From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Linux is a family of open source Unix-like operating systems based on the Linux kernel, an operating system kernel first released on September 17, 1991 by Linus Torvalds. Linux is typically packaged in a Linux distribution (or distro for short).
Distributions include the Linux kernel and supporting system software and libraries, many of which are provided by the GNU Project. Many Linux distributions use the word "Linux" in their name, but the Free Software Foundation uses the name GNU/Linux to emphasize the importance of GNU software, causing some controversy.
Community icon by Alpár-Etele Méder, licensed under CC BY 3.0
I set my mom (62) up an old laptop running Ubuntu last year when her laptop was stolen out of my sister's car. She's adjusted fairly well to it. She needed a lot of hands on support at first and any time she uses her printer, but she has figured out how to do a lot of things on it on her own.
She makes papercraft activities in inkscape for a weekly storytime she hosts at a bookstore and has gotten very proficient, but still needs some hand holding when printing errors crop up.
I have a Fedora Workstation (i.e. Gnome) desktop, a Fedora Workstation laptop, a Windows 10 laptop I'm forced to use for work.
My wife doesn't have a PC (well I guess she has a Steam Deck, actually, but it only ever goes into desktop mode in order to install/update Stardew Valley mods).
My daughter has my old laptop, with Mint on it.
No issues so far.
My dad did have a laptop with ElementaryOS on it, but since he bought an iPad the laptop has just been gathering dust.
I set up Lubuntu for my mom on an old laptop because it couldn't handle mint. She liked that it felt new and familiar enough, but she didn't love it enough to not go back to Windows when she got newer more powerful laptop.
Replaced on old windows install on living room media pc with popOS. Newer hardware, just didn’t make sense to run such a vulnerable and outdated os any more and I wasn’t about to pay for a new windows version for it. A few choice apps linked in the dock, and the main streaming websites bookmarked on homepage in the browser, and we are golden. No issues making the switch really, apart from occasional Bluetooth hiccups with the combo wireless keyboard/trackpad that drives everything. To be fair, Bluetooth occasionally has a meltdown on windows or Mac as well, so I don’t think this detracts from a successful conversion. The end result is actually much more stable and approachable for the whole fam, so quite happy with results.
I haven't tried yet with my grandparents, but I will next time I see them. I have tried with my dad but he wasn't much of a fan of it and preferred MacOS. My mom uses a chromebook and it suits her well enough, so I won't try to budge her.
Moved my sister to Ubuntu a while ago aside from the occasional support call everything works quite well.
As for my mom, I sat her down way back and told her she needed to move off of Windows XP (support was running out). I explained to her that she could learn Windows 7 and eventually 10 (8 was already a known dud by then) or she could switch to a "Traditional" desktop paradigm that resembled XP closely where she'd only had to relearn once and then keep running it forever, so I moved her to MATE.
While most issues she had with incompatibilities could be solved (and often remotely by me just via ssh) there was one MFP that just wouldn't scan properly (I've scoured the web for guides and sane drivers etc.) in the end I set up a Dual boot Windows (with a nice "switch to Windows " script right in the pinned apps) just so she could scan from there (scans automatically saved on a NAS share that was also available in Linux so she could use the scanned documents there). These days the MFP died and she got a new one that will actually scan in Linux but I kept the dual boot just in case (though I doubt she ever uses it).
I moved my elderly mother to ChromeOS and I no longer have to deal with the IT burden of supporting whatever she installed or broke this week. Move your parents to Linux if you truly enjoy being an on call unpaid helpdesk
Just do not give them sudo.. Pretty hard to break Linux without sudo.
Not Linux but MacOSX.
They all know how to operate their iPhones, which we got them because it was like their iPad; it’s easy troubleshooting: how would you do this on your phone? Well, it’s exactly the same here.