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Easier said than done. I love my parents and ultimately I do want to help them when they’re stuck with stuff, and I know if I the situation were reversed they’

Easier said than done. I love my parents and ultimately I do want to help them when they’re stuck with stuff, and I know if I the situation were reversed they’d do the same for me.

SoftTalker 1y ago
You are assuming they're not doing it deliberately. A lot of old people have figured out that you can get other people do do stuff for you by pretending you don't understand it yourself.
- tombert 1y ago
  I genuinely do not think they are doing it deliberately, at least not at any conscious level. I guess I don't know their inner psyche but I genuinely think that when they ask for help it's because they feel like they need help.
bee_rider 1y ago
Are you actually good at Windows 11? Are you really helping them as much as you could be that way? I don’t think I could help somebody set up modern Windows. If I help someone with a computer, I’m telling them I’ve got it into a reasonably usable and safe state. With all the spyware built into a modern Windows system, I don’t think I could be confident there.
- tombert 1y ago
  I mean, I'm not "good" at it exactly, but a lot of the old Windows XP terminology still applies (e.g. "run", "dxdiag", "device manager"), and I have a bit more intuition about computers than they do, so I can usually brute force a solution to their problems. I don't have any non-virtualized Windows computers in my house, so it is always me figuring it out, but I generally am able to figure stuff out quicker than they can. I agree with your point though, and I've tried explaining that to them; if something is broken on your Linux box I can get you to send me a tmate URL and I can likely fix any problem you have quickly just because I am much more used to it. At some point I probably should try doing the ultimatum.
  - bee_rider 1y ago
    My little imaginary quote had a “good luck” at the end which made it look really flip. But, really, I think “I’m getting less and less familiar with Windows as time goes by” is more of a… gentler… way of putting the ultimatum.

Easier said than done. I love my parents and ultimately I do want to help them when they’re stuck with stuff, and I know if I the situation were reversed they’d do the same for me.

SoftTalker 1y ago

You are assuming they're not doing it deliberately. A lot of old people have figured out that you can get other people do do stuff for you by pretending you don't understand it yourself.

tombert 1y ago
I genuinely do not think they are doing it deliberately, at least not at any conscious level. I guess I don't know their inner psyche but I genuinely think that when they ask for help it's because they feel like they need help.

bee_rider 1y ago

Are you actually good at Windows 11? Are you really helping them as much as you could be that way? I don’t think I could help somebody set up modern Windows. If I help someone with a computer, I’m telling them I’ve got it into a reasonably usable and safe state. With all the spyware built into a modern Windows system, I don’t think I could be confident there.

tombert 1y ago
I mean, I'm not "good" at it exactly, but a lot of the old Windows XP terminology still applies (e.g. "run", "dxdiag", "device manager"), and I have a bit more intuition about computers than they do, so I can usually brute force a solution to their problems. I don't have any non-virtualized Windows computers in my house, so it is always me figuring it out, but I generally am able to figure stuff out quicker than they can. I agree with your point though, and I've tried explaining that to them; if something is broken on your Linux box I can get you to send me a tmate URL and I can likely fix any problem you have quickly just because I am much more used to it. At some point I probably should try doing the ultimatum.
- bee_rider 1y ago
  My little imaginary quote had a “good luck” at the end which made it look really flip. But, really, I think “I’m getting less and less familiar with Windows as time goes by” is more of a… gentler… way of putting the ultimatum.