All across Toronto -- fixing Windows

[Marcel (Free Thinker at Large) Gagne]

Hello all,

Yeah, I know.  I'm so quiet lately, but this topic is one that is near and 
dear to my heart.

Anyhow, my solution to the whole spending a weekend or evening fixing some 
family member or friend's computer is the same as it has been for the last 2 
years or so.  

I used to spend a lot of time doing this. As the techie friend or relative, it 
was invariably my job to rescue them from whatever Windows problem came along 
-- in the last couple of years that usually meant trashed by viruses.  What I 
do now is tell people, "I'll fix your Windows problem, but I'll fix it my way 
-- by installing Linux".  I usually install Mandrake, for its friendliness 
factor, and leave them with a nice new OS.  Making sure they have an easy to 
use distro is important -- the "installing software is impossible" discussion 
being a perfect case in point.  

Anyhow, after two years of doing this, fully 50% of all my close friends and 
relatives all run Linux and I'm working on the rest.   Everyone is happy and 
they don't call me with problems.

> Life is good when you don't have to see every crashed Windows box on the
> planet.

Agreed.   Linux, properly set up, is no more difficult than Windows.  The 
people whose systems I've converted aren't techies and all of them can surf 
the web, send email, play music, chat on IM, write letters, and they all do 
it without Windows.

Just my two quatloos worth.  Take care out there.

-- 
Marcel (Writer and Free Thinker at Large) Gagné
Note:  This massagee wos nat speel or gramer-checkered.
Mandatory home page reference - http://www.marcelgagne.com/
Author : "Moving to Linux: Kiss the Blue Screen of Death Goodbye!"
   Also by Marcel : Linux System Administration, A User's Guide
Join the WFTL-LUG : http://www.salmar.com/marcel/wftllugform.html


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