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German City Set To Make Linux A Norm For Citizens

efytimes.com

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Re: German City Set To Make Linux A Norm For Citizens

#51

Post by Discordian93 »

quaint- wrote: post #49
NoodleIncident wrote: post #37

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Did you get the proprietary drivers for that Nvidia card? They can't legally be included in the distro itself, you have to go get them, which is a shame.

The situation described by GP is so ridiculous that it's unlikely to be true, which is why I wouldn't recommend anyone to waste their time trying to solve the mentioned "problems". I mean, really, why would anyone switch from Windows to Ubuntu on a gaming machine ? Just think about it for a sec. (Videos not loading or USB not working are issues the OEM are supposed to handle. The fact that someone like GP can't tell…

I installed ubuntu alongside windows on my alienware, and I'm quite happy with it, I only switch to windows to play dota 2 and amalur, for browsing, other games and miscellaneous tasks I use linux.

Re: German City Set To Make Linux A Norm For Citizens

#52

Post by v0lta »

sageikosa wrote: post #10
keithpeter wrote: post #7

Earlier quoted context omitted.

"But pushing citizens to use Linux is NOT government business" Not sure where you are from, but in Europe/UK local governments do get involved in promoting what might be described as lifestyle choices. E.g. smoking cessation, getting more exercise, healthy eating, making recycled furniture available cheap to poor people by establishing and promoting 'social enterprises' as we call them in the uk. I see the free CDs a…

The CDs may be free to the recipients, but they were not zero cost. The money to procure them came from somewhere.

Of course not, but CDs are incredibly cheap if produced in great numbers. And as a German I can only agree with keithpeter. It's perfectly normal for local government to spend tax-money outside of "classic" duties to promote a public issue. Especially something with an environmental background.

Something else you should keep in mind is, that Munich is pushing towards electronic bureaucracy, which would require access to a PC by everyone.

Re: German City Set To Make Linux A Norm For Citizens

#54

Post by vacri »

jiggy2011 wrote: post #28
Samuel_Michon wrote: post #27

Earlier quoted context omitted.

While that’s true, over half of Munich’s consumers are aged 45 or higher. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Population_Growth_of_Munich#Age...

45 isn't too old! At least I hope not or I'm screwed.

It's not 'elderly', but it is 'second half of life'

Re: German City Set To Make Linux A Norm For Citizens

#55

Post by heromat »

muuh-gnu wrote: post #18
saturdaysaint wrote: post #16

There are some admirable intentions here, but most of the older people I know that this would theoretically serve best are infinitely better served by a light tablet. I want my grandma checking her e-mail and doing her reading in the most comfortable environment/seat in the house; I suspect this will lead to a lot greater usage/engagement. And portability means it's easier to ask for help.

Tablets, like mobiles generally sufferer from planned obsolescence. They are not meant to be used and receive updates for years and years, like people used XP. I want my grandma to not have to relearn to yet another UI every two years. Canonical has commited to support the LTS releases for half a decade, which, while not coparable to XP, is for older folks still a better bet than anything the mobile world has to offe…

>Tablets, like mobiles generally sufferer from planned obsolescence.

Elderly people suffer from planned obsolescence, too.

Re: German City Set To Make Linux A Norm For Citizens

#56

Post by vanderZwan »

keithpeter wrote: post #2

"Lubuntu can comfortably run on as little as 256MB of RAM." It can although I'd call it jogging rather than running. It can work on a P3 coppermine class laptop very nicely. However, a stock Lubuntu live CD does not come with LibreOffice. Gnumeric is a nice spreadsheet, but Abiword normally does not have built in facilities for mathematical formulas, or for making drawings. There appears [1] to be no presentation app…

"Abiword normally does not have built in facilities for mathematical formulas"

The Xerox Alto had this in 1982[1]. NINETEEN FREAKING EIGHTY TWO. How is it possible that any WYSIWYG word processor is allowed to ship without this?

[1] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ODZBL80JPqw

Re: German City Set To Make Linux A Norm For Citizens

#57

Post by Everlag »

hnha wrote: post #17
stinos wrote: post #5

seems like a great idea, but knowing how older people can cope with change I don't see this going so easily and nicely for them as the article makes it sound? Anecdote: 2 of my family members over 50 years old had XP running with Office2003. I gave them Lubuntu and it took them literally months to adapt. For an IT guy it's off course all alike, but actually it isn't. Especially not if it already took you years to mas…

counter anecdotes: my 73 year old grandma switched to Linux mint 9 months ago and loves it. and my 21 year old cousin tried the same and ran back to Windows after days.

The issue is, for a person as old as your grandmother, learning even the barebones of how to use a computer can be a novel experience because they have had a very small chunk of their entire life to attempt it. This is following having access to many other modern forms of entertainment for far longer.

Whereas, in the case of the young cousin, they grew up with tech like this and having to relearn something that is basically the same system but with a different coat of paint and more inconveniences is a hassle.

Re: German City Set To Make Linux A Norm For Citizens

#58

Post by cmsmith »

muuh-gnu wrote: post #20
hiddenfeatures wrote: post #6

Wait... That's what I am paying my taxes for? That's where my money goes? I am NOT against Linux being more widely used. And I like the idea that the city uses Linux to save money & more efficient. But pushing citizens to use Linux is NOT government business

> But pushing citizens to use Linux is NOT government business Why not? The goverment standardizes everything else, from screws to seat belts to yogurts, why not stop the crazy update-planned-obsolescence cycle pushed by commercial entities and agree on a "standard UI" for normal people? The amount of unnecessary changes in UIs has become unbearably crazy. And since those changes are forced from all sides, there is n…

I'm not sure that we want to short-circuit competition in the industry with one of the highest rates of innovation over the past 20 years. If we had followed this strategy, we'd all still be using Windows 3.1.

Re: German City Set To Make Linux A Norm For Citizens

#59

Post by shadowfox »

muuh-gnu wrote: post #20
hiddenfeatures wrote: post #6

Wait... That's what I am paying my taxes for? That's where my money goes? I am NOT against Linux being more widely used. And I like the idea that the city uses Linux to save money & more efficient. But pushing citizens to use Linux is NOT government business

> But pushing citizens to use Linux is NOT government business Why not? The goverment standardizes everything else, from screws to seat belts to yogurts, why not stop the crazy update-planned-obsolescence cycle pushed by commercial entities and agree on a "standard UI" for normal people? The amount of unnecessary changes in UIs has become unbearably crazy. And since those changes are forced from all sides, there is n…

> Whoever wants to constantly relearn the same stuff over and over and over, and today relearn the Ribbon, tomorrow Metro, and so on, is free to do it. But normal, everyday folks should not have to deal with this shit

I like and use Linux. But I wouldn't say that it is great at providing a stable user interface. Things keep changing in in as many arbitrary ways as it does with Windows, perhaps even more.

Re: German City Set To Make Linux A Norm For Citizens

#60

Post by bskap »

thaumasiotes wrote: post #21
muuh-gnu wrote: post #18

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Tablets, like mobiles generally sufferer from planned obsolescence. They are not meant to be used and receive updates for years and years, like people used XP. I want my grandma to not have to relearn to yet another UI every two years. Canonical has commited to support the LTS releases for half a decade, which, while not coparable to XP, is for older folks still a better bet than anything the mobile world has to offe…

As I understand it, XP wasn't meant to do that either; the fact that it lasted so long was more of a series of mistakes on Microsoft's part in getting a replacement out the door. I'm happy to be corrected, though.

Microsoft has insanely long support cycles for their products. Windows 8 will be supported until January 10, 2023. http://windows.microsoft.com/en-US/windows/products/lifecycl...
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