New computer user and Linux
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| Author | Content |
|---|---|
| terri77 Nov 23, 2007 6:50 AM EDT |
Hi, all, and Happy Holidays! I have just joined so that I can ask this question... I am not a Linux user, but I have kept up with the general news. I have a friend who has never used a computer - ever! However, we see that it's time; he wants to access the internet, read ebooks and blogs, play CDs and DVDs with data, not just music (we'd like to save articles, podcasts, ebooks, videos, and music for him to DVD); essentially a high-end PDA with a larger screen and buttons. :) He travels a lot in his job, so a portable is necessary, with wireless. At first, I thought a refurbished laptop with Windows XP, and open-source office applications of some kind, would be ideal. Then I thought that maybe Linux has evolved enough to be bought pre-installed with little tweaking. Reading through the various forums and such, I'm not sure that this is the case. Any suggestions? |
| bigg Nov 23, 2007 7:35 AM EDT |
> maybe Linux has evolved enough to be bought pre-installed with little tweaking. On the right side of this page, you will see a link to the "Pre-installed Linux Vendor Database". Although I've never used it, a Linspire PC might be what you are after, as it should do most of these things out of the box. If you don't mind installing Linux (and it's pretty easy to do) this guide that was recently posted on LXer http://www.howtoforge.com/desktop-installation-guide-linux-m... shows how to do everything you talk about with Linux Mint. And according to the thread on the story, Mint is good for newbies. |
| Scott_Ruecker Nov 23, 2007 10:15 AM EDT |
Hello terri77 and welcome to LXer! I will second bigg's comment, The LXer Pre-Installed Linux Vendor Database is a great place to start if you are looking for a laptop with Linux already on it but if you already have a laptop and want to install it(which is actually easier than installing Windows) check out the link bigg provided. As long as the laptop has the hardware to view DVD's and such you should have no problem getting Linux to do all the things you want it to do for your friend. I commend you for being so thoughtful of your friend to do this for him. Regards, Scott |
| Bob_Robertson Nov 23, 2007 12:04 PM EDT |
Terri77, welcome to LXer. Count me in the "Pre-Installed Linux Vendor Database" line too, even though I've never utilized it myself. Ya see, last week I put Debian on a recycled machine for a person I take karate with, on the request of his father (the guy's about 12). They picked up the machine from me, I didn't have any opportunity to show them anything about it. All I had was a sheet upon which I'd put the userIDs and passwords. So I got a call a day later, they were having trouble installing Firefox. What???? But You Have That!!! I put a dozen gigabytes of apps and data on up front. Open Office, Koffice, 3 web browsers, etc, it's Debian! Argh! So I begged him to let me come by for half an hour and at least let me show you where to look before deciding you need another application installed... ...but no. And I don't know why not. |
| tracyanne Nov 23, 2007 12:22 PM EDT |
For a pre installed Linux I would definately recommenr ZaReason http://www.zareason.com/shop/home.php or Emperor Linux http://www.emperorlinux.com/ they are both in the database referred to above. If you are doing an install yourself, you could try Mandriva One http://www.mandriva.com/en/linux/ or PCLinuxOS http://www.pclinuxos.com/, and, subject to the caveat that I haven't tried it with WiFi, Linux Mint http://www.linuxmint.com/faq.php (I'm really impressed with this one, in terms of how easy it is for a Linux newbie to get going). In order to use certain CODECs (for WMV and WMA and Quicktime), with Mandriva, you need to connect to the PLF repositories, use http://easyurpmi.zarb.org/ to locate then, and follow the instructions. Note:: I'm Biased towards Mandriva - I use the commercial version of Mandriva, Mandriva Powerpack, on all my computers and find that it works fine with all the WIFi cards I've tried. |
| Steven_Rosenber Nov 23, 2007 1:00 PM EDT |
Bob, I remember the first time I booted Knoppix. "What the hell is Iceweasel? Hey ... it looks like Firefox ..." And then my slow brain started to catch up. I think Linux -- any Linux -- is a shock to the system (the body and the PC) for those who've never used it before. "You mean all my apps can be updated automatically? ... And they're all free? And I never have to pay for an OS upgrade -- ever?" I'm a huge fan of Debian -- I use it all the time -- and I wish the big book publishers would start releasing Debian books. They have Ubuntu books coming out all the time, and it wouldn't take much to tweak one of them for Debian. And for the newbie, I think a print book is just the thing to get them oriented to Linux on whatever distro they happen to have. A book that explains how to configure the system, what apps do what, how to add apps and all that other stuff would go a long way toward making Debian more appropriate for the new user. As it stands now, I think most people who end up using Debian got there through Ubuntu. That's what happened to me. The tradeoff now is the rapidity of the Ubuntu releases vs. the longer life of Debian's releases. If Ubuntu 6.06 LTS worked as well on my laptop as Debian, I'd have the LTS on it. And since Ubuntu 7.10 works better than Debian, I dual-boot Ubuntu 7.10 and Debian Etch -- and I do most of my work in Debian (or these days with the Puppy 3.00 live CD). But as I say, the dearth of Debian books (I don't think there's a single book out there covering Etch) is a sad commentary on the state of tech publishing. |
| tracyanne Nov 23, 2007 1:15 PM EDT |
@Bob Never never let a new Linux user take away a machine without at the very least walking them through the menus. I always put a firefox icon on the desktop and on the quickstart bar. For some reason Microsoft users expect the same chaotic menu system as Windows, and get confused when presented with the well laid out logically grouped menu system on Linux systems. |
| helios Nov 25, 2007 7:32 AM EDT |
Tracyanne... What's the difference between using a Windows computer and cleaning up a doo-doo- mess from the dog? I ALWAYS wash my hands after handling a windows computer. h |
| tracyanne Nov 25, 2007 8:15 PM EDT |
h.... :) |
| tuxchick Nov 25, 2007 8:22 PM EDT |
Ken, you owe me a keyboard... again! :) |
| Abe Nov 26, 2007 6:39 AM EDT |
Quoting:I ALWAYS wash my hands after handling a windows computer.Are you sure your nickname isn't Hilarious! |
| ColonelPanik Nov 26, 2007 7:17 AM EDT |
helios, Why would anyone ever touch a winders computer? |
| jdixon Nov 26, 2007 7:32 AM EDT |
> helios, Why would anyone ever touch a winders computer? Family and friendship, Colonel. They're the only things worth doing it for; since, fortunately, the last I heard no religion mandated the use of Windows. |
| bigg Nov 26, 2007 7:40 AM EDT |
> fortunately, the last I heard no religion mandated the use of Windows I was in church a few months ago and the PowerPoint presentation crashed and then as they were trying to get it back up, XP locked up completely. I wanted to give them a Live CD and tell them to use it to remove the devil from the church, but chickened out. |
| Bob_Robertson Nov 26, 2007 7:45 AM EDT |
> I wanted to give them a Live CD and tell them to use it to remove the devil from the church, but chickened out. What a wasted opportunity! Argh! Keep a liveCD in your pocked at all times for just such circumstances. One never knows when the daemon OS will need to be purged. |
| Steven_Rosenber Nov 26, 2007 8:45 AM EDT |
Those live CDs make great Bible bookmarks, or so I'm told. |
| ColonelPanik Nov 26, 2007 9:27 AM EDT |
You are all going to hell. It will be good to meet you and I can get us some good seats! jdixon, "Family and friendship" ? Not reason enough. God and country? Not enough to make me use winders. Money? Nope! Fame, ditto. I may be old, dumb and poor but I am free as in FOSS. |
| jdixon Nov 26, 2007 9:36 AM EDT |
> Not enough to make me use winders. Who said anything about use. Ken said touch: as in fixing broken ones or reloading them with Linux. |
| hkwint Nov 26, 2007 10:01 AM EDT |
Quoting:helios, Why would anyone ever touch a winders computer? As said above, only one qualified excuse: To set the computer free, remove Windows and install Linux. |
| Abe Nov 26, 2007 11:37 AM EDT |
Quoting:To set the computer free, remove Windows and install Linux.yeh, Sort of cleansing computers so Helios doesn't have to wash his hands so often. :) |
| Steven_Rosenber Nov 26, 2007 11:48 AM EDT |
Why not give out the Christian spin on Ubuntu? And there's the Church Pup spin on Puppy Linux. There's a Muslim Ubuntu, as well as Jubuntu for my people. Maybe the Buddhists out there would appreciate Zenwalk? We should all print up a couple hundred CDs of each, get our suits out and go door-to-door with our message. Anything less wouldn't be right. I couldn't find Pagan Ubuntu, but given all the specialized versions, maybe that's just "Ubuntu." |
| ColonelPanik Nov 26, 2007 12:01 PM EDT |
Okay, exorcising winders I will accept. In fact it is my favorite pass time.
But touch, use, fix, nope, can-not-do-it. helios: "I will fix your computer if the first step is to install Linux." It was on his blog so it must be true! Believe it! |
| jezuch Nov 26, 2007 3:08 PM EDT |
Quoting:daemon OS Isn't that BSD? Aren't they friends? |
| Bob_Robertson Nov 26, 2007 4:33 PM EDT |
> Isn't that BSD? Christians can get a little strange about taking things they believe in lightly, such as evil incarnate. So I fudged it. No slight on BSD intended. Not my personal bit-bucket, but good from what I've heard. |
| NoDough Nov 27, 2007 4:53 AM EDT |
Quoting:Christians can get a little strange about taking things they believe in lightly, such as evil incarnate.FOSS supporters can get a little strange about taking things they believe in lightly, such as evil incarnate. |
| Bob_Robertson Nov 27, 2007 6:08 AM EDT |
> FOSS supporters can get a little strange about taking things they believe in lightly, such as evil incarnate. So you _don't_ believe in the Chair Of Wrath? |
| jdixon Nov 27, 2007 6:21 AM EDT |
> FOSS supporters can get a little strange about taking things they believe in lightly, such as evil incarnate. Does every discussion have to involve Microsoft? :) |
| mvermeer Nov 27, 2007 10:03 AM EDT |
Terri, remember to give the Asus Eee-PC and the Nokia 810 a good hard look. |
| NoDough Nov 27, 2007 12:35 PM EDT |
Quoting:So you _don't_ believe in the Chair Of Wrath?What does my belief in flying chairs have to do with religious fanaticism? |
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