distro a grandpa can use?
Posted by fixedfury505@reddit | linux | View on Reddit | 32 comments
hi, a freind of mines grandpa came to me telling me how his laptop is too slow and cant do shit. hes got a acer one. its a total piece of junk. when i got home to get a better look, it had so much random bloatware. he had nothing he wanted so i formatted it and installed pale moon on his computer. i havent given it back to him yet. its only a 28gb emmc and it still lags on windows 10. hes an old guy who can barely use windows, but a fresh windows 10 install probably wont cut it for long. what is the absolute most simpliest distro an old fart can use? all he really needs is something that doesnt require a "sudo apt update" every day and an internet browser.
this is probably an impossible case but i figured its worth asking
asp174@reddit
My mother has a very similar device. I installed Mint because everytime she booted windoww 10 on that thing it told her to do an update. And when she accidentally clicked update, the device would become unusable for a few hours until the update inevitably failed.
Linux Mint, LibreOffice, a browser, a cloud sync client, and she's happy with her "new" fast netbook.
ProPolice55@reddit
There's a very similar situation with my parents and a Windows 2 in 1 tablet. I mentioned Mint many times but they are hesitant about giving Linux a chance. I would probably install it with KDE Plasma Touch, which I'm sure would still be much faster than Windows 10. Now I have a spare laptop set up with it, so they can give it a go and see that switching is really not that big of a deal. Personally I prefer OnlyOffice, started using it on Windows years before I switched to Linux, but I agree, a good office package and a familiar browser could more or less make the Linux under the setup unnoticeable
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IverCoder@reddit
The Fedora Kinoite-based Aurora would suit your grandfather well.
nochnoydozhor@reddit
Chrome OS Flex - it's just a browser, there's nothing there to break
UbieOne@reddit
Yes, this, if not Mint. My Acer runs quite well on Flex, too. I think I can extend on-battery longer if I change to SSD. Rn it's got a mechanical drive, but it's still really fast - boots/shuts down in seconds, browser flies.
squigglyVector@reddit
lol installing pale moon on someone who never used Linux before is brutal.
Why not sticking with the most major distros ? Ubuntu is very friendly user oriented with minimal to no maintenance. Using the terminal is non mandatory.
Fedora Silverblue can be a good alternative as well.
32gb emmc won’t go very far tho that laptop is really old.
ssh-agent@reddit
Switching him to Linux isn't going to solve this problem.
---Cloudberry---@reddit
What makes you say that?
Not everyone can/wants to just buy new stuff.
I’ve had good results running Linux on lower end hardware, it ran better than Windows.
naughtyfeederEU@reddit
If it's so shit I think Linux mint xfce with secure web browser is good choice. Remember to install ublock origin and privacy badger for grandpa
---Cloudberry---@reddit
Mint with xfce seems a positive choice, but double check first what he uses it for.
gloriousPurpose33@reddit
Obviously mint.
Zeda1002@reddit
Linux Mint or Zorin OS, just ask him what UI he prefers
Zakiyo@reddit
Mint
GoldenPika64@reddit
LMDE is good, Fedora with GNOME is good if they used mac before, or Ubuntu. Debian with XFCE would be a solid choice also.
Dangerous_Cap_1722@reddit
There are still a number of 32bit Linux versions with good support around. Good choice for the very old machines.
Inevitable_Wolf5866@reddit
Mint.
Dangerous_Cap_1722@reddit
Changing from Windows to Linux Mint is a No-Brainer. It's so seemless that my wife didn't even notice that her machine was running Linux instead of Windows. She may be an outlier, but that's how seamless it can be.
derixithy@reddit
Make sure the desktop resembles Windows because old people get really confused when you change that! Even little things like icons and such. Maybe try Zorin OS or Linux Mint (Mate) or if it's to heavy Linux Lite but that has more a Win XP look
Dangerous_Cap_1722@reddit
If it's a 64bit machine, then Linux Mint will be best.
No-Volume-1565@reddit
Zorin Lite or Mint XFCE?
treuss@reddit
Even my parents and my gf's grandma are happy with Ubuntu Cinnamon edition. It's clean and super easy to use.
The UI resembles well known OSses, so little difference to what people are used to.
mimedm@reddit
Just normal Ubuntu. It's important that everything is big and you need only one button on the mouse
kudlitan@reddit
Linux Mint MATE Edition
joetacos@reddit
Fedora
llothar@reddit
Fedora Kinote. Atomic, so won't break, and KDE makes it look like Windows for familiarity.
drax_slayer@reddit
zorin or mint
kryo2019@reddit
Probably mint. It's pretty simple, and updates are about on par with how windows handles it. Little icon in the tray, only need to enter the password to update things. Otherwise comes with firefox, nothing crazy, he should be good to go.
shogun77777777@reddit
Mint
BlendingSentinel@reddit
Linux Mint should do fine
armaturo@reddit
Try installing something user-friendly, i.e Ubuntu, Mint, Fedora
Bonke12_@reddit
Maybe debian with xfce?