After i read this thread and since i was really busy in the past couple of months, i just realized that for the first time ever all my devices (2 laptops, 1 desktop) are all Ubuntu, and yet i didn't feel i needed to change anything, i think the cloud based apps + the nature of my work (programming) made the choice on my behalf and i couldn't agree more!.
My dad unexpectedly uses my Linux laptop to get real work done
141–150 of 356 posts
Re: My dad unexpectedly uses my Linux laptop to get real work done
#142Earlier quoted context omitted.
This is really interesting. I would love to see if there is anything about this generation of people not liking technology changes.
It is an interesting phenomena, but it's pretty easy to explain: the barrier for an older person is "using a computer". The barrier for a younger person is "using linux". The older person doesn't know or care about the operating system - they are going to use the computer (or not) for very specific things. The younger person, who is probably more of a power user, is going to be more "enmeshed" with the details of the…
It's funny; ten years ago the explanation was exactly the opposite. "Maybe young people can pick up Linux, but there's no way my grandma could ever figure it out." I'm inclined to believe that both are post hoc rationalizations of a phenomenon whose true cause is entirely unrelated.
Re: My dad unexpectedly uses my Linux laptop to get real work done
#143Earlier quoted context omitted.
That's what drives me craziest about programming in windows, the freak'n console is awful
If you're forced to use Windows and need a terminal, I recommend running Cygwin's xterm with a rootless (i.e. no "root" background window, so windows share a desktop) X server. It's a lot better than running Cygwin's bash in cmd.exe.
I did this for a while, but mintty is good enough now and comes in Cygwin's standard packages.
Re: My dad unexpectedly uses my Linux laptop to get real work done
#144Both my parents are 60+. My mom is perfectly fine using Ubuntu on my old x61 for email, browsing, and YouTube. To be fair she could probably replace it with a tablet if it weren't for the fact that she visits a lot of flash sites (Chinese TV streaming sites). Likewise my dad is on another Ubuntu machine at home. His work needs access to some software / printers that can't be run via Wine so he's stuck with Windows th…
Nobody has mentions the UI. I know Ubuntu has come a long way but Windows' UI is much, much nicer. It may sound silly but I think it's a valid reason for some. The same reason why one would buy an iPhone over another less expensive (or non-apple) phone, you pay for looks (it may not be the only reason of course but it is part of it). People like nice-looking stuff, and older folks seem to care (or notice) less these things, especially if they're not technologically inclined.
Re: My dad unexpectedly uses my Linux laptop to get real work done
#145A couple of years ago, our home desktop which had windows 7 died. My parents needed a new desktop and i gave them my old laptop running ubuntu. Most of the time, my parents use it to browse websites and little bit of spreadsheet and powerpoint. The default ubuntu installation had all that.
Also the flash support has increased considerably. There was a time when hangouts or facebook video chat had issues. now it works butter smooth
Re: My dad unexpectedly uses my Linux laptop to get real work done
#146Handed a GNOME 3 PC to my dad. He got it right away. The multitasking in GNOME is just so fluid and efficient compared to any other operating environment, and it's just so... intuitive. As an OS X user, I find GNOME more consistent and easy to use, to be quite honest with you. I'm just holding out until Wine gets to the point where CS6 is supported.
Let me start by say that I am actually a fan of Linux, but not much of a fan of the community that surrounds it and for what it's worth, this is just my opinion. Obviously everybody's milage will undoubtedly vary! My personal experience of Gnome 3 is the polar opposite of yours. I cannot stand it. The UI elements are just horrible and I find the paradigm clunky and lacking in coherence. In fact I find the experience similar to Windows 8, with it's confused metaphors. Unity, while visually more appealing is not much better in terms of usability; the lens paradigm I find irksome. While there is no doubt, IMHO, that it should be surprising that anyone can get "real" work done with the software available on the various Linux desktops available, I feel that there has be a regression in the UX that really does need addressing.
Re: My dad unexpectedly uses my Linux laptop to get real work done
#147My mom is 50+ and used XP for a couple of years before my dad installed Xubuntu on her netbook. Turned out she didn't really need Microsoft Word for writing, she only used it because she knows it from work. Same with Outlook. I think many users are in a similar situation and could easily switch platforms saving money for both hardware and software. The only reason why there is still an old Windows PC at my parents home is the Adobe Software for their Sony ebook reader. (Damn you, DRM!)
Re: My dad unexpectedly uses my Linux laptop to get real work done
#148Both my parents are 60+. My mom is perfectly fine using Ubuntu on my old x61 for email, browsing, and YouTube. To be fair she could probably replace it with a tablet if it weren't for the fact that she visits a lot of flash sites (Chinese TV streaming sites). Likewise my dad is on another Ubuntu machine at home. His work needs access to some software / printers that can't be run via Wine so he's stuck with Windows th…
Nobody has mentions the UI. I know Ubuntu has come a long way but Windows' UI is much, much nicer. It may sound silly but I think it's a valid reason for some. The same reason why one would buy an iPhone over another less expensive (or non-apple) phone, you pay for looks (it may not be the only reason of course but it is part of it). People like nice-looking stuff, and older folks seem to care (or notice) less these…
I have to refute that statement in regards of Windows 8 on desktop. The amount of confusion in that UI, even for me, is a handful.
If we ignore the metro side of things, I agree with you however.
Re: My dad unexpectedly uses my Linux laptop to get real work done
#149Earlier quoted context omitted.
It must be getting used to it; I tried to use Word recently and ended up so frustrated that I almost switched to writing a layout script and making a pdf via Ruby. But other people use Word just fine so it must not be as shit as I think it is.
(La)TeX is a half-decent language to write layout scripts in. That's mostly because of the good libraries available. (The language itself sucks a bit. It was never really meant for general computation, and it shows.)
Having done several years of college using LaTeX religiously, I can safely say it isn't a replacement for Word. I found my documents were immaculate, but I wasted a lot of time on relatively simple things (getting the pt's right, margin's, title pages, etc..)
Re: My dad unexpectedly uses my Linux laptop to get real work done
#150Earlier quoted context omitted.
My mom 50+, No technical knowledge, uses ubuntu for email, youtube, and general browsing, and occasionally makes presentations. My colleagues at work, Programmers, aren't able to get out of Windows, even though they are just writing python. They would rather stick with the pain of having to use git in a crappy console, and suffer loads of pain when shell-ing into ec2 linux boxes, Than learn a new UI and file-system
That's what drives me craziest about programming in windows, the freak'n console is awful
It's both the shell and the terminal software that's awful.
Conemu comes pretty close to solving the terminal software problem, and there are alternatie shells, e.g. Powershell or bash from cygwin.