Post B8lIh40GTn8O35ScM4 by stormbringer@noauthority.social
(DIR) More posts by stormbringer@noauthority.social
(DIR) Post #B8lGbP8SnW3jwYT9Xc by quad@akko.quad.moe
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is zorin os still the most idiot proof distro out there?my dad's pc is dying and so i nabbed some sub-$100 used laptop with a 3200U in it.my dad is so tech illiterate that i haven't even managed to make him put a password on his account, if he does he'll be locked out within 48 hours because caps lock is too complex for him to comprehend. same with a PIN, he's going to get fucked by num lock.i need to put linux on the thing, hand it to him, and he needs to be able to watch netflix on the thing without me only having physical access to it like 4 days per year
(DIR) Post #B8lGyDBBPsPPWScI5o by quad@akko.quad.moe
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he's currently on windows. but even that's a struggle. his laptop is tethered to a desk with an ethernet cable because he was completely lost every time the wifi was in a bad mood. because connecting to a wifi network is so above his skill level that it requires a multi-hour phone call of which a full hour is just trying to make him find the 🛜 button in the corner.this new craptop i'm giving him probably isn't powerful enough to even remotely handle windows, so i wanna put linux on it. but i fear that even zorin os or linux mint might be too complex for him.if the OS even dares to give him a pop up saying "hey, we recommend setting a sign-in password on your account for security" the laptop would probably fly out the window
(DIR) Post #B8lHVcrIxhecipFfm4 by stormbringer@noauthority.social
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@quad I use Linux, CachyOS. I simply use a 6 digit number as my password. No alphabet nor special characters. I don't know how it would react to a four digit or less password, but it's never asked me to change it nor make it stronger.
(DIR) Post #B8lHVd9jrAOpdzsOVU by quad@akko.quad.moe
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@stormbringer i know cachy is the cool distro these days. but does that manage itself? unless updates "just happen" like on windows or there's a simple pop up once a month with an "update now" button like on ubuntu, his computer is never getting updated and will have digital AIDS within a year.the one thing most linux distros are still bad at is "maintaining themselves" like windows when there's an incompetent at the wheel
(DIR) Post #B8lIh40GTn8O35ScM4 by stormbringer@noauthority.social
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@quad that's something I didn't think of. I searched and it appears that fully automatic updates can be activated, however. https://www.reddit.com/r/cachyos/comments/1v5d40q/what_do_you_guys_think_about_this_auto_update/
(DIR) Post #B8lIh4GDWTtWqYvMDg by quad@akko.quad.moe
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@stormbringer Well I'm sure it can be set up with any distro using a cronjob or similar.But I'm not sure I trust the error handling and recovery paths unless it's officially supported.For example Linux Mint lets you easily enable automatic updates in the manager with a checkbox and has prime support for timeshift in case recovery would be needed as both belong to their Xapps project.It's why I'm leaning towards Mint or Zorin. I don't think I'd trust pacman-offline to keep working for 9 months without me being able to touch it
(DIR) Post #B8lJ4objN7jxFYJK7M by stormbringer@noauthority.social
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@quad no worries! That's the great thing about Linux, all kinds of different flavors. Hope you find one that does what you need it to, without giving your father too much hassle. I love that I have finally been able to leave Microsoft in the dust, myself.
(DIR) Post #B8lJ4oskLrLq6KGudk by quad@akko.quad.moe
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@stormbringer I've been Microsoft-free at home since 2017.Although ironically I work full-time as a Windows sysadmin.
(DIR) Post #B8lQpYXjcGkOiTg000 by quad@akko.quad.moe
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@keisatsu @stormbringer >whatever you feel most comfortable managing for himproblem is that we live in different towns, I won't be able to manage it
(DIR) Post #B8lRjIUMUdXn8og6YS by quad@akko.quad.moe
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@keisatsu @stormbringer Oh yeah, I can handle a major version upgrade every Christmas or so when I visit.The problem is ensuring he has security updates in-between, and that it's not just a random cron job that blows something up if he tries to shut down at the wrong time
(DIR) Post #B8lTYLWr37ABIEkZ28 by quad@akko.quad.moe
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@sunlight @keisatsu @stormbringer I mean sure, as long as you can recommend an immutable distro that a noob can get security patches onto. Most of the immutable ones or the ones otherwise based on system images are stuff like MicroOS and bazzite, which I definitely don't think are right for my dad.
(DIR) Post #B8lX5VauwkAHvh9fqy by quad@akko.quad.moe
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@sunlight Well, Fedora has a whole family of atomic distros, that's what Bazzite is powered by as well.But I also haven't tried many of them, from what I've heard they're still pretty oriented towards enthusiasts
(DIR) Post #B8n5oDIXCQsyQgA5OC by quad@akko.quad.moe
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@kkarhan I mean he's just a typical boomer born in 61.They refuse to learn anything new. He still makes sure to religiously unplug his laptop once a month to drain the battery before charging it back up because he still thinks a modern laptop will explode if you leave it plugged in while using it.The most recent info about how he operates a computer is probably something a "Computer Expert" told him on TV in 2005 and he still clings to that as if it's current day infoHe didn't need a password on his PC in the 90s so he doesn't get why he needs one now.These guys just refuse to learn any new tricks. It goes in one ear and out the other.