My Aunt/Uncle may switch to Linux! :D

[JohnBobSmith]

Hello all. My Aunt/Uncle have an old computer with Windows XP on it. I showed them Linux Mint 15 Cinnamon, which I had installed on my laptop, and they said they would consider instaling it on their computer! This is great for me. I've been telling people about Linux and my Aunt/Uncle will be the first people to install it, if they want to. Im not forcing it upon them, just showing them that Linux > (is greater than) Windows. I want it to be their choice. After all, Linux is all about freedom.

Quote I read somewhere but I don't remember where from....if someone knows who to credit for this, let me now.

In a world without walls and fences, who needs WIndows and Gates?

[Neil Edmond]

Awesome! Do you think they will actually go through with it? The install, I mean. That's part is usually the highest hurdle for most users. They wouldn't mind at all to "use" Linux, they just don't want to go to the perceived trouble of installing something. Likely because they have never installed an OS before, and have heard how much trouble Windows is to install, so they are thinking this weird Linux think must be a whole order of magnetude more difficult than Windows.

For my family at least, I have to install and show them how to use whatever...Linux or Windows. So I would much rather install Linux of some sort for 'em, 'cause it's so much easier on me.

[JohnBobSmith]

I think they will go through with it. A XFCE install on my old desktop took me about 20 minutes, while a windows install would easily take 2+ hours on any system. Therefore, I think that the initial install will be okay. I think it will be the learning curve of using Linux for daily work that may be trickier. For example, using Firefox instead of Internet Explorer, LibreOffice over Microsoft Office, etc. All in all, I'm LOVING my Linux experience, and I hope that most of you here can say the same.

[goetzkluge]

My mother (88) now uses Linux Mint 16 (XFCE) running on an external drive besides Windows 7. I configured a 16G USB stick as external drive for her, because her Windows 7 doesn't support scanning with the multi function printer HP CM1017. As a nice to have I also added AisleRiot Solitaire, as Windows 7 didn't come with the Solitaire she was used to with her old Windows XP. (She still needs Windows because of a German program ("Toccata") for Music composition and for typing notes, which unfortunately is not supported by wine.)

[Aristotelian]

I keep recommending Mint or Ubuntu to my mom and stepdad and in laws. I think Linux is great because it is so much less vulnerable to viruses. Windows is much worse for people who are not computer savvy because they will click on anything and ruin their machines. It is such a fallacy that Windows is more "user friendly". There is a learning curve but once it is up and running it is just as easy and more secure. Also Linux is perfect for the folks because they do not do anything on the computer that requires commercial software. Just checking email and office work. There is absolutely no reason to pay Bill Gates for those things. My stepdad even took a Linux programming class at the community college, yet he is still hesitant to make it the OS for his primary computer.

[Pierre]

Windows is much worse for people who are not computer savvy because they will click on anything and ruin their machines.

that does happens on a Linux O/S Y'know.

I've watched newbies using a mouse to achieve errors that are impossible to duplicate .. ..
- usually by over squeezing / gripping the physical mouse too tightly.
- using the RHS button instead of the LHS button

etc etc

[RacerBG]

Windows is much worse for people who are not computer savvy because they will click on anything and ruin their machines.

that does happens on a Linux O/S Y'know.

I've watched newbies using a mouse to achieve errors that are impossible to duplicate .. ..
- usually by over squeezing / gripping the physical mouse too tightly.
- using the RHS button instead of the LHS button

etc etc

If you want to ruin one PC you can do it!

[goetzkluge]

I keep recommending Mint or Ubuntu to my mom and stepdad and in laws. I think Linux is great because it is so much less vulnerable to viruses. Windows is much worse for people who are not computer savvy because they will click on anything and ruin their machines. It is such a fallacy that Windows is more "user friendly". ...

I use Linux distributions and MS Windows. Both inspire each other. As in biology, species with a large population generate parasites with a large population as well. I think it is dangerous to Linux users to believe, that their OS is not vulnerable to malicious software. So far for the Windows/Linux discussion. (I'll look at OpenBSD and alikes after my retirement.)

As for the comfort fallacy: I once used Arch Linux. I learned a lot and managed to run a very comfortable Linux installation in the end. It was so comfortable, that I forgot a lot again

Back to those aunts and uncles and other family members who are not (and sometimes understandably don't want to be) computer savy. I think that presently Linux Mint provides a good environment to relatives who want to support these users with a no-nonsense OS. These users are expecially vulnerable to computer crime. They need support into which they can trust. In most cases (of course not in all cases) support from within the own family at least would not be driven by malice. I hope that Linux Mint helps to provide such support also in the future.

As an example: Desktop sharing is an important tool for support within the family. Regrettably, so far I have to rely on Teamviewer to support my mother, but it may be just another fallacy: Who knows who really is behind that comfortable tool? There never will be completely safe desktop sharing. (Basically, the speed of brute force decryption is limited by money, and the NSA as well as similar organizations in other regions are sufficiently well supplied with that.) But perhaps one day Linux Mint nevertheless offers a comfortable(!) and yet reasonably safe solution to desktop sharing too.

[Aristotelian]

I said "so much less vulnerable" not "invulnerable". I agree, in this day and age people should take security seriously regardless of OS. I know Linux users can pass on viruses to others even if their OS is not affected. Still, I have not heard of viruses affecting Linux, and for that reason alone I think it is a good option for people who are not computer savvy.

[RacerBG]

I said "so much less vulnerable" not "invulnerable". I agree, in this day and age people should take security seriously regardless of OS. I know Linux users can pass on viruses to others even if their OS is not affected. Still, I have not heard of viruses affecting Linux, and for that reason alone I think it is a good option for people who are not computer savvy.

Linux have viruses but they are around 200. You can check Wikipedia about that. And Im sure that most of this viruses will not work on nowadays kernels.