The out-of-box experience

Linda's laptop died about two weeks ago. I tried a repair that could be done pretty cheaply and it didn't work. In the end, I had to shrug and I purchased a Dell Inspiron 6000 laptop to replace it.

I didn't expect it to arrive until Friday, but it was here around noon today. Naturally, I immediately made space on the hard drive and installed Linux for her. She only uses 4 applications, the same ones she has used for years, and she has no interest in virus updating and all of the nightmare that comes with Windows.

After a little net searching, I had already concluded that she wouldn't get my personal favorite Linux, Debian, because her laptop was a little too new for it. Instead, I installed Ubuntu which dubs itself Linux for Human Beings.

I was just getting ready to burn a copy to CD for the install, when Walt from over the way walks into my office and says, Would you like a copy of Ubuntu? That was totally weird. He had just gotten a free box of CDs in the mail from the company that makes it.

It works great. The install was a breeze and really fast. I was done in time to bring it home for her to try tonight. She's sending instant messages, working on some writing, and playing a CD on the built-in CD player (I hadn't thought to check if that would work, but it did). She already checked her email and looked through some of her favorite web sites.