My wife was teasing me the other day-- saying that I can't just sit down and *use* a computer. She also said that her perception, based on my activity, is that Linux isn't an OS you can just *use*, that you always have to be messing with it. She's right in saying that I have to always be tinkering. And I bet most Linux users tinker to some degree. But now I feel I need to prove to her that Linux is a perfectly suitable OS for ordinary people.
What do you folks think? How would you go about showing how simple and versatile Linux can be?
A bit of a challenge from my wife
Re: A bit of a challenge from my wife
Just use it!
I dual boot my main desktop with Windows, but generally use Salix day to day. At home my wife uses Salix exclusively; she's really not interested in knowing the inner workings of computer hardware or software, she simply prefers it to Windows. She can do everything she wants to do using Salix, whether it's watching YouTube videos, doing research, writing documents, it *just works*, and that's all that matters.
I dual boot my main desktop with Windows, but generally use Salix day to day. At home my wife uses Salix exclusively; she's really not interested in knowing the inner workings of computer hardware or software, she simply prefers it to Windows. She can do everything she wants to do using Salix, whether it's watching YouTube videos, doing research, writing documents, it *just works*, and that's all that matters.
Re: A bit of a challenge from my wife
While most of GNU/Linux users *love* to play with the system, that's merely a habit than a necessity, at least nowadays. Gone are the old (good?) days, when you *had* to mess with the system, just to make that soundcard working, or to set up a printer, or to even get X working.
GNU/Linux *is* an OS you can just use, if you just want that. But because it also gives you the freedom to tinker it in all imaginable ways, most of us do it, either for the fun of it, or to learn something new about it, or because we want complete customization to our liking, or just because we are old and got used to the old times, when we *had* to do it.
The fact is, I know many "ordinary" people who just use GNU/Linux on a daily basis, without bothering with all that. My wife is one of them. She knows little about operating systems, and she doesn't care either - other than she dislikes the intrusive strategies of Micro$oft, which are apparent even to an ordinary user ("why they call that thing 'Internet Explorer'? it's just another browser and it actually sucks"). She just wants to get the job done, and uses GNU/Linux for more than a decade to do that. I have Salix installed in her laptop (recently I re-installed it, upgrading to 14.2) and she just uses it, without any problem whatsoever. So I really don't see where is the "challenge" from your wife.
GNU/Linux *is* an OS you can just use, if you just want that. But because it also gives you the freedom to tinker it in all imaginable ways, most of us do it, either for the fun of it, or to learn something new about it, or because we want complete customization to our liking, or just because we are old and got used to the old times, when we *had* to do it.
The fact is, I know many "ordinary" people who just use GNU/Linux on a daily basis, without bothering with all that. My wife is one of them. She knows little about operating systems, and she doesn't care either - other than she dislikes the intrusive strategies of Micro$oft, which are apparent even to an ordinary user ("why they call that thing 'Internet Explorer'? it's just another browser and it actually sucks"). She just wants to get the job done, and uses GNU/Linux for more than a decade to do that. I have Salix installed in her laptop (recently I re-installed it, upgrading to 14.2) and she just uses it, without any problem whatsoever. So I really don't see where is the "challenge" from your wife.
A pleasant detail in this forum: several people pick a picture of their pet as their avatar. Who am I to do otherwise? 
Re: A bit of a challenge from my wife
That is true if you have a friend / husband / son to get things running smoothly - and it may be true anyway. But I think Linux is meant to encourage an understanding of what is going on. The expectation that we should be able to use our computer without understanding a thing about it has been Microsoft's greatest marketing success.
That moment when something doesn't work, and you have tinker with it, is the beginning of a very positive journey for those that stick with it. But I can understand those who say they're just not interested. Perhaps the most visible disadvantage for Windows users is not lack of control (and now, especially with 10, privacy) but performance degradation through bloatware, viruses and inflated hardware requirements. To have a chance to solve any of those problems, you need to be a "power user" - and then you might as well make the effort to learn Linux. But that isn't what even dissatisfied Windows users tend to want. They want it to "just work", the way it's supposed to.
That moment when something doesn't work, and you have tinker with it, is the beginning of a very positive journey for those that stick with it. But I can understand those who say they're just not interested. Perhaps the most visible disadvantage for Windows users is not lack of control (and now, especially with 10, privacy) but performance degradation through bloatware, viruses and inflated hardware requirements. To have a chance to solve any of those problems, you need to be a "power user" - and then you might as well make the effort to learn Linux. But that isn't what even dissatisfied Windows users tend to want. They want it to "just work", the way it's supposed to.
Re: A bit of a challenge from my wife
I think I agree with both sides of the question. For example, I have a lifelong passion for automobiles. I understand every function of every automotive system and can effect most repairs on my own. However, I could not care less how my dishwasher works. So I do understand the idea of just wanting things to work.
The challenge from my wife is that I honestly do not know how much maintenance Linux in general, or even Salix specifically, takes. Most of the problems I have encountered since finding my home here have been my own doing. I can't say how much trouble there would have been if I had just installed, updated, then left it alone. So I need to find another computer so I can install Salix and just let her have it so she can see how little work it really is. I can show her how to use Gslapt and how to find new themes for xfce to make it her computer and she can tell me what she thinks about it.
The challenge from my wife is that I honestly do not know how much maintenance Linux in general, or even Salix specifically, takes. Most of the problems I have encountered since finding my home here have been my own doing. I can't say how much trouble there would have been if I had just installed, updated, then left it alone. So I need to find another computer so I can install Salix and just let her have it so she can see how little work it really is. I can show her how to use Gslapt and how to find new themes for xfce to make it her computer and she can tell me what she thinks about it.
Re: A bit of a challenge from my wife
I think if you don't mess with it, you will barely notice it is there.