*****portion deleted************
This is fairly closely related, though it deals more with adults. I'd like some opinions on teaching adults with no computer training about Linux. We're talking, uneducated, low-income folks who need new jobs and new lives. I had a discussion with a guy who said outright that he thought it was crazy to try and teach them Linux. If they don't kow anything, what's the harm in teaching them about Linux. I mean KDE, like its MS counterpart, has a desktop, windows, menus, etc. In my personal experience, most of the skills translate rather easily. Any opposing views out there?
-- Don Parris Webmaster Matheteuo Christian Fellowship Charlotte, NC http://matheteuo.org/ webdev@matheteuo.org
I suspect that there are some unanticipated problems here. Software installation is not quite as straightforward as it usually is in Win XP, or Win 98. Also, the rapid turnover in Linux versions could leave these folks behind fairly quickly, whereas you can probably keep using XP for the next 3 or 4 years. I am not acquainted with how "transparent" OO is to MS Office files, which everyone in the business environment is forced to deal with. Ultimately, if these people actually wind up in an office environment, they will almost certainly be faced immediately with a pre-installed Windows system. If they don't, why train them at all? If you can establish a training environment somewhere, like a local night school or library program or something, it would make more sense, IMHO, to teach Linux to interested Windows users. I have been playing with Linux since the early Slackware versions, but I would take such a class if it were offered conveniently to me. I may be wrong, but I foresee future versions of Windows being available only on an annual subscription basis, with some strong incentive, like file lock-out, to pay up, which would be an excellent reason to learn Linux! --doug