Walmart Lindows...

[pam123]

It's happened, a putative customer just bought one and called the nearest help, me, when it didn't work.
So okay, I've got them on-line for e-mail and surfing and there is a set of office programs.
This doesn't look good, what can I tell them?
They needed a family computer.
Anyone had any experience with these boxes ( I fear the worst. )?

[kilgoretrout]

No experience with them, but they are certainly cheap hardware for $200. What do they want to do that they are unable to do? If it came loaded with Lindows, they can downlaod and install additional software using Lindows Click 'n Run, but they will be charged a fee to subscribe to the service. Alternatively, you can set up apt/synaptic on the system and probably get most of the stuff for free.

[pam123]

These folks thought they got a bargain.
Their aim is to keep everyone in the family in touch.
It should work on Lindows, though I'm not sure how.
The e-mail works but they want a family network.
What do I need to know to get then hooked up?
Everyone else can have two OS's but the family network needs to work for the grandparents.

[kilgoretrout]

It's not clear what your trying to do. If they want to set up a home network, that shouldn't be too hard to do, but I'm not familiar with the lindows tools for doing so. If the grandparents are at another location, it's just a matter of setting up their email clients in a way that they can handle. Not much different than windows really. If all they want to do is exchange emails with the grandparents, this budget box is probably not a bad idea.

[pam123]

I'm not sure but I think they want a family web site, just for the family.
They'll post family news and so on.
They want the Lindows boxes because that way everyone will be able to afford a comp.

[jglen490]

Go ahead, get the Walmart box, then get a better Linux distro such as Mandrake, RedHat, almost any other distro in fact. You'll have a decent, inexpensive machine and a real, good, Linux set up.

[revelation]

As much as I like Linux I don't think it is ready of the "mainstream".

I like to learn stuff, so I have Linux on my computer. Business likes secure and stable servers, so they use Linux. I am not sure though that it is ready yet for grandma. For example, my mother-in-law has a hard time with Windows, I know that it would be hard for her to learn how to set up her computer in Linux.

That Walmart Lindows machine is inexpensive, it most likely uses a winmodem. I would bet that Lindows is installed with the correct drivers for that modem. It may be hard to configure that modem with Mandrake or another distro. Maybe you could just spend another $100.00 and get Windows XP (oh no, I never thought I would say that....).

[pam123]

This is a large, and widespread, family in which money is a definitely a consideration ( also pride, some of them wouldn't accept the $100 if they couldn't cover the cost themselves).
That's why the Walmart Lindows boxes were chosen.

[kilgoretrout]

Sorry revelation; couldn't disagree more. Win XP will be just as much of a mystery to grandma and grandpa. I think all the grandfolks need is to have their email clients setup and learn how to use them. No significant difference here between linux and windows except they won't have to worry about viruses, faulty service packs, product activation, etc.
You asked about setting up a family website. Most ISPs let you set up a webpage for free. They usually have templates to get you started. Again, this should be the same in windows or linux i.e. they will have to learn how to do it. And grandma and grandpa will have to learn how to surf the web to get to the website.
This can and should work if the people involved are willing to put forth the effort to learn a few basic things. It'll be about the same amount of effort in linux or windows imho.
I do agree about the modem issue however. I don't see any upside to installing a different flavor of linux ; will probably just cause problems. I'm no big lindows fan and many people in the linux community consider it to be the devil spawn, mostly because the owner is a complete jerk. But for these people, it seems like a good fit to me.

[revelation]

OK, I see your point kilgoretrout. Once the machine is up and configured it should not make much difference what OS they use. I was just thinking about the experiece I have had with my mother-in-law. When her machine gives her problems she either calls me, or her son. We both have helped her a lot. My brother-in-law knows nothing about Linux, but he knows a lot about Windows. If she had Linux on her machine it would be harder to find people that could help her. The other side of the coin is, If she used Linux she may not have as many problems; her machine would be more stable and she would not have to worry as much about a virus and such.

[pam123]

Agreed, and the younger family members will be doing most of the set up with some info from me.
I thank everyone for their input.
I had everyone in that family who can, at his time, go on-line to read all this and they're in favor of Lindows.
By mid-week next they will be hitting Walmarts.
Thank you all.

[jglen490]

kilgoretrout is completely right on all points, including the "evil spawn" remark. This machine, even with the evil spawn, should work right out of the box requiring only personalization for e-mail acount names and the like.

BTW, it appears that Walmart is mving more towards Suse now.