gOS-Space : the OS perfect for a 13 year old?

[surelock22]

We're getting a P3 laptop from a cousin of ours for $100. I'm not sure what all the details on it's specs are, but I was reading up on thinkgos.com, and the specs on some of the inexpensive laptops that they have were kinda low key, and seemingly underwhelming. But, from some of the people that I've talked to about the different Linux distro's that are out there, the beauty of Linux is that it's perfectly fine to have seemingly underwhelming specs because the OS runs faster and is typically less in the way of system hoggy-ness.

My brother the Ubuntu guy, showed me a link to Google's own gOS, and their gOS-Space distro looked very interesting because it's actually geared for myspace, probably her favorite site (she is only 13 now, well I'm 28 and it's one of mine too ).

Anybody have anything to add to me installing gOS on the laptop? Is it a good idea, a bad idea, should I look at just installing Ubuntu or Kubuntu, etc.? I think the seemingly simplified front end will be good for her since she's a little new to PC's in general, and it comes with Wine, which will keep her happy in case we want to run some Windows app.

If gOS runs smooth on her machine, I'll probably put it on my current Windows laptop (after I get a way to get my docs to be backed up).

Thanks!

[TpyKv]

Have you considered Edubuntu? I have no experience with it but I've heard it has lots of educational references / links / content - probably better for her than myspace :)

[surelock22]

Have you considered Edubuntu? I have no experience with it but I've heard it has lots of educational references / links / content - probably better for her than myspace :)
The internet is plenty educational enough (or un-educational, depending where you take it), and it looks like gOS comes with FireFox (and I'm sure Chrome will come later, which I happen to like more). Being a realistic father / stepfather, I find the myspace connection to be cool enough to get her interested in using gOS. She likes Chrome too, she actually prefers it FireFox (which runs slow on my old Windows 'puter)

[shifty_powers]

well for a start, you'll find firefox instaled/available on any linux distro pretty much.

have you though about something such as fluxbuntu?

http://fluxbuntu.org/explain.html

[bobpur]

I second the Edubuntu. My daughter used to hang out on Myspace which proved detrimental to her homework and other responsibilities. In my opinion, it's not your daughter you'll have to watch as much as her friends.
Yeah, I nosed through my daughters laptop and I didn't much like what I found in the Myspace folder. I do the maintenance on all computers in the house. That includes setting the passwords.

About the laptop, you should be able to run more than a "basic" OS on it. My daughters Compaq Evo n600c w/ a P3 and 512 mbs Ram runs WinXP Pro and LinuxMint 5 KDE CE (Ellysa) in fine fashion. Im going to max the Ram to 1 gb to make it better.

I'd max The Ram out first thing and, maybe, a bigger hard drive(at least a 80 gb or so).

[ibuclaw]

I have my youngest brother on Xubuntu.

As for gOS, I haven't looked at it in a while, but the early releases looked pretty unprofessional - if I were to pick out the little things - inconsistent icons and font sizes throughout the whole general desktop look. Didn't look like enough time/care had been put into it. But things may have changed...

As for a good Linux OS for people around the 13 year old band range. My opinion is that anything is suitable, you just need to configure up the desktop so enough configurations are in place to limit the user from doing any form of breakage, but at the same time allow them to get their job done without hassle.

Regards
Iain

[Nepherte]

My brother the Ubuntu guy, showed me a link to Google's own gOS
Correcting a common misunderstanding: gOS is not made by Google. It is simply equiped with a lot of google applications.

I think either gOS or Edubuntu might do the trick. I wouldn't go with Fluxbuntu though. I believe it would be very counterintuitive for a 13 year old.

[shifty_powers]

heh, tbh i was just thinking about the system resources, and your probably right :D

[cardinals_fan]

I have trouble thinking of any situation in which anyone would ever even consider using gOS. But hey, maybe they'd love it.

[Sorivenul]

I have trouble thinking of any situation in which anyone would ever even consider using gOS. But hey, maybe they'd love it.

+1. Despite the resurgence of interest in gOS, it is still, IMO, a bloated and buggy system.

I would agree with the suggestions to add RAM and possibly a larger HD. After that, I would suggest Edubuntu as well. Ubuntu-based, stable, and excellent community support.

[TheSlipstream]

Mandriva is probably the easiest distro of all, but I don't know if your system specs will be high enough. Mandriva is basically 100% GUI.

[earthpigg]

im burning a gOS live cd right now for my buddy...

first distro i came across that had skype on the live cd, and calling the states on skype and checking his web-based e-mail is really all he uses his computer for ;)

there was some french distro, but it didn't boot for whatever reason and i said screw it.

[surelock22]

I have trouble thinking of any situation in which anyone would ever even consider using gOS. But hey, maybe they'd love it.

I understand that gOS is not a "Google Made" OS, but a "Google Friendly" version of Ubuntu. It's Ubuntu. If you can do it in Ubuntu you can do it in gOS.

What I like about gOS for her is the fact that she's very familiar with everything Google. And, I've read a few reviews, and while the first 2 versions of gOS were buggy, the latest (gOS 3.0 Gadgets) has received some pretty kind words.

You have to think like a 13 year old for this one, and if you look at gOS, you have a friendly looking OS that isn't off-putting and scary.

For me though, I'm getting Kubuntu for my soon-to-be-fixed desktop (with a quite robust hardware config), and I think I'll install Ubuntu on this P3 laptop I'm on now that currently runs Win XP.

[cardinals_fan]

I understand that gOS is not a "Google Made" OS, but a "Google Friendly" version of Ubuntu. It's Ubuntu. If you can do it in Ubuntu you can do it in gOS.

What I like about gOS for her is the fact that she's very familiar with everything Google. And, I've read a few reviews, and while the first 2 versions of gOS were buggy, the latest (gOS 3.0 Gadgets) has received some pretty kind words.

You have to think like a 13 year old for this one, and if you look at gOS, you have a friendly looking OS that isn't off-putting and scary.

For me though, I'm getting Kubuntu for my soon-to-be-fixed desktop (with a quite robust hardware config), and I think I'll install Ubuntu on this P3 laptop I'm on now that currently runs Win XP.
I'm 15, so it's not too hard to think like a 13-year-old ;)

gOS has (in all versions) felt cheap to me. The components were sort of disjointed, and they relied too much on their web-apps (which, by definition, run on any OS). Also, it had a bloated GNOME configuration that struck me as a particularly poor choice. Maybe the LXDE edition will show more promise...

[COLiNx86]

I'm 15, so it's not too hard to think like a 13-year-old ;)

gOS has (in all versions) felt cheap to me. The components were sort of disjointed, and they relied too much on their web-apps (which, by definition, run on any OS). Also, it had a bloated GNOME configuration that struck me as a particularly poor choice. Maybe the LXDE edition will show more promise...

I'm 14 so it's easy for me too.
It did feel bloated, it was slower on my computer too than ubuntu.