:NewsForge: Tired of Supporting Friends' Computers? Migrate Them to GNU/Linux
NewsForge: Tired of Supporting Friends' Computers? Migrate Them to GNU/Linux May 1, 2005, 18 :00 UTC (10 Talkback[s]) (5918 reads) (Other stories by Jem Matzan)
"A few months ago I moved from New York to Florida, leaving behind all of the friends and family that depended on me for computer support. At least once per month I used to get a phone call asking me to go to someone's house and reinstall Windows or fix some other software problem. Rarely was there an actual hardware problem--usually all I had to do was back up some personal data and reinstall Windows. But it's impossible to do that remotely, and I had no desire to spend hours on the phone after I moved walking people through driver downloads and various other tasks related to setting up a Microsoft operating system. So, two weeks before I left, I moved several of my accidental 'clients' to GNU/Linux and helped them make the transition. The result, after six months, is an end to the annoying phone calls and a much easier time diagnosing hardware problems..."
