I have converted a Windows-user, but which puppy is best?

[greengeek]

I want him to be reassured that he can just turn off his machine anytime he feels like it, and then just turn it on again to boot normaly into Windoze if he wants to - no files lost, no viruses gained!

I don't want to be a party pooper - but please just warn him that Puppy gives him total control over his Windows files. In other words - If he accidentally removes his Windows folder or any other vital system files the outcome will not be what he wants. (It's not just viruses that cause lost files...)

Most Puppy lovers actually love this feature, but it is important to understand how much power you have at your fingertips, because some users would prefer NOT to have this ability.

Remember, you're attempting to run Puppy on a computer designed to run Windows. So it might take a few attempts with a few Puppies before you find one that's compatible.

I second Dewbies comment. I have found many mismatches between individual Puppies and specific hardware. Forum users will always help you get past the problems - but just be aware that incompatibilities do exist. And remember that Puppy is designed to be small with minimal bloat - which means that it doesn't always have EVERY option for EVERY computer cluttering up it's system files. (Does a damn good job though...)

For someone new to Puppy and Linux I would suggest Lucid 5.2.8-005. It has a good help section and all of the major programs also have working help. Very good for new user

Bigpup is right - the recent Lucid is pretty straightforward and bug free. Definitely one to add to your list.

[rcrsn51]

In other words - If he accidentally removes his Windows folder or any other vital system files the outcome will not be what he wants. (It's not just viruses that cause lost files...).

Read here for a solution.

[Dewbie]

tallboy wrote:

I have been running all my puppys since 2.17 from live-CD/DVDs only...So, I'll burn him a selection of puppys, and have him run them off a live-CD to start with.

MultiPup CD is best for testing various Puppies, and for frugal / full installations.

When booting from MultiPup CD to save file, I've had problems (kernel-panic errors, etc.).
When booting from single-Puppy CD, these problems disappeared.

[tallboy]

Dewbie, yes, I'm going to burn them separately. I can see now that my writing was clumsy enough to be interpreted as if I should let him rum from a single MultiPup CD, and that was not my intention.

greengeek and rcrsn51, I have tried for many years to remember to dump unwanted files in the trashbin, instead of using rm, but my fingertips seem to live their separate lives...

tallboy

[Moose On The Loose]

greengeek and rcrsn51, I have tried for many years to remember to dump unwanted files in the trashbin, instead of using rm, but my fingertips seem to live their separate lives...

tallboy

Make a script called "rm"

Code: Select all

... find out what MAX is 
amixer sset Master $MAX
waveplay NailsOnBlackboard.wav

Or more sanely just ask "Are you really sure?" before doing the real rm.

[greengeek]

I have tried for many years to remember to dump unwanted files in the trashbin, instead of using rm, but my fingertips seem to live their separate lives...

I've found that some puppy users (yes, ok, I'm talking about my 83 year old mum...) end up deleting their windows files via drag'n'drop issues, rather than intended deletion.

Especially so if the user is accustomed to "double click" windows and is acclimatising to using a Puppy that uses "single click" icons. The combo of shaky hands on a touchy mouse can be a disaster.

[bigpup]

I have tried for many years to remember to dump unwanted files in the trashbin, instead of using rm, but my fingertips seem to live their separate lives...

I've found that some puppy users (yes, ok, I'm talking about my 83 year old mum...) end up deleting their windows files via drag'n'drop issues, rather than intended deletion.

Especially so if the user is accustomed to "double click" windows and is acclimatising to using a Puppy that uses "single click" icons. The combo of shaky hands on a touchy mouse can be a disaster.

For Rox-filer file manager
Under options->Action windows->Auto-start these actions
If you untick copy, delete, and move.
A confirmation window will pop up, where you have to confirm, what you want done.

[greengeek]

For Rox-filer file manager
Under options->Action windows->Auto-start these actions
If you untick copy, delete, and move.
A confirmation window will pop up, where you have to confirm, what you want done.

Awesome. Thanks Bigpup. That'll be very useful!
.

[tallboy]

Thank you, bigpup, I'd forgotten that one! In my dpup-484/5, default is apparently that 'delete' is unticked.

My main problem is that I usually have an open xterm, and the use of 'rm' is an old bad habit. There are of course the possibility to use options 'rm -i', or if removing a dir, 'rm -rvI'.

-i prompt before every removal
-I prompt once before removing more than three files, or when removing recursively. Less intrusive than -i, while still giving protection against most mistakes

In my debianbox, I have set the rm as an alias to 'rm -rvI', rather than using the -i option, which makes a mess when removing more than one file. I still forget...

tallboy