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Switching my parents over to Linux saved me a lot of headache and support calls

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Re: Switching my parents over to Linux saved me a lot of headache and support calls

#81

Post by lazyasciiart »

mrweasel wrote: post #53
hamilyon2 wrote: post #40

Skype is not mentioned on the page. I guess, we live in different realities.

The only people I know that uses Skype are people working for large companies and they only use it because their employers tell them to. I think it has to do with how your countries telcos developed. If phone calls a cheap, why would you care about Skype? WhatsApp, Telegram and other messaging services seem to be popular around the world, but, perhaps because SMS quickly became basically free here, everyone just use…

Phone calls across the world are still not cheap.

Re: Switching my parents over to Linux saved me a lot of headache and support calls

#82

Post by swayvil »

jcoffland wrote: post #72

> Do yourself a favor and use standard Ubuntu. Do yourself a favor and use standard Debian. Honestly, I don't know why anyone bothers with Ubuntu anymore. It doesn't really add much over Debian except for it's shitty release cycle.

I was thinking the same thing. Ubuntu is getting hoggy and commercial. And the default desktop, ick. (Can you get Mate for that?)

I use Debian + Mate mself. Install it on my clients' machines too. People like it.

Re: Switching my parents over to Linux saved me a lot of headache and support calls

#83

Post by Svip »

yawaramin wrote: post #56

When it comes to parents, a 'tech support call' is not just a tech support call, it's a chance for them to talk to their kids.

I don't mind talking to my parents or grandparents, but I just want our conversations to be about something else than computers. There is nothing worse than being with your family, and constantly dreading the moment they are going to ask about 'fixing their computer'. It makes one look forward to talk with one's (grand)parents.

Re: Switching my parents over to Linux saved me a lot of headache and support calls

#84

Post by richardwhiuk »

cookiecaper wrote: post #77
dsr_ wrote: post #20

My father was willing to switch, my mother was not. 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…

Similar situation here -- my mom uses Linux and my dad insists on Windows (to be fair, he has tried Linux here and there). My mom's computer has been trucking for over 10 years and after initial setup, she has rarely had issues. My dad has been through 4 different systems in the same amount of time and each one ends up riddled with malware and nigh unusable before he decides he just needs to upgrade again. In my dad'…

If switching OS creates those problems, it's entirely reasonable to blame the OS.

An attitude of "switch to Linux and if you can't do anything that you used to do then it's something else's fault" while possibly fair is exceptionally unhelpful.

Re: Switching my parents over to Linux saved me a lot of headache and support calls

#85

Post by calgoo »

daveFNbuck wrote: post #25
l1am0 wrote: post #10

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The iPad way could also work quite well, but as my dad does a lot of writing he needs a keyboard :D

iPads have decent keyboard cases now. I considered getting one to replace my laptop last month but decided against it because it's not really viable for coding yet.

IMO, those keyboards are ok for some quick notes, but for anything longer, its going to give you issues (unless you have tiny hands).

Re: Switching my parents over to Linux saved me a lot of headache and support calls

#86

Post by hocuspocus »

city41 wrote: post #39

I run Ubuntu on three machines and never in a million years would I set it up for my parents. I still struggle with lots of little gotchas and annoying issues like sometimes it just doesn't want to suspend. Or sometimes after resuming, the keyboard doesn't work so gotta unplug it and plug it back in. Sometimes my wifi just conks out for no apparent reason. On and on, just lots of little paper cuts. I switched my pare…

My mom's NUC has never caused any trouble running the latest Ubuntu. Network printer, scanner, wireless mouse, webcam, bluetooth headphones, USB hard drives, sleep/hibernation... not a single problem.

Re: Switching my parents over to Linux saved me a lot of headache and support calls

#87

Post by mixmastamyk »

swayvil wrote: post #82
jcoffland wrote: post #72

> Do yourself a favor and use standard Ubuntu. Do yourself a favor and use standard Debian. Honestly, I don't know why anyone bothers with Ubuntu anymore. It doesn't really add much over Debian except for it's shitty release cycle.

I was thinking the same thing. Ubuntu is getting hoggy and commercial. And the default desktop, ick. (Can you get Mate for that?) I use Debian + Mate mself. Install it on my clients' machines too. People like it.

Ubuntu mate is great. What about the shitty release cycle? I find it easy to understand, unlike Debian.

Re: Switching my parents over to Linux saved me a lot of headache and support calls

#88

Post by mixmastamyk »

quattrofan wrote: post #29

Would love to switch myself but with a 4k XPS had all kinds of scaling issues and gave up which was a shame. Considering typical Linux user probably has cutting edge hardware was surprised how poorly 4k was handled.

I use Ubuntu mate on a 4k xps and it works quite nicely. There is a double dpi button in the tweak app.

Re: Switching my parents over to Linux saved me a lot of headache and support calls

#89

Post by sunnyP »

Svip wrote: post #8

I concur with this experience. A few years before my grandmother died, I installed Ubuntu on a new laptop for her. All she wanted to do was check her email, view her bank account and play solitaire. It was easy to set up shortcuts to any of this, and she never had any problems. Every time I came to visit, I would make sure to check the status of the packages, and run the software updater if any updates were available…

The same thing with my father. Windows was overkill for him. He just needed the browser and printer. Ubuntu is easy to set up and maintain.
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