The average user does not use a variety of apps either. All they need is a browser, a rich text editor, a simple image editor, a video player and maybe a messenger. All but the browser can be effectively substituted by web apps nowadays, so the browser is pretty much the only thing they really need. But then, they're better off with a chromebook, as it doesn't offer as much options to brick itself.
Honestly, I’d love a “Your Grandma Can’t Brick This” distro.
Numerous times I've heard Linux Mint be referred to as exactly this! :)
The funny part is some distros like that are perfect for the other extreme that basically just needs a browser and maybe a way to write letters or print things.
Mint is very GUI-heavy and tries to keep itself out of the box and simple to maintain while staying out of the way.
...and tech support scammers have no idea what "a linux" is half the time, for added benefit. Lol
IMO Mint is more “Your Mum Can’t Brick This”. I wouldn’t hand it over to my grandma and expect to not get a call in the future saying it’s all gone to shit 😂
Ahh you have one of those truly destructive force-of-nature grandmas that no UX can stop from working over a system until it begs for a complete reformat!
I feel for you <3
... Maybe keep a remote access service like RustDesk handy if she's more than a few miles away then. 😆
... And install with BTRFS and Timeshift rollbacks.
Haha but I've seen it posted multiple times: "I set them up with it and my phone stops ringing for tech support calls and they're happy with it!" haha. Some like to learn, some don't sadly.
But YMMV, depending on the appetite for chaos wielded by one's particular gran-gran. XD
The devil is usually in the details.
OSS rich text editors work, but then you send out the document to someone who has Word and they complain about the formatting since it doesn't translate some times.
Messenger app experience usually goes "Native Windows > Web app > Linux", at least in the few corporate I used. Stuff like Lark not even being up to date with their web app and Telegram having strange interactions with some window managers.
It works and I gotten people to use raspberry pi instead of their windows computers, but it just feels very unpolished overall.
And then there's the whole package/flatpack/snap/cosmopolitan thing
True, but Chromebooks are a type of Linux as well.
The average user does not use a variety of apps either. All they need is a browser, a rich text editor, a simple image editor, a video player and maybe a messenger. All but the browser can be effectively substituted by web apps nowadays, so the browser is pretty much the only thing they really need. But then, they're better off with a chromebook, as it doesn't offer as much options to brick itself.
Honestly, I’d love a “Your Grandma Can’t Brick This” distro.
Numerous times I've heard Linux Mint be referred to as exactly this! :)
The funny part is some distros like that are perfect for the other extreme that basically just needs a browser and maybe a way to write letters or print things.
Mint is very GUI-heavy and tries to keep itself out of the box and simple to maintain while staying out of the way.
...and tech support scammers have no idea what "a linux" is half the time, for added benefit. Lol
IMO Mint is more “Your Mum Can’t Brick This”. I wouldn’t hand it over to my grandma and expect to not get a call in the future saying it’s all gone to shit 😂
Ahh you have one of those truly destructive force-of-nature grandmas that no UX can stop from working over a system until it begs for a complete reformat!
I feel for you <3
... Maybe keep a remote access service like RustDesk handy if she's more than a few miles away then. 😆
... And install with BTRFS and Timeshift rollbacks.
Haha but I've seen it posted multiple times: "I set them up with it and my phone stops ringing for tech support calls and they're happy with it!" haha. Some like to learn, some don't sadly.
But YMMV, depending on the appetite for chaos wielded by one's particular gran-gran. XD
The devil is usually in the details.
OSS rich text editors work, but then you send out the document to someone who has Word and they complain about the formatting since it doesn't translate some times. Messenger app experience usually goes "Native Windows > Web app > Linux", at least in the few corporate I used. Stuff like Lark not even being up to date with their web app and Telegram having strange interactions with some window managers.
It works and I gotten people to use raspberry pi instead of their windows computers, but it just feels very unpolished overall.
And then there's the whole package/flatpack/snap/cosmopolitan thing
True, but Chromebooks are a type of Linux as well.