PLUG Mug Thursday Aug 22??

[ssfc72]

Anyone up for a get together at the Tim Hortons on Monaghan rd, Peterborough?  I can be there at my usual time of 7 pm.

[Jason]

I should be there. Going to try and bring my monitor and RPi 3B as well. Will be there just after 7.

[fox]

I plan to come as well and I'll also bring my Rpi. I'd like to try Jason's SD card in my Pi. I hope that Harry can come and regale us with more stories (or at least, cranky old age complaints  ).

[Jason]

Yep, you're welcome to try my SD card although with you having used a USB stick previously, I can't see it making much difference in that the USB speed should be much faster, even at 2.0.

I'll put this out there to entice Harry to come. You can borrow my Pi for a couple of weeks if you like, Harry. Just don't expect to run a VM in it - it only has 1 GB of RAM.

[fox]

The point of trying your SD card is to see whether videos run smoothly on your Raspbian, as they don't on mine.

[Jason]

The point of trying your SD card is to see whether videos run smoothly on your Raspbian, as they don't on mine.

Ah, I see.

[fox]

You can try any of my "good" distros on my setup if you like: Xubuntu 18.04 or LibreElec. I'm hoping we can diagnose the poor video performance on my Raspbian installation, though there may be too many different variables to do that.

[buster]

May be there. Marilyn has some diagnostic monitors being put on. I have to see how she's doing first.

[buster]

During the meeting an interesting discussion came up about whether a non technical computer user of Windows 7 should get it upgraded to Win 10 (which Benchmark does all the time) or should the desktop be replaced with a Linux system.

One of the things we may have overlooked is the 'What now?' moment most users encounter. For example let's say my good wife, who spent the early years of her computer life exclusively on a Linux machine (Mepis), has a 'What now?' and I am on a raft on the Pacific. Keep in mind that she has used Windows for a number of years now.

Number of friends she can phone who might be able to help with a Microsoft glitch = 5.
Number of family she can phone who might be able to help with a Microsoft glitch = 3.
Number of neighbours she can phone who might be able to help with a Microsoft glitch = 2.
Number of repair shops she can take the laptop to for commercial help with a Microsoft glitch = many.

Anything that she cannot understand or that doesn't work on a Linux system would have zeros for all those statements.

There is safety in numbers in this case.

I would recommend that in most situations, non technical users should upgrade, or have it upgraded, to Win 10, rather than choosing one of our favourite Distros.

[ssfc72]

Tut, tut, tut, Buster!  You could ask any number of PLUG members if it would be alright if your wife could phone for Linux help and leave her with a list of Linux members phone numbers.
The same would apply to any of your friends, who you set up with a Linux powered computer.
These people are probably just using their computer to surf the internet and watch YouTube videos and using a Linux box for this activity is ideal.

[fox]

I'm not a Windows user, but I pretty much agree with Harry in such a situation. Especially with someone who doesn't have a particular interest in computers or computer systems, and has very basic computing needs. The other alternative for a non-technical, basic user would be to switch them to a Chromebook. These things update silently in the background, are very secure, and as I understand it, they never break unless the hardware does. Plus the applications, while web-based, are pretty much the same as what Windows users are using already.

I would agree with Bill if the user has any inclination to learn something new on the computer.

[buster]

Bill wrote, "any of your friends, who you set up with a Linux powered computer".

I have never, ever done that Bill. I would if they asked. Much of the stuff I do involves printers, sound, mouse problems, print size, resolution, updates, virus checkers, installing software, shortcuts, and on and on. Some I helped with a mac. Once it's fixed I may never hear from them again about the computer.

Usually it's insignificant stuff, and we have many friends who can do this.

She would never phone any of my Linux friends. She doesn't know you, and that's the end of that.

[Jason]

She may not know a bunch of people personally (other than you, duh) that could deal with Linux issues but there is tonnes of support available online for free. You just have to search for one and ask if the question hasn't been already asked an answered a 1000x. And for Linux issues, she already has you, so at least one of those is a 1.

Hell, I, and I'm sure others still do this for Windows issues. Many of the problems I encounter with Windows aren't ones that one of my family, friends, neighbours or computer store could deal with, although the last they might, I just don't want to pay them for it. But do a few searches and somebody has already encountered the problem and they or somebody else found a solution to it. I'm sure your wife and everybody else is capable of a few Internet searches.

And if they don't know how, they can learn, just like they did and probably are still learning with Windows. But they would face less of the problems than they have with Windows with viruses and updates, for example. Those were both in your list of the things you help neighbours and friends with. Installing software is even easier than with Windows with curated lists of software in most distros and an updater that updates everything, not just the OS.

[buster]

"She may not know a bunch of people personally (other than you, duh) that could deal with Linux issues but there is tonnes of support available online for free."

There may also be lots of info on line for fixing a nuclear reactor too, and that for Marilyn would be just as simple as looking up computer info and solving a problem. For many people, mechanical and technical things are like mysterious 'other realms'. It's like nuclear physics, skiing down a mountain side, setting up a tent in the wilderness, or making a trip into a deep dark cave. For many it is just undo-able.

Many could not do what you describe, though it seems pretty straightforward to us.