Re: [linux] ok, what is the most "newbie-friendly" version of linux these days?
On 2/24/19 11:03 AM, Rob Echlin wrote: The best distro for newbies is the one that comes with an expert to help them out. Yes, this. My mom has been running Debian for many years. That's because I set it up for her and gave her a simple XFCE4 desktop that has exactly what she needs, and I'm available for tech support. My mom's in the unusual situation of never having used Windows at all. So to her, Linux is just "how the computer works" and I'm pretty sure she wouldn't find Windows or Mac OS X any more newbie-friendly than what she's used to. Regards, Dianne. To unsubscribe send a blank message to linux+unsubscr...@linux-ottawa.org To get help send a blank message to linux+h...@linux-ottawa.org To visit the archives: https://lists.linux-ottawa.org
Re: [linux] ok, what is the most "newbie-friendly" version of linux these days?
On Sun, 24 Feb 2019, Robert P. J. Day wrote: she's willing to at least entertain the notion of linux, Excellent! as she needs little more than surfing/email/MS office functionality. "The best distro for newbies is the one that comes with an expert to help them out." I totally agree. If "MS office functionality" is important you might consider which version of LibrOffice your choice of distro comes with. I do not know how versions vary between distro releases. In the past, however, I had to run a newer version of Ubuntu in a VM to get a version of LibreOffice which supported more columns in calc which I needed, for example. (I usually run LTS). Also, as this is for a laptop, so you might want to check that your choice of distro has good 'agile network support' if the laptop is going to be chnaging to different networks frequently. (They may all be good these days, I don't distro-hop much anymore so don't know.) If she has not been operating a browser with good ad-blocking capability you might want to install that in your choice of browser before hand-over so she gets this immediate, positive impression of 'Linux' - even though it's just the app :-) Be sure to use a distro with systemd so the laptop boots fast ;-) Brett To unsubscribe send a blank message to linux+unsubscr...@linux-ottawa.org To get help send a blank message to linux+h...@linux-ottawa.org To visit the archives: https://lists.linux-ottawa.org
Re: [linux] ok, what is the most "newbie-friendly" version of linux these days?
On 2019-02-24 11:15, Ian! D. Allen wrote: > On Sun, Feb 24, 2019 at 11:03:30AM -0500, Rob Echlin wrote: > > The best distro for newbies is the one that comes with an expert to > > help them out. So, give them one that is compatible with what you use. > > Best advice ever. (Because it's exactly what I say to people!) :-) My family was using Ubuntu, but I've switched everyone over to fedora, which I use on my $work laptop. I'd agree that RHEL isn't really suitable (even though that is on my $work workstation). Mint seems like a reasonable suggestion, otherwise I'd be recommending Debian if I wasn't at $work since that's what's on all my personal machines. > | Ian! D. Allen, BA, MMath - idal...@idallen.ca - Ottawa, Ontario, Canada slainte mhath, RGB -- Richard Guy Briggs -- ~\-- ~\ -- \___ o \@ @Ride yer bike! Ottawa, ON, CANADA -- Lo_>__M__\\/\%__\\/\% Vote! -- _GTVS6#790__(*)__(*)(*)(*)_ To unsubscribe send a blank message to linux+unsubscr...@linux-ottawa.org To get help send a blank message to linux+h...@linux-ottawa.org To visit the archives: https://lists.linux-ottawa.org
Re: [linux] ok, what is the most "newbie-friendly" version of linux these days?
On Sun, Feb 24, 2019 at 11:03:30AM -0500, Rob Echlin wrote: > The best distro for newbies is the one that comes with an expert to > help them out. So, give them one that is compatible with what you use. Best advice ever. (Because it's exactly what I say to people!) :-) -- | Ian! D. Allen, BA, MMath - idal...@idallen.ca - Ottawa, Ontario, Canada | Home: http://idallen.com/ Contact Improv Dance: http://contactimprov.ca/ | College professor (Free/Libre GNU+Linux) at: http://teaching.idallen.com/ | Defend digital freedom: http://eff.org/ and have fun: http://fools.ca/ To unsubscribe send a blank message to linux+unsubscr...@linux-ottawa.org To get help send a blank message to linux+h...@linux-ottawa.org To visit the archives: https://lists.linux-ottawa.org
Re: [linux] ok, what is the most "newbie-friendly" version of linux these days?
The best distro for newbies is the one that comes with an expert to help them out. So, give them one that is compatible with what you use.For instance, If you use any kind of ubuntu, or Debian, give them a variant of Debian, not a variant of Red Hat.Mint would qualify.I provide Xubuntu for my family. All my very best,Rob -- Rob Echlin, B. Eng. 613-266-8311 - Ottawa, Canada - https://linkedin.com/in/robechlin- https://medium.com/@rechlin On Sunday, February 24, 2019, 10:34:44 a.m. EST, Robert P. J. Day wrote: it's a question for the ages ... i have the opportunity to migrate someone from a dying windows pc to a spare laptop i have, and rather than run around looking for windows installation media, she's willing to at least entertain the notion of linux, as she needs little more than surfing/email/MS office functionality. last time i thought about it, i would have recommended linux mint ... are there any other serious contenders at this point? i'm perusing this article at the moment: https://itsfoss.com/best-linux-beginners/ rday -- Robert P. J. Day Ottawa, Ontario, CANADA http://crashcourse.ca/dokuwiki Twitter: http://twitter.com/rpjday LinkedIn: http://ca.linkedin.com/in/rpjday To unsubscribe send a blank message to linux+unsubscr...@linux-ottawa.org To get help send a blank message to linux+h...@linux-ottawa.org To visit the archives: https://lists.linux-ottawa.org
[linux] ok, what is the most "newbie-friendly" version of linux these days?
it's a question for the ages ... i have the opportunity to migrate someone from a dying windows pc to a spare laptop i have, and rather than run around looking for windows installation media, she's willing to at least entertain the notion of linux, as she needs little more than surfing/email/MS office functionality. last time i thought about it, i would have recommended linux mint ... are there any other serious contenders at this point? i'm perusing this article at the moment: https://itsfoss.com/best-linux-beginners/ rday -- Robert P. J. Day Ottawa, Ontario, CANADA http://crashcourse.ca/dokuwiki Twitter: http://twitter.com/rpjday LinkedIn: http://ca.linkedin.com/in/rpjday To unsubscribe send a blank message to linux+unsubscr...@linux-ottawa.org To get help send a blank message to linux+h...@linux-ottawa.org To visit the archives: https://lists.linux-ottawa.org
