11–20 of 299 posts
The first thing they did on my absence was having a local PC store install XP again on it, because they couldn't use any of the software for their devices.
Nowadays they just use Windows and I am confident any local PC store will take care of their issues, instead of having me deal with them.
I haven't had to do tech support for my parents on this, but I find that the best and easiest way to do streaming media is via a set-top box like Roku or Fire TV. The interface is simple and you'd probably rather be watching on your TV than your monitor anyway.
1) Sit down with your folks and talk trough their daily usage of their computer (Please be not so arrogant to think you already know it all)
As technologists this all comes easy to us and it is easy to forget what everyday computer usage means.
I also tried to. The first thing they did on my absence was having a local PC store install XP again on it, because they couldn't use any of the software for their devices. Nowadays they just use Windows and I am confident any local PC store will take care of their issues, instead of having me deal with them.
I did this for my Mum about 6 years ago. These days she doesn't buy a computer unless it will "run that minty thing". I pretty much don't have any tech support calls from her anymore, I think a couple in 5 years and one of those was her knocking the video cable out with a hoover. I just install Mint based on LTS and forget about it.
My nitpick is about some of the inconsistencies. You said that you got them accustomed to Firefox and LibreOffice, and then you turned around and installed Chrome and MS Office in Wine. Does that mean they didn't take well to the new apps, and your user training method wasn't entirely successful?
Chrome for Netflix and Spotify only, and Office 2007 because it's better than LibreOffice for their parents.
My nitpick is about some of the inconsistencies. You said that you got them accustomed to Firefox and LibreOffice, and then you turned around and installed Chrome and MS Office in Wine. Does that mean they didn't take well to the new apps, and your user training method wasn't entirely successful?
They worked their way to LibreOffice, but regarding spell- and grammar-checking LibreOffice really sucks. As my dad does professional writing it was just not enough.
So: my father is now on his third Linux machine in 16 years (two laptops and now a NUC hiding behind a 24" monitor). Normal updates are handled automatically; I do a major upgrade once a year. rsnapshot backs up to an external disk three times a day. Every so often he tells me that he wants to do something new, and asks if it's possible; the answer is always yes.
My mother is on her fifth computer in that time. She's always unhappy with it, but refuses to change, because she's afraid that Linux will be incompatible with the new service-du-jour that her friends are always adopting.