[kwlug-disc] Desktop linux for Gramps

Tue Dec 8 03:30:59 EST 2009

Just jumping back to the original question for a moment...

After tonight's meeting Richard (not Weait) mentioned a Linux distro 
called Eldy, specifically for the elderly.  While I find that slightly 
insulting, I think it is targeted to those people not accustomed to 
using computers, or with visual  impairment or motor skill 
difficulties.  The main screen has only six very large buttons for Web, 
Mail, Pictures, and simple tasks like that.

  http://www.eldy.eu/

--Bob.

Bob Jonkman <bjonkman at sobac.com>         http://sobac.com/sobac/
SOBAC Microcomputer Services              Voice: +1-519-669-0388
6 James Street, Elmira ON  Canada  N3B 1L5  Cel: +1-519-635-9413
Software   ---   Office & Business Automation   ---   Consulting

Insurance Squared Inc. wrote:
> Agreed Paul.  I'm going to stick with Mandriva for the same stupid reason i 
> started on Mandriva.  Back in the 90's, my host was familiar with Mandriva and 
> he put my webservers on that distro.  I moved to mandriva on my desktop when I 
> made the switch, because I was familiar with where everything was - no learning 
> curve.
>
> Same reason my Mom's going to get mandriva.  Because I can log on remotely and 
> do whatever she needs, with no learning curve for me. 
>
> There's almost certainly better distro's out there these days than what I'm 
> running - I keep hearing good things about ubunut and others.  But I'm not 
> likely to switch because something's better.  I'll switch because what I've got 
> isn't working.  That's why I left windows on my desktop :).
>
> Paul Nijjar wrote:
> > On Mon, Dec 07, 2009 at 10:48:02AM -0500, unsolicited wrote:
> >   
> >> Paul Nijjar wrote, On 12/03/2009 7:31 PM:
> >>     
> >>> On Thu, Dec 03, 2009 at 01:39:40PM -0500, unsolicited wrote:
> >>>       
> >
> >   
> >>> I totally disagree with unsolicited on this point. You will be the tech
> >>> support for your parents. Therefore you should give them what you know
> >>> and understand. 
> >>>       
> >> I think you do Glenn a disservice here. By your reasoning we should
> >> all still be running windows, and K-W LUG should not exist.
> >>     
> >
> > Not necessarily. There is no problem with learning something new. But
> > from experience I know that I have been much more successful
> > supporting people remotely when they are using distros familiar to me. 
> >
> > If somebody has some experience for the look and feel (and where to
> > find things) in Ubuntu, then that is great! That person can offer
> > effective assistance for the parents when they make support
> > calls. Otherwise... not so much. I have trouble figuring out how
> > Karmic does things, for example -- and I supposedly am familiar with
> > Debian and Ubuntu. Dropping somebody into a completely unfamiliar
> > distro is a great way to convey that Linux is Hard, which is not
> > exactly the message we want to send. 
> >
> >   
> >> Please review the nature of Glenn's queries to the list over the past
> >> few years. My overall impression is that the queries center around
> >> problems with the packaging / distribution / presentation of Mandriva.
> >> You seldom hear from him on any other topic. i.e. It appears he seldom
> >> has reason to post, otherwise.
> >>     
> >
> > Sure. I personally am not fixated on Glenn (or anybody else) changing
> > their distros to conform to the hivemind. I know that lots of us
> > stumbled onto our first distro more-or-less by accident. I know I did. 
> >
> > I think that is a distinct issue from getting somebody started on
> > their first distro. If Glenn falls in love with some other distro for
> > his other projects, he could then give his parents that new distro for
> > their next experience. Maybe they will latch onto Mandriva as their
> > favourite distro. That might be awkward, but it is not the end of the
> > world. 
> >
> >   
> >> And reasons why you, yourself, are neither running it, nor migrating
> >> to it. Your comment flies in the face of your own attitude - you
> >> frequently search for better solutions than you have at the moment,
> >> despite however familiar you are with the current tools you are using.
> >>     
> >
> > It's true. I am not personally migrating to Mandriva. That does not
> > mean it is inferior, or that it is a bad choice for others. Other
> > people have different itches they need to scratch, and different
> > things they are looking from in a distro. 
> >
> > I do not think that looking for better tools really flies in the face
> > of sticking with what you know. For example, I may be working with
> > Asterisk in the near future. There are CentOS-based Asterisk distros,
> > but for our production system I am likely to stick with something I
> > know -- a Debian-based install -- because I think that will be easier
> > to support. If there are compelling reasons to switch, I will do so
> > (the migration from IPCop to pfSense is one example of that) but all
> > other things being similar I want to leverage what I know. 
> >
> > - Paul
> >
> >
> >
> > _______________________________________________
> > kwlug-disc_kwlug.org mailing list
> > kwlug-disc_kwlug.org at kwlug.org
> > http://astoria.ccjclearline.com/mailman/listinfo/kwlug-disc_kwlug.org
> >
> >   
>
> -- 
> Glenn Cooke
> Insurance Squared Inc.
> (866) 779-1499
> www.insurancesquared.com
>
> Insurance Agent Discussion Forum:
> www.americaninsurancebroker.com
>
>   
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