[ale] Ubuntu Linux ROCKS! (The Saga of Miss W)

Sun Oct 4 10:07:23 EDT 2009

This is inspiring.   I hope that miss W uses some of my software some day.

-- CHS

On Sun, Oct 4, 2009 at 9:15 AM, Jim Kinney <jim.kinney at gmail.com> wrote:

> Nice!
>
> On Sun, Oct 4, 2009 at 1:03 AM, aaron <aaron at pd.org> wrote:
> > Ubuntu Linux ROCKS!
> > Period. End of story.
> >
> > :-)
> > ... well ... OK ... actually "Ubuntu Rocks" is the
> > _moral_ of this particular story -- one about
> > helping a little old lady escape the Mafia$oft thugs
> > that were trying to snatch her purse by guiding her
> > across the information highway to the sunny safety
> > of Free Software park.
> > :-)
> >
> > Absurdly overboard analogies aside, the gist of
> > this saga is that today I delivered the gift of a
> > "new" computer to a senior citizen on a fixed income
> > who can't otherwise afford to buy one. She serves
> > with me on an important political campaign committee
> > and she was in need of the system so she could be
> > more productive in that effort. (She did have a
> > working computer until a couple months back when
> > she gave it to her daughter in support of her
> > return to college studies.)
> >
> > The generosity on my part wasn't as large as might
> > be implied above, since the donation was just a
> > fairly old computer that I salvaged with the help
> > of Ubuntu Linux, but everything about the gift was
> > very new to the recipient.
> >
> > The machine was one of the discarded PC systems
> > that I have in my basement to keep all my stacks
> > of antique Amiga computers company.  The hardware
> > is about 10 years old, a generic 600mhz P3 with
> > 256 meg of ram, 10gig HD, CD burner and a floppy
> > drive. The only hardware adjustment I made was to
> > plug in a slightly less outdated graphics card.
> >
> > I had put Ubuntu 8.04 on the system previously,
> > but to keep this simple and deliver the latest and
> > greatest I decided to just do a full install of
> > Ubuntu 9.04. The full install from CD took all
> > the effort of about 6 mouse click selections
> > (English. Next. Eastern Time. Next. Use the whole
> > hard disk. Next.), plus entering a new user name
> > and password.
> >
> > Everything on the system came up working on
> > first boot into the fresh installation, so I
> > then ran the "add software" utility to install
> > the "restricted" add ons, the proprietary closed
> > source bits needed for Flash support and such.
> > For those keeping score, that was 2 menu selections,
> > a search on the word "FLASH", 2 mouse clicks and
> > a password entry.
> >
> > After the add on bits were automatically downloaded
> > and installed from the internet, I did a cautionary
> > reboot. When the Ubuntu Desktop returned, the
> > software update utility appeared with a list of
> > recommended updates. I let the utility automatically
> > download and install all the software and security
> > updates that had come along since April (09.04 being
> > the month the version was released and the install
> > was made) -- just 2 more of those (strenuous) mouse
> > clicks and another (grueling) password entry and the
> > installation and updates of the full Linux OS and
> > all of the commonly used office, internet and media
> > software was done. With a standard, high speed
> > internet connection the whole process took less
> > than 90 minutes.
> >
> > (-: Fortunately, my fingers get daily exercise,
> > so they got through the Ubuntu install ordeal of
> > 16 mouse clicks, 4 typed words, and 22 "beverage
> > lifts while waiting for downloads" without injury.
> > Just to be safe, though, I recommend that amateurs
> > should be sure to scratch all itches BEFORE going
> > solo on an Ubuntu install! :-)
> >
> > There is no doubt that my (seriously) techno-phobic
> > senior friend could have done this installation
> > herself with just two minutes of phone support for
> > the "Add Software" part, but all my work in restoring
> > the box, testing the hardware and installing Ubuntu
> > Linux on the machine only took about a half hour of
> > actual hands-on activity on my part anyway.
> >
> > I delivered the computer to Miss W's apartment today
> > and only had to spend another 10 minutes plugging it
> > into it's home. She had already had DSL provisioned
> > on her phone line, so she tried to hand me their "DSL
> > software" install disk, which she was shocked to see
> > me decline. I just plugged the phone and ethernet
> > cables into the provided DSL modem / gateway / wireless
> > box (which is about 95% likely to be running a version
> > Linux as well) and we were all go and green lights
> > for her internet connection.
> >
> > I then braced myself for a challenge and plugged
> > in the USB cable of her inkjet printer. The printer
> > went "click click", the hard drive chattered for
> > a moment, and then, lo and behold, the Ubuntu
> > printer configuration utility popped a window onto
> > the desktop showing that it had collected all the
> > printer model info, installed the CUPS driver and
> > was now inviting me to print a test page (which
> > printed perfectly, BTW). It was a one mouse click
> > printer install! My friend was amazed, especially
> > after fretting all morning that she couldn't find
> > the printer's driver install disk (which clearly
> > isn't needed with Linux anyway). I was amazed too,
> > because based on many previous experiences with
> > many different kinds of computer systems, installing
> > printers is SUPPOSED to be DIFFICULT! (My geek ego
> > is feeling a little threatened right now...)
> >
> > I then spent about an hour with my friend showing her
> > the basics of the familiar and ubiquitous point and
> > click icons and menus of the Desktop, running Open
> > Office, editing and saving documents, and using the
> > Firefox web browser. She had only ever been exposed
> > to Windows and Word and IE before, but she was quickly
> > feeling comfortable with her new Linux computer
> > environment.  At one point she noted how familiar
> > the Open Office Writer program seemed, and how
> > frustrated she has been by the Vista/7 version of
> > Word because of the way they changed everything in
> > the user interface [for no reason]. She complained
> > that Vista/7 made it nearly impossible for her to
> > accomplish any work within the limited time slots
> > users are allowed on the computers at the library.
> >
> > She clearly felt even more comfortable as we side
> > tracked into some of the background stories of how
> > the Open Source communities came about and how well
> > supported her Ubuntu Software was and how she had
> > unlimited freedom to freely share all of it with
> > her friends. She was more amazed and excited and
> > enthralled with the whole idea of her new Linux
> > computer with each passing minute. You could literally
> > see the techno-phobia of this sweet 70 year old lady
> > drain away as she saved her fist Open Office document
> > and logged into her familiar AOL webmail account on
> > Firefox and learned that she didn't need to live in
> > fear of computer technology problems or software
> > viruses or purse snatching computer thugs any more.
> >
> > It was truly inspiring to see! So a huge thanks to
> > the Linux and Free Software communities, with a
> > special nod to Ubuntu for packaging and supporting
> > these gifts in such a user empowering way!
> >
> > Which is why the moral of this very true story
> > is simply that "Ubuntu Linux ROCKS!".
> >
> > However, the more important epilog of the saga is
> > that, as I was leaving the home of my (formerly)
> > techno-phobic 70 year old friend this afternoon,
> > she was busy navigating to the Ubuntu.com site so
> > she could order free Ubuntu Live/Install CD copies
> > for all of her friends. Seems that Miss W is feeling
> > very well armed by the freedoms of GNU Linux and the
> > support of the Ubuntu community now, so all those
> > Mafia$oft thugs best think twice about vandalizing
> > her internet neighborhood or grabbing at her
> > purse anymore!
> >
> > :-)
> >
> > peace
> > aaron
> >
> > _______________________________________________
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> >
>
>
>
> --
> --
> James P. Kinney III
> Actively in pursuit of Life, Liberty and Happiness
>
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