I’m looking for recommendations.
I have run Linux on my own computers off and on for the last 10 years. I’m not an advanced user, but I’m comfortable enough playing around with different distros and settings to find a good fit for myself and my own devices, and problem-solve as needed.
But now with the end of Windows 10 looming, I need to upgrade a family member’s computer to Linux. This device is only used by people whose attitude toward computers is “if it doesn’t just work, it’s too hard and I can’t engage”. So this needs to be something that both is not going to break on its own (e.g. while doing automatic updates) and also won’t be accidentally broken by the users. As well as not being too steep of a learning curve for Windows users. (Their needs are uncomplicated - mostly just LibreOffice and Firefox, both of which they already use.)
Mint is often recommended for inexperienced Windows refugees. But I’ve had several things break in the process of getting Mint installed and updated on this machine. That wouldn’t be an issue if it were my own computer, but it’s not filling me with confidence that this is going to meet the ongoing “just works” requirement for this device. There’s no way I’m going to be able to handle long-distance tech support if things break more than once in a blue moon.
Which other distros would you recommend for this use case?
Thanks in advance.
I moved my wife’s laptop to Debian with Cinnamon as a desktop. She loves it and is as technophobic a person as I know…
Auto login, automated-updates set up, remote backups. She just has to open the lid and firefox is there, which is 95% of what she wants. Libre office is around for the remaining 5%.
This is someone who used to get angry at Windows forced updates and reboots, so not having any of that improved her quality of life.
But now with the end of Windows 10 looming, I need to upgrade a family member’s computer to Linux.
Why?
Did they ask for Linux? Do you have authority over them?
So this needs to be something that both is not going to break on its own (e.g. while doing automatic updates) and also won’t be accidentally broken by the users. … There’s no way I’m going to be able to handle long-distance tech support if things break more than once in a blue moon.
Issues appear. I would be more focused on setting up remote access than choosing a distro.
I’d choose something LTS that has been around for a while (Debian, Ubuntu, RHEL-derivatives, SuSE if there’s a freely-available LTS, etc.).
If you are not against the use of Google products, ChromeOS devices are about the best well-designed low maintenance operating systems. (Not Flex, a ChromeOS device.) But you would be sacrificing Firefox and LibreOffice, which might not be an option. (And technically, it’s running a Linux kernel, if I remember correctly.)
I’ve had several things break in the process of getting Mint installed and updated on this machine
Like what? That doesn’t inspire confidence in the PC itself.
There were some broken package dependencies which I had to fix manually (a non-issue on my own device; a major red flag for this device). And after one set of updates, it needed about three tries to boot successfully (requiring hopping into recovery mode to smooth out the wrinkle - again, a non-issue if it were my own device, but…).
As best I can tell at the moment, it’s working fine with Mint installed. My concern is what happens next time something is updated or installed and I’m not there to resolve an issue.
TBH once Mint’s up & running and all those updates / dependencies are sorted.out, I’ve not had a problem with it.
I’m supporting a couple of people that don’t do updates, so it just stays static until I get there… when we arrive (ie for a weekend) I’ll do a full backup whilst we’re all catching up and then at some point I’ll do a full update and make sure it’s working again well before we leave.
Agree with the other point on enabling remote access - and also setup something (ie syncthing) to get their data somewhere else.
Maybe something immutable, then. Solid updates, easy rollback.
What do you do when Windows crashes and you’re not there?
98% of the time when they’ve had a problem with Windows, they just needed to restart the computer. (It has been impossible to convince them that computers need a full shutdown periodically, and Windows doesn’t cope with ‘always on’.)
When it’s something more than that, they either have to find someone closer to help or wait until we visit. Doing tech support long-distance for people who can’t adequately describe the problem is a losing game.
I put LMDE on my mother’s machine about 8 months ago. I think it has only been restarted twice and once was a power outage. She uses it daily.
Whatever you setup, also do a reverse ssh connection back to a PC of yours and forward ports for SSH and VNC-or-similar to local ports on your PC.
That way if it still boots you’ve got a way to fix it remotely and with reverse ssh they don’t have to do anything with port forwarding on their end.
All the normal folks I have moved over use Mint. It is not the distro I use. It has worked great for them. No complaints.
Debian with the MATE window manager (looks like older Windows) worked pretty well for my mom after I set it up for her. I don’t think she ever figured out that it wasn’t Windows.
I put everyone on LMDE
The typical recommendation in this case is Debian.
I don’t know how hard it is to install since I don’t use it myself. There are a lot of people swearing by it’s stability, even running it for 10+ years on the same hardware without a reinstall.Debian Stable is only supported for 3 years really and then 2 more years by the LTS team. The kernel and perhaps a few core libraries can supported up to 10 years by The Linux Foundation.
You really need to migrate to newer versions every 3 - 5 years. Perhaps by “reinstall” you mean having to wipe and start over.
I’ve always found the installation process of Debian unintuitive for people not used to linux. But I could imagine that it’s probably abreally good contender once the packages are installed and the DE setup with any necessary extensions for file browsers and other programs, for example preview of files in Nautilus for GNOME. Unsure if that is automatically installed or not in Debian but could be a good idea to check.
I’d suggest trying a test install in a VM if you can to check how well Debian will hold after configuration. Package updates for my Debian servers happens every once or so week and with a DEs GUI package manager it could simplify the process of the user actually hitting the update button.
If you want your updates automatically, you can install
unattended-upgrades
The only thing to keep in mind is with Debian, you’ll need to upgrade to the next release for them.
With something like Ubuntu, they can just click the upgrade box when there’s a new major LTS release
Either one can be better depending on how you want to handle maintenance
Linux Mint Debian edition. Best of both worlds.
I’ve never had Mint having dependencies issues, particularly when updating it. I don’t know what you were doing, but I have put Mint in 20 laptops in the last 2 years (both on mine, and other people’s), and no one, no one had a single issue like that. So I’d still suggest Mint.
Just go with Aurora (or Bluefin), that’s the way to go for tech illiterates. Most of these recommendations are 5 years out of date, like why recommend Ubuntu or Zorin, when those are almost the same as Mint.
I would go for mint.
I want to suggest something immutable, but even when I use it, I have just had some issues occasionally or when trying to get the one off software here and there.
Of all the people in my family, even elderly, mint has been the easiest transition and I have very rarely needed to perform any additional maintenance outside of doing updates for them here and there.
Since tech illiterate people don’t really care what’s under the hood as long as it works, I would choose anything with Cinnamon desktop: Gnome is a little alien for newcomers, KDE and XFCE are far too easy to screw up if you don’t know what you’re doing.
If Mint doesn’t work well with you I would suggest either LMDE, stock Debian or the Fedora Cinnamon spin (in this order of priority)Ubuntu is a commercially supported os. That is my bar for recommending an OS to someone.
Then Mint is Ubuntu refined for technophobe or people too busy to mess with their OS, plus perfect ability to reuse all Ubuntu targeted software and skills.
If you(they) don’t mind having outdated software Debian stable might be worth looking into. Otherwise there are immutable distros which are very hard to fuck up, and even if you do there is the option to rollback to the previous version. I’d recommend Aurora or Fedora (fedora doesn’t include some proprietary stuff like some codecs so if you need that it’s probably better to use Aurora).
Linux Mint also has a version based on Debian stable, LMDE, which is could also be an option. It’s not as stable as Debian as it adds its own stuff but has the out of the box experience.
As general advice I’d suggest using less packages and more flatpaks as a faulty flatpak update can only break that flatpak, not your system. For packages be sure to disable online updates, meaning you have to reboot to apply them. This isn’t as convenient but if stability is that important to you I’d go for it
Bazzite Gnome- a hidden gem, as many think Bazzite is just for gaming, but it also has a great desktop mode. Pretty much indestructible (immutable), polished, pretty, has a modern kernel (so good driver support) and has Firefox and Libreoffice installable as Flatpaks. Great for kids and grandmas.
Seconded, but since they’re coming from windows, just do the normal bazzite non-deck, as that uses KDE plasma which is a lot more similar to the modern windows shell
+1 for immutable in general.
+1 I am installing bazzite gnome (configured to look like windows 10) on my wife and mum’s computers. As long as they have chrome they are good.
i cant believe anyone still uses that garbage
Zorin OS
This has become my go to OS for less technical users. I’ve even had a couple go for the Pro version so they could get the pre configured macOS like desktop.
I had Zorin on my own computer for a while and really liked it, but it was crashing every few days and I decided I didn’t want to put up with that. I’ll give it another try one of these days - the issue may have been resolved, or my hardware my be different by then. But I won’t use it on a computer whose user can’t do thryr own tech support.
