My elderly parents in their 60s use linux mint daily and have never had an issue with it (admittedly I did have to set it up for them still). I just set up the desktop shortcuts for them to their websites and turn on automatic updates. The hardest part isn’t using an alternative OS like mint or pop, its getting an average person to figure out how to install it. Getting into your BIOS to boot into the installation drive, re-partitioning your harddrive to free up space for dual booting or nuking windows off all together, those are the hardest parts for any first timers IMO. After youve done it a dozen times its no problemo but the first time is nerve racking at least it was to me.
Kinda disagree here, my parents also won’t install Windows or any other OS by themselves. An average person isn’t going to switch to an alternate OS. Because they do not care.
An average person however IS going to want that specific Windows only mail client, legacy applications that don’t run on Linux or use their bank website that isn’t supported by Linux.
This is a one way ticket to making yourself the sole family sysadmin.
Becoming the sole family admin is an inevitability. Unless your family are all people who read manuals, and they’re not, you are the sole family admin already and probably don’t know it.
And as the sole sysadmin of my family I am going to prioritize keeping them in familiar environments to reduce my ticket load as I don’t have a tier 1 group to handle them.
I had my Mom and Dad using Ubuntu like 12yrs ago. He was fine using it for like 6-9 months, I was impressed… Then he got a high end slide scanner that literally only worked with custom software in Windows XP. And then my Mom needed some windows only software for her hobbies and well, they both have Windows now and it’s somehow reduced my tech support and they’re happy, so whatever. I’ll stick to Linux/Mac and everyone’s happy.
It really comes down to “use the right tool for the job”.
there is an ‘oem setup’ you can run. so ive been taking old desktop PCs, running them through the oem setup where i can configure the drivers and everything, and then shut it down.
Then on first boot when i hand it to a new end user, they just follow the instructions. i tell them to leave most things default and theres never really any issues… printers sometimes i spose
I propose an “e-printer.” It’ll just be an e-reader that you can send images, documents, any non-moving media to via a “print” icon. It’ll have options on how to format the file browser, including a view called “piles” where it shows a disheveled layering of whatever files are in that directory instead of a folder icon. Previewing items in the “piles” view would let you “thumb through” the corners of the “printouts” until you find the one you suspect is the right file. The first select shows an image preview of the file, the second select fully opens the file. Extra points if we can open the file using a voice command such as “ahhhh, there it is.”
so, a pdf ‘printer’ basically. anything you print gets dumped to pdf files… which can be previewed, searched, annotated, organized into directories (piles) etc. as well as sent to and shared with others, or even printed on a dead tree.
Actually, yes. And make it compress and process the PDF real slow-like with a bunch of horrible noises that are frightening to pets.
My intent though is to avoid the inclusion of dead trees in this process, but still create an analog for all the horrible inconveniences of printing on dead trees that my older tech support clients argue are features.
OSX had stacks, and has quick view that does all that piles stuff. I tried them out for about a week when they were first introduced. Grids are better for a reason.
And the print dialogs all have save PDF instead, but automating an eReader upload is a neat idea.
Stacks was exactly my inspiration web describing piles, and gallery is kinda my inspiration on how to “thumb through” files. Except my idea would require a lot of resources dedicated to high quality compressed previews of documents.
Also, I’m not proposing this like I think I’ve come up with an invention. I’m just hoping that my random musings would inspire someone with far more technological knowhow than myself. When I worked in mobile tech support, I quickly realized that the majority of issues that let bad-actor computer repair companies take advantage of old people revolved around printing stuff.
Even though I no longer work in tech support, I still offer free basic tech support and computer repairs to older members of my community to try to make amends for having worked for such bloodsucking companies.
People say this but if you’re just using something like Linux Mint, it’s vastly simpler than Windows.
The search works. Never will you open the start menu, search for an app, and instead get ads and bing results.
All functions are done through graphical programs (terminal isn’t needed).
It’s laid out in the usual Windows UX, complete with a taskbar at the bottom, start button in the bottom left that opens a familiar menu, minimise, maximise, and close buttons in the top right of a window.
Apps are installed through an app store, rather than searching online, hoping you’ve downloaded the right installer, opening it, going through the installer, deleting the installer afterwards.
Auto updates can easily be enabled at first time setup, in the tutorial program that runs upon first boot.
A distro like Mint is easier than Windows or MacOS. It doesn’t need to be made any simpler, it just needs to be available out of the box on more devices, because no average user will ever change their OS, not even to an easier to use one.
There’s a guy above that listed 11 issues that he couldn’t figure out when he swallowed from Windows to mint. I swear the Linux maximalists just repeat “Linux works perfectly” on loop hoping that’ll make it true
I never said you’ll never run into issues. Desktop OSes are intrinsically more complicated than, say, a notes app.
But if you think people don’t run into issues on Windows all the time, or that no time was spent learning how windows works, then you’re out of your mind.
Mint is objectively easier to use than Windows. I’m not telling you to use it. Use what you want. I’m just giving you the info.
i sWeAr WiNdOwS mAxImaLisTs jUsT rEpEaT “wIndOWs wOrKs pErFecTlY” oN LoOp hOpiNG tHat’LL mAkE iT tRuE
We’re not talking about complicated things that need learning. We’re talking about the fingerprint scanner not working in mint or the scrolling being a super sensitive default speed
If you need to dive into online forums to fix your os installation, instead of just going into the settings app, then it is not “objectively easier than windows”
Friend of mine has a System76 laptop and had to talk to their support about issues with the webcam on certain apps. It was fixed but they asked him to check lsusb. This guy only knows the basics of the terminal from me having to teach him.
The windows environment, as f*d as it is, is the ONLY mental model they are capable of. I have a short list of very needy users who cannot remember their f’ing password. Any of them, much less that there are multiple passwords.
Every day it’s some random BS with email, or scroll bars or something that makes me think FFS why is everyone this incapable of grasping a simple web search??
I moved some of them to Apple because I’m not touching M$ with a ten-foot pole anymore. Oh god, the anguish I heard. The screams. The scroll bars just disappear!!! AAiiiiGhhhh! They close out windows and think that’s closing the program. “But I restarted it!” No you didn’t. They have no idea what desktops are, much less multiple ones. No C drive?? No C drive? complete catatonia. It’s never-ending.
Long story short, the entirety of the computer revolution (that was a thing we called it once, which was the style at the time) is very much just Windows for them. That’s it. If you can make a Linux system mirror exactly Windows 10 in every respect and - AND - run all of Microsoft’s products with no incursion of *nix-ism at all then they’ll be happy. Well, not happy. Not-always-crying-in-panic. Obviously, that’s never going to happen.
I’ve hated Microsoft for so long; I’ve long since given up on them ceasing to be a cancer on the modern world, it’s all I can do to just erase them from every corner of my computing experience where possible.
Oh, and then they tell me about some window with some warning text on it. My first question is: Who is asking? Is it something Windows is asking you? Is it some other app? Is it a fake ad on a website. Context matters a lot, and some people don’t seem to know that context even exists.
And when you do get an error message, it’s usually descriptive. Like a generic permission denied then a file path to the file where there was an issue or something like that.
You get an error message in Windows and it’s usually something along the lines of 0xc000021a. Thank you, Microsoft. Very legible!
I’m not discounting System76’s support (hell to my friend Linux is hard, but rewarding), but I am saying that this sort of thing is still alien to the average consumer. I’ve seen university students not know what a command line is.
linux is great for two types of people… those that just need a browser or libreoffice and could use even a livecd or reset-on-reboot kiosk mode type se;tup that’s been set up for them, and those that want to get their hands dirty.
for everyone else, it can really be a pain in the ass sometimes when something goes wrong. help is fragmented in even more ways than the distros themselves, and every third response is usually something along the lines of ‘google it’ (“i did, that’s how i got here”) or ‘rtfm’ (“what fucking manual?”–documentation is lacking for soooo many things) and then silence.
at least with windows you should already know going-in that ‘backup and reinstall’ is probably high-up at #3 on the list of things to try/do, after you search and scan a much larger pile of resources specific to windows and its (relatively few, by comparison) different versions.
This is a take I would have agreed with 10 years ago but not today.
There’s also the SteamDeck and gaming is a very valid use case now. I do admittedly like getting my hands dirty but I use Linux as a daily driver for school and home.
The forum culture has gotten a bit better. It used to be like that more often 10 years ago but now people seem more helpful. It also really depends on what you google. (E.g. my desktop crashed Linux help vs gnome crash error from logs) But you’re also expecting a lot of free support from the community. If you need support buy Linux from a company that offers support like System76, Steam, etc.
Ok, and you can also just backup and reinstall Linux?? In fact some distros automatic snapshots of your system get taken and you can roll back from the terminal, GUI, or bootloader.
The last one I just don’t get. Windows errors are cryptic hieroglyphics or UX’d to uselessness. At least I’m Linux it tells me what went wrong either on the screen or in logs. Even with visual bugs I’ve been able to find an exact bug report with the developers response and the version it will be fixed in after some Googling.
help is fragmented in even more ways than the distros themselves, and every third response is usually something along the lines of ‘google it’ (“i did, that’s how i got here”) or ‘rtfm’ (“what fucking manual?”–documentation is lacking for soooo many things) and then silence.
This, and persistent sound driver issues, are what ultimately drove me away after using Linux as my primary for a few years. Forums were also filled with shorthand and they wouldn’t tell you what to actually type into the fucking terminal. Can’t figure out what the shorthand means? Too bad, because nobody will tell you.
Totally agree, but with the caveat that if you have to support this user anwyay, bite the bullet and switch to Apple - at least they can still run Office and pretend it’s windows while still benefitting from simply restarting everything as a fix.
My mom is running Fedora 38 on a T14 Gen 2. It’s much more reliable than her old macbook, but we did have some issues with the sound driver, and the fingerprint reader is like Sex Panther cologne - 60% of the time, it works every time.
I’m also on a Framework 13 with a 144Hz external. These problems do sound like some beginner-level issues you’d run into on a distro that runs behind in updates.
The only officially recommended distros by framework are Fedora and Ubuntu (although I’ve run a wide range and they’ve all worked). They have guides here for all sorts.
Issues 1 and 3, you need to use Wayland on KDE or GNOME and both Wayland and the DE need to be up to date. This is an area where Linux is rapidly getting better.
Issue 2, should be adjustable in any DE settings panel. That’s a really strange one because I’ve never run into touchpad issues in my testing.
Issue 4, no idea. Logitech support is pretty good. Does this happen on all distro? I wonder if this is related to the touchpad issue.
Issue 5, they can be. It depends on your governor program. I strongly recommend setting up TLP. There’s some good guides out there in the FW forums. However, avoid disabling USB ports. For other governor solutions I’m sure there’s a config file laying around somewhere or perhaps it’s saving the last used setting.
Issue 5a, if the issue is fan noise. Check out fw-fanctrl.
Issue 6, this just has to be a Mint thing. I’ve had fingerprint reading working on everything. My guess is that maybe they’re missing the fprint package or the UI/UX is rough. You can set up finger print reading from the terminal.
Issue 7, just select FDE on install if the installer offers it. Linux uses dm-crypt for FDE and it has baked in HWE. I would imagine other Linux encryption programs are hardware accelerated by default as well as support for it is part of the kernel. But I may be wrong about that.
All in all your experience of Linux is going to be very distro dependent and yes it may take some work and troubleshooting. But I think it mostly feels harder because it’s different from what you’re used to.
I run EndeavorOS and like that it’s all basic defaults because then I can build it into what I want. I highly recommend it once you become a little more used to Linux.
See this right here is the reason I haven’t switched. 1, I don’t know what half of those things are. 2, there’s so much “this may work on this but sometimes maybe not that, unless this”, when it should be a matter of changing a setting. Yes, I could figure it all out after a massive amount of research consuming time that I do not have, or I just continue with Windows 10 and it’s stupid menus.
Well all issues except for changing the governor should be fixed by using Ubuntu and Fedora and installing per Framework’s install guide. The Encryption thing is a single toggle on install. The governor/TLP is a little more advanced but it’s only uninstalling like 2 programs, installing 2 programs, and you can configure it via GUI. And fw-fanctrl is optional.
It’s only complicated because I was explaining why.
For me Fedora on the framework worked out if the box and was configurable via GUI (except for non-free media codecs probably). Using a 144Hz external monitor, mixed scaling, Logitech ergo mouse, and thunderbolt dock.
I didn’t think it’s a massive amount of research but yes there is some learning that has to be done. If you switch from Windows to macOS you also have to learn new ways to do things. I don’t think it is unreasonable to expect the same for Linux. Expecting Linux to be a Windows clone with free support will never happen.
But I understand wanting to stick to Windows because it’s comfortable and what you’re used to. It’s how I feel about Linux now that I’m used to it. I’m not trying to proselytize. And I do still use Windows for specific use cases like some class assignments and 2000s era HI8/miniDV video conversion/restoration.
Installing Linux through now-ubiquitous Calamares takes just a few minutes, it explains every step (of which only one is actually technical, which is drive partition, and the rest are like selecting time zone and admin password), and it’s extremely intuitive. It is literally easier than installing Windows.
But yeah, most people never installed Windows either, and just get it preinstalled.
Which is true, a lot of people see it as black magic. They are just used to what the product comes with, even if you could install iOS on an Android phones or the other way around, people would still buy an iphone cause it comes with it.
Which in almost all cases you never have to do, unless you go for like Arch or Gentoo or something, which nobody should do unless they know what they’re getting into.
If you installed something like Linux Mint, there’s no reason why you’d ever need to go into the terminal. It’s just an option for if you want to use it, like the command prompt, powershell, or registry in Windows.
Don’t get me wrong. I use Linux extensively, but mostly server loads and gateways. But have used Mint and Rocky as desktops. So I can’t see how someone can reasonably argue that they have the same polish as Windows (or MacOS) for the average user. Too much command line, too many disparate tools without consistency, just to name a couple.
Linux has its place, but it is not for the average person yet. I wish it would get there, but for decades people have been saying this.
Just throwing more personal anecdotal story, I use Mint at home and Win10 at work. The amount of time something wonky happen at work, like Teams being Teams, or issues connecting to wifi, are much higher than at home.
The only time I’ve touch the command panel is when there’s some obscure programs I wanna try out. I don’t even know how to delete a file using the Command Panel without looking it up first.
Using Mint as an Internet machine, and even gaming in my case with Steam making it so much easier, I feel much less resistance with Mint compared to Win10. Win10 just hides everything away and I feel like I need to twist its arm just to maybe have it do things I want, and I just want to print something. Mint was literally just plug and print. Mint feels more like Win7 than Win10 ever did to me.
Honestly, this.
It’s very ironic, but with settings hidden God-knows-where and poor support for much of the advanced software, I find Windows way less polished and comfortable than Linux, despite many claiming the opposite
I personally enjoy knowing I can easily search for software I need, know it will run and install without issues and I won’t have to fuck around with poorly documented systems when something inevitably breaks.
Sure Windows pisses me off and sucks, but it’s still simpler to deal with.
it was somewhat controversial, but the mint people solved for this by including their own curated software manager (re:store) where you can search for (and install/uninstall) packages known to already work well with the distro.
most of my support calls are ‘wheres that thing i can install apps with?’
That came from Debian long before Mint even existed. The lineage goes Debian -> Ubuntu -> Mint, and the package manager was part of Debian since the 1990s (although you had to use it through the command-line back then.)
Use a popular Linux distro and employ the app store (that, unlike Windows Store, actually relies on insanely rich repositories that have just about anything) - installing apps on Linux is simpler than on Windows.
As per app support - 99% of all programs are either Linux-native or run just fine through Wine. Unless you have to work in field of engineering or employ Adobe software, you should be just fine
Yeah, I’ve used everything from Ubuntu to Arch and can use it just fine. That’s not my point. It’s hard to argue against that software discoverability is worse and implementation/documentation is inconsistent. To find a program for windows, I just need to search for what it does and multiple options show up without using a store or knowing a repo name. Installing is as easy as running an exe (no dependencies, or distro limitations, or editing specific files buried in the system).
I am no fan of Windows by any means, but I never have to worry about edge cases. I will always be able to do what I’m aiming for without fiddling with Wine or anything else.
I don’t think it is just your laptop. I’ve not been able to get the fingerprint reader to work properly on my Framework on Linux either. I think the support for them just sucks on Linux.
linux mint people. youre not really using as much windows as you think
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My elderly parents in their 60s use linux mint daily and have never had an issue with it (admittedly I did have to set it up for them still). I just set up the desktop shortcuts for them to their websites and turn on automatic updates. The hardest part isn’t using an alternative OS like mint or pop, its getting an average person to figure out how to install it. Getting into your BIOS to boot into the installation drive, re-partitioning your harddrive to free up space for dual booting or nuking windows off all together, those are the hardest parts for any first timers IMO. After youve done it a dozen times its no problemo but the first time is nerve racking at least it was to me.
Kinda disagree here, my parents also won’t install Windows or any other OS by themselves. An average person isn’t going to switch to an alternate OS. Because they do not care.
An average person however IS going to want that specific Windows only mail client, legacy applications that don’t run on Linux or use their bank website that isn’t supported by Linux.
This is a one way ticket to making yourself the sole family sysadmin.
Becoming the sole family admin is an inevitability. Unless your family are all people who read manuals, and they’re not, you are the sole family admin already and probably don’t know it.
And as the sole sysadmin of my family I am going to prioritize keeping them in familiar environments to reduce my ticket load as I don’t have a tier 1 group to handle them.
What the fuck bank do you use that looks at your OS and says “fuck that guy”?? It’s a fucking website
Plenty of banks, if not most, will keep you out just for using a known VPN.
I had my Mom and Dad using Ubuntu like 12yrs ago. He was fine using it for like 6-9 months, I was impressed… Then he got a high end slide scanner that literally only worked with custom software in Windows XP. And then my Mom needed some windows only software for her hobbies and well, they both have Windows now and it’s somehow reduced my tech support and they’re happy, so whatever. I’ll stick to Linux/Mac and everyone’s happy.
It really comes down to “use the right tool for the job”.
there is an ‘oem setup’ you can run. so ive been taking old desktop PCs, running them through the oem setup where i can configure the drivers and everything, and then shut it down.
Then on first boot when i hand it to a new end user, they just follow the instructions. i tell them to leave most things default and theres never really any issues… printers sometimes i spose
I propose an “e-printer.” It’ll just be an e-reader that you can send images, documents, any non-moving media to via a “print” icon. It’ll have options on how to format the file browser, including a view called “piles” where it shows a disheveled layering of whatever files are in that directory instead of a folder icon. Previewing items in the “piles” view would let you “thumb through” the corners of the “printouts” until you find the one you suspect is the right file. The first select shows an image preview of the file, the second select fully opens the file. Extra points if we can open the file using a voice command such as “ahhhh, there it is.”
so, a pdf ‘printer’ basically. anything you print gets dumped to pdf files… which can be previewed, searched, annotated, organized into directories (piles) etc. as well as sent to and shared with others, or even printed on a dead tree.
most of my ‘printing’ is already done this way.
Actually, yes. And make it compress and process the PDF real slow-like with a bunch of horrible noises that are frightening to pets.
My intent though is to avoid the inclusion of dead trees in this process, but still create an analog for all the horrible inconveniences of printing on dead trees that my older tech support clients argue are features.
it really should just be a print process that inevitably fails with an incomprehensible error code or a demand for money.
“PC Load Letter? What the fuck does that mean?!”
A boring dystopia
DOT MATRIX PRINTER NOISES INTENSIFY
OKIDATA POWERS ACTIVATE
Instructions unclear; reader broke when I tore off the perforated edges; paper accordion fold appears impossible
Here is an alternative Piped link(s):
OKIDATA POWERS ACTIVATE
Piped is a privacy-respecting open-source alternative frontend to YouTube.
I’m open-source; check me out at GitHub.
OSX had stacks, and has quick view that does all that piles stuff. I tried them out for about a week when they were first introduced. Grids are better for a reason.
And the print dialogs all have save PDF instead, but automating an eReader upload is a neat idea.
Stacks was exactly my inspiration web describing piles, and gallery is kinda my inspiration on how to “thumb through” files. Except my idea would require a lot of resources dedicated to high quality compressed previews of documents.
Also, I’m not proposing this like I think I’ve come up with an invention. I’m just hoping that my random musings would inspire someone with far more technological knowhow than myself. When I worked in mobile tech support, I quickly realized that the majority of issues that let bad-actor computer repair companies take advantage of old people revolved around printing stuff.
Even though I no longer work in tech support, I still offer free basic tech support and computer repairs to older members of my community to try to make amends for having worked for such bloodsucking companies.
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People say this but if you’re just using something like Linux Mint, it’s vastly simpler than Windows.
The search works. Never will you open the start menu, search for an app, and instead get ads and bing results.
All functions are done through graphical programs (terminal isn’t needed).
It’s laid out in the usual Windows UX, complete with a taskbar at the bottom, start button in the bottom left that opens a familiar menu, minimise, maximise, and close buttons in the top right of a window.
Apps are installed through an app store, rather than searching online, hoping you’ve downloaded the right installer, opening it, going through the installer, deleting the installer afterwards.
Auto updates can easily be enabled at first time setup, in the tutorial program that runs upon first boot.
A distro like Mint is easier than Windows or MacOS. It doesn’t need to be made any simpler, it just needs to be available out of the box on more devices, because no average user will ever change their OS, not even to an easier to use one.
There’s a guy above that listed 11 issues that he couldn’t figure out when he swallowed from Windows to mint. I swear the Linux maximalists just repeat “Linux works perfectly” on loop hoping that’ll make it true
I never said you’ll never run into issues. Desktop OSes are intrinsically more complicated than, say, a notes app.
But if you think people don’t run into issues on Windows all the time, or that no time was spent learning how windows works, then you’re out of your mind.
Mint is objectively easier to use than Windows. I’m not telling you to use it. Use what you want. I’m just giving you the info.
i sWeAr WiNdOwS mAxImaLisTs jUsT rEpEaT “wIndOWs wOrKs pErFecTlY” oN LoOp hOpiNG tHat’LL mAkE iT tRuE
We’re not talking about complicated things that need learning. We’re talking about the fingerprint scanner not working in mint or the scrolling being a super sensitive default speed
If you need to dive into online forums to fix your os installation, instead of just going into the settings app, then it is not “objectively easier than windows”
Which settings app? Windows has multiple, for… reasons…
And let me get this straight, you’re saying people never search for assistance when things don’t work in Windows? Lmao
what maintenance? most of the peeps i have using it blindly are just automatically applying recommended updates.
Friend of mine has a System76 laptop and had to talk to their support about issues with the webcam on certain apps. It was fixed but they asked him to check
lsusb. This guy only knows the basics of the terminal from me having to teach him.And what would’ve Microsoft support said?
“Reinstall drivers, reboot, and pray it starts working!”
Troubleshooting Windows for non-tech people isn’t any easier in any way.
The windows environment, as f*d as it is, is the ONLY mental model they are capable of. I have a short list of very needy users who cannot remember their f’ing password. Any of them, much less that there are multiple passwords.
Every day it’s some random BS with email, or scroll bars or something that makes me think FFS why is everyone this incapable of grasping a simple web search??
I moved some of them to Apple because I’m not touching M$ with a ten-foot pole anymore. Oh god, the anguish I heard. The screams. The scroll bars just disappear!!! AAiiiiGhhhh! They close out windows and think that’s closing the program. “But I restarted it!” No you didn’t. They have no idea what desktops are, much less multiple ones. No C drive?? No C drive? complete catatonia. It’s never-ending.
Long story short, the entirety of the computer revolution (that was a thing we called it once, which was the style at the time) is very much just Windows for them. That’s it. If you can make a Linux system mirror exactly Windows 10 in every respect and - AND - run all of Microsoft’s products with no incursion of *nix-ism at all then they’ll be happy. Well, not happy. Not-always-crying-in-panic. Obviously, that’s never going to happen.
I’ve hated Microsoft for so long; I’ve long since given up on them ceasing to be a cancer on the modern world, it’s all I can do to just erase them from every corner of my computing experience where possible.
Oh, and then they tell me about some window with some warning text on it. My first question is: Who is asking? Is it something Windows is asking you? Is it some other app? Is it a fake ad on a website. Context matters a lot, and some people don’t seem to know that context even exists.
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And besides, Linux usually provides useful logs, so you don’t have to fumble in the dark.
And when you do get an error message, it’s usually descriptive. Like a generic permission denied then a file path to the file where there was an issue or something like that.
You get an error message in Windows and it’s usually something along the lines of 0xc000021a. Thank you, Microsoft. Very legible!
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I’m not discounting System76’s support (hell to my friend Linux is hard, but rewarding), but I am saying that this sort of thing is still alien to the average consumer. I’ve seen university students not know what a command line is.
Yes, but if Windows breaks it’s your fault. If Linux breaks it’s Linux’s fault.
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linux is great for two types of people… those that just need a browser or libreoffice and could use even a livecd or reset-on-reboot kiosk mode type se;tup that’s been set up for them, and those that want to get their hands dirty.
for everyone else, it can really be a pain in the ass sometimes when something goes wrong. help is fragmented in even more ways than the distros themselves, and every third response is usually something along the lines of ‘google it’ (“i did, that’s how i got here”) or ‘rtfm’ (“what fucking manual?”–documentation is lacking for soooo many things) and then silence.
at least with windows you should already know going-in that ‘backup and reinstall’ is probably high-up at #3 on the list of things to try/do, after you search and scan a much larger pile of resources specific to windows and its (relatively few, by comparison) different versions.
This is a take I would have agreed with 10 years ago but not today.
There’s also the SteamDeck and gaming is a very valid use case now. I do admittedly like getting my hands dirty but I use Linux as a daily driver for school and home.
The forum culture has gotten a bit better. It used to be like that more often 10 years ago but now people seem more helpful. It also really depends on what you google. (E.g. my desktop crashed Linux help vs gnome crash error from logs) But you’re also expecting a lot of free support from the community. If you need support buy Linux from a company that offers support like System76, Steam, etc.
Ok, and you can also just backup and reinstall Linux?? In fact some distros automatic snapshots of your system get taken and you can roll back from the terminal, GUI, or bootloader.
The last one I just don’t get. Windows errors are cryptic hieroglyphics or UX’d to uselessness. At least I’m Linux it tells me what went wrong either on the screen or in logs. Even with visual bugs I’ve been able to find an exact bug report with the developers response and the version it will be fixed in after some Googling.
This, and persistent sound driver issues, are what ultimately drove me away after using Linux as my primary for a few years. Forums were also filled with shorthand and they wouldn’t tell you what to actually type into the fucking terminal. Can’t figure out what the shorthand means? Too bad, because nobody will tell you.
Totally agree, but with the caveat that if you have to support this user anwyay, bite the bullet and switch to Apple - at least they can still run Office and pretend it’s windows while still benefitting from simply restarting everything as a fix.
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My mom is running Fedora 38 on a T14 Gen 2. It’s much more reliable than her old macbook, but we did have some issues with the sound driver, and the fingerprint reader is like Sex Panther cologne - 60% of the time, it works every time.
Why would you swap a MacBook to Linux?
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Makes sense!
I installed Linux mint on my Framework laptop because fuck windows.
I had to move back to windows, it didn’t feel ready and couldn’t get it working easily how I like.
Heres some of the issues(any pointers would be great)
Some stuff is better but a combination of these just brings me back to windows. It just loads and works?
I’m also on a Framework 13 with a 144Hz external. These problems do sound like some beginner-level issues you’d run into on a distro that runs behind in updates.
The only officially recommended distros by framework are Fedora and Ubuntu (although I’ve run a wide range and they’ve all worked). They have guides here for all sorts.
Issues 1 and 3, you need to use Wayland on KDE or GNOME and both Wayland and the DE need to be up to date. This is an area where Linux is rapidly getting better.
Issue 2, should be adjustable in any DE settings panel. That’s a really strange one because I’ve never run into touchpad issues in my testing.
Issue 4, no idea. Logitech support is pretty good. Does this happen on all distro? I wonder if this is related to the touchpad issue.
Issue 5, they can be. It depends on your governor program. I strongly recommend setting up TLP. There’s some good guides out there in the FW forums. However, avoid disabling USB ports. For other governor solutions I’m sure there’s a config file laying around somewhere or perhaps it’s saving the last used setting.
Issue 5a, if the issue is fan noise. Check out fw-fanctrl.
Issue 6, this just has to be a Mint thing. I’ve had fingerprint reading working on everything. My guess is that maybe they’re missing the fprint package or the UI/UX is rough. You can set up finger print reading from the terminal.
Issue 7, just select FDE on install if the installer offers it. Linux uses dm-crypt for FDE and it has baked in HWE. I would imagine other Linux encryption programs are hardware accelerated by default as well as support for it is part of the kernel. But I may be wrong about that.
All in all your experience of Linux is going to be very distro dependent and yes it may take some work and troubleshooting. But I think it mostly feels harder because it’s different from what you’re used to.
I run EndeavorOS and like that it’s all basic defaults because then I can build it into what I want. I highly recommend it once you become a little more used to Linux.
See this right here is the reason I haven’t switched. 1, I don’t know what half of those things are. 2, there’s so much “this may work on this but sometimes maybe not that, unless this”, when it should be a matter of changing a setting. Yes, I could figure it all out after a massive amount of research consuming time that I do not have, or I just continue with Windows 10 and it’s stupid menus.
Well all issues except for changing the governor should be fixed by using Ubuntu and Fedora and installing per Framework’s install guide. The Encryption thing is a single toggle on install. The governor/TLP is a little more advanced but it’s only uninstalling like 2 programs, installing 2 programs, and you can configure it via GUI. And fw-fanctrl is optional.
It’s only complicated because I was explaining why.
For me Fedora on the framework worked out if the box and was configurable via GUI (except for non-free media codecs probably). Using a 144Hz external monitor, mixed scaling, Logitech ergo mouse, and thunderbolt dock.
I didn’t think it’s a massive amount of research but yes there is some learning that has to be done. If you switch from Windows to macOS you also have to learn new ways to do things. I don’t think it is unreasonable to expect the same for Linux. Expecting Linux to be a Windows clone with free support will never happen.
But I understand wanting to stick to Windows because it’s comfortable and what you’re used to. It’s how I feel about Linux now that I’m used to it. I’m not trying to proselytize. And I do still use Windows for specific use cases like some class assignments and 2000s era HI8/miniDV video conversion/restoration.
If you have to hit the command line, it’s bad for most people.
You don’t really need commandline in linux anymore, unless your doing advanced stuff which means you should learn commandline anyway.
As others have said. The real obstacle is getting it all installed. The only advantage to win and mac is it comes preinstalled.
Installing Linux through now-ubiquitous Calamares takes just a few minutes, it explains every step (of which only one is actually technical, which is drive partition, and the rest are like selecting time zone and admin password), and it’s extremely intuitive. It is literally easier than installing Windows.
But yeah, most people never installed Windows either, and just get it preinstalled.
Peanuts for me but i am already in. Now try explain it to your (grand) parents.
Most people don’t know what a partition or a bios is.
I agree its not harder then installing windows but there is a reason that people ask me to install their windows.
Which is true, a lot of people see it as black magic. They are just used to what the product comes with, even if you could install iOS on an Android phones or the other way around, people would still buy an iphone cause it comes with it.
Which in almost all cases you never have to do, unless you go for like Arch or Gentoo or something, which nobody should do unless they know what they’re getting into.
If you installed something like Linux Mint, there’s no reason why you’d ever need to go into the terminal. It’s just an option for if you want to use it, like the command prompt, powershell, or registry in Windows.
Don’t get me wrong. I use Linux extensively, but mostly server loads and gateways. But have used Mint and Rocky as desktops. So I can’t see how someone can reasonably argue that they have the same polish as Windows (or MacOS) for the average user. Too much command line, too many disparate tools without consistency, just to name a couple.
Linux has its place, but it is not for the average person yet. I wish it would get there, but for decades people have been saying this.
Just throwing more personal anecdotal story, I use Mint at home and Win10 at work. The amount of time something wonky happen at work, like Teams being Teams, or issues connecting to wifi, are much higher than at home.
The only time I’ve touch the command panel is when there’s some obscure programs I wanna try out. I don’t even know how to delete a file using the Command Panel without looking it up first.
Using Mint as an Internet machine, and even gaming in my case with Steam making it so much easier, I feel much less resistance with Mint compared to Win10. Win10 just hides everything away and I feel like I need to twist its arm just to maybe have it do things I want, and I just want to print something. Mint was literally just plug and print. Mint feels more like Win7 than Win10 ever did to me.
Honestly, this. It’s very ironic, but with settings hidden God-knows-where and poor support for much of the advanced software, I find Windows way less polished and comfortable than Linux, despite many claiming the opposite
People who claim the opposite either haven’t tried a mainstream distro in several years or they work for Microsoft.
I personally enjoy knowing I can easily search for software I need, know it will run and install without issues and I won’t have to fuck around with poorly documented systems when something inevitably breaks.
Sure Windows pisses me off and sucks, but it’s still simpler to deal with.
it was somewhat controversial, but the mint people solved for this by including their own curated software manager (re:store) where you can search for (and install/uninstall) packages known to already work well with the distro.
most of my support calls are ‘wheres that thing i can install apps with?’
That came from Debian long before Mint even existed. The lineage goes Debian -> Ubuntu -> Mint, and the package manager was part of Debian since the 1990s (although you had to use it through the command-line back then.)
yeah but where did debian get it, cuz we all know it was hitler.
Use a popular Linux distro and employ the app store (that, unlike Windows Store, actually relies on insanely rich repositories that have just about anything) - installing apps on Linux is simpler than on Windows.
As per app support - 99% of all programs are either Linux-native or run just fine through Wine. Unless you have to work in field of engineering or employ Adobe software, you should be just fine
Yeah, I’ve used everything from Ubuntu to Arch and can use it just fine. That’s not my point. It’s hard to argue against that software discoverability is worse and implementation/documentation is inconsistent. To find a program for windows, I just need to search for what it does and multiple options show up without using a store or knowing a repo name. Installing is as easy as running an exe (no dependencies, or distro limitations, or editing specific files buried in the system).
I am no fan of Windows by any means, but I never have to worry about edge cases. I will always be able to do what I’m aiming for without fiddling with Wine or anything else.
I wish but I have a Samsung notebook and the damn fingerprint reader won’t work on any Linux distribution.
uhg samsung. reminds me of sony… does sony still do laptops? they had the worst hardware driver support that ever existed.
They don’t. They killed the VAIO line of products in 2020.
I don’t think it is just your laptop. I’ve not been able to get the fingerprint reader to work properly on my Framework on Linux either. I think the support for them just sucks on Linux.
Biometrics are an end run around the fourth and fifth amendments.
On that note, mint does transparently allow you to use cloud resources like one drive (maybe not that specifically)
I realized that I was holding my dual boot out of FUD. Was a relief when I went full Ubuntu.
What?