On 3 November 2013 16:23, mick mbm@rlogin.net wrote:
So, good news? bad news?
Generally good. Lubuntu (well LXLE) did everything asked of it. Both of my parents have a couple of Windows apps that they want to continue using but both seemed to work OK under Wine (as well as can be tested when running from a LiveCD in limited RAM anyway). We logged into all the bank accounts to prove that all worked from a non-Windows platform (and interestingly ones which would normally prompt to install that Trusteer rubbish don't prompt under Linux - I expected them to suggest installing Windows first so we could install Trusteer afterwards). That possibly explains why I've not seen Trusteer "suggested" to me by my bank.
Also tried Xubuntu, and it worked well too - Mum threw me by saying it didn't bother her that the "Start" menu was at the top, so it looks like I overplayed that one. We did more testing in LXLE though so of the two that's the one we'd go with by default.
The plan is to install it on my Dad's PC first, using a new (to him) HDD so we keep the old Windows install untouched (his existing disk is quite small and has limited available space so repartitioning wasn't worth the effort). I haven't been able to do that yet so more updates to come, no doubt.
Some of the software he uses turns out to be cross platform anyway - obvious stuff like Firefox/Chrome and others like TrueCrypt - so a lot of things will "just work". Of-course the reasons he's using Firefox/Chrome/TrueCrypt are largely because I've been steering him in a cross-platform direction for some time - proof that apps like these and LibreOffice etc can act as "gateway apps".
So all in all, quite a (pleasingly) uneventful demo.
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Then there's my sister who seems to be stubbornly sticking to her requirement that my nieces use Windows and Office because that's what they have to use at school. I find this so frustrating! (It's not like they're only allowed to read books that they need to read at school, but apparently what they learn now in Windows X and Office Y (for some unknown values of X&Y) will be relevant to them when they leave school in 8-9 years, after another 3-4 years of university, etc, and in a way that learning generic "this is how to use a spreadsheet" rather than "this is how to use this version of Excel" won't be.)
</soapbox>
Anyway, one step at a time...