Linux Desktop Readiness Thread

[phen]

hello!

my suggestion: sell a full system with a printer. you work around any driver issues, because you simply sell only printers that work under linux. put the automatix script as a button on the desktop. i've never used it, but i think it installs everything, with legal notes where needed. (i dont know the legal situation in the u.s. but i think it could be O.K.)

i installed ubuntu for my mother. i removed everything from the desktop except 4 buttons: firefox, thunderbird, word, shutdown. i renamed them "surf the internet", "email", "writing letters", "turn off". she is so happy now. she never understood why she had to press "start" to actually STOP the computer

she was allways in fear of strange adware (when she opened IE she had to close many windows before she was able to see the adress bar...).

she is the un-tech-savyest person on this world i know, and she likes ubuntu more than windows! But it took me hours to get there. with that amount of time, you maybe can change the windows desktop, too. but she would ve never been able to....

[veritas366]

i installed ubuntu for my mother. i removed everything from the desktop except 4 buttons: firefox, thunderbird, word, shutdown. i renamed them "surf the internet", "email", "writing letters", "turn off". she is so happy now. she never understood why she had to press "start" to actually STOP the computer

LOL

That post made my day. That's EXACTLY the kind of thing I was talking about and your button renaming was very funny.

[veritas366]

Couple links. I actually boycott Walmart for their employment practices and the way they screw over local communities, but as an example, they are selling a Linspire laptop.

http://media.linspire.com/walmart/

Also, here's the article about Mandriva and their HP partnership in South America. Someone commented that you can sell computers to BRAND NEW users with Linux because they don't "know any better", or as we would put it, "know any worse!"

http://news.com.com/HP+to+sell+Linux...3-6028325.html

[Sirin]

I love the arguement that Windows "works". No it doesn't! What do you get out of a $200 Windows install?
*Wordpad, a "word processor" with zero features.
*MediaPlayer - A bloated, slow, unfriendly player that sucks resources like crazy and hides any useful features it may have behind a "purty" interface.
*An Image Viewer that is nearly useless and allows nearly no actual editing of photos.
*A file system that requires near constant maintainance to keep operating.
*A slow, out of date file search system.
*A non-standards-compliant web browser with nearly zero features and many security flaws.
*A buggy, insecure Email program.
*A lousy movie editor, a lousy Paint program, a calculator that (amazingly) actually works and some system tools that a modern OS shouldn't even need (Defrag, anyone?)

How is that a complete system? A Yugo was a car, but it wasn't what you could call "full featured".

With Ubuntu you get a fully featured system, with built-in programs to do the basics of computing. A solid OS that is secure and reliable. A system that allows you to (relatively) easily find and install other applications as you need them. A community of helpful people to assist you if you need it. I don't see how you can compare the two. Windows most certainly isn't "ready to use" out of the box for the average user.

There is no system restore in Ubuntu.

[plexi50]

I am all for this method to educate/switch users. My next project is to recycle one of my old systems for my 73 yo father with a locked down system for email/web/documents. It should work well for him with just a few icons/no spyware scanning/no Norton AV updates, etc.
Seems to me most Ubuntu/Linux failures come from our own need to tweak things and he will never do that.
Depending on how that works out, I may setup some other old hardware (seems like I have too much of that) for some low income folks.
Ubuntu is the easiest free distro I have found to get up and running out of the box. I can do a fresh install and barring driver issues have it ready to go in about 2 hours. No way I can to that w/*******. Instal XP, endless updates, security, all of the extra software needed to even do anything, lock it all down...get me some coffee.

[Puptentacle]

There is no system restore in Ubuntu.

LOL! I thought about that after I posted. Very true. Ubuntu has no system restore, therefore...LINUX SUCKS!

(shakes head and leaves thread chuckling)

[Puptentacle]

The Wal-Mart Linspire Laptop add is pretty funny.

More than 1,900 free software programs for download, with guaranteed updates for 3 months!

WOOHOO. Thanks a bunch, Linspire.

[phen]

veritas366: today i came across a lobby4linux project: they want to broadcast radio advertisement in austin to spread linux for home use. there's a thread about who wants linux, who will have benefits etc...

i think your post that started this thread is very good and should be added to the discussion.

the forum thread:
http://lobby4linux.com/modules/newbb...d=226&forum=34

the 1st announcement:
http://lobby4linux.com/WordPress/?p=74

the follow-up article:
http://lobby4linux.com/WordPress/?p=75

[DigitalDuality]

There is no system restore in Ubuntu.

Yeah...but only Windows needs one

[tico]

First of all, thanks to all that triedo to help me here.
I'm trying to use Linux since 1998 and I've always had hardware problems/incompatibilities.
Now, I'm using Ubuntu Live CD to give it another try, and after some days trying to make my scanner (Canon Lide50) and my printer (Lexmark Z515) work, I'm giving up once more. I'm sorry to say, but in Windows, everything has always worked. I know that hardware makers don't make drivers for Linux. But what can the final user do? He can do as me: use Windows to see every piece of hardware working. Sorry to say, but Windows works and Linux seems to be not very productive. A user cannot spend days and days to be frustrated and just be able to say: Well, I'm must turn back to Windows to be able to print my files... This is not productivity! Windows has many problems, but it works. After 8 years (trying, not using), I still cannot make my hardware work in Linux. I decided to try Ubuntu because I saw a kind of "this is Linux for everybody" propaganda. It seems that this is not true. And this is not a problem with me: I help many friends with Windows (setup/use). I can do whatever I want with Windows (but I'd like to use Linux because of the freedom philosophy). What can I do? When am I be able to use Linux easily and in a productive way (not spending many days to be frustrated because my printer and scanner don't work...)?
Sorry, but this time I'm really frustrated with Linux. Maybe because I believed Ubuntu was Linux for everybody, even for me...
Any idea? Any help? Any comment?

Sorry once more and thanks.