Have I turned my sister into a computer Geek?

[Lord Illidan]

My sister is around 13 years old, and has been using Computers for school stuff for around 5 years.

She is not what I would call a geek. She loves studying and school, but she used to hate computers. She never got anywhere with Windows...and I ended up being tech support all day.

She used to have quite an old Windows Xp machine (intel celeron 333 mhz, 192 mb of RAM...slow as molasses and a v. small harddrive 6 gb)

She began occasionally using my pc for small stuff, and when I was not around. It was faster, and it used Ubuntu.

I noticed she liked using it, and she didn't have half as many questions as she had previously. I made a useraccount for her....didn't show her anything, but she learned how to change the wallpaper herself.

Then I played a trick on her. She likes using Amarok for playing music. So I hid it from the menus and from the desktop. Then I found her launching the terminal to launch amarok from there.

On Windows, if I had done the same thing with Windows Media Player, she would have had a tantrum.

She then learned how to download Ares and installed it with Wine.

The biggest deal was when we got a new pc for her..and she insisted that I remove the preinstalled Xp and make it Linux...as she couldn't understand Windows, even though she had the ECDL and stuff.

Have I turned her into a geek?

[MedivhX]

No you still haven't. She's going to become a geek when she realises that she can't live without computer, and when she starts to spit on M$.

[helliewm]

Sounds like it. How does she get with Windows at school?

Helen

[beefcurry]

way to go :). Gnome is amazingly easy to use. Took me ages to get used to KDE when i first started using Mandrake but with Ubuntu it was a breeze~.

[Lord Illidan]

No you still haven't. She's going to become a geek when she realises that she can't live without computer, and when she starts to spit on M$.
Well, she loves youtube and Amarok...can't live without em :)

At school, their IT course consists of nothing but taking ECDL course, which she took herself in summer and went pretty well. However, I noticed that she is more willing to solve computer problems by herself on linux than on windows...I think the change in OS brought with it a change in mentality :)

[sweemeng]

it means that linux is actually easier to use

[Iarwain ben-adar]

In general,
solving problems on Linux is much easier as you can run the program in the terminal and get atleast SOME information,
whereas on Windows you get some cryptic error..

I don't say you won't get such error on Linux, but less often :D


Iarwain

[Lord Illidan]

In general,
solving problems on Linux is much easier as you can run the program in the terminal and get atleast SOME information,
whereas on Windows you get some cryptic error..

I don't say you won't get such error on Linux, but less often :D


Iarwain

Yes, that's a plus. What I also like is that all issues I run into have already been solved, it seems.

Linux easier than Windows...well...don't forget that my sister is living with a linux geek. I wonder what the situation would have been otherwise.

I wish I was learning to use Linux for the first time.

[Iarwain ben-adar]

Try a different distro =)

Or build your own :wink:


Iarwain

[EdThaSlayer]

Quite a smart sister you have there. Considering that she at least "knows" how to use the terminal makes her smarter than the average person that sits behind their pc.

[Gargamella]

wow nice story, my brother is a windows slave and i don't think he will never be free...I tried, he likes linux but he stays in MS because of games (he's older than me but he's a nerd with the computer:always playing ;D)

anyway nice story...she will be a geek when she will begin to try doing those things by herself i think.

[Lord Illidan]

Try a different distro =)

Or build your own :wink:


Iarwain

I tried different distros..zenwalk for instance (she got used to zenwalk too).

Probably will try gentoo..or bsd or Arch.

Build my own...yep I want to do that.


Quite a smart sister you have there. Considering that she at least "knows" how to use the terminal makes her smarter than the average person that sits behind their pc.

That, and she is a good observer. I often use the terminal to launch tasks.

[Pikestaff]

Heh awesome, the world needs more geeks, that's what I always say! *is guilty of turning all five of her younger siblings into bona-fide geeks*

Kids pick up on things amazingly fast, faster than a lot of adults... When I first put Firefox on the family computer, everyone was scared to use it because it was different than IE. I stuck FoxyTunes and a couple other fun extensions and themes on there and now my younger sisters are hooked... my parents still use IE though. Interesting, heheh :p

[Lord Illidan]

Heh awesome, the world needs more geeks, that's what I always say! *is guilty of turning all five of her younger siblings into bona-fide geeks*

Kids pick up on things amazingly fast, faster than a lot of adults... When I first put Firefox on the family computer, everyone was scared to use it because it was different than IE. I stuck FoxyTunes and a couple other fun extensions and themes on there and now my younger sisters are hooked... my parents still use IE though. Interesting, heheh :p

Yeah, parents are the hardest. My dad still wants Windows...(trying to wean him off though, by inventing excuses for windows not to work...plus he does like the look of Beryl)

I tried introducing firefox to my cousins (around my sister's age)...no luck, they preferred IE 6-7. Dunno why. I didn't like it meself.

My schoolfriends all like firefox though.

[DoctorMO]

Get her programming see how geeky she can be.

[IYY]

That's very good to hear. We need more women interested in computers, technology and science. It's a fact that women are at least as good as men in those fields, but very few American girls want to study them (interestingly, my university has quite a few women studying science, but they are all immigrants or exchange students).

[MethodOne]

My sister uses the computer for iTunes, IM, playing Web games, and Web browsing. When I asked her to use Linux, I tried to get her to use Gaim, but she refuses to use anything but the official AIM client for Windows. My grandma is even worse. She wants to get rid of a pirated installation of Windows XP. I suggested PCLinuxOS or Freespire, but she only wants to use Windows XP, even though Vista Home Basic is on the store shelves right now. She uses it for typing letters in Microsoft Word 2002, playing mahjongg solitaire, and brief Web browsing. When I try to give support for her, I show things to her, but she complains that I go too fast. Also, I have trouble explaining things to people with limited computer knowledge when I know more than they do. So I have my sister help my grandma.

[Lord Illidan]

That's very good to hear. We need more women interested in computers, technology and science. It's a fact that women are at least as good as men in those fields, but very few American girls want to study them (interestingly, my university has quite a few women studying science, but they are all immigrants or exchange students).

That's true. In my CS classes, out of some 20, only 2 are girls. We need more of em...lessons wouldn't be the same without em :)


My sister uses the computer for iTunes, IM, playing Web games, and Web browsing. When I asked her to use Linux, I tried to get her to use Gaim, but she refuses to use anything but the official AIM client for Windows. My grandma is even worse. She wants to get rid of a pirated installation of Windows XP. I suggested PCLinuxOS or Freespire, but she only wants to use Windows XP, even though Vista Home Basic is on the store shelves right now. She uses it for typing letters in Microsoft Word 2002, playing mahjongg solitaire, and brief Web browsing. When I try to give support for her, I show things to her, but she complains that I go too fast. Also, I have trouble explaining things to people with limited computer knowledge when I know more than they do. So I have my sister help my grandma.

My sister likes webgames too...but she uses flash 9 on linux.
She doesn't use AIM though.

About grandma...hmm....go slower, what can I say? I have this problem too...you need to be patient when you know so much more than the other.

[DoctorMO]

The first response to stubbornness is to be flippant. Oh so you know everything there is to know about computers then do you? you know about the windows kernel and how it compares to all other computing options. good because your going to be fielding support questions from the rest of the family. anything to do with windows and I'll redirect them to the latest expert.

My sister got a laptop from college, part of the package so to speak. she's easily swayed peers when it comes to software. so at one point gaim didn't offer custom smilies so while I installed it for her she wouldn't use it because her firends would send her custom smilies that would appear as plain text. a moving goal post so it seems for IM developers. alas when will these stupid general publicans use open standards instead of wrecklessly using any old garbage.

[Lord Illidan]

My sister got a laptop from college, part of the package so to speak. she's easily swayed peers when it comes to software. so at one point gaim didn't offer custom smilies so while I installed it for her she wouldn't use it because her firends would send her custom smilies that would appear as plain text. a moving goal post so it seems for IM developers. alas when will these stupid general
publicans use open standards instead of wrecklessly using any old garbage.

I'm with you on this. However, the latest gaim can let you see them...although I hate em meself.

[Quillz]

My sister is around 13 years old, and has been using Computers for school stuff for around 5 years.

She is not what I would call a geek. She loves studying and school, but she used to hate computers. She never got anywhere with Windows...and I ended up being tech support all day.

She used to have quite an old Windows Xp machine (intel celeron 333 mhz, 192 mb of RAM...slow as molasses and a v. small harddrive 6 gb)

She began occasionally using my pc for small stuff, and when I was not around. It was faster, and it used Ubuntu.

I noticed she liked using it, and she didn't have half as many questions as she had previously. I made a useraccount for her....didn't show her anything, but she learned how to change the wallpaper herself.

Then I played a trick on her. She likes using Amarok for playing music. So I hid it from the menus and from the desktop. Then I found her launching the terminal to launch amarok from there.

On Windows, if I had done the same thing with Windows Media Player, she would have had a tantrum.

She then learned how to download Ares and installed it with Wine.

The biggest deal was when we got a new pc for her..and she insisted that I remove the preinstalled Xp and make it Linux...as she couldn't understand Windows, even though she had the ECDL and stuff.

Have I turned her into a geek?
You didn't make her a geek, she just got more familiar with computers. It happens naturally over time.

[macogw]

Yes, that's a plus. What I also like is that all issues I run into have already been solved, it seems.

Linux easier than Windows...well...don't forget that my sister is living with a linux geek. I wonder what the situation would have been otherwise.

I wish I was learning to use Linux for the first time.

I don't live with my mom, but she started using Linux at Thanksgiving (after I installed it) and says it's easier for her than Windows is.

[seijuro]

She is not what I would call a geek. She loves studying and school, but she used to hate computers. She never got anywhere with Windows...and I ended up being tech support all day.
Have I turned her into a geek?

Nope she chose the path herself.
But I have to say good on ya for supporting her decision.

Cheers!

[gus sett]

not likely. she is fortunate to have a conscientious sibling in you. When
my sis was about your sis's age, I got her her 1st professional haircut as
a gift. not that that changed her life. she was next to be a high school
valedictorian, won homecoming queen at a private college in a coin toss
against the populist woman athlete nominee, and went on to become a
marketing executive for a dbms company.

here's a prank you may want to try. The US advanced placement college
board asked students back when I was a high school junior, to provide a
self-rating of themselves in the following areas as top 1%/10%/above avg/
avg/below avg:
acting..................................mechanical
artistic..................................music
athletic.................................organizat ion of work
creative writing......................sales
getting along with others........scientific
leadership..............................spoken expression
math....................................written expression
It also asked about participation in the following extracurricular activities and
plans to do so in college:
athletics................................preprofes sional clubs
ethnic...................................religious
journalism..............................social
art, music, dance....................student government
get her to fill it out when she's ready.

wonderful that you asked. sounds like she was already protege material.
because you are circumspect, you'll find the good ways. :popcorn:


That's true. In my CS classes, out of some 20, only 2 are girls. We need more of em...lessons wouldn't be the same without em :)



My sister likes webgames too...but she uses flash 9 on linux.
She doesn't use AIM though.

About grandma...hmm....go slower, what can I say? I have this problem too...you need to be patient when you know so much more than the other.

[picpak]

My sister got a laptop from college, part of the package so to speak. she's easily swayed peers when it comes to software. so at one point gaim didn't offer custom smilies so while I installed it for her she wouldn't use it because her firends would send her custom smilies that would appear as plain text. a moving goal post so it seems for IM developers. alas when will these stupid general publicans use open standards instead of wrecklessly using any old garbage.

2.0.0beta6 doesn't let you add custom smilies, but it lets you see them. I suggest you let her try that.

My sister loves Linux. She's not very familiar with the terminal but she thinks copying and pasting things is a lot easier than getting lost through a menu. Using Trevino's repo I've also got her with the latest SVN of aMSN, so she's happy. She still has Windows for the little things, though.

[Choad]

My sister is around 13 years old, and has been using Computers for school stuff for around 5 years.

She is not what I would call a geek. She loves studying and school, but she used to hate computers. She never got anywhere with Windows...and I ended up being tech support all day.

She used to have quite an old Windows Xp machine (intel celeron 333 mhz, 192 mb of RAM...slow as molasses and a v. small harddrive 6 gb)

She began occasionally using my pc for small stuff, and when I was not around. It was faster, and it used Ubuntu.

I noticed she liked using it, and she didn't have half as many questions as she had previously. I made a useraccount for her....didn't show her anything, but she learned how to change the wallpaper herself.

Then I played a trick on her. She likes using Amarok for playing music. So I hid it from the menus and from the desktop. Then I found her launching the terminal to launch amarok from there.

On Windows, if I had done the same thing with Windows Media Player, she would have had a tantrum.

She then learned how to download Ares and installed it with Wine.

The biggest deal was when we got a new pc for her..and she insisted that I remove the preinstalled Xp and make it Linux...as she couldn't understand Windows, even though she had the ECDL and stuff.

Have I turned her into a geek?
that is frickin hardcore.

your sister is a legend

[xioumik]

Hey, I'm a 13-year old that uses ubuntu....:)

[jariku]

Hey, I'm a 13-year old that uses ubuntu....:)

And we need more people like you. :)

[bastiegast]

Your sister is pretty smart :) My friends (16-17 yrs old ) get scared and feel intimidated as soon as they see a terminal and they use computers all day for games, youtube, etc.

[xioumik]

And we need more people like you. :)

lol. One is enough for the moment.

[Tundro Walker]

I think, in the long run, kids will like linux more than Windows, because ultimately they have full control over it. Kids like to problem-solve, and linux gives them full opportunity. And, the computer gives them plenty of reasons to now. It used to just be games that would pique a kid's interest on computers, but boys mostly like that. Girls are more social, so the advent of IM, email, etc on computers has really given them a reason to spring-board into computers head-first.

Plus, with the internet "on tap", kids have this injection of intelligence right into their brains. They're so overloaded with so much information every day -- tv, internet, google, podcasts, news, IM's, emails, friends, family, 1500 cable channels, books (on the off chance that they read hard text) -- that they're amazingly accelerated in education (despite what some education systems are doing to hinder that). An 8 yo today can easily be way smarter than an 8 yo pre-internet days, if they have the proper motivation (IE: doing something they want to do), and a good source of information by which to learn how to do it.

We're in a wonderful time, because all kids get involved with computers. And with that foundation going into all kinds of careers, these kids are going to catapult us into some amazing advancements in the near future. Just think, in some areas where "old farts" have been all scientist or scholar, without spending much time learning computers to supplement their research or study, these kids with a solid computer foundation will come in and tutor off these "old fart" mentors, and then 1+1 will come together as they apply their computer savvy to whatever career they choose. It'll be like tossing nitro fuel into your car's gas tank.

Here's another way to think about it. Tom Landry was a great football coach not because he hired a good catcher or good runner, but because he hired good athletes -- people who could catch, and throw and run. With a solid athletic foundation, he could teach them how to become better catchers, runners, etc. Kids these days are no longer catchers, or runners, or what-not...they're computer athletes. Whatever they take on will get enhanced with their computer knowledge. And, since kids pick things up faster when they're younger, the sooner they're exposed to computers, the more adept they'll be with them.

Just gotta make sure it's a linux computer apparently...LOL!

[jackmc]

I think that for many basic needs, Ubuntu is far easier to understand - ie, you'd have to be a geek to get windows to work :)

It starts at the start - compare the installation of both OS'. Windows takes a while, while you click through endless "nexts" (from memory, haven't done it for a while), wheras in Ubuntu, you just broswe the web while it does most of the work for you.

For tasks like listening to music, office stuff, email and internet, I would rate Ubuntu as equal or easier to use.

Also, As Tundro Walker said, it is customisable, which I love, because I constantly fiddle. I have the mind of a kid when it comes to that sort of thing - I can theme, skin, mod, and play for hours :)

[blackspyder]

I am very happy for you and your sister. Your not geeks because you prefer Linux. I do and Im nothing like a geek. Being Windows independent is a great thing wish I could do that but the g/f refuses to learn Linux despite me telling her its not that hard

There is apparently not many people of your age group or hers that have learned terminal/MSDOS. My brother and my G/f are 5 years younger than me and never had to use the command line. They have always had a GUI there to help them. My Roommate is the resident computer guy at my place (I'm just a grease monkey I know nothing of PC's) and Im the one stuck fixing the cable internet and other electronics.

:guitar:

[Tundro Walker]

Just wanted to add...when your little sister ends up locking YOU out of your own computer...yeah, she's a geek then.

[blargon]

She ran Amarok from a terminal without being taught how? I barely understood what the terminal was when I started using ubuntu. As soon as I figured out that I could run applications in a terminal, I started to see how different it was from something like Applescript. It's what gives Linux it's power. She might not be a geek or a nerd, but she's starting to become a power user.

[Lucifiel]

Hmmm... that's not too surprising, given that she gradually grew more familiar with Linux.

Also, for Windows, I'll have to agree that many errors and problems can be rather cryptic or even confusing. As a result, said user just gives up one day on trying to fix the problems.

And as for females using computers, eh? I guess that depends on the country's infrastructure: how much they incorporate technology into their schools and systems. In my country, all children these days need to learn how to use computers by the time they're in kindergarten to elementary school. Although, I suspect majority are mainly Windows users. But might there be hope for Linux in Singapore? Who knows! :p

[Lord Illidan]

She ran Amarok from a terminal without being taught how? I barely understood what the terminal was when I started using ubuntu. As soon as I figured out that I could run applications in a terminal, I started to see how different it was from something like Applescript. It's what gives Linux it's power. She might not be a geek or a nerd, but she's starting to become a power user.

Observation, I guess. She often sees me starting apps fom the terminal.


And as for females using computers, eh? I guess that depends on the country's infrastructure: how much they incorporate technology into their schools and systems. In my country, all children these days need to learn how to use computers by the time they're in kindergarten to elementary school. Although, I suspect majority are mainly Windows users. But might there be hope for Linux in Singapore? Who knows

Here in Malta, it's the same thing with computers and young kids. But they are all trained on Windows..and it is ECDL stuff (European Computer Driving License), which isn't worth a sh** in my opinion. They don't learn how to use a computer, they learn how to use Windows...and only the very very basics of it. I was forced to do the course to enter University (and I am doing CS at advanced level :))...while I was doing the course, they taught us how to use IE and MSN for e-mail. At home, I use Firefox and Thunderbird..

[ZeroXR]

Lord Illidan:This post made my day, seriously! :-D I was laughing even more at the part about using Terminal to launch amaroK. I'd say shes dipped into the realm of computer geekdom, but surprising what an OS change can do, eh?

[Mazza558]

I think that if let a child grow up using linux and only linux, if they were introduced to Windows, it would be a quite alien experience to them...

[Lord Illidan]

I think that if let a child grow up using linux and only linux, if they were introduced to Windows, it would be a quite alien experience to them...

Quite. I often get disoriented in windows myself, and I've been using it for years. I couldn't quite understand Vista either...now I know Ubuntu like the back of my hand :)

[picpak]

I've officially turned my sister into a computer geek...for a university essay about Ethics and Technology she's writing about Linux. :)