Welp… My mom is apparently done with windows (yay!) Anf wants me to move her laptop to Linux (oh nooo). I personally use Ubuntu studios but im not sure what to get for her. She is getting her masters in nursing online so it def needs to be able to accommodate that. Do y’all have any suggestions on where to start? TIA
Depends from her hardware but generally Linux mint I install for everyone who is not familiar at all with linux.
1, Find out whether she needs any specific piece of software that is hard to replace. 2, Regarding distro, you should install her what you use, so it is easier for you to help. Ubuntu is well hated for a reason though (Canonical doing big tech things). I’d recommend either Linux Mint or Debian (if you are not a beginner in Linux and comfortable in the termunal) for both of you, but I’d wait until she passes her exams and may consider setting up a dual-boot on a spare SSD first, so she is able to try Linux and go back to Windows when needed. 3, Desktop environment: GNOME is considered best for ones coming from Apple and KDE from Windows. Both are resource hungry in my opinion, so I use MATE, which looks like GNOME 2 out of the box and uses a bit more resources than Xfce, well configurable though. Note that Ubuntu MATE is its flagship edition, many options are there out of the box (like MATE tweak).
Another vote for Mint.
I moved my mother to Mint a few months ago. I have not had a single tech support call. She uses it daily. About a week in I asked her how it was going. She liked that printing worked more reliably and wished the scroll bars in Facebook were a bit thicker. Her printer used to show as offline sometimes in Windows but that issue has gone away under Mint. I was going to look for a theme with thicker scroll bars but she told me not to bother.
Granted she was a Firefox and Thunderbird user already so that helped with the transition.
Though I’m disappointed at how ugly Cinnamon and all it’s themes are, Linux Mint (with Cinnamon).
But as someone else said, probably ought to dual-boot or have a Windows VM just to be safe.
i recommend version 6 😄
Linux Mint.
She is getting her masters in nursing online so it def needs to be able to accommodate that
Is there any specialist software she needs, or is it browser based?
Anything KDE. My mom and stepfather are using Kubuntu and it’s working out great.
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Ubuntu. Simply because you use it as well. You will be the primary tech support. So something that you are familiar with is important.
If her router supports it I would set up a VPN and ssh on her computer so that you can help her. Maybe RDP or Sunshine/Moonlight as well.
Yeah I’m really surprised people are suggesting things other than that. The value of being able to exactly see what she does on her screen on your own and describe things you do on yours that you know you do will be very useful.
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Linux Mint Debian!
Linux Mint is so nice.
I would turn off “Secure Boot” in BIOS before doing the upgrade.
It officially works, but can throw in unnecessary challenges - and Mom probably isn’t traveling with national secrets next week anyway.
Ubuntu all the way
