On 10/23/2014 12:37 PM, jd1008 wrote:
>
> On 10/23/2014 11:35 AM, Michael Cronenworth wrote:
>> On 10/23/2014 11:55 AM, Steven Rosenberg wrote:
>>> There are i586 Skype packages for CentOS 7 in the Nux repo:
>>> http://li.nux.ro/download/nux/dextop/el7/x86_64/skype-4.2.0.13-1.R.i586.rpm
>>> andhttp://li.nux.ro/download/nux/dextop/el7/x86_64/skype-4.3.0.37-2.R.i586.rpm
>>
>> They provide the 32-bit libraries that Skype requires. This will only help Skype run. You will have trouble getting other proprietary apps to run so do not use this as a "well, 32-bit apps will work" excuse.
>>
>>> I'm assuming there are 32-bit libraries for RHEL/CentOS, just like in Fedora.
>>
>> There is no 32-bit environment. This is a feature of RHEL 7.
>>
>> https://access.redhat.com/solutions/509373
>>
>> Do you need additional proof?
>>
> The primary apps she will need on a linux installation are a high quality (and full functionality)
> of a pdf reader/creator. That will/might have to be a non-free (money-wise) item.
> Other than that, either libreofficeor openoffice  plus Firefox will be all she needs.
> VLC and SMPLAYER will also be required, along with a decent photo gallery viewer
> where she can vie the photos in auto-sequencing style or manually click on "next".
>
> That's really about it.
>


My wife has similar needs. She's intelligent enough, but patently uninterested in delving into the playground that operating systems are for me.  For many years now - and this should not be a surprising answer to a question on a Fedora list - she has been using Fedora.

At first, there were a lot of "How do I do this thing I don't already know how to do" questions.  I had to set up the machine with flash and rpmfusion codecs for her.   With that out of the way, 'support requests' are rare; it just works.

You should expect some form of learning curve when moving between *any two operating systems* - Windows to Windows, distro to distro, DE to DE, things are not exactly the same.  Don't promise that they will be the same.  Familiarity has two states: known and unknown.  Don't think that because KDE looks kind of like XP before you start using it, and $distro uses KDE for their default image, that $distro is the best choice for your user.  Major desktop enviroments provide fairly streamlined ways to perform common tasks; any thing more complex and you, as the linux evangelist in the situation, will be responsible for providing assistance.

So I suggest you choose the distribution that you are most comfortable with, the one that you feel will provide the best support for *you* to support her.  Let her choose her own desktop environment; that's part of what makes Linux fun.

--
-- Pete Travis
 - Fedora Docs Project Leader
 - 'randomuser' on freenode
 - immanetize@fedoraproject.org