On 09/05/10 21:31, Graeme wrote:

OK. Going back a step, his only interest seems to be software based. I'm
not sure that he would even know how to connect the usual plugs to the
back of a PC. He has certainly not looked inside one, and I have not
encouraged him to - I don't want him accidentally touching the wrong
parts, but perhaps I'm over cautious.

Probably. All of the high-voltage circuitry is in the power-supply which
is a sealed unit inside the case. Poking around with a screwdriver might
wreck the power supply or the motherboard and create a few sparks but
won't hurt him. PC power supplies can deliver up to 50A but at no more
than 12v.


Other options are to use the windows box as a remote GUI - or, if he just
wants to learn Linux/UNIX, don't even bother with the GUI at all and just
telnet or ssh to the Linux machine from the windows one via a DOS window.

I wonder whether starting with DOS is a good idea. My first real
exposure to PCs was an ancient Apricot, running their version of DOS
1.something, from memory. I learned a lot, just playing with it, and
writing simple batch files. I still have a 386 somewhere, with DOS 3.3
and W3.1 installed, and should perhaps encourage him to play with that.

No, DOS is too limited and too reliant on the CLI.


--
Bernard Peek