On 2/20/2016 9:50 AM, philo wrote:
On 02/20/2016 10:37 AM, Don Y wrote:
I have to build some computers for homeless teens. I'm
unsure if we'll be able to get W7 licenses (MS has tried to
dry up the availability of older OS's to push everyone
to their latest).

FWIW: When I worked as a volunteer computer refurbisher for a cash-poor NPO, I
set the machines up with Linux.

Even unsophisticated users had no trouble.

The problem is that these kids are still in "primary school".
So, they aren't likely to encounter other users -- nor the
computers to which they have access at school, public libraries,
etc. -- who can help them with non-Windows issues.

[One school district has standardized on Mac's; I don't deal with
their students -- only so many hours in a day that I can share
between *my* needs and those of charities : ]

I typically have to address dozens of different make/models *and*
somehow keep track of what I've done (so I can repeat the exercise
when/if someone else donates an identical/similar machine!)

So, there's a lot of effort (i.e., my unpaid time) that is involved
in researching each donation, chasing down the appropriate drivers
(or, "restore disks" from the manufacturer), removing cruft that
shouldn't be there (e.g., manufacturers often install "sample ware"
that expires in 60/90 days and just proves to be a nuisance, thereafter;
so, remove it BEFORE the student even encounters it!), configuring
basic settings...

*Then*, tweeking the machine so the student can "self-restore" the
image (even if the machine itself doesn't provide that option).

When I first started doing this, I naively expected the users to be
somewhat competent and protective of their machine (freebie!).
I quickly discovered that they were not! Machines would come back
within a month, "broken": "I don't know what happened. It just
stopped working!"

So, spend MORE time to discover that it's just loaded with spyware
and malware. Carefully remove that -- trying to preserve their
"user data" (as I would for a friend/neighbor).

And, see that same machine a few months later, etc.

I donate about 500 hours annually. So, every time I "repair" or
"assist" someone, it means someone *else* doesn't get addressed.
So, I want to be able to offload as much of the trivial support
issues ("How do I install a new printer driver?") to other
folks who *probably* can handle these things in their normal
school venues.

It turned out to be the least expensive way to go, and no one ending up
damaging the OS.

Using WINE, even many Windows applications will run.

But the students don't tend to have control over which applications
their school system will want/require. I can install OpenOffice/LibreOffice
as a productivity suite -- but, if everyone in the class is using
MSOffice, then the instruction they receive will be inappropriate
for *their* environment.

There's a good chance they're currently sleeping on a couch at a friend's
family's residence. And, may be asked to move along soon enough. It's
silly to throw yet another problem in their way... whether that problem
is dealing with a non-Windows OS *or* a windows OS that will screw them
over (in subtle ways).