.

She's approaching her sixties, but she is a very intelligent woman, and she learns quickly. Helping her with computer issues is becoming easier every week. So can we please leave male and female out of this?

By coincidence the topic happens to incorporate the female sex. Ill stop talking about it, because I know theres no way to make my point. Im already wrong, even though in areas I AGREE with you. I said myself that my mother is a computer IDIOT, and yet shes learning Linux quickly and has put effort towards it.

If youve never met a girl that wants things her way, then it must be because youre a girl yourself and they dont expect you to follow there every will. As a man who hasnt had this problem, but have seen MANY of my friends have this, I ensure you that it does exist. Obviously not you, or any other female on this forum, or else you wouldnt argue it so firmly.

If youre talking about the computer girl stereotype, I agree. A woman is just as capable at computers as a man. I think the stereotypes are simply due to the male dominated computer world. Peace :)

[Mimsy]

If youre talking about the computer girl stereotype, I agree. A woman is just as capable at computers as a man. I think the stereotypes are simply due to the male dominated computer world. Peace :)

That is what I was talking about though. As a female who is into computers, into videogames, and into martial arts, I am so used to being a minority in a male-dominated segment of the world that I tend to over-react.

No offense was meant. Honestly. I am used to having to punch down walls in order to be accepted, and sometimes I forget that the walls are not omnipresent.

And, for the record, I have met girls who can't stand not having things done their way, but I always put that down to them being spoiled brats, not to them being girls:)

Either way, peace and truce? I'm sure we both have better things to do than argue about this anyway. :)

/Mimsy

[GSF1200S]

That is what I was talking about though. As a female who is into computers, into videogames, and into martial arts, I am so used to being a minority in a male-dominated segment of the world that I tend to over-react.

No offense was meant. Honestly. I am used to having to punch down walls in order to be accepted, and sometimes I forget that the walls are not omnipresent.

And, for the record, I have met girls who can't stand not having things done their way, but I always put that down to them being spoiled brats, not to them being girls:)

Either way, peace and truce? I'm sure we both have better things to do than argue about this anyway. :)

/Mimsy

Ive never really understood why these 'barriers' in things exist. For example, I too take martial arts (Yoseikan Jujitsu, you?) and have found women to generally be better at it for 2 reasons: 1) they dont have ego blocks when they make mistakes 2) theyre naturally more flexible. When these walls come about, I would suggest only kicking down the wall enough to be able to do want you are interested in, because bias and stereotyping are one of mankinds problems (haha, thats a stereotype, rofl), and no amount of logic will change it. Barriers in life are often barriers in others' minds.

Youre right about the whole spoiled brats thing: I think its a matter of todays society, and namely american, canadian and european societys, instilling a spoiled mentality in girls at a young age. With the vast majority of television being based on sex, lies, and violence as a means to achieve, and then the message that women make the rules pertaining to the 'sexual chessgame' many women are using this to an extreme. This spills into all subjects including good ole Linux and whether or not they give effort, or whether they expect a chance and a fix when the chance doesnt work all peachy.

How about peace AND truce? :) Im not trying to attack you or anyone else. I was merely trying to explain how a blanket female issue is affecting the propogation of Linux in the female computer population. Believe me, on a different day with a different subject, I could go on all day about a mans problems.

Take it easy...

[eentonig]

You don't convert a girlfriend to use linux. They 're not made for that.



No, seriously. I didn't even bother 'converting' my wife. I wiped MS from the HD, installed linux and started using the pc. Every now and then, she'll need to pc. So I just waited for one of those moments.

she: "What did you do with the PC?"
me: "Intalled linux. What do you want?"
she: "I need to find ... on IE."
me: "(You've been using FF on windows as well). But, there's the icon. I created it on the Desktop like you're used to."

And that's about all converting I did. Same conversation happened for
- Music
- tekst editting.
-

[mdsmedia]

Can you blame her? The CD burning app is called K3b, how the hell is she supposed to find out what that is? And that's just the tip of an iceberg of bad names. Why do they have to have a "k" in them, anyways? Can't they just be named after what they do? IMO the names in GNOME are much better, did you try installing plain Ubuntu for her? I know my post only contains sentences ending with a question mark, but what are you gonna do?Interesting, the criticism of names, and using K3B as an example.

How is K3B any worse than Nero, as far as a name is concerned. How are you supposed to know Nero is CD burning software?

How is Outlook Express a good name for an email program?

What about Excel as a spreadsheet program?

I think this criticism of names is a bit over the top.

Firefox is a browser? Go figure! And Thunderbird is an email client? Wow!! I never would have figured that.

[@trophy]

Interesting, the criticism of names, and using K3B as an example.

How is K3B any worse than Nero, as far as a name is concerned. How are you supposed to know Nero is CD burning software?

How is Outlook Express a good name for an email program?

What about Excel as a spreadsheet program?

I think this criticism of names is a bit over the top.

Firefox is a browser? Go figure! And Thunderbird is an email client? Wow!! I never would have figured that.


Way to completely miss the point.

Ask just about anybody who's used a computer lately what IE does and they'll tell you "Internet." It's because they know enough people using it to have associated the two. If you ask them what Firefox does, you'll probably lose a few of the older folks, but most people will still know someone else who uses Firefox, and they'll say "Internet." Ask them all what Nero does, and anybody who's ever burned a CD will say "Burns CDs." It's because they've heard of that one before.

Throw all of them on a linux box when they've never even heard of linux before, and the vast majority will have no way of knowing what K3B does. They don't have any friends who use linux, or if they do, those friends don't tell them all about how great K3B is.

Linux doesn't have the benefit of ubiquity. Until it does, we ought to acknowledge the fact that the first time new users sit down in front of our OS, they're going to have absolutely no idea what's going on, because they haven't had any experience with it before.

[wolfen69]

i told my GF that if you dont like linux, dont use it. end of story. grow a pair, man.

[macogw]

By coincidence the topic happens to incorporate the female sex. Ill stop talking about it, because I know theres no way to make my point. Im already wrong, even though in areas I AGREE with you. I said myself that my mother is a computer IDIOT, and yet shes learning Linux quickly and has put effort towards it.

If youve never met a girl that wants things her way, then it must be because youre a girl yourself and they dont expect you to follow there every will. As a man who hasnt had this problem, but have seen MANY of my friends have this, I ensure you that it does exist. Obviously not you, or any other female on this forum, or else you wouldnt argue it so firmly.

If youre talking about the computer girl stereotype, I agree. A woman is just as capable at computers as a man. I think the stereotypes are simply due to the male dominated computer world. Peace :)

I saw this topic as being more about "significant other" in general than specifically girls. That's why I mentioned converting an old boyfriend to Linux.

And I'm with the other chick on "my way or the highway" being a spoiled brat thing. I got that attitude from my brother the other day showing him to use Amarok for his iPod. I don't think it's "today" that says "girls, use your sex appeal, and you'll get whatever you want." Look at Queen Anne and Henry VIII. She used "no...no sex til you marry me" to get the throne.

To the last bit: we know about the stereotype. We want it to go away. Maybe if we all stop repeating "girls aren't good with computers, oh well, except a few, but mostly it's all guys" it'll go away. I don't see how repeating it verbatim helps any, though the way you spin it would make a difference. Either way, I don't think the phrase "especially for a girl" is a great thing to use in computers. Just tells us that those of us into computers are either A) freaks or B) not as good as the guys when the playing field is level. By B, I mean that you're saying that when we're told "good job" it REALLY means "that was rather crappy, but what can I expect? you're a girl, after all." Maybe phrasing it as "some guys think girls are bad with computers, but they're just being idiots" would work.

[Circus-Killer]

i dont know if the original poster is still paying attention to this thread, but here's my suggestion. try letting her use ubuntu.

ive been using different linux distros since 1999. ive also seen a fair share of desktop environments. the reason why i dont use kubuntu is because i find it such a mission to get around, even though ive been using linux for so long.

now, im not saying kubuntu is bad or anything, im just saying that everyone has their preferences. and maybe starting her on ubuntu would of been better, as it is far less overwhelming. this is of course just my opinion, but who knows, maybe she will end up agreeing with me. ;)

[Mimsy]

To the last bit: we know about the stereotype. We want it to go away. Maybe if we all stop repeating "girls aren't good with computers, oh well, except a few, but mostly it's all guys" it'll go away. I don't see how repeating it verbatim helps any, though the way you spin it would make a difference. Either way, I don't think the phrase "especially for a girl" is a great thing to use in computers. Just tells us that those of us into computers are either A) freaks or B) not as good as the guys when the playing field is level. By B, I mean that you're saying that when we're told "good job" it REALLY means "that was rather crappy, but what can I expect? you're a girl, after all." Maybe phrasing it as "some guys think girls are bad with computers, but they're just being idiots" would work.

That's what I was getting at when I said jokes like that don't exactly make it easier... but it was very late and I was tired. So thanks for saying what I meant to say in a way that made more sense! :)

[snobby500]

If the first guy who posted is still reading this,
what about making a virtual machine, using virtualbox, nice n easy to set up, then u can give her both, if she wants windows for certain things she can use them, and if she needs internet, she can use k/ubuntu.

just so u know, if she is going to run 3d appliactions then it wont work with virtualbox, maybe with vmware but i dont know enough about it to tell you. I know she is using vista, just a suggestion, u know :) thought id put it out there, if already has been posted, soz havent read entire thread, just couple of pages of it.

[Detonate]

I just added Kubuntu to my Grand daughter's computer, dual booting with XP. She's loving it, she was getting very frustrated with all of the spyware and other crap on her windows, which was rendering her computer almost unusable, caused mostly by the fact that her husband and son visit a lot of web sites that are know to produce this junk. Kubuntu is like a breath of fresh air. Thanks to the HPLIP program, sane, and Kamera she was able to painlessly get her printer, scanner, and camera working. she said it was even easier than windows. She was amazed when she opened Adept and saw all of the programs available. Of course I had previously made medibuntu available in the repositories.

[lancest]

My Wife won't use Linux as her main OS but I don't care that much. I have converted 5 computers in the last week over to Ubuntu. Linux is the future for many people here but they just don't know it. Ubuntu will keep improving at a rapid pace while Window sticks to its 5 year development cycle. If they don't use Ubuntu Linux they are missing alot!! I don't need to give them a system that looks or acts exactly like Windows are Apple either. I emphasize the clean Gnome interface.

[Uncle Gates]

This is my first post and my first week of Ubuntu and I would just like to say that you did the right thing. She just dont understand that men dont like to spend unneccesary money for the same thing, or at least something better ;)

[ThrobbingBrain66]

If the first guy who posted is still reading this,
what about making a virtual machine, using virtualbox, nice n easy to set up, then u can give her both, if she wants windows for certain things she can use them, and if she needs internet, she can use k/ubuntu.

just so u know, if she is going to run 3d appliactions then it wont work with virtualbox, maybe with vmware but i dont know enough about it to tell you. I know she is using vista, just a suggestion, u know :) thought id put it out there, if already has been posted, soz havent read entire thread, just couple of pages of it.

Oh yeah, I still check out the thread every now and again. While Virtualbox is a good idea, she'd never use it. Right now she's happy with Vista so I figure I'll leave it alone for now. As they say, when the woman is happy, everyone is happy :D

[Mr.Auer]

When I switched to Linux, I simply told my partner that honey, from now on we dont use Windows in this house (I own all the computers thou ;) ). He was like yeah, I suppose Ill learn quickly. And yep, he did, even thou hes not a computer person. Its all about an open mind and flexibility of character, nothing else. The most important thing for him was "Can it run nethack?" :D Yeah, I love him...

[factotum218]

I had a similar thing happen with my girl friend. She has an old Dell Latitude that ran XP until recently.
It's a blazing 600mHz with 512 of ram.
I guess the difference is that she has stuck with it. It's even Slackware with XFCE (after I had my paws on it for a few days to get it all settled in of course).

[madjr]

2 words:

Linux mint.

chicks dig it :)

[barbedsaber]

from my experience, the best way to handle FOSS conversions, is to start with applications, still in windows.
give them Open office, fire fox, pidgin, thunderrbird (which is better than evoloution by the way) anything that they will use that has a windows port.

when they are used to all the apps (Or as many as possible) make the OS switch. The OS switch will never be completely 100% painless, but you can make it that much easier with application familiarity.

[tdrusk]

If she is willing, virtual into her computer so you can show her what does what.

I would have given her Gnome Ubuntu because it is easier for a noob.

[Tundro Walker]

So did you show her the programs she was looking for? You didn't her alone to look for them herself, did you?

I may catch flak for this, but I would consider Ubuntu "ready for the desktop" if you can install it on someone's machine, leave them alone with it, and they can figure it all out on their own.

Of course, by that definition, not even Windows is "ready for the desktop". Heh.

Seriously, though. If you shouldn't force it on her. As similar as it is to Windows, it's still a little different. If she doesn't want to learn it, then don't fight that fight. You can't force someone to change.

Of course, saving $300 ... that's a good incentive to change. :)

[madjr]

from my experience, the best way to handle FOSS conversions, is to start with applications, still in windows.
give them Open office, fire fox, pidgin, thunderrbird (which is better than evoloution by the way) anything that they will use that has a windows port.

when they are used to all the apps (Or as many as possible) make the OS switch. The OS switch will never be completely 100% painless, but you can make it that much easier with application familiarity.

bravo, exactly!

make her windows FOSS!

then customize ubuntu to have 1 panel at the bottom or install linuxmint.

the panel at the top and a 3d dock would also work well :)

remember to disable IPV6 in ubuntu, makes browsing hell slow!

and install fasterfox plugin in firefox.

Kde for a noob is a no no.

[barbedsaber]

remember to disable IPV6 in ubuntu, makes browsing hell slow!


How do you do this, what are the side effeects?

[swoll1980]

I'm lucky my girlfriend had never had a computer so I started with a clean slate her and the kids would kick my but if I tried to take linux away from them

[Jareth]

I'm no expert, but, the trick with 'chicks' (as I believe they like to be known as) is to make it their idea. I would have had her begging me to put Ubuntu onto her laptop first. Then the whole thing would have been her idea. And we all know how women feel when it was their idea and it all goes belly up.

Are you with me fellas?

:lolflag::lolflag::lolflag:

[bigbrovar]

my girlfriend hates ubuntu .. not because she likes windows .. but because i spend so much time with my ubuntu powered laptop( u cant blame me there is always sumtin new) .. and she hates that so she tells me she prefers windows but most importantly she hates linux - just to get back at me ..

[etali]

I have some computer illiterate friends who don't know what OS they're running. Granted we're talking here ME/XP/Vista, but they never do anything where they'd need to know the OS.

For someone like that some creative skinning (and the app-renaming mentioned earlier in this thread) would probably work, wouldn't it?

I've found with those people that once you explain to them what an OS is, they start objecting - I upgraded a friend from ME to XP when helping them with a huge hardware upgrade, put XP back into classic style interface, and they didn't even notice. A couple of months later I mentioned their OS, and then suddenly every problem they had was because I'd put XP on, and they wanted ME back....

[Giant Speck]

Zombie thread!

RAWWWWWWWR! Braaaaaaaaiiiiiiiiiinnnnnnnnnsssss!

[calrogman]

Why not try recompiling her kernel and modularizing whining, she starts whining; sudo rmmod whining and BAM! No more whining.

[Ericyzfr1]

I'm no expert, but, the trick with 'chicks' (as I believe they like to be known as) is to make it their idea. I would have had her begging me to put Ubuntu onto her laptop first. Then the whole thing would have been her idea. And we all know how women feel when it was their idea and it all goes belly up.

Are you with me fellas?

:lolflag::lolflag::lolflag:

It worked like a charm with my wife...She was always always complaining about her XP despite all the security I guess some spy/malware went through. In the meantime, my Ubuntu laptop was always up with no issues. Then one day she had a warning that her internet security subscription was about to expire, that did it!!!! She asked me" Why can't I have Ubuntu on my laptop too ? I installed it a few days later, now she is looking forward to the 9.04 release.

[creolbuay]

If you boot into windows and install ubuntu using the WUBI utility, it will ask you to select how much space you want to dedicate to Ubuntu. I think it goes up to a max of 30 GB. The install is fast and if you ever decide to remove it later on, simply uninstall it like any other software in windows.

I love that Ubuntu is making it so easy to use, even to install in windows.
Ultimately tho, what I would do is install windows using a virtual setup of some sort that way you can run two os's at the same time. That is if you want to go that route however. Just my 2 cents.

Hope this helps.

[creolbuay]

I got my wife her very own winblows laptop to use (got tired of her bugging me to use mine). After about three months she started complaining about pop-ups, slowing down, internet connections issues, her lan connection failing and such. I decided to put Ubuntu on it and she has been one happy camper for the last month or so. The hardest part was convincing her it would actually be better than winblows in all respects. She was so fascinated with how easy it is to use, after only a week and a half she started finding tutorials on the interwebs and has been experimenting her fingers off. Yeah she's broken the system several times, but I prefer spending time fixing Ubuntu then dealing with crappy winblows.

My wife is 30 by the way with little computer experience whatsoever.

[Keithhed]

My girlfriend uses Vista, which came pre-installed on her laptop. She doesn't care whats on there, as long as it works. No complaints about windows so i'm not about to make her switch to linux.

[monsterstack]

What an odd thread, coming back from the dead like that.

I converted my girlfriend to Ubuntu. I just showed her my laptop and what it could do. I asked what she did on her computer and she said check email, ebay, Facebook etc. I told her she would be fine. She bought an Ubuntu laptop from Dell. So far so good. The only serious problem she had was with getting her external soundcard to work properly, although the tweaks made to Pulseaudio in 9.04 (whilst still buggy for some) seemed to fix that up nicely to work out of the box and without me having to get all terminal on her. She loves the speed of her laptop. And she dislikes Compiz. "Too distracting and pointless," she says. The moral of the story is you don't have to rely on whizzbang WOW effect all the time. Most of the time the mundane benefits do the trick.

[Lajik]

Some people just can't see the light :(

[Giant Speck]

Some people just can't see the light :(

It's kind of hard not to see the light when someone is holding your eyelids open and shoving a flashlight in your face.

[tuskenraider]

Zombie thread!

RAWWWWWWWR! Braaaaaaaaiiiiiiiiiinnnnnnnnnsssss!


aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaackkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkk!!!! !!!!!!!!!!!! run for the hills!!!!