Linux Journal: One Too Many Viruses: Converting a Non-Geek to Linux, Part 1

“I got a call from a friend the other day asking, ‘What would it
take to get me a Linux box?’ I could hear the frustration in her
voice. This wasn’t the first time she experienced computer
problems. Word-based viruses run rampant on college campuses, and
being on a student’s budget, she can’t afford the top-of-the-line
AV software. On this day, it seemed that another virus had snuck
past the freeware she had loaded.

“We had been discussing Linux for some time. I had given her an
account on my wife’s machine so she could play with it, and we had
talked about what it was she needed from a computer. Being a law
student, she had specific layout requirements for her work but no
requirements for a specific word processor. She did need Acrobat
Reader, a browser that would handle various sites she needed to
access for her classwork and support for her printer, a
Hewlett-Packard DeskJet 697. She also wanted to be able to move
files to and from her Windows machine, in case something came up
that Linux couldn’t handle, and to use the two at the same time in
her cramped office…”

Complete
Story