Re: [tlug] Linspire as a senior citizen's first computer... whatdoyou think?

["Micheal E Cooper" <mcooper@example.com>]

"JJJ3" <juggins@example.com>:

> Another solution would be to write a script that your father could run
> by simply clicking an icon on his desktop that sent a message to an
> email address of your choice containing the machine's current IP as
> well as any other diagnostic info you wanted.

Of the suggestions given, this sounds the most appealing to me. I am, as I
have admitted many times, only a few toe-holds ahead ahead of shaved
llamas on the Linux learning curve. Simpler is better, as a ddns client
might introduce problems that appear only after I have left Mississippi. I
have used ddns here, and I had problems about every few weeks.

Since I leave in less than a week, I do not have time to do much research
or preparation. In fact, the hardware problems are eating up more and more
of my time.

[
I have put together a frankenmachine from a plastic case and an old
Gateway that I was not using, but for some reason, the CPU fan doesn't
move. I have yet to let it get really hot, but the old case for this MB
was a Gateway Performance, and it had a louve or duct coming from the
power unit that fit over the CPU and cooled it, so it did not have a fan
on top of the heat sink. The power unit cannot be used on this case
because the unit is on the bottom, and the size is different, and the
louve would not be over the CPU. I plugged the fan into three different
fan pins, and it doesn't move. I tried a different fan from another PC...
nothing. Is it possible to turn off the fan with jumpers?
]

> This is the sort of thing I would certainly like to do for my own
> parents, so I look forward to hearing about what you finally do.

Well, I am not that advanced as a user, so I don't know that I will be
much of a reference for you. However, my plans are as follows.

Plan 1:
1- Get this frankenmachine and old external modem over there somehow.
2- Get him dial-up service with AT&T.
3- Set up a script that will do a ipconfig and email the results to me.
4- Get to MS, configure the system with bookmarks for his webmail, etc.,
then use Bart PE CD (which I made with my WinXP and my Ghost) to Ghost the
installation to a second HDD, which I will leave unconnected in the case.
5- Leave a LiveCD with him.

Plan 2:
However, I might not be able to get the frankenmachine to him, in which
case I will have to sell a kidney to buy him a Walmart Linspire PC
(because it is a 300 dollar PC) and a 100 dollar monitor and just set him
up with that. I was planning to take the frankenmachine over in my
luggage, but with two big suitcases, a carry-on, a laptop backpack, and a
cranky one-year-old on a 16-hour-long trip, don't need to be carrying a
big midtower PC (even if it is plastic) that might break down a week after
I return to Japan.


However, in retrospect, having spent a lot of time thinking about and
struggling with the problem, I think a broadband connection (if available)
with a router to take care of the connection issues is essential.

Another idea I considered was making a custom LiveCD by adding to a
Knoppix or Damn Small Linux. I think I read that Knoppix or Puppy can save
things to hdd, making it like a regular system. This sounds good to me for
people like Dad, who are just going to be surfing the net and doing
webmail.

Little plug: Damn Small Linux is amazing. I tested it on a Pentium 90 (no,
I am not missing a zero), and it jumps, skips, and flies.

I will take the frankenmachine to the PO today to see if I can afford to
mail it. (Of course, I will remove the power unit and HDDs.)

Micheal