I’m trying to set up a Linux laptop for a friend who lives in another city. They have only ever used Windows, and likely won’t have easy access to fix issues (not that I’m an expert).
First off, is it a good idea to give them a Linux PC at all? Have others had good/bad experiences giving technophobes Linux?
Secondly, if I go ahead with it, what’s a good, stable, “safe” OS for a beginner? I’m shy of anything that’s a rolling release (e.g. Arch, Manjaro etc) as “bleeding edge” can break things more often than not. I’m leaning towards Debian or something Debian based. But I’ve also heard good things about Fedora.
If I was the one using the PC, I’d have installed Fedora, as I’ve heard it’s well-maintained. Then again there’s been some good buzz about Debian 12. What would your advice be? Thanks!
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My vote is Debian with the Cinnamon desktop. Enable Flatpak and your friend should be good to go.
For a no-nonsense working system familiar to Windows users, it’s hard to go wrong with Linux Mint, Cinnamon edition. If it really feels sluggish under that weight, maybe try out the Mate and XFCE editions, in turn.
Cheers!!
@piezoelectron
Hi. I wrote a bit on the subject
tl;dr: Don’t do it unless they specifically approach you about it and appear outwardly excited over the idea.
Maybe Ubuntu Mate or Lubuntu. I’ve installed the latter one on the old laptop of my mother, and she’s happy so far, but she mainly uses Firefox anyway 🙂
@piezoelectron It’s a bad idea to give someone a “Linux PC”, as that’ll just panic() on boot.
You should be glad to give freedom to someone by giving them a GNU/Linux PC.
Trisquel: https://trisquel.info/ is an excellent choice as it’s easy to use, note that some hardware will refuse to work (although that’s usually only really 802.11ac Wi-Fi cards and decent external or internal 802.11n ones are rather cheap).
I think Triquel is one of the few 100% libre distros. They are becoming rarer and rarer.
Is it possible the rough edges of Trisquel would turn OP’s friend off of Linux as a whole?
@soupuos What rough edges?
Some hardware and proprietary software are designed maliciously with sharp blades to cut the user, but that’s nothing to do with Trisquel.
It would be good if people were to be turned off from the proprietary software kernel known as Linux and got to know GNU Linux-libre and/or Hurd instead.
I completely agree. But most people don’t see how significant free software is (e.g., OP’s friend is using Windows). If a libre system means a worse experience for the user, many won’t care enough to stick with it.
Linux with proprietary software is at least a step in the right direction; I agree that it’s not the final destination though.
@soupuos >most people don’t see how significant free software is
Indeed.
>If a libre system means a worse experience for the user, many won’t care enough to stick with it.
A libre system that respects the user is always a better experience for the user, although some inconveniences may exist (which are fixable with effort).
It’s a real shame if people give up on freedom over a slight difficulty, but there’s nothing I can do about that really.
>Linux with proprietary software is at least a step in the right direction; I agree that it’s not the final destination though.
Maybe, but if only a single step is ever taken in the right direction, has more than a trivial gain been realized?
@Suiseiseki @piezoelectron > (although that’s usually only really 802.11ac Wi-Fi cards and decent external or internal 802.11n ones are rather cheap)
And any discrete GPU will also give trouble, specially newer AMD and Nvidia ones.
@sallyNULL @piezoelectron Depends really.
I found Trisquel works fine with even a card as new as the gtx 970 thanks to Nouveau, although the card is stuck at idle clocks as the fans refuse to spin without proprietary software that is cryptographically signed to prevent its replacement.
Even newer AMD ones should work with a native resolution, but you won’t get 3D acceleration nor suspend.
Integrated Intel still works just fine.
@Suiseiseki @piezoelectron > Even newer AMD ones should work with a native resolution, but you won’t get 3D acceleration nor suspend.
From my personal experience, AMD GPUs from 2017 and newer do not have working 3D rendering support at all without nonfree blobs, only BIOS works, which means you’re stuck on tty at 800x600 resolution, I have no clue if Nvidia newer cards also have the same issue as I’ve not touched an Nvidia card since GTX 10 series nor I have plans on doing so, but I wouldn’t be surprised newer cards have the exact same issue.
@piezoelectron For academic use, #debian12 with the default #gnome desktop. Make sure to install #flatpak, then you can grab the latest #libreoffice and #firefox. If #debian is good enough for use on the #ISS it should be fine for your friends use case.
FWIW, #debian12 is now my daily driver on two ThinkPads (X200 and X61S), everything works fine out the box 🖖
@cthulhu @piezoelectron
I use the debian flavor of puppy Linux, which for me is the best of both worlds.
@stargazersmith @cthulhu @piezoelectron
:stargazersmith which DE/WM do you use on puppy
Ubuntu or Mint are among the most noob-friendly.
But probably the biggest impact will be whether you go with Gnome or KDE. KDE is more Windows-like so could be a softer landing.
I’ve read a lot of stories where installing Linux resulted in less support calls, not more. It depends on how ambitious the user is - if they’re mostly just staying in their lane and browsing the web it should be rock solid.
I second this. If the thinkpad is very old and weak (like before core i? or celeron stuff) you may have a better luck with an XFCE-based distro. I installed MX Linux on an old laptop (2nd gen i7 mobile) and felt snappier than anything, quite stable, and simple to use for newbies. Otherwise, if it is not an ancient laptop, just follow the advice of /u/rimu@lemmy.nz
1, It’s a good idea to give them Linux if they agreed to it and have a general understanding of what is different.
2, I installed Debian on my 81 years old friend’s shitty old laptop (it was out of curiousity), he never called me back to fix his OS. For your friend though, I’d recommend Linux Mint Debian Edition, as it feels faster than regular Mint.
Cheers! Yep, I’m gonna give them the down low on Linux. I might even modify the DE to imitate the Windows 11 UX so the transition is easier.
I’m basically boiling it down to Debian/Debian-based OR Fedora…
I have no experience with Fedora, as far as I can tell mostly tech enthusiasts use it. I wouldn’t install a rolling distro on a newbie’s machine, though.
I would suggest Linux Mint. It is aimed at beginners, has a desktop environment that is relatively similar to Windows, and is based on Ubuntu (and therefore Debian).
Tbh – any of the above. Linux on the desktop has progressed by leaps and bounds pretty recently, and there are good experiences being had with a lot of distros. The biggest issue might be realizing that distro doesn’t matter as much as it used to.
Mint is always a good bet. Fedora is great, but some things about it aren’t as new user friendly. In also hear good things about Pop!_OS.
openSUSE is more my thing, but ElementaryOS might be a nice one. I believe it’s a Debian fork. When I started, I used Ubuntu MATE and found it fairly intuitive, but it depends on for friend. Ironically, I’ve had more issues with Fedora breaking itself than Arch or Tumbleweed, so I don’t recommend or use it myself. That said, it’s pretty popular anyway, so I’m probably just special
@piezoelectron Try PopOS
#PopOS
@tuck @piezoelectron another vote for pop here
Honestly, if you’re breathing new life into an old laptop for a technophobe, I’d consider installing chrome os on it. Easy to use, difficult to screw up.
This is actually a good shoot. Or maybe something like Gallium OS, but dunno if that’s still around haha.
I’m not sure which distro to recommend (Pop OS seems popular among other comments), I strongly recommend using XFCE (or maybe KDE) for the desktop environment for someone who’s only used Windows before. It should feel familiar enough to them compared to Gnome