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If my mother-in-law can use Ubuntu Linux, anyone can (2012)

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Re: If my mother-in-law can use Ubuntu Linux, anyone can (2012)

#21

Post by alamortsubite »

theandrewbailey wrote: post #11

About 10 years ago, after Windows broke again, I installed Xubuntu on my parents PC. I told them it works like Windows, like how double clicking desktop icons opens programs, the X button in the corner closes them, and there's a "start menu" at the bottom. (If "it works like Windows" triggered you, I'd like to remind you that most people don't care about how operating system kernels are designed.) I showed them how t…

I did the same during COVID for my mom and dad, though I didn't tell them what I'd installed wasn't Windows. I tried to mimic the desktop as closely as possible to what they were used to. Then I set up an ssh tunnel for VNC so I could help remotely if they had a meltdown. They hadn't mentioned anything about the change after a couple weeks, which made me nervous, so I asked what was going on. My dad said they'd been using the computer normally every day, and that he'd honestly forgotten about me reconfiguring it.

Re: If my mother-in-law can use Ubuntu Linux, anyone can (2012)

#22

Post by alexjplant »

haunter wrote: post #20
alexjplant wrote: post #19

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> bluetooth Has Just Worked (tm) on Fedora and Mint with the past three Thinkpads I've had, even with AirPods. > video games From what I understand Valve's efforts on Proton enable a plurality of modern games to run on Linux to the point that their flagship Steam Deck ships with a Debian-derived distro. > Adobe suite, etc. Niche creative software like high-end photo editing and DAWs are, admittedly, not well-supporte…

> Debian-derived distro Arch Linux

Ah, thanks. For those who are still stuck in 2013 like me Wikipedia sayeth:

> In February 2022, Valve released the Steam Deck gaming handheld, running a dramatically updated version of SteamOS, version 3.0, based on the Arch Linux distribution with the KDE Plasma environment

Re: If my mother-in-law can use Ubuntu Linux, anyone can (2012)

#23

Post by SushiHippie »

doubled112 wrote: post #10
elevation wrote: post #4

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Pretty much any $30 HP inkjet printer at Walmart seemed to work with Ubuntu, so I set it up for some elderly friends years ago. Much more stable than windows and I was able to make the desktop icons and wallpaper look the same as they were used to on windows. No tech support calls either, everything just worked for them.

HP did have great drivers in the HPLIP package, which is ironic considering their Windows drivers are a total dumpster fire. I say did because I haven't used them in a while. It could still be true.

I have a relatively old (10+ years) HP Scanner (which is also a printer) for free that someone wanted to get rid of. It already has some online services integrated into it, which luckily don't work anymore as they've shut down the servers.

On linux I can use `hpscan` from hplip which works very well, someone also wrote a server that allows you to use the 'scan to PC' functionality of most HP scanners. Printing also works flawlessly with CUPS.

But on Windows... if I open the 'Scan' program and select the HP Scanner it redirects me to the Microsoft Store to download the 'HP Smart' program. And if you want to scan from there you'll need an HP Account (yes, an online account to use your own scanner).

Re: If my mother-in-law can use Ubuntu Linux, anyone can (2012)

#24

Post by alamortsubite »

tapoxi wrote: post #16

My wife bought one of these early 2010s netbooks running Ubuntu. She didn't know what it was or how it was different, but eventually she started asking me for support. "How can I use Office? Why can't I play this video? What's this error in the software upgrade screen?" Linux is fine for day-to-day use if you're already technical and can debug it when you inevitably hit a roadblock, or you have a family member who ca…

Those netbooks came out in 2008. I had one (fun toy).

Chromebooks are OK, but Linux has come a long way in the last 16 years. All the Chromebooks I've bought for family members (ok, only two), the first thing I've done is installed Debian for them.

Re: If my mother-in-law can use Ubuntu Linux, anyone can (2012)

#25

Post by vorticalbox »

tapoxi wrote: post #16

My wife bought one of these early 2010s netbooks running Ubuntu. She didn't know what it was or how it was different, but eventually she started asking me for support. "How can I use Office? Why can't I play this video? What's this error in the software upgrade screen?" Linux is fine for day-to-day use if you're already technical and can debug it when you inevitably hit a roadblock, or you have a family member who ca…

I'm running fedora atomic, you can also use toolbx or distrobox and install apps there and then export them if you are worried about flakpak.

Re: If my mother-in-law can use Ubuntu Linux, anyone can (2012)

#26

Post by mangecoeur »

I’ve seen this repeated and it’s just not true. Very non-expert users can use it just because its reasonably stable and they just don’t do that many things, as long as they have a working web browser they are fine (thats the premise of a chromebook). But anyone getting work done will quickly run into things they can’t do.

I’ve come to think a better benchmark for linux having “got there” is, can i run an architects office on ubuntu ?

Architects:

- need access to industry standard, graphics and processing heavy software

- need to exchange files with many other companies, so need inter compatibility

- need things to just work, they are not interested in fiddling with the guts of their os just to make things work

- work in contexts where cost of software is a drop in the ocean in the budget of a project, so the add value of running on linux has to be more than “you get some software for free”

Thinking about reaching a state where you could run an architecture office on ubuntu raises the bar a lot on what still needs to be improved

Re: If my mother-in-law can use Ubuntu Linux, anyone can (2012)

#27

Post by throwaway71271 »

tapoxi wrote: post #16

My wife bought one of these early 2010s netbooks running Ubuntu. She didn't know what it was or how it was different, but eventually she started asking me for support. "How can I use Office? Why can't I play this video? What's this error in the software upgrade screen?" Linux is fine for day-to-day use if you're already technical and can debug it when you inevitably hit a roadblock, or you have a family member who ca…

Which ubuntu is that? I moved my gaming pc to ubuntu recently and everything has been amazing, even dist upgrade worked without bricking anything.

My wife uses fedora on some super old alienware laptop from like 10 years ago and she is just fine with open office and etc, never had to give any support.

Of course milage may vary, but my daughter is forced to use Windows from her school and I have to tell you I have to give One Drive support at least once per day, where "something" is not working properly, file is missing and etc.

I use macos on my m1 laptop and its probably the best experience, the m1 is just rock solid, besides when I want to gdb -p into chrome and it doesnt let me without disabling the system's integrity protection.

Re: If my mother-in-law can use Ubuntu Linux, anyone can (2012)

#28

Post by gspencley »

acomjean wrote: post #17
_fat_santa wrote: post #15

IMHO it's gotten even better since 2012. Back then you would still have issues with stuff like MS Office, video conferencing, etc. Nowdays with the push to SaaS apps, most of that stuff is online and works just fine with Linux. My company runs on MS stuff so we have Outlook, Teams, Office, etc. Back in 2012 I'm not sure I would have been able to use Linux at work because of this software but now I can run all of it i…

Things running the browser makes Linux really practical for all my “office/outlook” tasks. The web as a stable platform seems to enable cross platform work. When I worked at a hpux shop we had to go to a separate machine use some Citrix thing to log onto windows NT to use internet explorer to do our time cards… we’ve come a long way. Libre office works quite well (especially for csvs) I’m on popos (Ubuntu varriant) a…

We can't know for sure, but I suspect this is the reason that Linux use has grown so much according to StatCounter over the past couple of years.

I'm also starting to think that, for the very first time, Linux is now the "stable" option. Microsoft and Apple, being businesses, are constantly trend-chasing as the tech industry loves to do. I'm not averse to new features, but I want to be able to evaluate new things and choose whether or not to use them on my own terms. When cloud became popular, suddenly the operating system was updated to require accounts when none existed before, iCloud and OneDrive were "in your face" and you didn't necessarily ask for this. Then there's things like Ads in the Windows Start Menu.

With Linux, the trend-chasing just isn't there. You might have a software update introduce a bug, that risk can't go away no matter what system you're on, but you're not going to have your user experience change in ways that you didn't expect or want because the vendor decided so.

Of course, with SaaS apps that happens routinely at the application-level. But at least our desktop environments and user experience with respects to the OS can stay the way we're used to and like.

Even with games, which is the typical use-case for sticking with Windows, Steam is growing the number of available titles for Linux and I'm increasingly impressed. Not every game I want is available on Linux of course but it is trending in a positive direction.

Re: If my mother-in-law can use Ubuntu Linux, anyone can (2012)

#29

Post by SushiHippie »

alexjplant wrote: post #19
acchow wrote: post #12

Your mother-in-law probably never uses bluetooth, video games, Adobe suite, etc.

> bluetooth Has Just Worked (tm) on Fedora and Mint with the past three Thinkpads I've had, even with AirPods. > video games From what I understand Valve's efforts on Proton enable a plurality of modern games to run on Linux to the point that their flagship Steam Deck ships with a Debian-derived distro. > Adobe suite, etc. Niche creative software like high-end photo editing and DAWs are, admittedly, not well-supporte…

> that their flagship Steam Deck ships with a Debian-derived distro.

It was once Debian based but since a few years they switched to Arch Linux.

https://www.pcgamer.com/this-is-why-valve-is-switching-from-...

Re: If my mother-in-law can use Ubuntu Linux, anyone can (2012)

#30

Post by [deleted] »

LorenDB wrote: post #18
eysgshsvsvsv wrote: post #14

Earlier quoted context omitted.

[flagged]

Your original comment is hard to not be offended by. You made a bold (and false) claim that Linux is ugly (try browsing r/unixporn sometime; it's chock-full of amazing setups) and in the same breath referred people to using Apple products that are known for their cult-like following, not to mention they're diametrically opposed to much of what Linux stands for (free software, customizability, etc.).

[deleted]
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