[NBLUG/talk] Linux for my grand kid's computer

[Bill Kendrick]

On Wed, Dec 15, 2004 at 12:03:57PM -0800, Steve Johnson wrote:
> I won't comment on the camera or printer comment, Since someone
> allready covered that, but I will say that Instant messaging is just
> as easy on linux as it is on any other OS.  Most distros come with
> GAIM now, which is as easy to setup and run as any other instant
> messaging client, and it supports multiple protocols.. ICQ, AOL, MSN,
> Yahoo and even IRC.

Oh shoot, yeah, I forgot to mention GAIM (which my wife uses) and
Kopete (which is what I use, though I rarely have need to IM, since
I IRC a lot... and for that, I use Konversation now... I used to
use XChat).

I pretty much went from "I don't even have an Instant Messenger
account" to "I am now adding my freinds as contacts" in a matter
of minutes, thanks to Kopete's wizard and automatic links to the
various services.


I still admit that I would not recommend Linux for /everyone/ yet,
but the gap is getting smaller.  A suitably preconfigured Linux
desktop, with only the software a person needs installed, should be
nearly foolproof for a very novice user.

A PC with a blank hard disk and a handful of Linux install discs
should be nearly foolproof for an expert user.

As you start moving in between, where the users are 'just smart
enough to be dangerous', is where more handholding is needed.
("Okay, you want to hook up a WHAT to your Linux box?  Right, let's
see how we can help...")


Of course, when I say "Linux", it should be obvious that I'm
discussing typical "replacement for MS Windows" systems, and not
servers (on the one hand) or TiVos and firewall appliances
(on the other). ;^)

-bill!