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Linux is an operating system for all ages

zdnet.com

11–20 of 21 posts

Re: Linux is an operating system for all ages

#11
post #4

Yeah I set up my mom with GNOME 3 on Fedora. All she does is browse the internet and play solitaire. That's pretty much a zero maintenance computer right there. Somehow they always manage to destroy windows.

'Somehow they always manage to destroy windows.'

this. Sigh. The number of times I have to clean up all the things she (my mom) manages to install 'tool bars and what not'.

Re: Linux is an operating system for all ages

#12

The article is out-of-time. The question nowadays is: 'Why didn't Android become a viable OS for desktops and laptops?'

For the same reason Windows did not become a mainstream OS for tablets and phones. There is a much greater distance between a finger-touch UX and a mouse UX than most people imagine.

There is also probably a hardware dimension to the answer: There is a greater distance between a heavy "convertible" part-time touch laptop/tablet-ish device and a real tablet that can be carried like a sheaf of paper than most people appreciate.

Re: Linux is an operating system for all ages

#13
post #4

Yeah I set up my mom with GNOME 3 on Fedora. All she does is browse the internet and play solitaire. That's pretty much a zero maintenance computer right there. Somehow they always manage to destroy windows.

'Somehow they always manage to destroy windows.' this. Sigh. The number of times I have to clean up all the things she (my mom) manages to install 'tool bars and what not'.

Have you tried setting her up with a standard user login by default? I did that with my folks and the number of computer questions seems to have gone way down.

Re: Linux is an operating system for all ages

#14
post #4

Yeah I set up my mom with GNOME 3 on Fedora. All she does is browse the internet and play solitaire. That's pretty much a zero maintenance computer right there. Somehow they always manage to destroy windows.

CentOS would given even longer support! Just add epel and the Nux desktop libraries for multimedia

Re: Linux is an operating system for all ages

#15
Anyone in here working in Africa in the kind of project the OA mentions?

I'm wondering about bandwidth for updates and installing software. Ubuntu 15.04 is good for 6 months with updates. Debian current stable with a three DVD iso download (and a DVD drive!) would provide access to the whole software repository offline. There is a delta update DVD for each incremental ISO set.

Re: Linux is an operating system for all ages

#16
post #2

So this has to be said again : Linux is NOT an operating system, Linux is a Kernel. Android, Debian and OpenWRT are operating systems. Debian even support other kernels than Linux.

If you're going to be pedantic, at least nail it. Debian (Linux) and OpenWRT are distributions. They're super-sets of applications, the GNU tools and the Linux kernel (or HURD). You only need the last two to form an "operating system". Android is a little different in that it doesn't sit on a GNU stack. I'm happier calling Android an operating system than I am Debian and OpenWRT.

If Debian is a distribution and Linux is just the kernel, what do you say if you run Debian and people ask what OS you use?

Re: Linux is an operating system for all ages

#17
post #8

Totally off topic, but it seems every website I've visited today has had some utterly obnoxious pop up appear when I'm half way through a sentence. I hope this is a short lived trend.

Adblock extension is pretty awesome. Vastly reduces noise on the web.

Re: Linux is an operating system for all ages

#18
post #16

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If you're going to be pedantic, at least nail it. Debian (Linux) and OpenWRT are distributions. They're super-sets of applications, the GNU tools and the Linux kernel (or HURD). You only need the last two to form an "operating system". Android is a little different in that it doesn't sit on a GNU stack. I'm happier calling Android an operating system than I am Debian and OpenWRT.

If Debian is a distribution and Linux is just the kernel, what do you say if you run Debian and people ask what OS you use?

Debian GNU/Linux

Re: Linux is an operating system for all ages

#19

Earlier quoted context omitted.

'Somehow they always manage to destroy windows.' this. Sigh. The number of times I have to clean up all the things she (my mom) manages to install 'tool bars and what not'.

Have you tried setting her up with a standard user login by default? I did that with my folks and the number of computer questions seems to have gone way down.

In addition to that, uBlock/adblock also seems to take care of most toolbar/malware pop ups that parents tend to fall for.

Re: Linux is an operating system for all ages

#20
post #16

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If you're going to be pedantic, at least nail it. Debian (Linux) and OpenWRT are distributions. They're super-sets of applications, the GNU tools and the Linux kernel (or HURD). You only need the last two to form an "operating system". Android is a little different in that it doesn't sit on a GNU stack. I'm happier calling Android an operating system than I am Debian and OpenWRT.

If Debian is a distribution and Linux is just the kernel, what do you say if you run Debian and people ask what OS you use?

The pedantically correct term is "Debian GNU+Linux", I believe.
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