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My cousin got my grandmother moved to Linux Mint with some actual success. All she did was check her email and browse the internet, and Linux can do that perfe

My cousin got my grandmother moved to Linux Mint with some actual success. All she did was check her email and browse the internet, and Linux can do that perfectly competently.

zamalek 1y ago
Same story here. Purchased a System76 machine for my ex-wife's grandmother. She "enjoyed learning about the new system". As a bonus she is now completely support scam immune, one of the advantages of the year of the Linux desktop not having happened yet.
- qn9n 1y ago
  Not going to lie, I feel a System76 machine is way overkill for someones grandmother who likely doesn't really need that kind of horsepower... Especially given the cheapest model they sell is 1400.
  - panja 1y ago
    Could have been one of the mini desktop models
    - qn9n 1y ago
      That makes more sense
  - xarope 1y ago
    minus the cost of windows minus the cost of supporting windows minus the cost of malware and virii on windows hmm, so that works pretty well, IMHO :-P
    - qn9n 1y ago
      Windows is like 80? For the average user the average cost of supporting windows is basically 80. You can get windows laptops for $100–$500 just get one of those and put Linux on it? Not a single person's grandmother (except maybe that one that plays Skyrim) needs a $1400 laptop, total waste of resources.
      - flkiwi 1y ago
        My kid has an excellent Thinkpad I picked up for something like $500. Runs linux (NixOS, specifically) perfectly well. Even the fingerprint reader works! And if he spills something on it, replacing it is substantially less awful.
        qn9n 1y ago
        Yep, pre-owned Thinkpad is going to be your best option, slap a decent Linux distribution on it and that thing will run for years and years. No need to spend thousands on a laptop that will be used by a kid or an elderly person.
        nylonstrung 1y ago
        NixOS is honestly the most kid proof system imaginable
      - mixmastamyk 1y ago
        Not everyone is a broke college student. Especially grandmas.
- firesteelrain 1y ago
  Honestly, iPad might have been better.
  - prmoustache 1y ago
    It depends of the person. I know many old people who struggle.with touch screens.
spjt 1y ago
There's a big difference between noobs on their own and noobs with a competent relative. Way back in the day, I set up my grandpa with Slackware and FVWM. Yeah, I had to edit a configuration file to add a program - but that also meant that once I set it up, it would never break.

My cousin got my grandmother moved to Linux Mint with some actual success. All she did was check her email and browse the internet, and Linux can do that perfectly competently.

zamalek 1y ago

Same story here. Purchased a System76 machine for my ex-wife's grandmother. She "enjoyed learning about the new system". As a bonus she is now completely support scam immune, one of the advantages of the year of the Linux desktop not having happened yet.

qn9n 1y ago
Not going to lie, I feel a System76 machine is way overkill for someones grandmother who likely doesn't really need that kind of horsepower... Especially given the cheapest model they sell is 1400.
- panja 1y ago
  Could have been one of the mini desktop models
  - qn9n 1y ago
    That makes more sense
- xarope 1y ago
  minus the cost of windows minus the cost of supporting windows minus the cost of malware and virii on windows hmm, so that works pretty well, IMHO :-P
  - qn9n 1y ago
    Windows is like 80? For the average user the average cost of supporting windows is basically 80. You can get windows laptops for $100–$500 just get one of those and put Linux on it? Not a single person's grandmother (except maybe that one that plays Skyrim) needs a $1400 laptop, total waste of resources.
    - flkiwi 1y ago
      My kid has an excellent Thinkpad I picked up for something like $500. Runs linux (NixOS, specifically) perfectly well. Even the fingerprint reader works! And if he spills something on it, replacing it is substantially less awful.
      - qn9n 1y ago
        Yep, pre-owned Thinkpad is going to be your best option, slap a decent Linux distribution on it and that thing will run for years and years. No need to spend thousands on a laptop that will be used by a kid or an elderly person.
      - nylonstrung 1y ago
        NixOS is honestly the most kid proof system imaginable
    - mixmastamyk 1y ago
      Not everyone is a broke college student. Especially grandmas.
firesteelrain 1y ago
Honestly, iPad might have been better.
- prmoustache 1y ago
  It depends of the person. I know many old people who struggle.with touch screens.

spjt 1y ago

There's a big difference between noobs on their own and noobs with a competent relative. Way back in the day, I set up my grandpa with Slackware and FVWM. Yeah, I had to edit a configuration file to add a program - but that also meant that once I set it up, it would never break.