Linux

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Linux is a family of open source Unix-like operating systems based on the Linux kernel, an operating system kernel first released on September 17, 1991 by Linus Torvalds. Linux is typically packaged in a Linux distribution (or distro for short).

Distributions include the Linux kernel and supporting system software and libraries, many of which are provided by the GNU Project. Many Linux distributions use the word "Linux" in their name, but the Free Software Foundation uses the name GNU/Linux to emphasize the importance of GNU software, causing some controversy.

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Linux and your family (lemmy.world)

submitted 2 months ago by [email protected] to c/[email protected]

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Greetings, I am asking whether Linux has helped your family or not going from Windows to a friendly distribution that caters to young or elderly.

How was your experience with helping relatives or your kids with Linux? Was it because of an older spec machine? Costs etc?

I helped get my grandmother (dad's side) to move from windows 8.1 to Linux Mint which so far has been good, she only really browses and required some basic budgeting apps.

This was on something like an older core i3 or i5 but I didn't hear that many problems apart from getting drivers for her Epson printer to work.

So how has it been for you?

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[–] [email protected] 6 points 2 months ago (3 children)

No point imo, the people who benefit significantly from using Linux are the people who understand what it is

I try to get my techy friends on Linux and much of my family are techies anyway but I wouldn't try to put someone who won't be able to fix it themselves on it because then they're stuck if I'm not around to fix it

[–] [email protected] 8 points 2 months ago

That sounds like the non-techies would be able to fix it themselves on Windows without you being around, which in my experince isn't the case.

It might be different for you with a lot of tech-affine people in your family. But for those of us being forced to be the tech support anyway, it can really make a difference if you have to fix a Linux issue once in a while or have to reinstall Windows for the 5th time this year...

[–] [email protected] 4 points 2 months ago

I think there's a lot of people who would be happy with a Chromebook in computer form, and those are also the market for Linux.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 2 months ago (1 children)

Modern distros are very resilient as long as you stick to the big ones, maybe even more than windows. There's plenty of benefits for regular people too. A few off the top of my mind, the OS doesn't have ads, no privacy minefield, less malware. Gotta keep in mind that at the end of the day, most people only use their pc to open the browser.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 2 months ago (1 children)

At which point the safer bet is to get them a Chromebook which is supported by Google and not by you

[–] [email protected] 4 points 2 months ago (1 children)

Chromebooks are a privacy nightmare and have shitty lifespans though. It's a poor comparison too because at this point you're buying new hardware instead of installing different software.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 2 months ago

Unless you install Chrome OS Flex. If we leave aside the privacy aspect, of course