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Linux vs. Vista for an absolute beginner? (+related Vista/hardware query)

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f0dder:
Paul Keith: I disagree with pretty much everything you've written, but... :)

Paul Keith:
ahh the irony of reading this on March 2011...

I'm kind of sad that I couldn't get more out of your comment f0dder. You usually are more detailed than this.

Anyways, nowadays Mint has a Welcome Message that's a lil bit better but as it's the case with web links - too darn slow/have to open the browser/right at the beginning of boot which makes it more tempting to close.

There's also a Study Linux tab on Ailurus. It's crude and is mostly liniks but the cool part is that the Tip of the Day can be set so that everytime Ubuntu restarts, you get a random tip (I forgot how to set it to on though) and there's also an option to submit a tip but I haven't tried it.

Of course the irony of this thread is that Windows 7 kind of shifted the discussion away from everything. There are even some weird people now who consider XP a "dinosaur". Kind of sad considering how much less of a leap 7 was compared to Win98 to XP but I guess that's how the ball rolls.

iphigenie:
There are newbie friendly distributions (as in the community having the time and patience), and newbie friendly places like linuxquestions. Someone mentioned Mint but to me it is more a distro for people already familiar with windows. Some I would consider: PCLinuxOS, Salix, Trisquel, Pardus...

The big barriers are unfamiliarity (if you dont use the stuff often it feels unknown and intimidating) and the fear of breaking something.

On gnulinux it is harder to break things as a newbie, that is a huge thing to be able to tell a user. Heck, to give them total peace of mind you could get them started on a liveCD version with a local partition only for /home (and some backup). Then you can tell the user that there is no way they can break anything no matter what they try. Then when they are a little less scared of it, install it fully. There are some excellent liveCDs out there in most distributions, and many distributions have a way to create a custom liveCD from an install.

If you go the gnulinux route:
- play with the distribution yourself
- check the distribution's irc channel and forum - ask if it is ok to put some newbies on it, what their advice would be, and see if the tone of answers is adequate :)

for the future user:
- install some form of instant messenging and/or voice contact -
- install some form of remote desktop/vnc setup so you can help remotely,
- for both of the above, train it through with them a few times. In order for this to become an easy reflex, schedule a daily share even if it is for nothing except a quick chat. If they do it rarely then figuring out the screen sharing will add to the stress when a problem hits, so it has to be familiar and regular.
- get them set up on the distribution forum and a general forum like linuxquestions. Set up their profile information, a good signature, and a post in the "introductions" thread (if there is one) with them, so they have done the first steps
- set up an easy irc client and program both a private channel (this is for the "get them used to it" phase as I mention above for chat and screen sharing) and the main distribution channel (or newbie channel)
- set up something like delicious or diigo with a bunch of useful bookmarks

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