That is good stuff. I can relate.
I have a client who is probably in her mid fifties. (I don't ask.) Occasionally, I get a call from her. The conversations invariably begins with her statement, "I can't get into my computer." (I've been tempted to tell her, "Of course. It's too small for you to fit in.") "I can't get into my computer" can mean anything from not being able to access her emails to a lost internet connection. I know she can't articulate the real problem, so I have her describe what she sees on the monitor. Only then can I get an idea of what the problem is. The last time she called, she began with the all too familiar statement.
"What do you see on your screen?"
"It's black."
"Is it all black?"
"There's a bunch of white letters."
"What do they say?"
"login@localhost"
"Okay, enter your username 'dona' in all lowercase letters."
"It's not doing anything."
"Did you press ENTER?"
"Okay, now it says 'password'."
"Type in your password."
"It's not doing anything."
"Did you press ENTER?"
"Okay, now it's 'thinking'. It says 'unable to start Xserver'. It has a blue picture and says 'Do you want to view the error log?"
I tell her to answer YES.
"I can't", she says. "The mouse doesn't work." I have to explain to her where the TAB key is and how to use it. After going through the Xorg configuration prompts, the Xserver still won't start. I then tell her to answer NO to all the prompts. She finally gets to the CLI prompt. I tell her to enter "su" ENTER, then her root password. (I have to tell her what the root password is.) Then I tell her to enter the word "reboot" followed by ENTER.
At the GRUB boot screen, I have her use the down arrow key to select Safe Mode. After reaching the CLI prompt, I have her change to the /etc/X11 directory, then delete xorg.conf. (That was a five minute exercise in patience.) Then I tell her to enter the word "reboot" followed by ENTER.
"Okay, now I see 'dona' and the little picture", (meaning the GUI login screen). I tell her to click her name then enter her password.
"Thank you, thank you. It's working."
I ask her what happened the last time she used her computer. She said "A lot of messages were on the screen and I didn't know what to do." I asked her what she did next. She said, "I turned the computer off." I grimaced. I asked her what she did to turn the computer off. She said, "I walked over to it and pushed the button."
She is using the LXDE desktop, one of the most basic interfaces there are. I cannot tell you how many times I have told her not to turn the computer off with the power switch. I can't tell you because I've lost count. I've repeatedly told her to click the red button in the lower right corner of her screen to get the shutdown dialog. I have shown her how to perform this simple act repeatedly. And, I can guarantee you that the next time she encounters the same or a similar situation, she will react by pressing the power button.
She can't use a computer.
