[PLUG] Linux for non-computer person

Chuck Hast wchast at gmail.com
Mon Jan 13 18:07:35 UTC 2025


Again a lot of good stuff rolls in. I read the comments, I see a lot of
things that had not occurred to me.

A wee bit more history here, in my case I have now for years tried to find
and use distros that were Compiz
friendly. I like the Compiz way things are done. BUT I fear that is way too
much for my wife to handle.

I used both Mint and Mate, and still have desktops running the latest
version of Mate that had Compiz as a
selectable WM. But I recently acquired a Framework 13 and ended  up putting
Xubuntu on it because Compiz
installed on the distro with a minimum of issues (I no longer am so happy
to fight with "we don't think you need
this" crap, if they cause me pain and agony to install it I go elsewhere
now) But I do not want to put her through
having to learn all of the things that Compiz can do just by the wrong
click...

I did try the latest iteration of Ubuntu but it seemed too rigid to me. It
seem like you could not populate the desk
top with the usual app icons and directories (fie on the work folder they
are STILL directories to me) I never got
what I thought was a satisfactory desktop with it.

Fedora and the Arch distros are very good but since I do not use them much
I do not want to remote them.

That brings me back to Mint and Mate. Both I use here at home. But I want
to make sure that I have something
that I feel comfortable with locally and yes I do like the idea of the
local replica of what she will have on her
machine.

Yes I am going to enable auto update. And I will be logging in remotely to
check things out and make sure
all is up to date.

Right now my only issue is some sort of digital signature dongle that they
use in Costa Rica for digital
signatures. I hope it is not some sort of "windows only" piece of junk. I
am trying to get as much info as
I can on it.

Again, thank all of you for all of the info so far. Still open to
observations and recommendations.


On Sun, Jan 12, 2025 at 10:01 PM Ted Mittelstaedt <tedm at portlandia-it.com>
wrote:

> Chuck since you are going to be her technical support department and get
> all her support calls, why are you deluding yourself that there's a
> mythical Linux out there that is different than the one you use that you
> can give her and she won't need to bother you for help?  That's the
> nonsense that all the Mac fanboys spout.
>
> The best distro for her is what you use, because you will need to know
> what she is using inside-out like the back of your hand.
>
> You ARE going to get the "where's the any key" calls.  It's simply amazing
> how creative luddite users are at stumbling over the most obvious aspects
> of computer usage there are out there.
>
> Spend a few hours reading the following:
>
> https://www.reddit.com/r/talesfromtechsupport/
>
> Then resign yourself.
>
> Ted
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: PLUG <plug-bounces at lists.pdxlinux.org> On Behalf Of mo
> Sent: Sunday, January 12, 2025 5:32 PM
> To: Portland Linux/Unix Group <plug at lists.pdxlinux.org>
> Subject: Re: [PLUG] Linux for non-computer person
>
> Linux mint for newbies. Just easy. Not my pref but it's what I used when I
> was newbie. I recommend budgie desktop too.
>
> On Sun, Jan 5, 2025, 07:56 Chuck Hast <wchast at gmail.com> wrote:
>
> > I think is is coming down to Mate and Mint, having run both (more Mate
> > then Mint because up until recently Compiz was one of the selectable
> > window managers on Mate, I have Mate machines running Compiz with I
> > think it is 22.04, but at some point Mate decided to drop Compiz as an
> > option, I tried to install it anyhow but ran into all kinds of issues.
> > That is when I turned to Xubuntu, installing Compiz on it was very
> > easy and it all just worked, as it used to with Mate. My work with
> > Mint was similar, installing Compiz on it was easy and it was one of
> > the window manager solutions then they dropped it, I moved to Mate
> > then. That is my history with those distros. I still install them for
> > folks. I let them test both and tell me which the like then I set the
> > machine up with the preference.
> >
> > Still I am all ears if anyone has comments.
> >
> > On Sat, Jan 4, 2025 at 5:56 PM Richard England <rlengland at gmail.com>
> > wrote:
> >
> > > Frame work also has official support for Fedora. I run MATE on mine
> > > and I am quite happy with it.
> > >
> > > ~~Richard
> > > Non fenestras quia MCMXC
> > >
> > > On 1/4/25 06:51, Kunal Zodape wrote:
> > > > I think for Framework there is official support for Ubuntu 24.04.1
> > > > LTS
> > so
> > > > you can use that and have all peripherals like fingerprint reader
> > > > and webcam working out of the box. For non-Linux folks trying to
> > > > get into
> > it
> > > I
> > > > generally recommend the most well documented and stable ones but
> > > > if you want you can choose some of the off-beat community
> > > > supported Distros as well.
> > > > *Pick your poison:* https://frame.work/linux
> > > >
> > > > Regards,
> > > > Kunal
> > > >
> > > > On Sat, Jan 4, 2025 at 7:35 PM Chuck Hast <wchast at gmail.com> wrote:
> > > >
> > > >> Good day folks and happy new year...
> > > >> I am about to install linux on a computer for my wife. It will be
> > > >> a Framework 13. Now the fun part.
> > > >> My wife has been a real luddite, but he smartphone has slowly
> > > >> showed
> > her
> > > >> that she needs to have
> > > >> a real computer for daily work. She wanted something small and
> > > >> light I showed her the Framework 13 I have, she wants one.
> > > >>
> > > >> So my question is what distro should I put on this thing that
> > > >> will be
> > > easy
> > > >> for a very non-computer person to use.
> > > >>
> > > >> I am not with her all the time. She is in Costa Rica as executor
> > > >> of
> > her
> > > >> father's estate, I go down
> > > >> there when I can to help, and we are also starting a new business
> > which
> > > >> entails export from
> > > >> Costa Rica to USA. So she does need a computer (I have been
> > > >> telling
> > her
> > > >> that now for many
> > > >> years).
> > > >>
> > > >> So what distro would be best for her to start out with?
> > > >>
> > > >> --
> > > >>
> > > >> Chuck Hast  -- KP4DJT --
> > > >> I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me.
> > > >> Ph 4:13 KJV
> > > >> Todo lo puedo en Cristo que me fortalece.
> > > >> Fil 4:13 RVR1960
> > > >>
> > >
> >
>
>


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