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Just curious, have you ever supported end users? My experience tells me that most people would freak out when presented with something as dissimilar as any lin
by jorts 13y ago
Just curious, have you ever supported end users? My experience tells me that most people would freak out when presented with something as dissimilar as any linux variant after being a Windows user for a decade or more.
- pikachu_is_cool 13y agoReally? I've installed it on a few relative's computers and they have all loved it and were able to pick it up completely on their own. Literally in one instance I installed ubuntu on my dad's laptop, and left the day after. He didn't even call me once for help on how to open something or do something (except for installing Skype, which he would have done anyway if it was a windows machine). It was all there. And these are people that don't know how to attach something to an email. IMO the biggest problem is getting the damn OS on the computer, everything after that is cake. Plus, pretty much every linux distro has a sort of "start" menu, and a taskbar. What kind of problems are you encountering?
- jorts 13y agoAs a basic example, I've experienced multiple users yell at me or my technicians (this was at a previous job) because the icons on their desktop changed locations. I can't imagine how they would have responded if their start menu looked different. While my mom is much nicer than many of these ex-customers treated technicians, she still struggles to grasp basic computing concepts such as traversing through Windows Explorer and copying and pasting pictures from her camera to her My Pictures folder. I can only fathom how she would react if I reformatted her laptop and installed linux on it.
- 72deluxe 13y agoI would second this. Many office staff (who tend to be women) just use the computer because it is part of their job and don't learn their way around a system or learn the concepts of files etc. (I am not attempting to be sexist btw - just many people my wife work with in the office don't attempt to learn anything new and can't cope with basic changes to the system; they complain that Word isn't working because they have set the font to white and are typing onto a white background, for example. A web browser is "the Internet" and they don't know the difference between "Windows Explorer" and "Internet Explorer", and have no idea where their files are etc. etc. etc.) I can see why the iPad took off with its lack of usable file system from a user perspective, because you don't need to learn any of the stuff you would with a PC. Icons that have moved is the end of the world for some people. Putting Linux onto a desktop would be like the end of the universe, despite how easy we find it to use.
- pikachu_is_cool 13y agoYou really did not have to mention that they were women in your post, that was totally unnecessary. And it is sexist, despite you're saying it isn't.
- 72deluxe 13y agoApologies, it wasn't meant to be sexist but I don't have a comparison. In my experience, all of the women I have worked with have less PC skills than women (and my wife does too); my wife will happily work stuff out but there seems to be a vast swathe of people who don't, and who switching to Linux would be like the end of the universe; that was more what I was trying to imply. This is not to say that there are many women who have skills that vastly outweigh men! EDITED: To stop blabbering. I would update my parent post too for less offence but I have left it too long; apologies.
- pikachu_is_cool 13y agoI get your point. But you could have omitted (who tend to be women)- and (I am not attempting to be sexist btw); you would have gotten the same exact point across.
- 72deluxe 13y agoUnderstood, and lesson learned!
- pikachu_is_cool 13y agoOh, wow. I had no idea it could be that bad. But IMO, those people are the outliers. You obviously have some sort of sampling bias since you work in tech support. I'm betting a lot more people would be able to adapt quite nicely. I mean, it isn't unfair to say that Linux Mint is more like XP than Windows 8 is, right? And for the stubborn people, maybe there should be an effort to make a Linux distro that has the same exact look and feel of Windows. Native Wine support and all that jazz. :P
- dllthomas 13y agoMy dad installed Linux on the computer of a tech-illiterate poet friend of his, and she was quite happy with it.
- vxNsr 13y agoDo you know his usage patterns? it's possible the only thing he uses it for now is to skype with you/his grandkids...
- pikachu_is_cool 13y agoHe trades stocks using Charles Schwab, watches Youtube videos and Skypes.