How would you explain Ubuntu/OS to your parents?

[mmmpancakes]

Just curious.

[hardyn]

haha... its not like your telling them that you are running away to join the circus...

what do you mean?

this past winter, i did some cleaning up of old computer crap, selling, giving away old hardware etc. In the process mom got a new machine, build from my retired gaming rig, as i am on a notebook now, probably never to return to a desktop. as she uses a computer to check email, do her classwork (she is a teacher), and surf the internet, i saw no reason to buy a windows licence; she didn't get a choice, she got ubuntu edgy.

all i had to do was put the evolution, firefox, and a link to her old data on the desktop, and briefly show her the new programs... she was off to the races... she has done very well for an old girl.

my parents know im a computer geek... and basicly i didn't give them a choice at home. although the old man would not have adopted the change so easily, he still used windows for his professional apps. and as he does alot of contract work, not having windows means the IT guy has to work to get you into the office network, which means you probably won't be invited back.

[dbbolton]

my parents basically use computers for internet access and word processing (and occasionally games). i explained to them how to use ubuntu in about 5 minutes, after changing the gnome panels into a pseudo-windows taskbar ;)

[tbroderick]

I would just tell them they could download all the porn they want without the nasty spyware/virus addons.

[daveisadork]

I don't have to, they're already very happily using it.

[Jucato]

I don't have to, they're already very happily using it.

Wow! You're one of the lucky ones. :D

Explaining Linux to people who are not really into computers is quite difficult, specially if they're not that interested in the first place. My mother is just a casual computer user and her time on the computer is dedicated only to word processing and spreadsheets. She doesn't surf the web or browse the internet. So trying to explain to her what I've been doing on the computer is very difficult. My sister is more computer literate, as she's into MP3's, surfing, and blogs. But she couldn't care less about Linux and the only FOSS app she does use by choice is Firefox (with very minimal or almost no use of extensions).

I wrote this blog post (http://jucato.org/blog/what-i-have-been-up-to/) once to sort of attempt to explain it to them. Got no reactions from either of them.

You might wonder why I have to try to explain stuff like these to them. I don't have to, but I want to. Just to keep them updated. It also makes it easier to ask permission to attend events when they're assured you're not just going to a p**n convention. :D

[FoolsGold]

My mum probably wouldn't care too much, she only browses the web, checks her email and extracts & views pics from her digital camera. All tasks can be achieved in Ubuntu, so if I really wanted to, I could convert her.

My dad is a different story. Until Adobe Lightroom works on Linux (fails miserably in Wine), it's a no-go. Not to mention Photoshop, but he can't live without Lightroom, so all those who say "PS can run in Wine!", well... unless you can get Lightroom too as well, save your breath.

[%hMa@?b<C]

My mum probably wouldn't care too much, she only browses the web, checks her email and extracts & views pics from her digital camera. All tasks can be achieved in Ubuntu, so if I really wanted to, I could convert her.

My dad is a different story. Until Adobe Lightroom works on Linux (fails miserably in Wine), it's a no-go. Not to mention Photoshop, but he can't live without Lightroom, so all those who say "PS can run in Wine!", well... unless you can get Lightroom too as well, save your breath.

http://bluemarine.tidalwave.it/
http://www.lightcrafts.com/linux/index.php

will either of those satisfy him?

[Drezliok]

My Mom runs a webserver and hosts a few domains including my website. It's all run on linux, her current rig is debian based and I've talked her into trying out feisty when it gets released, but they debian just had a release so she might not switch over.

My Dad on the other hand is getting fed up with windows but I don't think he wil switch now, he just bought XP. He avoided it like the plague. I upgraded him to 2000 from 98 and he hated that but 98 was to unstable for him so he stuck with it. XP seems to be working for him but I thing he's not going to touch vista at all.

I'm from a geeky family, Dad was jack of all trades master of none, while Mom was writing for tech magazines. I loved it when she was sent games and another things for testing... I did the game testing.

[picpak]

I didn't have to. My mom was just curious about it and wanted me to install it for her.

[Omnios]

My dad held onto XP for years. Then one day he had it with viruses corrupting his files and spyware problems slowing his computer down and called me to come vbisit and install Linux. I was up there for a few days and he was gloting that he had not had a single virus problem since he started using linux and from the smile on his face I could tell he is happy with linux. Anyways the only downside is that he said I was his tecky as I would like him to get involved in the forum community to solve any problems. Other than that he is enjoying his Ubuntu experience. I think I have to find him a really good Ubuntu book on par with the old 10000 page windows books and he will be all set.

[dbbolton]

My Mom runs a webserver and hosts a few domains including my website. It's all run on linux, her current rig is debian based and I've talked her into trying out feisty when it gets released, but they debian just had a release so she might not switch over.

My Dad on the other hand is getting fed up with windows but I don't think he wil switch now, he just bought XP. He avoided it like the plague. I upgraded him to 2000 from 98 and he hated that but 98 was to unstable for him so he stuck with it. XP seems to be working for him but I thing he's not going to touch vista at all.

I'm from a geeky family, Dad was jack of all trades master of none, while Mom was writing for tech magazines. I loved it when she was sent games and another things for testing... I did the game testing.
wait. your mom hosts your domain ?

when i hit 18, my parents made me get my own.

[Cloudy]

Just that it's a different operating system. My family's one of the kinds that is perfectly happy with "the norm" and has no curiousities concerning other OSes or anything of the ilk. I have Ubuntu dualbooting with XP on the home machine and outside of a few mishaps where they left the room before GRUB started loading and got thrown into Ubuntu, none of them have even booted into Ubuntu to even sniff around.

Not my problem though, I enjoy my privacy and having an OS all to myself is all the better to me. :P They can stay with XP if they want; it's stable enough and hasn't caused any massive problems, so whatever keeps em happy.

[Atreus12]

I just told them I wasn't doing Windows tech support anymore. They switched over pretty quick.

-Andrew

[Nolander]

I would just tell them they could download all the porn they want without the nasty spyware/virus addons.

My dad was on cloud 9 when i told him about linux and lack of spyware/virus.:lolflag: my mum only uses firefox and games so it was simple for her.

ta,
Nolander.

[daynah]

My dad used Red Hat "when it was popular." I don't really know exactly when that was, I just know I was young, I tried it, I said, "How do I get to Mario Teaches Typing?" (my favorite computer game at the time) and somewhere amist dad trying to explain why the game didn't work, I inturrupted and said, "Well fix it." and left the room.

Later I saw the light. Granted, Red Hat basically stunk back then. So dad did eventually go back to Windows. And then I went to Ubuntu. And we tried to get dad on Dapper, but had some problems with it and his motherboard, so when Feisty comes out we'll see if we can get it running.

My mom on the other hand THINKS she isn't a geek, but she's actually a gamer geek. Dad and I hide game ads from her because if she sees a g ame and gets it, we wont get fed. :( Thus, she will need Windows, so the house will never be free, but a happy mom is a fed family. ;) ;)

[PartisanEntity]

I would tell them it is the equivalent of the Flower Power movement from their youth :)

[EdThaSlayer]

All I have to say is 'free' and my dad will use it. :)