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Linux Is A Safe Bet For Teens

ezinearticles.com — Linux is a much better platform for teens using computers.

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  • AttroPheed, on 10/12/2007, -2/+11Unless those teens want to play a video game.
  • aaronrdavis, on 10/12/2007, -2/+2Good point. My teens usually keep their gaming on the PS2 or XBox.
  • Wolf451man, on 10/12/2007, -2/+1I've got to agree with attropheed on this one.
  • ikaz, on 10/12/2007, -4/+2That is stupid. It sounds more like an advertisement to me. And this is shameless self-promotion. If the only reason linux is better for a teenager is because YOU didn't teach them how to use a computer safely, then shame on you! That article made me want to vomit
  • aaronrdavis, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0An advertisement for WHAT?
  • coredump0x01, on 10/12/2007, -0/+4"Unless those teens want to play a video game."
    But then there's other factors including a suitably powerful video card, sufficient memory and a newer cpu. There are several bloody, gory deathmatch and fps games that I (a teen) enjoy on linux, like doom 3, quake 4, nexuiz, postal 2, apocalypse weekend, UT2004, and cube.
  • coredump0x01, on 10/12/2007, -1/+4forgot to mention all the windows native games i play on linux via cedega like GTA 3, vice city, san andreas, red faction 1 and 2, mafia, and need for speed 5 and underground.

    "An advertisement for WHAT?"
    an advertisment for all that _free_ software. I'm tired of people always advertising and trying to get me to buy that FREE software, they act like it's free or something.
  • aaronrdavis, on 10/12/2007, -1/+0"an advertisment for all that _free_ software. I'm tired of people always advertising and trying to get me to buy that FREE software, they act like it's free or something"

    Exactly
  • Imagist, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1Testimonials are annoying regardless of what they are for, and this is coming from a fan of Linux. Besides, everybody on Digg already knows that Linux is more spyware-resistant than Windows. This isn't news to anybody.
  • Dren, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1Not just teens, but parents too!
  • berean, on 10/12/2007, -3/+0Good for Linux.

    I'm going to +lame this. Not because the story's lame, but simply because it shouldn't be on Digg.com.
  • Zonkzor, on 10/12/2007, -2/+2Sure linux is great for the home user untill you want to install software, or change a system setting. I consider myself a geek and ran Linux as my main desktop machine for a year. It was a huge learning experience for me, gods know what it would be for a normal user.

    -----
    How To Be A http://CollegeCheapskate.com
  • Pasty745, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2But Linux still has a long way to go before it can be used by the mainstream. I know there is no way the bulk of computer users are going to want to learn how to install stuff from source. And Linux is bad about stuff like video files in random formats. I still can't get all the crap I need to play my anime/movies on my Fedora Core 4 system. That alone is enough to keep me using Windows just because all I need is 2 things. 1) A codec pack, and 2) A good media player that both install in just TWO clicks of my mouse.
  • barbobot, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1Don't you hate it when people try to give you an (arguably) better item for free.

    As for the article, its nothing great, but it does have some good points. For a low maintence easy way to bring that old computer back to life linux is the choice.
  • asdfasdf, on 10/12/2007, -3/+0***** you. If you aren't interested, don't digg it and just move on.
  • Stormwave0, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2Of course it's safe for teens. They don't know how to do anything on Linux. Therefore, they can't install anything - good or bad.
  • barbobot, on 10/12/2007, -1/+1"1) A codec pack, and 2) A good media player that both install in just TWO clicks of my mouse."

    I usually dont do this (as digg.com isnt #linuxhelp)

    how about in one command? apt-get install vlc
  • UGM2099, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2What about most teens who want to send kisses and smileys over MSN?
  • barbobot, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1"untill you want to install software, or change a system setting"

    I dont understand how either of these are hard, at least most linux distros have a centralized repository for software, easily accessible from the command line (apt) or gui (synaptic) whereas windows and os x have none.
  • wilho, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0"What about most teens who want to send kisses and smileys over MSN?"
    That's true, even my wife seems to be depended of those..

    What comes to software installing and maintenance on linux, it has been far easier than in windows for a long time.
  • dharm, on 10/12/2007, -2/+1i only use gentoo linux for last few months, i am biased as hell to linux...

    but, this article is so lame... what kind of ***** is this =p

    marked +lame
  • ohgr, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0well I can't argue with this article. But umm there is a thing on XP called Limited Accounts. Your pesky little know-it-all teenager will have a hell of a time trying to install junk on the pc... unless your kid is smarter than you are, figures out how to obtain the administrator password, and starts installing those damn games you told him not to install on your damn computer. Then you have to go and beat him over the head with the keyboard. Of course you can't stop the spyware and viruses sometimes, even on a limited account. BTW I've had this experience before on a small network of computers I managed for a Handicapped Apartment Complex. One of the more *gifted* tenants managed to get the admin password, so he could install BF1942, and a ***** of other games on the system. I didn't have an issue with that of course. My bosses sure as hell did. Thank God for Fortress, that's all I have to say.
  • xbmodder, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0Teens are smart too, you know?
    #!/usr/bin/python
    me = teen()
    me = rhce
    me.age = 15.0
  • webdwarf, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1I would have to agree, Alot of my clients get me to fix their home computers which their teenage kids use, and I have found that teenagers and computers are the worst possible combination.

    Linux may be hard to use for someone who is used to the way windows works, but for someone who doesn't know anything, a properly set up Linux computer can be 100 times better. I haven't however tried installing Linux on a clients computer yet, so I can't speak from experience on that behalf.
  • skizatch, on 10/12/2007, -1/+0Well, we'll see how happy the story is in 6 months.
  • Arevos, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2"I still can't get all the crap I need to play my anime/movies on my Fedora Core 4 system."

    Try MPlayer. I haven't yet found a video file that it couldn't play. Download the MPlayer RPM and Win32 codec RPM and install.
  • addw, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0Well, I did the same thing for my daughter 9 months ago, she is quite happy using using an oldish PC (new TFT monitor) running Centos 4 (aka Redhat E4). Does her homework, browsing & most importantly chatting to friends.
    I had a few questions on how to do X & Y to start, but very few.
    No problems at all - in that time my boy's PC (running windows XP) has been reinstalled once and is coming up due for another due to virus/.... infestations making it slow down.
  • kirakun, on 10/12/2007, -2/+0@pasty745

    Yea, true... Linux is for smart people only. You should just skip it.
  • Stonekeeper, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0"Sure linux is great for the home user untill you want to install software, or change a system setting. I consider myself a geek and ran Linux as my main desktop machine for a year. It was a huge learning experience for me, gods know what it would be for a normal user."

    What the hell were you doing wrong? Installing software on linux is far easier than it's ever been for me on windows. I get it all from the same place and install it the same way using a really nice package manager. If I want to install a package that relies in some way on libraries i dont have, it installs them for me too. I use Ubuntu btw.
  • thasmadawg, on 10/12/2007, -1/+1Yeah unless this teenager wants to install an application... Terminal isn't for everyone.
  • Namingishard, on 10/12/2007, -2/+0"Unless those teens want to play a video game."
    Exactly what i was thinking, 99.9% of teens paly VIDEO GAMES....DURRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR
  • xstonedogx, on 10/12/2007, -2/+1"an advertisment for all that _free_ software. I'm tired of people always advertising and trying to get me to buy that FREE software, they act like it's free or something"

    ""Exactly""

    Yeah, um, exactly. "I'm not selling anything, I swear," cried the shill. Except the angle here is obvious: You're advertising your own product.

    You posted your site to digg and got no interest. Now you keep posting every "article" that you write to digg. Of course, your articles are really just you stating what 99% of digg already knows, and its certainly not new. You add absolutely nothing of value. And surprise, surprise, in every article there is a link to your site.

    About the only nice thing I can say here is that you seem to have gotten better at it. This time you got a kneejerk out of mindless zealots who have conditioned themselves to click a button any time the word "linux" appears on digg. Congrats on that I guess.
  • bertd, on 10/12/2007, -1/+1Sure, installing Ubuntu/SuSE is a piece of cake. Sure, they offer about the same functionality as Windows does. Only problem for me is, they do not support Microsoft Office (so I have to accept the extremely crappy Dutch spelling corrector in OpenOffice.org). Seeing as I write quite a lot (university papers, articles, blogposts, lengthy e-mails, etc.) I came running back to Windows after having tried Ubuntu.

    Aside from that, I can't see the regular teen sodding around in CLI, or going "dude, what the ***** is up with this Japanese *****" when typing -sudo. All that, while most are still struggling to attach an MP3 to an email in Hotmail. And yes, you do have to use CLI, it was the only way I was able to install Mplayer and mount my NTFS disk.

    And in the end, let's face it, they're all free (as in beer). Anybody who pays the regular price for XP Pro, is a madman. Either you warez it, or you get it with a new computer for the OEM price, or be lucky like me and find out that your university has an agreement with Microsoft to provide its students with free Office and Windows software.
  • tekknofieber, on 10/12/2007, -2/+1"Aaron Davis is a partner with Compucar, LLC (http://www.compucarllc.com) Compucar, LLC is the first company in the world to mass produce desktop computers that look like cars."

    Amazing!
    What innovation!
  • apache2, on 10/12/2007, -1/+0+*****, this guy's daughter must be ***** retarded, things just don't "appear" if you know what you are doing. she must be eliminated from society
  • myskja, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0When did teens become the borg? I thought teens had individuality just like the rest of the humanity?
  • laughterkillsme, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0This is a retarded article. Of course linux is a good word processor for people writing 2 page essays and using an instant messenger.
  • pHr34kY, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1I believe that a linux system is great for retards that know nothing about security.

    I used to work in retail electronics. In this store was an internet bar. The machines ran Win98 (gasp!). Despite running antivirus software and doing a spyware scan each month, the machines still needed to be reformatted each month (because they stopped booting).

    Then I installed Mandrake on them, along with K3B and FireFox. Over a year later, the machines still stand working without any maintenance (I have not worked there for 7 months). They fall nothing short of invincible.

    The guy in this article is right... and I'm also running Linux on my PIII laptop, because the hardware sucks for gaming anyway (although I dual-boot DOS for old-skool gaming goodness).
  • tank45, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0Linux is great right out of the box for web surfing, word processing, and instant message. If you want to do any media things...it can be a pain >_< I dual boot on my laptop with Ubuntu...but I was so impressed with knoppix my god I can play a mp3 without installing repositories or doing tons of other stuff.
  • NidStyles, on 10/12/2007, -3/+0OS X is still better.
  • yonah, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0I would miss adobe creative suite. Other than that, I would love to use a free OS!
  • JimXugle, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0"Teens are smart too, you know?
    #!/usr/bin/python
    me = teen()
    me = rhce
    me.age = 15.0"

    Wow. Sweet. How'd u do that? when did you start using Linux?

    Dim mintage As Integer
    Dim mstrdist As String
    Dim mintcert As Integer
    mintage = 15
    mstrdist = SuSe 10.0
    mintcert = 0

    About the whole gaming thing... Doom 3 and Quake 4 work fairly well on Linux, although I haven't gotten either of them to work quite right.
  • Sanchez, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0Or she could have used firefox? 99% of teens out there can't make heads or tails of anything not windows. They don't get their bloated MSN client either.
  • navaburo, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0word JumXungle! word
  • dilbert, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0Bertd wrote: "Only problem for me is, they do not support Microsoft Office (so I have to accept the extremely crappy Dutch spelling corrector in OpenOffice.org)"

    Don't blame software for your bad education. If you'd paid attention in school you wouldn't need a spell checker now would you? :)

    Back to topic; the writer of the article could have set-up a non-administrator account for his daughter and use Ad-aware, SpywareBlaster, SpybotS&D, Firefox and NOD32. Keep in mind that even this is no 100% guarantee your system will be free of junk.

    Oh, and no-digg because the advantages of Linux is not new to me.

    And about those kisses and smiles in Messenger you're gonna miss with Linux; use ASCII.
  • Arevos, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0Some corrections:
    The CLI is generally not necessary for use in a well built Linux system. I'm not sure what bertd was doing, but in Ubuntu you can install MPlayer through the GUI package manager (open Synaptic, search for MPlayer and click install), and NTFS partitions are mounted automatically when you click on them.

    Kopete now supports custom smilies, nudges and webcams. I'm not sure about GAIM, but I believe it has similar features.

    Microsoft Office can be accessed via Crossover Office, if you really need Word - though I must admit that I'd rather use Windows if Word was absolutely essential.
  • ohgr, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0Kisses and Smilies? That's what the kids are into today?

    You know what I'd tell my kid if he or she came to me crying about not having kisses and smilies? I'd tell them to get a job and boy their own damn computer. Just like my pappy told me back in 1994.
  • battybattybatt, on 10/12/2007, -4/+0"...everybody on Digg already knows that Linux is more spyware-resistant than Windows...."

    How DARE you insult diggsters with your *****. Linux is by far the most hackable set of OSes out there.

    Try crackin into an Open BSD box, moron! PROVE yourself.
  • battybattybatt, on 10/12/2007, -3/+0"...This is a retarded article. Of course linux is a good word processor for people writing 2 page essays and using an instant messenger.
    posted by laughterkillsme (0) at 02:33 AM 1/06/...

    ALL morons are welcome here, moron.
  • zoglesby, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0LinuxTeens.com
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