I've said it before, with the proper support in place, anyone can use certain Linux distributions successfully. And apparently, this has been shown to be true yet again. But even considering this success story, there remains a shortage of understanding on which dial-up modems will work and why, if that new all-in-one printer grandma just purchased will work with her chosen distribution and so on.

I recently had a very interesting talk with Freescale’s Glen Burchers, director of global consumer marketing, regarding netbooks, where Linux stands with this emerging form factor and what we can expect to see as everybody and their grandma pushes innovation of these devices.

Remember klik? That project that aims to make Linux end-user software installation and usage more easy than on any other platform? "Grandma-proof", if you like? By making to 'install' an application as easy as copying a single file to a USB thumbdrive or to a different computer? By implementing application-level virtualization, encapsulating each end-user program into a single file, following the 1 application == 1 file principle?

The refrain has been that Linux will be ready for primetime when the mythical "grandmother" can use it without issue. Well, I'm about to put that to the test. My 84 year old grandmother has had enough of hearing she needs a computer and finally asked me to set her up with one.

This article deals with how to treat people that know nothing about Linux, how to teach them what Linux is about and how not to do it to wrong people.

Like a lot of technically savvy people, I'm the default technical support person for friends and family. I've no problem with that, but I can't spend all my time answering my mother-in-law's questions and worrying about what malware she might stumble over. So, I put desktop Linux on her laptop - and ever since then I've had a lot fewer late night calls.

Last week Lenovo lent me one of its X61 ThinkPad laptops so that I could give Ubuntu Linux a try. Having had a bad experience with Novell's SUSE Linux Enterprise Desktop a few years ago, I had sworn off desktop Linux and determined not to return.

Redmonk analyst Michael Coté joined the Open Season crew for Episode 13 of our glorious show. With Coté on board, we managed to discuss about things that might actually matter to open source companies rather than simply prattling on about our hopes, dreams and genius.

Gather round the table for a hearty feast of homemade dishes straight out of the Linux.com forums. All your favorites are here -- heartburn-inducing Windows-to-Linux file permission problems, savory search tips, and little bits of GNOME and Squid for those with an adventurous palate. And, of course, for dessert there's a fresh slice of grandma's old-fashioned unanswered questions.