This is one way to look at it. Here's another: I have Ubuntu on a couple of machines at home and still can't get them to talk to my Brother MFC-685CW printer. I'm a PhD in EECS.
Here's another: old people are smarter than PHDs. (tongue in cheek)
My dad unexpectedly uses my Linux laptop to get real work done
51–60 of 356 posts
Re: My dad unexpectedly uses my Linux laptop to get real work done
#52I wish Evernote supported Linux.
Re: My dad unexpectedly uses my Linux laptop to get real work done
#53The time for MS and Windows is passing. I guarantee it.
Re: My dad unexpectedly uses my Linux laptop to get real work done
#54I use Linux and I find this post sad actually. It's 2013 and Linux users are still insecure enough about the OS to gush about someone using the OS for something productive? Isn't that what all of us have been doing all this time?
Re: My dad unexpectedly uses my Linux laptop to get real work done
#55Re: My dad unexpectedly uses my Linux laptop to get real work done
#56I think that over time everybody gets to a certain level of proficiency where such interfaces and concepts are not as daunting to them as before. Back in the 90s and even 00s, people were so uncomfortable with GUIs and then the internet that getting them to try a Windows alternative was not worth the effort.
Also the huge popularity of tablets and smartphones have made people less fearful of different UI conventions and more willing to explore and figure things out.
This is a very keen observation, I feel like mobile devices have helped a ton with breaking the chokehold that Gates and Ballmer have had on the industry.
Re: My dad unexpectedly uses my Linux laptop to get real work done
#57Linux Mint is actually a very easy and natural transition from Windows. A few years ago, I installed Linux on my parents' desktop (dual-boot)[0] and told them that they were "forbidden" to use any other computer for web browsing, document editing, etc. I told them that this would be more secure, and that's all it took to convince them. I figured that, this way, at least I could fix any of their computer problems remo…
The thing is Windows XP, with all its warts, will still run comfortably on a 6 or 8 year PC that was low-end when it was new. A few weeks ago, when my wife's old XP computer finally wouldn't boot anymore I got a new hard drive and tried to run Ubuntu on it. Couldn't even get through the installer without it freezing up. Lubuntu installed but wasn't stable. OpenBSD with KDE was pretty good, and I would have stayed wit…
Try building up from ubuntu minimal instead. I've had a lot of luck going that route with older hardware. It does require access to a wired connection though.
Re: My dad unexpectedly uses my Linux laptop to get real work done
#58I had a similar experience with my cousin, except with Chrome OS. His laptop died and he asked to borrow any extra laptops I had around, and the only one I happened to have was a Chrome OS machine. I was worried he'd need a more desktop-like environment, but it turned out he loved it -- everything we do is on the web these days and there wasn't really anything that he was missing. He moved from Excel to Google Spreadsheets without much trouble and didn't really need anything else. Just a browser. Amazing where the web is going.
Re: My dad unexpectedly uses my Linux laptop to get real work done
#59This is one way to look at it. Here's another: I have Ubuntu on a couple of machines at home and still can't get them to talk to my Brother MFC-685CW printer. I'm a PhD in EECS.
In my experience, printer compatibility is worse in Windows 8 than in Linux. I've seen lots of common budget laser printers stop being supported in Vista, 7, and 8.
Linux has plenty of compatibility problems (scanners are especially bad, imho), but printing is not typically one of them.
Re: My dad unexpectedly uses my Linux laptop to get real work done
#60This is one way to look at it. Here's another: I have Ubuntu on a couple of machines at home and still can't get them to talk to my Brother MFC-685CW printer. I'm a PhD in EECS.
Well, hassle Brother to release some Free printer drivers. They are one of the last major holdouts.