norman wrote: > I am contemplating buying my 9 year old granddaughter a new PC for > Christmas. Presently, she has a fairly old PC and has been using Windows > both at home and at school. (I hear cries of shame). She is of course > familiar with Ubuntu when she uses my machine and it would be my > intention to wean her onto Ubuntu on her new machine. Where I need > advice is in selecting the best way to enable her to join in with her > classmates, if and when she may need to, with regard to such things as > educational games and suchlike which do not play on Linux. > > I know of Wine and Crossover Office but neither of these appear to be > what is needed. So, fellow Ubuntu users, what would you advise an old > codger to do.
There are a lot of educational and similar games for ubuntu, however, they will not be the *same* stuff that she sees her friends using, and she may feel left out, however good the OS is that she is using. What will happen is that her friends' PCs will often give problems in many ways, while the ubuntu will be reliable and stable. The 'ubuntu only' option is an ambitious one, unless you are very nearby and in very frequent contact. Since she is not in your immediate household you might have difficulty being close enough for immediate support - if something needs to be configured in ubuntu for example. If you are not careful a situation will arise where she does not know enough to continue using ubuntu exclusively and becomes disappointed (socially) and gives it up completely. A solution I would consider is to use an xp machine with ubuntu as default in dual boot, and with a lot of space. The practical problem will be to get xp because the retail pressure is on vista now. Any internet related activities can be arranged for ubuntu - firefox, email, pidgin messenger etc, and also as many games as you can find. The remainder can be windows, if necessary. Which ever machine you decide upon, get comments about its capabilty with ubuntu (and compiz - it is fun!), and if relevant, windows. -- alan cocks Kubuntu user#10391 -- ubuntu-uk@lists.ubuntu.com https://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/ubuntu-uk https://wiki.kubuntu.org/UKTeam/
