Quote:
Originally Posted by Rathji
My mom runs the latest version of Ubuntu. I installed it for her, but I only used default settings so I basically just hit enter over and over. She called me a week afterwards about why her Youtube wouldn't work, I told her to google "installing flash on Ubuntu" and explained how to open the terminal. She had no problems.
You can't get much lower on the computer/tech skill ladder than my mom. She called me one day because her usb flash drive wouldn't work, and 30 mins of pulling my hair out later I find out it is because she has stuck it into the RJ-45 slot instead of the USB slot.
As long as people have your attitude, you are right, Linux is not an option. The reality is though, it actually is.
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I don't think it's fair to say that Linux is on par with Windows or Mac OS with regards to general population usability.
If my father wants to convert movies from one format to another, he can drive to Future Shop, buy a CD and (after a quick install process) he'll be converting away. I'm not so sure he'd be able to get around the whole repository/tar ball/install script/codec configuration nightmare he'd have to go through if he was running Linux.
It has come a long way from what it used to be, that's for sure; I just don't think it's quite there for the general population just yet.