[ale] Simple Desktop Distro for Remote Windows user

[James P. Kinney III]

Always good setting up family computers! OpenOffice.org hit 1.1
yesterday. I got lucky and nabbed a download before the Slashdot
posting. It is a good upgrade!

RedHat has a no cost RHN subscription that only requires taking a survey
about every 3-6 months or so. Since this won't be a server, the security
upgrades will not be that critical. For $60 they can happen
automatically for a year.

The RedHat Manuals are excellent! Suse's manuals are also excellent.
There are loads of books for RedHat. I don't see nearly as many on Suse.
I expect that would be different in the EU. 

Earthlink is pretty much everywhere. I'm sure there are other smaller
ISPs in the PA area. You would need to chat with some LUG people about
their quality. Here is link to a list of 'em.
http://www.colug.net/lugs.php#PA

On Thu, 2003-10-02 at 09:48, BruceG wrote:
> Hey all,
> 
> 	Thanks for the recommendations on a laptop. I ordered a Dell Latitude laptop 
> from Dell Financial Services off e-bay. Should be getting it in a day or two. 
> It's not the newest and fastest (650Mhz PIII, 256Mb memory) - but should be 
> just fine for someone doing basic desktop work. Heck, it's faster than my old 
> Gateway PII desktop!
> 
> 	It will be for my sister. Read 47 years old, not terribly computer literate, 
> but can find her way around a Windows PC and use a word processor. So - my 
> idea is to make sure it is running KDE. That is very simple and 
> straight-forward. Also - install the current version of OpenOffice. The older 
> 1.0 release series starts very slowly. The newer 1.1RC series uses a 
> quick-start, and is much faster in loading. Unfortunately, the OOo user 
> e-mail list is VERY busy, and would probably be painful for a dial-up user. 
> So she'd need a manual.
> 
> 	If you were setting up a laptop for basic office applications, and then would 
> support it remotely over the phone (she lives near Pittsburgh PA - so I won't 
> be running over when things break) - where would you start? I don't think she 
> could keep up with the Red Hat subscription due to very limited finances - so 
> RH is out. That leaves Mandrake, SuSE and Debian on the short list.
> 
> 	I like the manual/user guide that comes with SuSE Personal 8.2. It is simple 
> to read and follow. Mandrake 9.1 off the shelfs is CD only (so I'd just 
> install from ISOs I already burned). I don't know the lead time in ordering a 
> Mandrake 9.1 user guide - but would think it would be a few weeks. I know 
> Mandrake is very easy to use, but have burned myself a few times mucking 
> around there. I'd hate to have to fix it remotely, as I lost my temper and 
> simply formatted my hard drive a few times after hacking things.
> 
> 	If I opted for Debian, I'd "cheat" and do the Knoppix route - and then 
> install Knoppix to hard drive. My concern is the lack of printed manuals at 
> bookstores for a current Debian install. Maybe I could search for an online 
> user's guide and just print it out - or have Kinko's print and bind it.
> 
> 	Also - dialup. I've been checking ISP's that have a POP in her town. I'll 
> need to do a 6 month or 1 year pre-pay and configure and test it. I've had 
> good success with AT&T in several areas - but don't know if I want to pop for 
> it. Also tried MindSpring (now Earthlink, right?) and BellSouth (ain't gonna 
> happen in PA). Have you guys had good success with lower priced ISPs and 
> unlimited access?
> 
> 	Also - do you know of an active LUG in the Pittsburgh area? I'll search 
> around - but that might help her out on occasion. Sorry for thinking aloud on 
> the list. Just trying to get my ducks in a row.
> Bruce
> _______________________________________________
> Ale mailing list
> Ale at ale.org
> http://www.ale.org/mailman/listinfo/ale
-- 
James P. Kinney III          \Changing the mobile computing world/
CEO & Director of Engineering \          one Linux user         /
Local Net Solutions,LLC        \           at a time.          /
770-493-8244                    \.___________________________./
http://www.localnetsolutions.com

GPG ID: 829C6CA7 James P. Kinney III (M.S. Physics)
<jkinney at localnetsolutions.com>
Fingerprint = 3C9E 6366 54FC A3FE BA4D 0659 6190 ADC3 829C 6CA7
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