+ 1 to this I would also add: * Resist the customization when introducing new user to linux * Use some LTS distro, so that the new user doesn't have stay behind on updates or run into distro upgrade issues soon
Speaking from my own experience with children and linux, adults, technical people, and old farts. There is nothing worse than discouraging people by making the linux thing to be half day hassle, or looking at pretty advanced users with years of customization and tweaks not being able to upgrade/switch distro, reinstall or get new(er) HW because of the mountains or work/fear they created for themself. -Tomas On Thu, May 15, 2025, 13:05 Ben Koenig <techkoe...@protonmail.com> wrote: > On the topic of people moving from windows to Linux, I would love to > help people upgrade from Windows :) > > That said (and I hate to be THAT guy), I think it is worth remembering that > this is something we do for the End User. This isn't our usual For > Developers, > By Developers type of gig. We all know how this goes and that it doesn't > help > new users to start their Linux journey in the fires of a distro flamewar. > > What this means is that we should all take an approach similar to what > Free Geek does (or did at one point..) and consider the user's actual needs > rather than worry about the latest cool thing that we are working on. > > Taking some time to agree as a group on what tools/platforms will actually > benefit the end user would be a good idea. I dread the usual X11 vs > Wayland stuff. > Personally, I still recommend X11 desktops as the sane default simply > because > I know it works and has the most complete feature set. I also know that > the moment I mention X someone is immediately going to interject with some > wayland shenanigans. Literally nobody cares. > > systemd, rust, and wayland are all words that shouldn't even be mentioned > when introducing new users. They don't care, they don't need to care, and > when they are ready, they will take the time to learn and make their own > decision about which pieces to put into their perfect distro. That's what > we > all did, and new users should be given the same opportunity. > > This might be a good topic for a PLUG talk. I'd be more than happy to > bring up > some of the old Free Geek propaganda so that we can provide a more > streamlined > onboarding experience for the newbies. Some semi-unified talking points so > we > don't end up arguing with each other during an install would not be a bad > idea. > > Just a thought. cue the flamewar ;)-Ben
