[CLUE-Tech] Enthusiasm for Linux

[Kirk Rafferty]

On Wed, Oct 29, 2003 at 06:59:33AM -0700, Chuck Downing wrote:
> Second, I can't imagine my 89-year-old uncle or my techno-phobic spouse
> being able to follow the convoluted steps necessary to resolve this
> unnecessary conflict between OO versions, Debian/Libranet/Java versions
> and Windoze/Linux.  All they would see is, "My computer doesn't work."

It's been my experience that most non-technical people in the 60+ age
category have problems dealing with computers, whether it's Linux or
Windows.  That's not an age-bias thing, it's just generational.  Just think,
when your 89-year-old uncle was 75, the most complicated office-thing in
his life was perhaps a fax machine, calculator, or typewriter.  I shudder
to think of what life has in store for me when I'm 89.

If I had to recommend a computer to an 89-year-old uncle, it would be
a Mac.  (my mom is 61, and uses Linux.  But she follows a very strict
pattern of behavior. [check email, browse web, maybe use OO to type a
letter]  If anything happens out of the ordinary, I get a phone call.
She really needs a Mac, but I think Linux has grown on her.)

The thing to keep in mind though, is that the usability-over-time curve
for Linux is much faster than it was for Microsoft.  If Linux isn't
usable to you now, wait a year.  Or maybe only 6 months.  Linux will
catch up.  Soon.

-k