On 2004-05-08, Matto Fransen <matto@xs4all.nl> wrote:
>
> -wm: fvwm95 (this will look familiar to her) or one those
> 'modern' desktops like gnome or kde (in order to let her
> use a graphical file manager).

Let her use KDE, it would, I would think, be the best choice. It's a nice
interface that can be easily configured. Of course, all of the baove depends
on resources available....on my old desktop KDE run like a dog, but a light
weight wm like fluxbox works very well.

>
> -browser: she will be less understanding in the matter of
> browser-incompatibility due to bad webdesigners.
> What would be the best choice, Mozilla or Konqueror or .. ?

Just get all the browsers from linuxpackages.net, installed them with the
the pkgtool, make icons or menu items in the KDE menu and let her decide for
herself. You might want to give opera a spin, its fast, though, a touch
buggy for some reason...at least on my machine and when it comes to anything
related to java or js. You shouldn't have any problems with browser
compatability...but that's a big shouldn't.


> -email-client: she will be receiving html-mail (like produced
> by incredimail) and probably want to compose html-mail too.
> Also clicking on URL's should open them in the browser.
> The email-client should be as easy to use as possible.
> Yes, I know html-mail is evil (but she doesn't and will
> probably never understand why).

Try kmail, part of the kde setup, I'm sure it does html.

> -graphical stuff: I don't know yet, but it might be possible
> that she has a digital camera. If so, a simple application
> to do some simple things (like resising) with jpg's is
> nessesairy.

gimp is your best choice, in most cases. There's a small learning curve
involved, however, there are some exceptional docs available at the gimp web
site that should make it easier for a new user.


> Because she will be used to 'click on something to make things
> happen', I am not sure wether open office or one of the kde/gnome
> office suites would be the best choice (in terms of "integration"
> with the filemanager).
>

Download it, set it up for her and let her make her own choices, though
the OO download is a big 79megs..

Just a suggestion, redo the menus in KDE (if you use KDE), set up a variety
of WP's under their own heading, various image programs under their own
heading, browsers under their own heading etc and let the women decide for
herself...

Though I've been using linux for about five years, I just started using KDE
on the laptop and I found the KDE menus a little confusing. KDE comes with
it's own menu maker...I think....

ken