Converted my Dad to Linux over Thanksgiving Break

[AegisTalons]

I was home for a few days from college for Thanksgiving break and I brought home my laptop. I wanted to show him Linux, more specifically Ubuntu and Compiz Fusion. I showed him how you can have Compiz Fusion running on an old 6 year old laptop and run pretty much any program the average user would use without crashing.

He immediately started asking me questions about the equivalent programs from Windows to Linux. He kept wondering how something like Linux is open source and free. I guess he was too used to being under the yoke of Microsoft.

Anyways, I popped in the Live CD and showed him what his laptop can do. He was stunned not to mention surprise to see Linux not crash, or continuously ask the user to restart because of updates.

Looks like I'm going to be his Linux go to guy and in a close second this forum. Just wanted to say keep up the good work.

[gsiliceo]

You're gonna love the tech support work

[banewman]

If I converted my dad to linux he would be annoyed at being reformatted as ext3...:)

[misfitpierce]

If I converted my grandfather (only parent left) he would be stumped. This said b/c he cant even figure out how to turn on my laptop... :)

[Miguel]

If I converted my dad to linux he would be annoyed at being reformatted as ext3...:)

Why? Is he running ZFS under Solaris?

[Linuxratty]

I'm glad he likes it...Linux really gets the job done.

[Spike-X]

If I converted my dad to linux he would be annoyed at being reformatted as ext3...:)
Heh...took me a minute...

[Caharin]

Heh,
My dad converted me to open office, then a few months later I converted him to linux. Open source has an amazing effect on people.:p

[Luigi239]

Congrats, thats no easy task.

I tried to convert my dad, he went as far as letting me install it on his desktop. He played with it for a while, and then just basically stopped using it. I pushed for him to make a second attempt, but I don't have much hope.

Oh well.

[DeadSuperHero]

I think I'm going to try it on my Dad when...

A) iTunes can run under WINE well enough (or Apple just nicely makes a Linux comatible iTunes)

B) When KDE4 becomes stable, and has full eye candy. Mix that with Compiz Fusion, and that's one wild experience.

Either that, or I'll just get Dad a mac...he's fairly computer stupid.

[gsiliceo]

I installed gutsy in my dad's second laptop(the one he barely uses) and i configure everything so its better than windows. Like

avant window manager
all his emails accounts in evolution
palm syncronization
i told him he can delete virus in usb portable disks
firefox+adblock
all the look of macs
easy access to his windows desktop folder and documents
open office with office 2007 compatibility

but still he prefers his new windows vista laptop that cant load the ubuntu live cd ...and can't install the printer here at home. well snap!

[tdrusk]

I started my grandpa on Linux Mint.

no panels, big picture folder icon, automatic sync of pictures from drive to disk, and no minimize or maximize buttons.

He's never used a computer before. All that he's going to use it for is pictures.

[Tundro Walker]

I think I'm going to try it on my Dad when...

A) iTunes can run under WINE well enough (or Apple just nicely makes a Linux comatible iTunes)

B) When KDE4 becomes stable, and has full eye candy. Mix that with Compiz Fusion, and that's one wild experience.

Either that, or I'll just get Dad a mac...he's fairly computer stupid.

C) Microsoft comes out with another version of Windows, and all the software your Dad wants to use no longer runs under the old version, so you go out and figure that it'll be $200 for the new Win version, $150 for upgraded Anti-Virus to run under it, $50 for misc spy-ware / ad-ware stuff, $500 for a comp or upgraded hardware that can actually RUN the new software, etc,etc,etc...

...then you just tell him you could take 30 mins to install the Ubuntu distro for free...

[Tundro Walker]

I installed gutsy in my dad's second laptop(the one he barely uses) and i configure everything so its better than windows. Like

avant window manager
all his emails accounts in evolution
palm syncronization
i told him he can delete virus in usb portable disks
firefox+adblock
all the look of macs
easy access to his windows desktop folder and documents
open office with office 2007 compatibility

but still he prefers his new windows vista laptop that cant load the ubuntu live cd ...and can't install the printer here at home. well snap!

The devil you know...

I really hope I never get so set in my ways that I'd rather choose to put up with something that doesn't always work instead of learning something new that might work better. Even if it doesn't work better, at least if I have the patience and will to learn...that's all I ask for.

[diesel1]

I have found it very relaxing to put my neighbours(60+), parents(59+) and wife on GNU/Linux (K/Ubuntu), it means little or no intervention on my part; any administration can be done remotely and it cost nothing. My mother does have regular issues, usually interface issues, but these are easily solved. They have friends who they 'put me in touch with' who run Vista, this is when I get really balled off: one guy has a mediocre specification laptop that has Vista Home Basic and it churns away installing simple things like Google Earth taking over 20 minutes while doing simple web browsing. I could have got him something much more usable for the same money (£400) and given him the general benefits of using free software.

My wife started using Mandrake in 2002, but went back to windows for some reason or other, I let her system do its own thing and she asked me to put Mandrake back on after 4 months. She now loves her system and will never have Windows on it again.

Diesel1.

[HermanAB]

I think the easiest way to convert someone is to buy him/her an Asus Eee PC. They will eventually figure out that it is not Windows.

[AegisTalons]

The easiest way I found to convert people is to show them your computer. I brought home my laptop which is older than his, and I sat next to him. Turned both on at the same time. Mine got into Ubuntu faster before his got into windows and was usable (had to load virus scanner, firewall, anti spy ware, crap from windows, etc).

I showed him how I use my laptop. Internet, email, OO, all with compiz fusion on a laptop that is probably over 6 years old now. His jaw dropped and started getting mad, cause he was still using Windows. HAHA.

There are two reasons for me why I haven't full switched to Linux. PC games are still dominated by Windows and SolidWorks (CAD Program). I need SolidWorks specifically for school and work, so until that works well under Linux, I'm dual booting.

Also I got my girlfriend almost converted. I just need to get Photoshop and InDesign installed and working. I know what you are going to say (GIMP, Scribus, Inkscape). I know but she needs Photoshop and InDesign because she works between school and home.

Another good way to get people interested is with all the Compiz Fusion Videos on YouTube. A lot of people still beleive that Linux is purely terminals or looks like Windows 3.1.

Let me know what you guys think.

[tjagoda]

During my Thanksgiving break, I busted out my laptop during the actual holiday.

I hooked quite a few family members by showing off my desktop-on-a-cube and updates which didn't require a restart - maybe by the next holiday I'll be able to convert some!

[n3tfury]

I was home for a few days from college for Thanksgiving break and I brought home my laptop. I wanted to show him Linux, more specifically Ubuntu and Compiz Fusion. I showed him how you can have Compiz Fusion running on an old 6 year old laptop and run pretty much any program the average user would use without crashing.

He immediately started asking me questions about the equivalent programs from Windows to Linux. He kept wondering how something like Linux is open source and free. I guess he was too used to being under the yoke of Microsoft.

Anyways, I popped in the Live CD and showed him what his laptop can do. He was stunned not to mention surprise to see Linux not crash, or continuously ask the user to restart because of updates.

Looks like I'm going to be his Linux go to guy and in a close second this forum. Just wanted to say keep up the good work.

compiz fusion on a 6 year old laptop? unless that was a very high end laptop in its day, no.

and the "stunned, not to mention surprise to see Linux not crash or continuously ask the user to restart because of updates" is seriously the silliest thing i've read all day.

[p_quarles]

compiz fusion on a 6 year old laptop? unless that was a very high end laptop in its day, no.
Why not? Compiz fusion runs off the GPU, so as long as the machine is capable of direct rendering, it won't take up much in the way of resources (or, more accurately, it would use resources that weren't being used by anything else). Compositing is more dependent on GPU compatibility than anything else.

[n3tfury]

6 years is pushing it for compiz to run smoothly in my experience.

[AegisTalons]

The laptop has a Nvidia Geforce4 Go 4400 card, I think. I used Envy to get the latest Nvidia drivers working, afterwards Compiz Fusion works. Compiz Fusion worked even in 7.04 were it was deemed experimental. I was just lucky that I had a Nvidia card. Either way, the moral of this story is not how old of a laptop can you have before Compiz Fusion stops running, but more along the lines of how you show off Linux/convert people to the good side.