This is inspiring. I hope that miss W uses some of my software some day.<br><br>-- CHS<br><br><div class="gmail_quote">On Sun, Oct 4, 2009 at 9:15 AM, Jim Kinney <span dir="ltr"><<a href="mailto:jim.kinney@gmail.com">jim.kinney@gmail.com</a>></span> wrote:<br>
<blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="border-left: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); margin: 0pt 0pt 0pt 0.8ex; padding-left: 1ex;">Nice!<br>
<div><div></div><div class="h5"><br>
On Sun, Oct 4, 2009 at 1:03 AM, aaron <<a href="mailto:aaron@pd.org">aaron@pd.org</a>> wrote:<br>
> Ubuntu Linux ROCKS!<br>
> Period. End of story.<br>
><br>
> :-)<br>
> ... well ... OK ... actually "Ubuntu Rocks" is the<br>
> _moral_ of this particular story -- one about<br>
> helping a little old lady escape the Mafia$oft thugs<br>
> that were trying to snatch her purse by guiding her<br>
> across the information highway to the sunny safety<br>
> of Free Software park.<br>
> :-)<br>
><br>
> Absurdly overboard analogies aside, the gist of<br>
> this saga is that today I delivered the gift of a<br>
> "new" computer to a senior citizen on a fixed income<br>
> who can't otherwise afford to buy one. She serves<br>
> with me on an important political campaign committee<br>
> and she was in need of the system so she could be<br>
> more productive in that effort. (She did have a<br>
> working computer until a couple months back when<br>
> she gave it to her daughter in support of her<br>
> return to college studies.)<br>
><br>
> The generosity on my part wasn't as large as might<br>
> be implied above, since the donation was just a<br>
> fairly old computer that I salvaged with the help<br>
> of Ubuntu Linux, but everything about the gift was<br>
> very new to the recipient.<br>
><br>
> The machine was one of the discarded PC systems<br>
> that I have in my basement to keep all my stacks<br>
> of antique Amiga computers company. The hardware<br>
> is about 10 years old, a generic 600mhz P3 with<br>
> 256 meg of ram, 10gig HD, CD burner and a floppy<br>
> drive. The only hardware adjustment I made was to<br>
> plug in a slightly less outdated graphics card.<br>
><br>
> I had put Ubuntu 8.04 on the system previously,<br>
> but to keep this simple and deliver the latest and<br>
> greatest I decided to just do a full install of<br>
> Ubuntu 9.04. The full install from CD took all<br>
> the effort of about 6 mouse click selections<br>
> (English. Next. Eastern Time. Next. Use the whole<br>
> hard disk. Next.), plus entering a new user name<br>
> and password.<br>
><br>
> Everything on the system came up working on<br>
> first boot into the fresh installation, so I<br>
> then ran the "add software" utility to install<br>
> the "restricted" add ons, the proprietary closed<br>
> source bits needed for Flash support and such.<br>
> For those keeping score, that was 2 menu selections,<br>
> a search on the word "FLASH", 2 mouse clicks and<br>
> a password entry.<br>
><br>
> After the add on bits were automatically downloaded<br>
> and installed from the internet, I did a cautionary<br>
> reboot. When the Ubuntu Desktop returned, the<br>
> software update utility appeared with a list of<br>
> recommended updates. I let the utility automatically<br>
> download and install all the software and security<br>
> updates that had come along since April (09.04 being<br>
> the month the version was released and the install<br>
> was made) -- just 2 more of those (strenuous) mouse<br>
> clicks and another (grueling) password entry and the<br>
> installation and updates of the full Linux OS and<br>
> all of the commonly used office, internet and media<br>
> software was done. With a standard, high speed<br>
> internet connection the whole process took less<br>
> than 90 minutes.<br>
><br>
> (-: Fortunately, my fingers get daily exercise,<br>
> so they got through the Ubuntu install ordeal of<br>
> 16 mouse clicks, 4 typed words, and 22 "beverage<br>
> lifts while waiting for downloads" without injury.<br>
> Just to be safe, though, I recommend that amateurs<br>
> should be sure to scratch all itches BEFORE going<br>
> solo on an Ubuntu install! :-)<br>
><br>
> There is no doubt that my (seriously) techno-phobic<br>
> senior friend could have done this installation<br>
> herself with just two minutes of phone support for<br>
> the "Add Software" part, but all my work in restoring<br>
> the box, testing the hardware and installing Ubuntu<br>
> Linux on the machine only took about a half hour of<br>
> actual hands-on activity on my part anyway.<br>
><br>
> I delivered the computer to Miss W's apartment today<br>
> and only had to spend another 10 minutes plugging it<br>
> into it's home. She had already had DSL provisioned<br>
> on her phone line, so she tried to hand me their "DSL<br>
> software" install disk, which she was shocked to see<br>
> me decline. I just plugged the phone and ethernet<br>
> cables into the provided DSL modem / gateway / wireless<br>
> box (which is about 95% likely to be running a version<br>
> Linux as well) and we were all go and green lights<br>
> for her internet connection.<br>
><br>
> I then braced myself for a challenge and plugged<br>
> in the USB cable of her inkjet printer. The printer<br>
> went "click click", the hard drive chattered for<br>
> a moment, and then, lo and behold, the Ubuntu<br>
> printer configuration utility popped a window onto<br>
> the desktop showing that it had collected all the<br>
> printer model info, installed the CUPS driver and<br>
> was now inviting me to print a test page (which<br>
> printed perfectly, BTW). It was a one mouse click<br>
> printer install! My friend was amazed, especially<br>
> after fretting all morning that she couldn't find<br>
> the printer's driver install disk (which clearly<br>
> isn't needed with Linux anyway). I was amazed too,<br>
> because based on many previous experiences with<br>
> many different kinds of computer systems, installing<br>
> printers is SUPPOSED to be DIFFICULT! (My geek ego<br>
> is feeling a little threatened right now...)<br>
><br>
> I then spent about an hour with my friend showing her<br>
> the basics of the familiar and ubiquitous point and<br>
> click icons and menus of the Desktop, running Open<br>
> Office, editing and saving documents, and using the<br>
> Firefox web browser. She had only ever been exposed<br>
> to Windows and Word and IE before, but she was quickly<br>
> feeling comfortable with her new Linux computer<br>
> environment. At one point she noted how familiar<br>
> the Open Office Writer program seemed, and how<br>
> frustrated she has been by the Vista/7 version of<br>
> Word because of the way they changed everything in<br>
> the user interface [for no reason]. She complained<br>
> that Vista/7 made it nearly impossible for her to<br>
> accomplish any work within the limited time slots<br>
> users are allowed on the computers at the library.<br>
><br>
> She clearly felt even more comfortable as we side<br>
> tracked into some of the background stories of how<br>
> the Open Source communities came about and how well<br>
> supported her Ubuntu Software was and how she had<br>
> unlimited freedom to freely share all of it with<br>
> her friends. She was more amazed and excited and<br>
> enthralled with the whole idea of her new Linux<br>
> computer with each passing minute. You could literally<br>
> see the techno-phobia of this sweet 70 year old lady<br>
> drain away as she saved her fist Open Office document<br>
> and logged into her familiar AOL webmail account on<br>
> Firefox and learned that she didn't need to live in<br>
> fear of computer technology problems or software<br>
> viruses or purse snatching computer thugs any more.<br>
><br>
> It was truly inspiring to see! So a huge thanks to<br>
> the Linux and Free Software communities, with a<br>
> special nod to Ubuntu for packaging and supporting<br>
> these gifts in such a user empowering way!<br>
><br>
> Which is why the moral of this very true story<br>
> is simply that "Ubuntu Linux ROCKS!".<br>
><br>
> However, the more important epilog of the saga is<br>
> that, as I was leaving the home of my (formerly)<br>
> techno-phobic 70 year old friend this afternoon,<br>
> she was busy navigating to the Ubuntu.com site so<br>
> she could order free Ubuntu Live/Install CD copies<br>
> for all of her friends. Seems that Miss W is feeling<br>
> very well armed by the freedoms of GNU Linux and the<br>
> support of the Ubuntu community now, so all those<br>
> Mafia$oft thugs best think twice about vandalizing<br>
> her internet neighborhood or grabbing at her<br>
> purse anymore!<br>
><br>
> :-)<br>
><br>
> peace<br>
> aaron<br>
><br>
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<br>
<br>
<br>
</div></div>--<br>
<font color="#888888">--<br>
James P. Kinney III<br>
Actively in pursuit of Life, Liberty and Happiness<br>
</font><div><div></div><div class="h5"><br>
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