thelinuxlink.net

I have a relative. He got a laptop a bit more than a year ago. He signed up for AOL for dialup. recently his machine was completely hosed with spyware so I put ubuntu on it, but mainly because of aol, I had to keep windows on as well. Even though I explained free software to him, he still went back to windows mainly cuz of the safe confines of aol. I obviously can't force him to switch. I know there are a number of aol hurdles and was wondering if they're completely insurmountable. What comes to mind is the proprietary dialer and the parental controls. What does linux have to offer in this area?

Not much sadly. AOL is very proprietary and they don't use a standard network protocal like earthlink. Not to mention dialup on linux isn't very good to start with. There is a program called penggy that is supposed to connect to AOL however I never got it to work. If you can get it to work you can create a shotcut for connect and disconnect on the desktop. Overall AOL and Linux are not happy together unfortunately.

To think that AOL promotes Linux in other countries such as spain where they launched web-appliance called Pakito.

http://www.distribucionpakito.com

Palito had a red hat linux with the netscape suite tooking over the whole interface on a way Gecko-XUL was the desktop:

I don't "convert" anyone. I have helped a few people start using linux, but for me to put in the amount of work needed to get someone using linux, they have to *want* to use it. For reasons similar to your relative's most people who try it, discover it's either a) not windows, or b) doesn't have X, Y, or Z, and they leave the platform behind. Usually disgruntled, mumbling about things like "not ready for the desktop" under their breath.

CptnObvious999 wrote:Not much sadly. AOL is very proprietary and they don't use a standard network protocal like earthlink. Not to mention dialup on linux isn't very good to start with. There is a program called penggy that is supposed to connect to AOL however I never got it to work. If you can get it to work you can create a shotcut for connect and disconnect on the desktop. Overall AOL and Linux are not happy together unfortunately.

The only version of Linux to work with AOL is Linspire. Check out the following flash tutorial and go to the section on connecting to the internet:
http://media.linspire.com/howto/kiosk.swf

Linspire has entered into agreements with several dial-up ISPs to provide internet access for Linspire users. I believe they support AOL, Net-Zero, Juno and a couple others. They do charge $49 for the current version of Linspire. Personally I don't have a problem with Linspire charging money for their product. They've made it utterly easy for someone who doesn't want to spend anytime configuring things themselves. While it's not for me I don't have a problem if someone uses it. They also contribute to the F/OSS community a hell of a lot more than M$ or Apple. If you don't like their product don't buy it. For a complete noob it's a better option than M$ or Apple.

Snarkout wrote:I don't "convert" anyone. I have helped a few people start using linux, but for me to put in the amount of work needed to get someone using linux, they have to *want* to use it. For reasons similar to your relative's most people who try it, discover it's either a) not windows, or b) doesn't have X, Y, or Z, and they leave the platform behind. Usually disgruntled, mumbling about things like "not ready for the desktop" under their breath.

I agree. Trying to "convert" people can do more harm than good. It assumes that people aren't capable of deciding what they want on their own. People find that insulting.

I'll offer options to people who are having trouble with Windows, but if people aren't really dedicated to switching, they will give up and Linux gets the blame.

I agree linspire is a decent choice. You might want to try and dual boot his system, so he is free to use it when he wants, and compare. After seeing the benifits of Linux, he just might want to make the switch.