Linux for Moms

Trying to get my mom to switch to Linux. She's actually very open to the idea. She's tired of the constant software updates as well as the virus and spyware scans. Of course, there are still software updates with Linux, but they all come from one central location, instead of having to update your browser, then your email client, then your office suite, etc., so it keeps things a little simpler.

I burned an Ubuntu Live CD for her to try out, but I was actually pretty disappointed with it. One of the things she needs to have is an office suite. I'm sure Openoffice will do the trick for her, but it took forever to open with the live cd. I warned her that running Linux from a cd would be much slower than from the hard drive, but it was ridiculous. She did get to see a video of Nelson Mandela explaining what "ubuntu" means, though. She thought that was pretty neat.

Next time I'm over I'll just install the Windows version of Openoffice and get her to try it, or just install Ubuntu on her computer as a dual boot.

It's cool that she's so open to it. I was talking to a friend on the weekend who's a Unix system admin who thought Linux was difficult to install and maintain.

I have a review of an O'Reilly book that needs to be done, too. I finished reading it last Saturday, but want to go over it again and make some notes. I sort of geeked out when I got it and read straight through it. There's another book available from the same publisher, but I'd like to get the review out for this one before requesting another. Plus I just asked for a review copy of another book (a science fiction anthology) and don't want to over-commit myself.