LinuxFest Northwest 2018: Linux For Digital Naturalization Of The Elderly

Brian Whetten

My name is Brian, and in my business I'm using Linux desktops to bring the elderly into the digital age. The elderly in our communities often have the most to gain from knowing how to communicate with others in their families and social circles across generational boundaries. Desktop Linux addresses many concerns held by older generations about adopting new technology: Privacy, Cost, and being left in the dust by new advances.

Linux is built by a concerned group of corporations and individuals who hold their data to be sacred and personal, Linux is incredibly private.
As far as cost goes, Linux is economical in more ways than the blatantly obvious: in that you can download the OS for free. Linux is hardware efficient such that hardware upgrades aren't necessary as often as other operating systems push. Many older people are on incredibly restricted budgets, and free OS upgrades and cheap hardware can be a godsend.
Linux has so many ways to ways to organize user interface, from processor intensive graphical interfaces all the way down to pure command line interfaces. Many of them have wonderful legacy support or even continued active development beautifully integrated in the modern world. You can learn to use it today and keep it tomorrow.