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Woman Claims Ubuntu Kept Her From Online Classes
stonedcat writes "A Wisconsin woman has claimed that Dell computers and Ubuntu have kept her from going back to school via online classes. She says she has called Dell to request Windows instead however was talked out of it. Her current claim is that she was unaware that she couldn't install her Verizon online disk to access the Internet, nor could she use Microsoft Word to type up her papers."
Well, I was going to go into a tirade about how stupid the girl is, but the reality is that she called to explain the mixup and Dell somehow convinced her to keep Ubuntu. Dell, if someone calls and says they got a Ubuntu computer by mistake, just have them ship it back. It isn't worth it.
Why is this listed as being humorous? /. generally bemoans the fact that normal users don't use Linux, and that people just assume Windows for everything. And yet here is a normal person, trying to use it, and finding it frustrating and causing her problems, and people mock her attempt.
I will shred my adversaries. Pull their eyes out just enough to turn them towards their mewing, mutilated faces. Illyria
Actually, this story did cause some criticism, which resulted in a followup story (even calling it "Ubunto" once - nice). So more angry (or informative) letters from Linux-advocates aren't going to set the record straight at this point.
But it does raise a larger question about the adoption of Linux. How can the perception that Microsoft Windows and its trappings are effectively mandatory be overcome? Her computer can handle all of her needs: email, web browsing via Firefox, Microsoft Office-compatible documents via OpenOffice.org, and no need to "install" any Windows-only "Verizon High Speed Internet CD" to use Verizon DSL.
But since many Linux-advocates presumably want to see things like Ubuntu go mainstream, the answer can't be "this woman is a moron and the TV station is worse for covering it". Her problems, even if they seem ridiculous, were real enough to her. So how do you counter this kind of problem? (Some might say decent journalism could have helped here, but that's part and parcel of the perception problem.)
Because it is major egg on Verizon's face.
The larger the linux market segment gets, the less windows benefits from it's network effect.
As far as the word processor goes- she just needs a clue about Openoffice or some of the other fine WP's available.
Hopefully she isn't going into a technical degree area with this little knowledge of computers at that age.
She was like chocolate when she drank... semi-sweet at first and then increasingly bitter.
That's true, and anyone who has ever passed on a Linux distribution to a friend or family member would know the importance of leaving behind a system that does just work. To me this just looks like someone trying to pass blame. I guess she feels swindled, when in fact she was simply sold something different.
Verizon says it will dispatch a technician to try to assist her accessing the internet without using the Windows-only installation disk.
MATC also says it promises to accept any of Schubert's papers or class documents using whatever software she has installed.
So what's the fucking problem ?!?
...a guy couldn't finish his work because a virus killed his Windows HP computer... and blames HP for it...
If she can't RTFM, how is she going to read the texts for her classes?
More music, fewer hits
So the woman is suing the company because she lacks the mental capacity to properly use their product?
I have a bad feeling about this...
This connects with what I just said below you.
Sure, we can mock it, but there are real issues here:
- She doesn't know that she doesn't need to install any "Verizon High Speed Internet CD" in order for her Verizon DSL to function.
- She doesn't know that OpenOffice.org can handle her needs for "Microsoft Word" just fine
- She probably wouldn't know that Firefox can handle all of her browsing needs even where another OS is specified (under most circumstances)
So how can we bridge those kinds of gaps?
There is a difference.
This woman didn't want to try to use it, she got stuck with it on accident and then failed to make use of it. A few google searches by her would have revealed at least how to use Word or Open Office. And has it been shown that she really has a verizon card?- or does she just think she needs the magic cd that came with her cable modem?
If the computer doesn't do what she needs it to do in the first place, why does better security matter? She could put a rock on the desk, call it a computer and be just as productive and free from computer viruses.
This woman is beyond stupid, though. She dropped out of school because she couldn't figure out how to make her computer work. And then, apparently, her solution to this life crisis wasn't to ask someone knowledgeable about computers - it was to call the local news!
W..w..W - Willy Waterloo washes Warren Wiggins who is washing Waldo Woo.
She's enrolling at the Madison Area Technical College, and couldn't be bothered to read the specs on a laptop she ordered? Sorry, made me chuckle. It's not as though Dell hides what OS comes with each laptop!
Kidding aside, Dell should have just allowed her to return it for a Windows model if that's what she wanted. She clearly did not have the technical prowess to figure out how to configure her internet access without the walkthrough software.
Her lack of computer finesse isn't the funny thing here for me. I saw the newscast on this. She had two problems: She didn't have MS Office, and her Verizon internet disc tried to run it's startup.exe. She just has to save her papers in .doc format, and have a Verizon tech crew come out and fix her internet. It took the news anchorman two (2) phone calls to fix this for her.. so what attempt is there to mock? She probably just slacked off for her classes and used Dell as as excuse.
No, this is the sort of thing which makes "Idiocracy" seem to be an insightful and predictive documentary...
"...there are some things that can beat smartness and foresight. Awkwardness and stupidity can." ~ Mark Twain
Isn't the whole college experience suppose to teach us critical thinking and problem solving skills to use in real life? This woman had a problem and instead of attempting to fix it, she complained bitched and gave up. Its a shame that the media would cover such a story. This story is IMO at least, less about *nix and more about how some woman is making herself look infinitely stupid by not taking care to solve her own problems.
Warning: Corny karma killing post above.
We geeks tend to live in a bit of an echo chamber and so we can lose perspective on just how ignorant and computer illiterate the average citizen is. Just the response "A few google searches by her would have revealed..." is just one example. There are a LOT of people (probably the *majority* of people) out there who have no idea what a "google search" is. Most of the people that I work with (and these are college-educated people, mind you), don't know what a browser is (they refer to Internet Explorer as "the internet"). And no, I'm not joking (I wish I was).
SJW: Someone who has run out of real oppression, and has to fake it.
And yet here is a normal person, trying to use it, and finding it frustrating and causing her problems, and people mock her attempt.
According to the story she somehow accidentally ordered the laptop with Ubuntu. I am not sure how she managed that because I have to *search* Dell's site to find their Linux offerings, but I digress and that is irrelevant anyway.
What is relevant is that she received a laptop configured in a manner she was unfamiliar with. She should have just returned the laptop if it was sent this way in error. My point is, she didn't attempt to use it (Ubuntu) in any sort of meaningful way. She *assumed* the laptop had Windows installed. She is familiar with Windows. She attempted running a disk that requires Windows and then looked for the MS Office icons and couldn't find them and then she gave up. Again, if what she ordered was a Windows machine, the blame falls squarely on Dell and Dell should make it right. If she did order the laptop with Ubuntu and ignored all of the warnings about how this order does not have Windows and Windows software will not run on Linux etc.... then the blame is fully hers.
This has nothing to do with Windows vs. Linux as she never made a conscious choice to use Linux. She also didn't make much effort in using Ubuntu. In fact, if she has to miss *two* semesters of school because of this, it screams to me that she was looking for a reason to not go to school and this is the perfect excuse in her mind.
I just posted a witty reply to this story. Reading TFA again it occured to me that this is most likely MS fake news and/or astroturfing. It requires quite a few clicks to actually customize a Laptop at Dell and have it come with Ubuntu rather than some MS Windows variant.
I'd say this might very well be fake news.
We suffer more in our imagination than in reality. - Seneca
Windows requires just as much tinkering as Linux, just in different ways.
Occam's razor is the blind faith in the natural selection of least resistance and in universal oversimplification. -- EF
Don't they include OpenOffice with these?
If the Dell support rep could have just given her two or three helpful tips, she could have probably been fine. OpenOffice is a perfect replacement for Word. I don't know about her Verizon situation, but I'm sure there is a workaround for that.
The problem is, as I've been flamed for before, Linux is still nowhere near the point where a non-techie will consider adopting it. Although it's much better than it was even a few years ago, it's still not an idiot-friendly OS where things 'just work', compared to what people are used to.
The shame is that the education should be concentrating on how to achieve results via theory, not on a specific tool. Teaching, not Training.
You then apply the theory to the tool you are using, rather than know you have to hit the icon that looks like paper with a + on it, and a squiggle, on the third toolbar.
This is doubly more relevant because of Office 2007 which screwed up the user interface big time.
So what if the document is submitted in OpenOffice Word format? What matters is that the person applied the tool features correctly. If it isn't a course related to using office software, then it matters even less.
You know, I understand her point from the inconvenience, but in the larger sense of the word, I thought college was partially a test in determination and overcoming adversity. Not everything goes right when in school and those who make it through it overcome it, and those who do not, don't.
I know a guy who is getting his degree despite missing a finger and the use of an eye compliments of a tour in Iraq, all while trying to support a wife and son. I would think -he- has some problems to overcome.
woman has a computer that's not what she expects? I would suggest that, if she has a paper due, get on the internet, find out what she has, learn quickly, and get something out the door. She might, well, learn something, and I thought that was what college was for!
This is my sig.
There's no way you can expect an average user to figure out how to compile drivers or even use wine to make this work.
It's her fault partially for not asking the right questions beforehand, but it's Dell's fault for not making sure she understood what she was getting and not supporting her after the fact.
While she may have a valid concern based on ignorance - she had problems using Ubuntu because she just didn't know how and that's something slashdotters should probably take seriously if they want people to adopt Ubuntu (or some other distro) - I do find her blaming Dell to be idiotic. It's one of the big problems we have with today's society-at-large. Rather than admit something might be one's own shortcoming ("I don't know what I'm doing with Ubuntu...") people try to find someone else to blame. It's all about where can I point the finger that isn't at me? So stupid.
This chick obviously had no business being in college for several good reasons:
1) She couldn't even see fit to double or triple check a $1,100 order for a laptop to make sure it was what she wanted. For most of us, that's blatant financial irresponsibility.
2) She didn't have the wherewithal to get someone to put Windows on for her when she realized she just couldn't handle Ubuntu. Again, a sign of irresponsibility. Arguing that her ignorance, not laziness, was a factor here is like arguing that someone with car problems doesn't deserve criticism for not seeking out a mechanic.
3) She canceled 2 semesters of college over this.
I'd say Dell probably saved the tax payers money, since she'd probably end up as some 6 year Art History major whose "education" is funded by tax payers. Hopefully no business will hire her for any important job either, since she is precisely the opposite of what most businesses mean when they say they want a "self-starter."
maybe we just can't expect everyone to finish college, some people are just not bright. serioulsy, do you want this person to be a doctor or manage your finances if she can't be bothered to click on the "network" icon in the top right corner of the screen? what kind of problem solving skills does she have.
IMHO, knowing enough about computers to set up a network (even with OS guidance) is not strongly correlated with medical or financial advisory skills.
For all I care, the doctor/financial advisor can be a luddite, using pen and paper for all his/her records, as long as they do the job well.
I just wonder how she ended up ordering an Ubuntu box. Dell doesn't store them at the bottom of the filing cabinet in the disused room marked "beware of the leopard" anymore; but I've never once been led astray, or even seen a link that might lead me astray, on Dell's ordering pages.
And how much do you want to bet that the school complains about students constantly submitting things in .docx format and not being able to read it, because, "it's not the MS Word DOCs I've seen before"?
1) You can't "accidentally" find an Ubuntu Dell.
2) Dell support would NEVER say "you don't want windows, Ubuntu works better for you".
3) She took FIVE MONTHS to complain
It's a fake.
I am a little disappointed this was given the greenlight as it is simply FUD and/or a Microsoft viral marketing ad.
The woman claims she had to drop the semester because she couldn't get on the Internet, which has to be a complete cop out. Since as a student she could just very cheaply buy the Windows OS she needed or just use the computers in the computer lab at her school.
I'm sick of the linux communities' attitude that she should have known linux was "internet capable" right out of the box; or that she could have opened up a document in OpenOffice. I think the community forgets that for the majority of internet users, they started out by getting a CD in the mail (AOL/Compuserve/Prodigy/Earthlink/Mindspring whatever) and that launched an application which had an integrated browser/email/news/stocks client. So she treated her internet access like a black box; big deal. Most people treat their cars like black boxes as well.
Someone handed her a Microsoft Word document; why should we blame her if she looked on her computer and *GASP* didn't see Microsoft Word. Is it possible that just maybe, he classes said as a requirement you needed MSWord for the class materials? Maybe there are spreadsheets that are handed out that have tons of formulas and macros in them; is the instructor going to worry about OO macro compatibility. No, and neither should she.
Dell should be ashamed for not allowing her computer to be returned, but the linux community should be ashamed as well. For assuming that all computer users are part IT Staff. Maybe we should expect the average /. user to be able to sit down at a 3270 terminal and configure the IOCDS or perform a datamigration with DFSMS on my zSeries. I mean, it's just a computer right, it must run rsync....
Just like with cars, some people are mechanics, some people just change oil and filters and others just drive the car. It's a shame the linux community can't understand the same thing about computers.
The problem is, as I've been flamed for before, Linux is still nowhere near the point where a non-techie will consider adopting it. Although it's much better than it was even a few years ago, it's still not an idiot-friendly OS where things 'just work', compared to what people are used to.
My 8 year old uses it just fine.
The woman is an airhead. Airheads regularly fail to critically examine what they're doing, then blame others for their lack of success. It's a personality flaw, and nothing anyone does is going to provide anything more than a very temporary fix. So, attempting to solve the problems of people like this woman by changing the operating system are doomed to failure.
-1 Uncomfortable Truth
Um, no. Nothing here suggests that she ordered a Windows machine and got Ubuntu instead. She either didn't pay close enough attention, or did not understand enough about computers to know the difference. That's not a swindle. That's user error.
If someone is willing to pay $20/unit (community college) to $100-200/unit (public university) and hundreds of dollars for books, she could have either forked up the $90 or so bucks they charge for Windows, taken it somewhere and let them do it, or taken CIS 100 "Intro to the Internet" or CIS 101 "Computer Applications" and figured how to do it herself. With all the money it costs to attend school at some of the most affordable colleges, getting her computer fixed (even though it didn't need "fixing") is a drop in the bucket. Granted, I know some folks are pretty against the wall financially, but she should have developed better problem solving and critical thinking skills than what she obviously has not seemed to developed, well before university.
Forgive my spelling from time to time. I'm often posting during short breaks.
And yet here is a normal person, trying to use it, and finding it frustrating and causing her problems, and people mock her attempt.
"Normal" is a very flexible definition depending on whoever sets the boundaries between normal and stupid. In my opinion a very stupid woman spoke to a very stupid Dell rep who wasn't able to tell her how to start OpenOffice (for fucks sake Applications/Office/Writer -how hard is that?) and relied on very stupid Verizon that can't produce an Ubuntu Linux installer for their silly software package.
... section 2 would have said "Set up without disc like this:"
... they want to be so stupid that they simply won't be able to. Anyone should be able to read, it's your responsibility as owner of the fucking machine to understand at least a bit of how it works. It's this "I don't get the first page in the book so I stop reading" attitude. If you don't WANT to do gain that knowledge you will have these kinds of silly idiot problems all the way. So "I am stupid" and "I don't want to know" are two different things and significant ones indeed. Sometimes a book starts making sense only after you've read it even without knowing what the first couple pages meant.
I had a similar problem with my sister-in-law. Gave them a Ubuntu machine and she kept trying to install some ISPs network setup disc. Eventually I went over to their house and got the network running with half a dozen clicks by reading the (incredibly stupid) manual section that was about half a page long with pictures. She didn't even bother to read beyond section 1. Install software
THAT is the problem, not that people can't use Linux
Without access to the Internet, how are you supposed to know how to do this?
Would she have claimed Apple was keeping her from classes? She would have had the same issues. She is the one who choose the non-windows computer so how is it OS's fault she can't learn how to use it.
Are you sure you read the entire post? Poster is not sure exactly what the situation is with Verizon, but is sure there is a work around. Not that difficult to comprehend.
What I gathered from the post was that he wasn't exactly sure what the problem was with verizon, but the poster knows enough about computers and DSL to assumed (correctly) that there is a way to connect to the internet with Verizon and with Ubuntu.
Starmen.net
But seriously..
This may read like flamebait, but Shuttleworth needs to invest in a magazine or newsletter. There's still a lot of misconception as to what Linux or Ubuntu is/isn't, and can/can't provide.
This printed matter needs to accompany Ubuntu, no matter what media or hardware it ships on, and should serve as a FAQ and HowTo.
I submit:
---
Q: Can I use the 'Drivers and Manual' CD that came with my new 'X'?
A: No.
Q: Can I buy 'PC' games at WalMart that work with Ubuntu without special tricks?
A: No.
Q: Is Ubuntu a 'Generic' version of Windows?
A: No.
Q: Is Ubuntu a platform supported by Verizon, Rogers, AT&T, Qwest, HP, IBM, Toshiba, Apple, Samsung, Sony, Brother, or Canon?
A: No.
Q: Will Ubuntu save me money, trouble, or headaches?
A: Yes, but only if you're agile-minded and not willing to pirate Windows.
I was just remembering yesterday how I used to hear my clients say that they needed new computers because their old ones were full. This woman is in this category.
There are people out there who have no idea how computers work and they are prey to all sorts of disingenuous marketing and out and out disinformation.
Instead of running a news story on this, they would have done her more good by just telling her she was ignorant and pointing her in the right direction to get information so she can stop being a victim. The skills she would gain in learning about the computer and sorting the BS from the truth might even translate to other aspects of her life, like car and house buying, or job hunting.
You are underestimating her.
Be the girl airhead, she'd likely have a boyfriend who could have helped her to configure the lappy as she wished.
My first impression is that the girl wanted to skip classes and was just looking for excuse. And she found.
All hope abandon ye who enter here.
My guess is, that's exactly what the Dell rep did when he "talked her into" keeping her Ubuntu box.
Seems likely that she then forgot, or didn't know where to click to launch OpenOffice, or something like that.
She's used to Windows, and didn't expect a learning curve, however small, as things are not arranged the way she's used to.
From what I've hear of Verizon's setup software, anyone even marginally technically literate will find it easier to manually set up their connection than try to rely on it.
The hard part about Linux is the initial setup. Especially finding, installing, and configuring drivers to work with all of your various hardware. Since Dell does all that part before shipping the boxes,[1] yeah, it really does "just work" by the time the consumer gets it.
---
(1) I'm assuming they do. If they don't, they're idiots. But I'm not really going so far out on a limb as to suggest that a major corporation couldn't possibly be staffed largely by idiots.
If the masses can keep you down, you're not the Ubermensch.
In newer Ubuntu distributions (presumably what is pre-installed on the Dell is pretty new) compiling ANYTHING is unnecessary and using Wine is automatic. An average user should never even need to touch the terminal. A stock first-time install of Ubuntu provided her with everything she actually needed.
As many-many others have pointed out- this is a case of a person not willing to take responsibility for themselves and actually LEARN something, who instead has decided to blame others for her problems.
And then, apparently, her solution [...] was to call the local news!
Which leads me to think that she is on the Microsoft paybook. Her story perfectly fits in the MS war against Linux and open source, and it needs as much media coverage as possible. Remember, spread the FUD.
"I'm never quite so stupid as when I'm being smart" (Linus van Pelt)
But there is no reason for a normal person to find some ad-hoc work around to the software not working on an OS they have no special love for.
Response the first: So would that Verizon CD have worked if she'd put it in a Mac? Really, this is an open question to anyone who's dealt with it, I don't know.
Response the second: Guess what everybody? You can't put Playstation games in a Wii! Holy shit!
In most people's minds, Office = MS. They aren't going to go looking for random alternatives just because they are out there. That isn't the way people work.
Yeah, Applications > Office > Word Processor is just so random. I mean, who would expect it? And that interface! Why, it's just so radically different from Office 2000, of course we can't expect this poor person to possibly understand it! This is obviously the geeks' fault.
Hey, I finally got my first freak! Took you long enough!
But there is no reason for a normal person to find some ad-hoc work around to the software not working on an OS they have no special love for.
We're not talking about an "ad-hoc" workaround, we're talking about the normal way to do things. Verizon provides an easier solution in the form of Windows software, but from the comments I'm seeing here, that "easier" solution really isn't.
They aren't going to go looking for random alternatives just because they are out there.
Sorry, but there's a difference between Googling for something to download, and having the tiniest ounce of curiosity required even for a five year old to find Applications -> Office -> Word Processor.
The only reason to ever look for an alternative is when it DOESN'T work.
And in this case Office isn't installed. Rather than enlist a five year old to help her out, she dropped out of college. In fact, from TFA:
Verizon says it will dispatch a technician to try to assist her accessing the internet without using the Windows-only installation disk.
MATC also says it promises to accept any of Schubert's papers or class documents using whatever software she has installed.
Don't thank God, thank a doctor!
I don't know about her Verizon situation, but I'm sure there is a workaround for that
From what I gathered from the article, the problem was that Verizon sends a "setup CD" with their DSL modem, which contains (when I had it) a program written in MS Java 1.1 that does nothing more than configure Windows to use DHCP. Verizon claims that you need to run this program to get the DSL setup, but it's completely unnecessary on Windows or Linux.
This woman's problem was that she was told she needed to have things that she didn't need to have. She was told she had to run the CD when she didn't, she was told she needed MS Word, when all she needed was to read+write .doc files.
Ultimately she gave up on an online education because she couldn't figure out her computer, which makes me thing that she wasn't all that interested in getting it all to work in the first place.
http://www.mhall119.com
Considering that this woman ostensibly had to cancel two semesters worth of enrollment, this sounds like it should be a good deal higher on her priority list than what you suggest.
Which leaves two likely scenarios -- either it's a fake, or she's a certifiable moron. I certainly hope it's a fake -- if not, I truly fear for the future of humanity. This would be one individual that would not have been smart enough to survive back in the day. If she really is this dumb (I don't mean dumb about Linux, I mean dumb enough to cancel out of two semesters of a *technical* college rather than bother to find someone with half a clue to help her -- this would apply to *any* OS, or *any* technical snafu of any sort), such extra stupidity wandering around the gene pool can't be a good thing.
Cheers,
"What in the name of Fats Waller is that?"
"A four-foot prune."
I'm not a conspiracy hound, but maybe you are right... how does one "accidentally" order Ubuntu? It's not an option in their customizer... you have to somehow navigate through to their open source page, which then links you to their open source computers. And the picture shows an Inspiron, which to get to $1100, you literally have to max out... also seems fishy. I mean, if she really knows so little about computers, how did she know to max out everything? And if she was going to drop $1100 on a notebook, why didn't she click on the $1000 XPS instead of the $500 Inspiron?
Probably still not a conspiracy, though.
W..w..W - Willy Waterloo washes Warren Wiggins who is washing Waldo Woo.
She doesn't have a broadband wireless card, she has DSL. This is different. In Verizon's efforts to save money by allowing the users to install the CPE (Customer Premises Equipment) rather than sending out techs to set it up, they added a "wizard on CD" to walk the customer through setting it up.
So the paper flier that you find when you open your box of gear, says, "Please insert the CD into your computer and follow the on-screen instructions." So, in an effort to save money, VZ has alienated customers who don't know they don't need the CD.
Besides TFA shows that the news channel contacted Verizon and they're sending a tech out to set it up for her.
So, rather than talking to Verizon about the problem, or her school, she just bitched an moaned until the local news station took a negative Linux is bad spin on it. The school, (after talking with the reporter) has agreed to accept her work in whatever format she can provide.
Not to mention, if she had insisted with DELL that she wanted to return the laptop for one with windows, she could have done so.
So in conclusion, I believe that this is a simple case of laziness and should be chalked up to "provide-more-documentation-in-the-users-face".
Lets make a little video that runs on the first boot that shows the user how to use the system as it comes pre-configured? If they want to watch it, great, if not, they can close it. But perhaps it should live on their desktop so they can watch it again if they "accidentally" closed it prematurely.
My wife recently went back to school at Missouri State University, and I was surprised at how specific all the the classes are as to what platform and formats they teach or use for classes. She is in the Masters of Education program.
Most of the primary schools in the Springfield area have Macs in computer labs and in the classrooms. But every class she has taken so far has been focused on Windows XP (sometimes Vista) with Microsoft Office 2007 for Windows specifically.
We have Macs primarily in our household, and use OpenOffice 3. However a great number of the PowerPoint 2007 files (pptx) would not display correctly in OpenOffice, so she was at a great disadvantage. We ended up having to get a copy of Office 2007 for our one old Windows XP machine.
It would be nice for education to advocate and use more open formats.
Fair comment, actually.
The worst thing you can do for someone is give them a new computer. I've worked in very large shops (~2500-3000 desktop deployments per year), and fielded questions from small ones as well as from individual users. People get used to the methods their computer presents them (their files are *here*, their Word program is *there*, they get on the internet *this way*). Give them a new computer, any computer, even if it's the same OS, and they're hosed.
Where are their shortcuts? How do they get to the "H:" drive? What about the TPR form (that was sitting in a message, in Outlook, that they kept opening whenever they needed a new copy). I don't think IT people can really appreciate how the secretaries, order takers and commerce students of the world function. It's not necessarily a Linux thing (though Linux raises the barrier height more than a little). After working with some of these people for a while, I have no idea how they cope when they rent a car that's different from their own, get a new toaster, or buy a new light switch: the least little difference completely flummoxes them. Stupid might be a harsh, if not an entirely inaccurate term
This woman is probably in this category: given a difference---any difference---and she promptly "shuts down" and goes into silent panic mode. The opportune question is why it took so long for her to admit to the problem. I've taken calls from managers screaming because some order-desk flunkie hasn't been able to work since her PC was replaced three weeks ago, and now she can't find her RMA form shortcut and everything's "all different" (for the record: XP to XP, Office 2003 to Office 2003, no changes save the hardware and a new profile upon login, all documents saved to Sharepoint and/or fileservers, mailbox in Exchange). Why she didn't call three weeks ago was the point I raised, and the one I never got an answer for.
There's a certain willfull stupidity in the general populace. They don't know computers, they can't know them, it's an evil black box and they'll find anything possible to complain about. They can be young, old, male, female, of any race, creed to culture: they're bound together by their raw, unadulterated pigheadedness.
At some point, the paradigm is going to have to change. I don't know how it will change: Terminal Server-like remote desktops with a Time Machine like backup strategy available through an always-on internet connection? Web desktops? Special-purpose devices in lieu of general-purpose PCs?
--srj/mmv
No, what is relevant is her story doesn't pass the smell test. It's an astroturf campaign. Go to Dell.com and TRY to recreate her story. The only Linux you can easily find is the little mini and that ain't what she bought. You have to search on linux in the search bar to find any of their other Ubuntu offerings and the page you get dropped on says this:
Assume she somehow managed to get there, which is improbable enough. If she bought after reading that she is not college material. And this ignores the fact she was buying a computer for college and didn't a) inquire as to their requirements before purchase and b) didn't get in on the discounts most colleges have on both the laptop itself and she could have probably picked up Windows+Office at a massive student discount. Colleges are full of nerds who would have been happy to help her either install Windows or learn to use Ubuntu for the price of pizza and her company. The town has a LUG for crying out loud, help was at hand.
Democrat delenda est
The woman is an airhead.
No she isn't. Simply because a person doesn't understand modern PCs doesn't mean she is an airhead. I bet she can do a thousand things you cannot.
Modern computers are complex pieces of equipment that have been stigmatized as "easily breakable" and "something you don't play with." When I was young I would get in so much trouble for playing with the computer because it was expensive and my parents were scared I would screw it up (thank god I ignored them). This leads people do attempt do to *exactly as they are told* when it comes to PCs.
The airheads are the people who don't do what they are told but SAY they did.
This means that if the school tells the girl to use MS Office, she does; insert a disk to install the internet, and she does. no questions asked. if she cant do these things, then she is screwed because she is under the perception that she shouldn't try playing & learning about the computer.
The problem isn't the girl, nor is it dell, nor is it Ubuntu. The problem is society being afraid of technology and being so scared about "screwing it up."
This is what we as nerds/geeks have to fight against. *Stop being afraid of technology people!*
I'm sure we've all been in that situation and I know I lied and told the tech exactly what he wanted to hear....
Admittedly the factual information was correct, just not the method or screens.
"Only one thing, is impossible for god: to find any sense in any copyright law on the planet." Mark Twain
Give them a new computer, any computer, even if it's the same OS, and they're hosed.
I've always suspected the problem is deeper than a mere "they don't understand computers" issue. The gory details of where a person keeps their documents and how he or she interacts with them and deals with information sources like the Web have nothing to do with IT specifically, but rather offer a more general window into the user's thought process. When you get involved with performing major maintenance on or replacing someone's computer, you're involving yourself in how they treat information generally - how they organize their files, remember important facts, and process incoming data. And most people stink at these things.
I remember one woman I used to support who made backups of her entire directory tree by making a copy of the tree under a new directory, which she'd invaariably name with her initials - let's say they're DMC to protect her identity. So almost every time I'd visit her to fix something on her computer I'd discover that she'd be nearly out of disk space (which was often the source of the problem), and the reason was that there would be a DMC folder containing a dupe of everything ... including previous backups, each in its own DMC folder, nested in a way that made me laugh, but also nearly drove me mad. I'd end up having to reconcile three or four different DMC folders in order to bring her back to a safe level of disk space.
But guess what? Her office was also a mess! Having a computer doesn't cause this sort of problem. It just involves IT people in the fallout.
I also have a friend that wasn't too computer savy and she used to call me all the time trying to fix windows problems she had until finally she decided to buy a Dell with Ubuntu on it. What made it work for her is that she didn't try to force everything to work how she was used to things working. She knew it would be a learning curve and took the time to relearn how to use her computer.
She now NEVER calls me asking for help and frequently talks about how happy she is not having to use windows anymore and how many fewer problems she has. Ubuntu can be used by the computer illiterate. It just can't be used by stupid windows users that think if it doesn't work like windows it is broken.
This really sounds like one of those "Joe the Plumber" stories where it could very well be motivated by some other process. After all, it's impressive that she found a system which had Ubuntu on it by default. She sounds really naive about computers, as does the article author, but yet she found her way to a $1,100 Dell laptop which came preloaded with Ubuntu and not Microsoft's Windows Vista.
What she did was really tough to do while being so naive. And let's not even get into how she claimed she needed it to have Microsoft Word but she could not have ordered that computer with Microsoft Office. I don't think Dell ships Ubuntu preloaded with WINE or even CrossOver Office. Could she really be so dumb as to decide she "needs" a computer to register for classes, not see what that registration system or the school requires and find her way through Dell's site and doesn't get a low cost laptop but a $1,100 model which has Ubuntu on it? This just sounds too convenient as in the "Joe the Plumber" situation.
She's one heck of a confused computer user or a mediocre publicity stunt by Waggener Edstrom or Microsft's current PR firm. And has her high school not taught her anything about computers? Maybe someone should research her high school to see if one child was left behind.
LoB
"Anyone who stands out in the middle of a road looks like roadkill to me." --Linus
I would like to second the comment about Flash. I absolutely hate it, but it has sadly become the defacto standard for web video. "Normal users" watch a lot of flash video and until Adobe gets their shit together Linux desktop penetration will suffer. I just hope for the death of Flash.
I think you are being a bit harsh, I think many of those classes are exactly what this woman needs. Sure that is low level stuff, but it is only worth one credit, and some of it seems genuinely useful. Notice how the Windows classes include instruction in maintenance? That is something, if taught right that is invaluable to the user. And no I am not anti-Windows trolling, simple maintenance is essential to any computer user.
Ah, I see you've worked at my office then.
The key thing to remember when working with people like this is that they have a different way of working with their computer. They might use a computer for the entirety of their working day, but they never actually learn how to use it at all.
What they do is memorise tasks that achieve specific goals. To you and me, we learn how to do an abstract process - like how email works - then adapt that process to fit to whatever we're doing at the time. If we want to do something we haven't done before, we use our standard process of looking it up on google or the help files, and follow the instructions. If we want to find and submit an RMA form, we think 'ah, that's a document. I'll edit and print that in word.' You open word, open the document, then print it to your closest printer, having learned the general process for each - or at least how to look it up. Using a different version or a different printer doesn't phase us, because we know what we're looking for, and just browse around till we find what microsoft called the action this time round.
For them though, they never learn, or want to learn the process. As you say, it's a magic black box. They don't know it's word. They barely know it's a document. What they DO know is that, when they were shown how to do it on the PC they inherited from their predecessor, when they want to process an RMA request they go to the 4th icon along, 2 down on the 'screensaver' and double click. They then go here, here and here and write this and that bit of information in. They then go to the bar at the top, click the big round button, and select the 4th option down, and click the 2nd option. And the piece of paper comes out the printer.
Then their computer breaks. They can't click the 4th icon along, 2nd down any more because the screen is all black. They ring tech support to tell them they can't process RMA forms right now, and they need to do one really urgently, and get a load of gibberish questions about what version of office they're using, and is it in their documents thingie, and can they open it on their neighbours PC or whatever, and what they WANT is someone to come out and fix it, right now, so they can send off this RMA form like usual that the manager told them to send off urgently. What they get is a new computer, and now NOTHING is where it should be. How can I work like this? where's my H: drive button gone? How can I possibly do RMA forms when it's not ANYWHERE on my screensaver?
My solution? Wait for them all to die and be replaced by their children.
Remember kids, it's all fun and games until someone commits wholesale galactic genocide.