4mo ago

Linux for my grandparents

Around a year ago my grandparents asked me to update their computers to Windows 10. One from 7 and one from 8.1. I couldn't update from 7 to 10 so I just reinstalled directly to 10. The license was lost but grandfather didn't mind that "activate windows". And for office I installed libreoffice (or onlyoffice, I dont remember). On 7 he was using Chrome so I installed him Brave, which is similar enough and has an adblocker. He never complained about anything... until now.

Both grantfather and grandmother on the same day they got some notification (probably fullscreen, otherwise they wouldn't even told me) about end of 10 and that they should upgrade. So I told them Windows 10 support is ending in about a year. I gave them 3 options:

Buy a new computer for windows 11
Use windows 10 without updates - more likely to be hacked.
Try linux. As soon as I said "Linux" my grandfatger said: "Linux, thats something... lightweight... right?". I'm a gentoo user and I forced my brother and sister to install linux but I never mentiond a word to my grandparents. I have no idea where he heard that. But I'm happy he did!

So the main question: What distro? I'm thinking of Fedora with Gnome. Something stable, modern, secure, and simple. Gnome is different, I know, but I also think Gnome is the simplest. Should I go with Silverblue or normal version? I will also definitely install rustdesk and make backups of windows. And I will first try liveusb so they can decide if they like gnome.

Edit: I'm currently trying to liveboot linux. I rebooted the computer and windows started updating...

Edit: I livebooted Fedora and Mint DE, they said they like Mint more so I installed Mint. Grandfather's scanner and printer were detected out of the box with preinstalled apps, ptinter sadlly doesn't work but that was also with windows - probably hardware failed. Now I'm Installing Brave for grandfather and uBlock Origin for firefox for grandmother. Everything good so far!

48 comments

Mint, it just works.
You can set up automatic updates too, so they won't end up with out of date software and possible security holes. The only downside is Firefox. If an update runs while your grandparents are using Firefox, it will stop working and show them a page that says it needs to be restarted.
It's not a major issue in itself, but if you have any sort of memory issues, like I do and lots of older people do, it can derail your train of thought and cause you problems.
- Can’t you setup Firefox to remember the last session and reopen the same pages upon relaunch without any user interaction?
  
  Yes, that's what it does by default. The problem happens when you open a new tab to search for something, for example, and the update screen and restart distract you and you forget what you were going to search for. It's like the feeling you get when you walk into a room and can't remember why.
- My parents were happily using Mint for about 5 years, until my brother took over the it support role, and was uncomfortable trying to troubleshoot issues in Linux.
- Many friends of mine had great success setting their grandparents up with Linux mint

As a 50-something non-geek that searched for a zero issue distro himself, I can tell you I settled on... Debian (and I love it!) on my desktop and, on my laptop, it's Mint (which I like a lot too).
I tried and kept Mint because, unlike Debian and a few other Distros I tested, Mint was able to connect to my Airpods out of the box. Like I told you, I'm not really the most extreme geek ;)
The funny thing is that, as much as I was happy with Debian/Xfce, I also quickly learned to appreciate almost everything else with Mint/cinnamon and how it... just works (coming from a 35+ years Mac user). It's like they made it for 'mere' users like me.
Debian and Mint share many things, but the two I appreciate the most on a day to day base (beside the utmost stability and snappiness, even more obvious on Debian as far as I'm concerned) is
the lack of too frequent updates. There a bit more on Mint, but even there, it's not a bother.
The easiness to make everything larger, texts, menus, and cursor. I'm getting old and I don't have a good eyesight like I had in my 20s ;)
Hope this can help.
- I also recommend Zorin OS. It's a bit easier to set up than debian.
- I have a debian 12 with Unattended Upgrades as a work machine, and it works surprisingly well (I use Arch BTW) - it is probably the simplest way for you to be sure their browser stays up-to-date & keep them safe on this side
  Issue with these updates is they happen "behind" and may need a reboot ; this is the only moment I found Debian to misbehave, decide to reboot & I get it when I see the machine updating some component before rebooting again
  So this is the full extend of the training to give: in case of doubt, reboot.
  I think gnome is perfect in that context also, the lack of Menu is just one hit on the Meta key away, which, if you trim down the install to their exact need will be accessible, confortable.
  
  Issue with these updates is they happen “behind” and may need a reboot ; this is the only moment I found Debian to misbehave, decide to reboot & I get it when I see the machine updating some component before rebooting again
  I don't think I have that many reboots but I should also say that I will turn off my computer every time I'm not in front of it, which happens multiple times a day. You know, save power and stuff like that. It just boot so quickly it's not an issue.
  I think gnome is perfect in that context also, the lack of Menu is just one hit on the Meta key away, which, if you trim down the install to their exact need will be accessible, confortable.
  For me, with Cinnamon and with Xfce, the only real issue was that I had to spend some time tweaking (and searching online) how to make the desktop behave exactly like I wanted it to. But since the OP will be installing it for them, they won't even have to bother. Which is great.
  If I was to suggest anything to the OP, which seems to know much more than I ever will about Linux, it would be to set up an automated backup of their home folder on an external drive (I would go SSD, because I would not fear bumping it or even dropping it), so they will not lose anything even if some serious shit was to ever happen (this is not at all based on my own personal experience as a beginner that may have done some stupid mistakes. No, not I ;)
- If you haven't already, you can turn on automatic uodates in Mint.
  Next time the update icon shows up, go to preferences from the menu and you can allow it to automatically update. You'll still occasionally see the update icon but it usually self updates daily.
  You can set flatpak, normal updates and spices (cinnamon applets) independently.
  
  Thx for the info, I will look at that.
- Yup, I agree Debian or Rocky Linux where the first two distros that popped into my mind

My father switched to linux (Mint, I think) in his 70s. I was in another state so he did it solo. He had a few questions but otherwise it was smooth sailing.
- Mint is an unironically beautiful experience. They've made it perfect, I had my uncle install mint for his personal work too and he used a lot of MS Office suite, but mint just kept him right at home. Didn't have to buy another overpriced consumer laptop.

This might be a good opportunity to try one of universal blue's distros
They are kinda "just set and forget" atomic distros, improving on Fedora Silverblue/Kinoite with usability improvements
- I used to be in the "I prefer Linux but don't have the time and energy to fight it when it doesn't work" camp and would distro hop and occasionally go back to windows since the early aughts. I've been with Bluefin for a while now and it just works and I love the set it and forget it aspect. Also installed Bazzite on my Steam Deck.
- This was going to be my suggestion. Use Bluefin (not the "dx" developer flavor) gts stream.
  It updates automatically in the background. All you have to do is restart it for updates to become active. So as long as it's restarted once a month or so, you're golden.

When mom tried Linux Mint she said: there is no wait time at shutdown, I am use to wait on Windows Update.
- "A stop job is running for ... (56s / 2min)"

For Windows user who don't want to bother learning a new OS? Mint, no question. The latest releases are easy to install and configure, Cinnamon will feel familiar, and it works flawlessly on most hardware.

Yeah. I think you can't go wrong with either Debian or Fedora with Gnome. I would pick whichever I'm most comfortable with. The grandparents will probably never notice.
I love to give Gnome crap for being a large install, but I've lost count of the number of machines that I've put Gnome on and had it just work. And I've lost count of the number of times that I've searched for a fancy command line way to fix an annoyance in Gnome, and discovered there's just a simple toggle in settings for what I want.
- I am a Fedora fan, but I do think that they may have issues with needing to upgrade every year. I am currently holding off on a Fedora 40-41 upgrade on my school laptop until finals are done, just in case something breaks.
  I've been on Fedora since about 32ish? And I've had a couple of times where the upgrade didn't go smooth.
  For grandparents, I'd probably lean towards Debian with Gnome.
  
  That's a great point. A nice Debian LTS release could be just the thing.

For Windows users, Linux Mint is the best option.

I've installed Kinoite on a few Linux newbie computers and they have worked near flawlessly. I would think Silverblue would be the same

Had basically the same exact scenario with my parents earlier this year.
Installed Linux Mint with the default Cinnamon desktop, installed a "Windows" theme. Put icons on the desktop exactly where there old ones were, and never looked back.
It's been great for them, does everything they need and took minimal effort from me to set up.

I guess I'm gonna say Linux Mint here too, even better LMDE.

I use Fedora with GNOME for my parents and other family members. Some have used Windows prior, some have not used computers at all really, only iPads. They all get along very well on GNOME!
I have started using Silverblue the last year, which simplify things even further. Combined with the excellent remote controll functionality, it has been a really pleasant experience both for me and them.
- Fedora silverblue works great for family, it has the least issues and they (family) can't fuck it up

I have been using Universal Blue's Bluefin variant and it has been rock solid. It is atomic desktop and all updates, both Flatpak and Image update, are handled automatically.

I have 3 elderly people for whom I installed Linux Mint, they have been using it for 5 years now. Without any problems.

My grandparents (now 90+) didn't care much when I would change their distro, they are currently on Tumbleweed (just bcs thats what I decided to run on everyones computer I'm asked to maintain).
I would keep their general experience about the same for their use case (same desktop/desktop dock shortcuts, same browser ofc).
But yeah, Fedora (def Silverblue) or wherever you are familiar with.
\ (Lol, I never actually tried Mint myself, but that too - like a modern Ubuntu alternative)

If you think your grandparents would prefer the Windows 8 or macOS type UI, then GNOME is the way.
I think Xfce or MATE is vastly better tho.

Lots of great options here. Just wanted to add it may be worth using KDE if they're transitioning from Windows. I try and get the look visually close to what they previously had so they're not fighting against muscle memory.
- I know KDE is the most similar to windows but I would never install it due to 2 reasons:
  too many options for them
  too many options for me (the support guy)

Fedora Silverblue has some issues: They use their own flatpak repo, which only includes packages that satisfy Fedora's free software guidelines.
In practice this means that the Firefox it comes with doesn't have the necessary codecs to stream ~~porn~~ video on all streaming sites smoothly.
When you add the flathub repo, you now have a selector for all packages available in both where you have to choose if you want the Fedora or the Flathub version. This would be confusing for your grandparents. Also, when I tried it, it was buggier than I'm used to. Sometimes the software center locked up, or failed to install things on the first try, or update.
Even the entire system locked up sometimes, which really shouldn't happen on an atomic distro at all.

I personally have a grandmother i got setup using Mint Cinnamon and she hasnt had a single issue in months. So id go Mint.

GNOME for sure. My wife really struggled with Windows 7/10 interface because options and settings are all over the place, and filemanager was inconsistent. Set her up with NixOS and GNOME. She no longer gets in a tizzy over the OS

Xfce. Keep it lightweight and simple.
I'd go Mint xfce.

I may be in the minority, but I've had some success in the past with getting Windows users to adjust to XFCE and LXDE on low resource machines. I know Ubuntu based distros are frowned upon by the community (even actively hated sometimes), but xubuntu and lubuntu might be worth a look for liveusb testing and having a low barrier to maintain.

For grandfathers nad mothers I personally install an inmutable distro. If they come from windows, KDE Plasma will probably be easier for them than gnome. So I would say Fedora Kinoite, but Silverblue Aurora is IMHO even best fitted for the case.

Fourth option is forcing the Windows 11 update through Rufus
- Nope, I'm not doing that. If they want that, they can do it themselves.
  
  Fair enough, but it's an option if people really want to stay on Windows. But using the chance to switch them to Linux is great
- I did this for a few systems, but it doesn't do major build updates. I'm getting full screen "You need to upgrade" notifications on a few 21h02 machines now, yet Windows update says it's up to date.
  
  I have two machines on 23H2 and they still get security updates

48 comments