"Open-source software was for techies who didn’t want to be slaves to
the commercial big boys. But, as Barry Collins discovers, it is now
leaping into our homes."
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,2103-2025223,00.html
I've already done this since last year for my family's PC, and this
article echos my experiences. Early versions of Fedora (1 and 2) were
close but not quite there as a lot of things were not quite plug and
play and needed quite some time in terms of tech support (once a week)
for some basic tasks.
Since Ubuntu Hoary, basic support problems are almost none-existent (ie.
printer, usb devices such as digital cameras etc.)
- Install Flash, mplayer and java support for browser
- Install mp3, dvd and other codecs
- Get a PS/2 console for games
Then spend a bit of time (hey it's family time), not to advocate about
how great FOSS is, but to teach how to use applications better.
Examples.
1. Sis has one of them portable mp3 cd players. I thought her how
to use Rhythmbox to manage her cd music collection, and how she
can easily drag and drop to burn collections or create audio
cds.
2. All of them love their msn/yahoo, teach them how to use Gaim.
3. Teach mom, how to use Evolution, and how to train spam and use
filters and where to find Firefox/browser (create shortcut to
desktop if need to).
4. Teach how to use f-spot to manage photos.
5. Teach how to use synaptic..eg. "I want a program to manage
recipes". Synaptic, keyword and click to install Gourmet.
6. Teach little bro how to research using Google, Wikipedia and
then using OpenOffice and scanner to create attractive
assignments.
7. Teach them how to use Live-CD so that they can work at friend's
house with OpenOffice and have all the programs they are
familiar with. (side affect.. all their friends know about this
Ubuntu Linux thing)
Now they're pretty much on their own, and able to do a variety of things
and teaching me new things.
Did you know that all the FOSS video players support fan subtitles for
popular Korean dramas?
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