[NBLUG/talk] Linux for my grand kid's computer

[Nat W]

The best my suggestion is follow the setup at Sonoma
State University
library.  There they have a very simple setup where
you can type things, and
search the internet.  You could add thunderbird and
maybe a few games.  (All
good computer systems for kids need games, it's a
given.)  From the looks of
it it's Redhat 9 but I'm not really sure.  But really
if you're installing
Fedora then you can choose which packages you want at
install.  Then you
just have to down load the updates and you're done. 
You might want to lock
the terminal or something, but really it's just taking
the time to choose a
good selection of packages and then securing the
system. 

I'm not one to know how to lock down a system so its
break proof but I know
a few guys on this list work at SSU so maybe they
could explain how to do
it.

And the computers I'm speaking of are the ones on the
third floor in the
Shultz library.

-Nat W. 
http://www.pseudoweb.net


-----Original Message-----
From: talk-bounces at nblug.org
[mailto:talk-bounces at nblug.org] On Behalf Of
Todd Cary
Sent: Saturday, December 11, 2004 6:47 AM
To: General NBLUG chatter about anything Linux,
answers to questions,etc.
Subject: [NBLUG/talk] Linux for my grand kid's
computer

With the propensity kids have for loading their
computers with viruses 
and spyware, I would like to install Linux on my
grandson's computer.  
However, I am faced with the challenge of deciding
which flavor to use 
and then what programs to include.  As background, I
earn my living as 
the lead software developer for Gilardi and Co. in
Kentfield, a class 
action lawsuit administration firm.  Everything is in
the Windows 
environment.  At my home office, I run two Linux
boxes: RH 9 (for work) 
and Fedora 3 (for play).  Some years ago I started
with RH 4 which I use 
to run my test environment for PHP programs (my client
runs them on NT) 
and my FTP server, but I realized that I needed to
know more about those 
two boxes.  This resulted in taking Mark Street's
course in Linux 
Administration (one of the best CS courses I have
taken and I learned 
that I am not a systems administrator!).

I love Red hat Linux because it installs and runs and
runs and runs with 
little help from me, but I look at the plethora of
programs that are 
installed, ninety percent of which I have never used
or looked at.  What 
would a kid need?  Firefox and Thunderbird plus the
OpenOffice suite and 
maybe a easy to use GUI text editor?  Can such a
simple version of 
Fedora be installed?  Or should I venture into another
flavor of Linux?  
I have Lindows on a CD, however that seems too
restrictive.

The bottom line is that I am looking for a no frills
desktop (maybe a 
notebook version too that has WiFi support) that will
not require too 
many admin skills (you know those phone calls - "Grand
dad, my computer 
is not working!  Can you come over and fix it?").

Suggestions welcomed......

Todd
-- 

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