On Wed, 22 Dec 2010 22:58:21 -0600, Paul Johnson wrote:
Hello, Beartooth.
Hi, Paul! If you're the same guy I know from several electronic places, I'm glad to hear from you. And incidentally, the address I post from is valid, and I check it several times a day.
I have given this a lot of thought over the last few months. You certainly can't leave her on Fedora. That turns over too fast.
On a server or in a public lab, I run Centos or RHEL.
This is a Centos list, and I don't want to inspire a big distro flame war, but here's an opinion. If you are serious that you may die and leave your wife with an OS she can't manage, you might think about installing the LTS version of Ubuntu.
Hmmm ... I had forgotten all about the LTS versions ...
The Ubuntu email list folks are more helpful to non-experts. The distro team is more energetic about making device drivers work, even if you happen to own the "wrong" hardware (proprietary drivers for Nvidia video, MP3 encoding, etc). They are somewhat like Macintosh in attitude. "If we can't package it up for you to click on, it is not worth doing." That's not the way experts need it, but for somebody who is just using the system, it may be about right.
Hmmm ... again. IF (repeat IF) she would ask online (and I don't know) ....
As for drivers, etc., I don't think that's likely to become a problem unless by hardware obsolescence; but I'll keep it in mind next time I have somebody build her a new machine. (I don't speak hardware myself.)
I install lots of apps on her machine for me to use on occasion (not only for troubleshooting); but I don't think she even looks at most of what I put on her panel -- like the workspace switcher, which to me is the Champion Percheron of All Workhorse Apps.
She seems to stick to one or two browsers for news and reference, a gnome-terminal for Alpine, and OpenOffice for her own writing; she'd rather be out hiking or playing golf than sitting indoors.
On the other hand, if I have a really serious problem, something wrong in the kernel, I'd much rather seek help in the Fedora list. There are more true experts floating about in there.
I read you loud and clear. 99 44/100% of the Fedora list (well, close) is over my head; but lots of the regulars are very helpful.
I suppose that once you install the OS, the trouble due to automatic updates from either Ubuntu LTS or Centos/RedHat will be about the same. The trouble will come when she either has to get a new computer or make a major distribution update, eg from Centos 5.5 to Centos 6.0.
I'll hold off till 6.0 is out and quieting down; but that's just now. How important is it to upgrade from x.y to x.(y+1) in general?
If she needs to find Linux help, my *guess* is that she will be more likely to find a teenager who has used Ubuntu than the others.
Actually, she'd likely have an easier time finding an undergrad or grad student. (We have no Tech affiliation, but we live a couple miles from campus. Dunno if that will much affect the issue, though.)
She'd have the same trouble with Windows, the only difference there is that it is easier to find/hire geeks to help on a Windows system.
Our LUG list is nowhere near so active as for instance the ones in Northern Virginia or Silicon Valley, of course; but there seem to be a respectable number of members, year after year. Time was (before we arrived), I'm told, when Tech required Apples; but we replaced OSX with YellowDog and then Fedora.ppc while we had an iBook. Maybe the LUG is full of fellow rebels from fame.