Another Satisfied Linux User

Roadwarrior

Roadwarrior

Member
After installing Linux on a laptop for a member of our park I got a call from her son. He had been given a laptop. It was an older Win7, he couldn't get it to come up beyond the updates that were queued making it useless. It was probably the drivers or hardware that wasn't compatible. He asked me if it would be possible to get it running. I told him I don't do Windows, hated it & am totally inept when troubleshooting problems. My experience is with UNIX(Mac)/Linux (35 years total). Said I could probably get it running with one version or another.

He previously spent several days working with POS Windows then called me. I had him drop it off yesterday, installed a reliable version (one I like). He only needed a browser/access to the internet. Got it cleaned up, running with all the bells & whistles he would probably ever need. He came over last night, I took him through the screens & other things he would need to know. He took it home, this morning he called, thanking me for doing it. He was able to use it with very few issues & wanted to pay me. I refuse to take any money for my efforts, it's more of a hobby now. All the software being 'FREE' it was his cheapest & easiest route. Now, he has local support (me) a phone call away.
 

Sorry, unless they have built that bridge across the Atlantic I'm home bound, don't fly, scared to death of my luck & things high up.
 

Had another occasion Monday to right a perceived wrong. One of my neighbors had an old Windows desktop that I installed a Linux system on almost 2 years ago. A month & half ago her PC's motherboard went bad, so instead of having her replace the MB I suggested a new desktop (she was used to that so why change). About a month ago she got her desktop, I set it up & told her I didn't feel right installing Linux, since her children had reservations when I installed it the first time. She paid over $400 for the CPU (came with a mouse & KB). Sunday night she called me & wanted Linux instead of Win10 she was completely lost, said she had been using Linux with no problems & wanted it back. Monday evening I made the change, Tuesday she called thanking me, telling me she feels at home on the desktop. It's all in what you get comfortable with.
 
While Linux is my choice of OS, there are some things that can be classified as a 'gotcha'. Yesterday I was notified that our founder Linux Torvalds had modified & updated the Linux kernel. On my update screen it was flagged as a '4', 1 & 2's are safe, 3 may cause problems but 4 & 5's can be show stoppers. Fearing nothing I installed the update, this morning when I booted up (which sometimes is needed to activate updates) my laptop wouldn't connect to the wifi router. My wife's Win10 was up and running great, so router wasn't down or needed rebooting. Next I looked into my Network setup configuration, no data so next I figured I should try another reboot, no luck.

Remembering that the kernel can cause these problems I rebooted using a spare USB wifi device, I was able to connect, now either my wifi card was bad or worse the laptop, but then I remembered that since I have an 'old technology' device, (more than 5 years old) I wondered if the driver had been corrupted. HP, Dell,,,etc to name a few where sold a train car load of wifi cards that were being phased out years ago. I have one installed (came with the laptop). Deciding that could be the problem I went into settings & discovered through the driver update icon that I didn't have the necessary drivers for my card, easy fix highlighted the recommended driver, downloaded & installed it. Took out the USB device, rebooted everything worked. I went from the purchase of a new laptop, or replacing the wifi card to simply reinstalling the driver, even Linux is not infallible.
 
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