5 ms·

The next reason, following hundreds of others, to start using Linux for the Desktop. If my non technical SO can do it, you can do it as well.

chistev 1y ago
What reasons did your non technical SO have for switching?
- N-Krause 1y ago
  I am using Linux personally for the last 5 years or so. When she bought a new laptop I told her that she wouldn't need windows for her use case and the (free) Linux would be more than adequate. She is mostly using it for education (university), browsing internet. Just casual stuff. She then proceeded to install and test the programs she needed and everything worked basically out of the box, so now she continued to use it because it doesn't matter to her what she uses, as long as she can use it. (She is using Fedora on a Framework laptop)
6ak74rfy 1y ago
What distribution would you recommend for non technical people? I am thinking Fedora's atomic desktop for family. Any other suggestions?
- yogorenapan 1y ago
  Regular Fedora will probably be easier. Most docs are for the regular version. It's not worth the effort figuring out what went wrong with atomic
- trelane 1y ago
  I've heard good things about Pop!OS working well out of the box on Windows hardware.
pmontra 1y ago
Hopefully, but most likely a lot a people will shrug or won't notice. Others will start using Libre Office and discover that it's more than enough for their very basic tasks.
rpdillon 1y ago
Yep, I'm constantly astonished by adults that insist that Linux is too hard to use on the desktop. My entire family has been using it for years. I raise my kids on it. Works great.
- reddalo 1y ago
  My family has also been using it for years, but I'm the one who always had to install, update, fix problems, etc. I think the biggest obstacle to widespread adoption of Linux is not using Linux itself, it's installing it on a computer. 99% of people don't know how to format a USB device, or how to enter the BIOS.
  - colejohnson66 1y ago
    Ubuntu's Wubi was a great attempt at a "try Linux" solution, but - Canonical being Canonical - killed it.
  - N-Krause 1y ago
    To be honest, I think most non-technical people that are not close to someone technical probably don't even know about Linux and/or just don't care about it. If it isn't a problem it's not worth fixing. A lot of people don't even know where they are saving their stuff to, so if it's in the cloud or on their device doesn't really matter to them.
    - rpdillon 1y ago
      I made this point elsewhere in this discussion, but it really does matter to them, even though they don't know it. Third-party doctrine: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Third-party_doctrine https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Third-party_doctrine
      - reorder9695 1y ago
        I'm not in the US but the third party doctrine looks obscene to me, is this saying I'd have no expectation of privacy for my full name/DOB/address/ID because I legally had to give it to a bank to open an account, which is an essential thing to do in the modern world to get paid into nevermind spend money? I absolutely have an expectation of privacy for all of those details, doubly so if I am mandated to provide them to a third party
farmin 1y ago
Yes I moved away from Windows to MacOS but couldnt get used to the UI and they have now sprinkled bad AI tools throughout. I use KUbuntu now which feels a bit like Windows 10 and really is all I need. But what I really want on my Thinkpad with KUbuntu is the perfect open/close screen management like the Macbook has and changing from second monitor to no second monitor often causes issues and doesnt just work argh.. Maybe one of these linux first laptops will fill the void.
- legacynl 1y ago
  Problems with sleep/suspend modes is a relatively common in Linux. There's some good information with tricks and workarounds on https://wiki.archlinux.org/title/Laptop https://wiki.archlinux.org/title/Laptop and https://wiki.archlinux.org/title/Power_management/Suspend_and_hibernate https://wiki.archlinux.org/title/Power_management/Suspend_an... w
  - trelane 1y ago
    > Problems with sleep/suspend modes is a relatively common in Linux. It is if you slap Linux on your Windows computer and expect it to work. Dell etc have teams whose entire job is ensuring Windows works well on their hardware. These are systems integration teams. If you try to put Linux on a Windows box, you've signed up to do all the system integration work yourself, without any help or support (eg documentation) from anyone. The best Linux experience will happen on hardware that was designed to run Linux, with a system integration team to make the hardware/firmware and Os work together, with a support line you can call or write.
    - baq 1y ago
      I just need to get a dozen kernel engineers in a room with a laptop and a dude who does nothing but open and close the lid every 2s. Test passes when the laptop still is responsive by lunchtime.
      - trelane 1y ago

chistev 1y ago

What reasons did your non technical SO have for switching?

N-Krause 1y ago
I am using Linux personally for the last 5 years or so. When she bought a new laptop I told her that she wouldn't need windows for her use case and the (free) Linux would be more than adequate. She is mostly using it for education (university), browsing internet. Just casual stuff. She then proceeded to install and test the programs she needed and everything worked basically out of the box, so now she continued to use it because it doesn't matter to her what she uses, as long as she can use it. (She is using Fedora on a Framework laptop)

6ak74rfy 1y ago

What distribution would you recommend for non technical people? I am thinking Fedora's atomic desktop for family. Any other suggestions?

yogorenapan 1y ago
Regular Fedora will probably be easier. Most docs are for the regular version. It's not worth the effort figuring out what went wrong with atomic
trelane 1y ago
I've heard good things about Pop!OS working well out of the box on Windows hardware.

pmontra 1y ago

Hopefully, but most likely a lot a people will shrug or won't notice. Others will start using Libre Office and discover that it's more than enough for their very basic tasks.

rpdillon 1y ago

Yep, I'm constantly astonished by adults that insist that Linux is too hard to use on the desktop. My entire family has been using it for years. I raise my kids on it. Works great.

reddalo 1y ago
My family has also been using it for years, but I'm the one who always had to install, update, fix problems, etc. I think the biggest obstacle to widespread adoption of Linux is not using Linux itself, it's installing it on a computer. 99% of people don't know how to format a USB device, or how to enter the BIOS.
- colejohnson66 1y ago
  Ubuntu's Wubi was a great attempt at a "try Linux" solution, but - Canonical being Canonical - killed it.
- N-Krause 1y ago
  To be honest, I think most non-technical people that are not close to someone technical probably don't even know about Linux and/or just don't care about it. If it isn't a problem it's not worth fixing. A lot of people don't even know where they are saving their stuff to, so if it's in the cloud or on their device doesn't really matter to them.
  - rpdillon 1y ago
    I made this point elsewhere in this discussion, but it really does matter to them, even though they don't know it. Third-party doctrine: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Third-party_doctrine https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Third-party_doctrine
    - reorder9695 1y ago
      I'm not in the US but the third party doctrine looks obscene to me, is this saying I'd have no expectation of privacy for my full name/DOB/address/ID because I legally had to give it to a bank to open an account, which is an essential thing to do in the modern world to get paid into nevermind spend money? I absolutely have an expectation of privacy for all of those details, doubly so if I am mandated to provide them to a third party

farmin 1y ago

Yes I moved away from Windows to MacOS but couldnt get used to the UI and they have now sprinkled bad AI tools throughout. I use KUbuntu now which feels a bit like Windows 10 and really is all I need. But what I really want on my Thinkpad with KUbuntu is the perfect open/close screen management like the Macbook has and changing from second monitor to no second monitor often causes issues and doesnt just work argh.. Maybe one of these linux first laptops will fill the void.

legacynl 1y ago
Problems with sleep/suspend modes is a relatively common in Linux. There's some good information with tricks and workarounds on https://wiki.archlinux.org/title/Laptop https://wiki.archlinux.org/title/Laptop and https://wiki.archlinux.org/title/Power_management/Suspend_and_hibernate https://wiki.archlinux.org/title/Power_management/Suspend_an... w
- trelane 1y ago
  > Problems with sleep/suspend modes is a relatively common in Linux. It is if you slap Linux on your Windows computer and expect it to work. Dell etc have teams whose entire job is ensuring Windows works well on their hardware. These are systems integration teams. If you try to put Linux on a Windows box, you've signed up to do all the system integration work yourself, without any help or support (eg documentation) from anyone. The best Linux experience will happen on hardware that was designed to run Linux, with a system integration team to make the hardware/firmware and Os work together, with a support line you can call or write.
  - baq 1y ago
    I just need to get a dozen kernel engineers in a room with a laptop and a dude who does nothing but open and close the lid every 2s. Test passes when the laptop still is responsive by lunchtime.
    - trelane 1y ago