Mon, 17 Oct 2005
A new computer for my parents
I bought a new computer for my parents. Because I have virtually no experience with The Other OS (I do not even know where it can be ordered from), I decided to install Fedora on it. I was not sure whether they would be able to use Fedora instead of that other OS. I tried to make the system as easy to use as possible - automatic login in GDM, the Czech language environment, shutting down via the power button, etc.
I use a command line in Gnome terminal mainly, with few other appliactions such as Galeon, Liferea, or Evince, so I am not an experienced "desktop user". I was therefore surprised how easy-to-use current Linux distributions are. For example, it is possible to set up the whole dial-up connection with few clicks (and some ISPs even provide a documentation for setting up their service in Red Hat Linux). Definitely a big step forward since the time when I wrote a lengthy article about setting up a PPP connection in Linux (1995?). Also, setting up an e-mail account using Evolution is easy, and Evolution is apparently pretty intuitive for former users of The Other OS.
So, I hope they will manage to use Linux without problems. I think Linux is definitely usable by non-programmers, provided that someone will install and set up the system for them (but then, they are not expected to install The Other OS themselves neither).