I gave them one of my micro office PCs I was using as a server as our living room home theatre PC, because the previous one was Windows Vista which is absolutely not safe to be running connected to the internet anymore, and the new computer (hopefully) managed to get them to stop using the apps on the smart TV both due to my privacy concerns and because they are no longer being updated and don’t work that great anymore (thanks for no longer supporting your few years old thousand plus dollar TV Samsung, you planned obsolecense assholes!)
This is their first Linux computer in a family that has pretty much been exclusively been using Microsoft operating systems really since they got access to computers. So, pretty big deal that I finally convinced them to give Linux a try. It’s running Fedora with KDE Plasma. Here’s hoping everything goes well.
I set up my mom with a laptop using Ubuntu a while back, and it just works. Back when she used Windows, things broke all the time, she’d install random things cause sites tricked her into it, etc. With Linux all the problems are gone. All she does is basically use the browser and email. Once you set that up there’s really no other maintenance involved.
Linux is a great option for non technical users as long as there’s somebody to set it up for them initially.
If their use are mostly web browsing, I don’t see a reason why they wouldn’t be OK with it.
In 2018 I installed linux mint in my grandparents’ PC, they’ve been using the same install since, not a problem until now. They just use firefox to watch youtube and send e-mails.
Honestly, as a former Windows user, I’ve been really enjoying Fedora KDE. KDE because it looks and feels a lot like just a cleaner, de-bullshitted Windows 10 or 11, and Fedora because I think it strikes a good balance between stability, up to date software, and a good delection of default packages and community repositories.
I live with them, and I will be keeping all the remote management stuff open from when it was a server, and will essentially be continuing to manage it along with the rest of my servers.
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I set up my mom with a laptop using Ubuntu a while back, and it just works. Back when she used Windows, things broke all the time, she’d install random things cause sites tricked her into it, etc. With Linux all the problems are gone. All she does is basically use the browser and email. Once you set that up there’s really no other maintenance involved.
Linux is a great option for non technical users as long as there’s somebody to set it up for them initially.
If their use are mostly web browsing, I don’t see a reason why they wouldn’t be OK with it. In 2018 I installed linux mint in my grandparents’ PC, they’ve been using the same install since, not a problem until now. They just use firefox to watch youtube and send e-mails.
More generally, what would be the best distro/DE for not so technical windows parents?
Honestly, as a former Windows user, I’ve been really enjoying Fedora KDE. KDE because it looks and feels a lot like just a cleaner, de-bullshitted Windows 10 or 11, and Fedora because I think it strikes a good balance between stability, up to date software, and a good delection of default packages and community repositories.
I think Linux Mint with Cinnamon or xfce. Manjaro and Fedora might be just a tad too much.
Huh, Fedora with KDE plasma is the first thing I went to when I jumped from windows.
Had my mom try Ubuntu 12.04 a while back…
/me gives her a windows recovery CD
😆
Seriously, have her try KDE! It feels a lot like Windows 11 but honestly a lot better than Windows.
Are they able to troubleshoot issues on their own?
I live with them, and I will be keeping all the remote management stuff open from when it was a server, and will essentially be continuing to manage it along with the rest of my servers.
Just dont give them sudo! Gonna have a baddd day
Nope! I’ll be keeping my sudo account on there for when I have to do maintenance on the computer and set up a normal user account for them.