Today at the grocery store a sweet older lady approached me and asked if I knew anything about computers. I said yes I do, and she produced a mouse saying that her son set up Linux mint for her and she was wondering if the mouse was compatible. It needed kernel version 2.6 or newer so I said that the mouse should work, guessing mint itself was probably newer than that kernel. Happy with my answer, we chatted a little, then she thanked me and left.
It was a nice experience, so I thought I should share!
I tried to install Linux on my mom’s laptop for her, it was too scary. So she is still using windows 7 and probably getting scammed left and right.
My dad is running xubuntu for about 6 years now. I didn’t get any questions in the last 2 years. Besides for installing a new printer.
Before that it was mostly which program he needed for something. Never a black screen anymore, malware or anything like that.
He’s using Linux; even the hackers think he’s suffering enough.
My mom on the other hand did not find it problematic , given that she never used computers before and her first exp was linux mint 😌
Back in 2010 or so I got sick of my mother constantly getting viruses, Trojans and spyware and installed Linux on her laptop. It actually worked out great… support calls went from once a month to her just wondering how to get the photos from her camera periodically. After a few years she got a Chromebook, which surprisingly has been more annoying. My dad somehow thought she needed 6 Google accounts or something and she’s constantly confused about which one she’s signed into. Other than that, both are a whole lot easier to deal with for both of us than her having windows.
Zorin looks easier for the unacquainted.
https://zorin.com/os/
After I tried to set up her new home internet and she had a melt down because I asked her if she had done any of the items I asked her to do (try connecting her smart tv to the network using the information I gave her) I no longer offer tech support to her, in fact we have barely spoken since then. It has been wonderful.