Teaching UNE to a complete tech illiterate.

[isoscelesrectangle]

I'm the only Linux user in my home, and my mom has a machine that runs Vista as fast as an escargot on strike. I've done a WUBI install of UNE on the computer to attempt to teach her (a complete tech illiterate) how to use UNE. I'm sure that Linux is fine for almost all of her needs, (MSN, Internet, E-Mail). I've read posts here of people who've converted 17 people to Linux :O. Can you give me some advice?

[Phrea]

[...] my mom has a machine that runs Vista as fast as an escargot on strike. [...]

OT, but you gave me a good laugh there !

Has your mother spent any time on that Wubi install? I've never run it, but from what I've seen and heard, it's really easy.
Just sit down with her, boot up UNR, and have some fun together, and be patient.

[Spice Weasel]

Are you eventually going to do a complete install? Otherwise it's not worth it.

With my aunt, I just told her that the fox is the "button for the internet", the weird letter a (AbiWord) was "for writing stuff" and let her get on with it.

E: Just googled escargot, I lol'd. Nicely done.

[undecim]

Don't use Wubi. Let her try it out with a Wubi install, but do a real install as soon as possible. Wubi installs are notorious for breaking after an update. Also, if something happens to Windows, it can break a Wubi install as well.

As far as teaching someone how to use it, just show them how to open up applications and which applications to use for anything they're doing (Firefox for web browsing, empathy for IM, etc.)

[linux18]

if possible, install ubuntu on another hard drive to avoid grub and partitioning problems.
Always be patient! boot up ubuntu, show her where the internet is, and just let her play around on it for a while. nothing beats experience.

[Spr0k3t]

Whenever I try to teach someone something new I generally make them lunch. Start with two slices of bread, some lettuce, and a bunch of cold turkey.

Throw them at the wolves... let them sink or swim. In their sinking... help them learn how to float. Once they are swimming, give them some challenges.

The most important lesson though has nothing to do with the software/computer, rather the ideology of why it's better to use a system without strings attached. Most people will agree the idea of free/open software is the better method (unless they are absolutely blinded by wanting to spend money).

I've converted quite a few people over to Linux. Each person is different. My mom, a complete technophobe who believes computers are evil, uses Linux Mint. After a couple months of running Mint without my help, I replaced the hard drive with an install of Vista. The number of phone calls I kept getting asking how to do this or that was amazing, you would have thought she didn't know how to read a book. So in some conversions, you have to help them unlearn what they already know.

Anyone who uses an iphone or android system is easy to convert. Just tell them all their apps will be in an app store/marketplace. Most of the time, you won't even need to offer assistance unless there's a serious technical issue or they can't find an app they want due to being a different name.

The hardest to convert are those who are power users (windows or mac). Unfortunately these types end up going back to what they are comfortable in, even after learning what they need to know. Every once in a while you will find a power user who is genuinely interested in Linux but never took the jump due to fear. The way to tackle these is to let them do all the footwork on the installation of the software (not wubi) and be there to answer questions. One thing I did was set up an identical computer system to one user and let them have a ball with figuring out how to dual-boot, but that's not very cost efficient. The key, you have to be quick to answer questions and "I don't know" won't suffice. Some questions won't make any sense, but it's the reason why you can consider them "power users" in the first place. They need to be able to change anything on the system, so know what it takes to manipulate most things.