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Fast-Nop
4y

I did it: I built up another PC identical to my machine (https://devrant.com/rants/2923002/...) for my SO and installed Linux Mint for her, too. That had been my primary motive for an easy and stable distro in the first place.

Now that didn't come out of the blue. We were discussing the end of Win 7 already two years ago where I brought up my concerns with Win 10 - mainly the forced, lousy updates and the integrated spyware, and that I was considering Linux as way out.

I had expected quite some pushback because she had been exclusively on Windows since the 90s. However, I didn't sell Linux as upgrade. It's just that Win 7 is over, progress under Windows as well, and we're in damage control mode. Went down pretty well.

Fast forward three weeks - remember, first time Linux user and no IT-geek:

- it just works, including web, videos, and music.
- she likes Cinnamon.
- nice desktop themes.
- Redshift is as good as f.lux.
- software installation is just like an app store.
- updates work via an easy tray icon.
- quote: "Linux is great!"
- given this alternative, she doesn't understand why people willingly put up with Win 10.
- no drive letters: already forgotten.
- popcorn for upcoming Win 10 disaster stories.
- why do Windows updates take that long?
- why does Windows need to reboot for every update?
- why does Windows hang in that update boot screen for so long?

I'm impressed that Linux has come so far that it's suitable for end users. Next in line is her father who wants to try Linux, but that will be a story for tomorrow.

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end users
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  • 22
    4y
    all chanting in the background (wearing black robes and carrying candles):

    *one of us*
    *one of us*
    *one of us*
    *one of us*
  • 9
    4y
    @AleCx04 A penguin hatchling is stretching out the beak. ^^ Now that she has seen how easy things are beyond Windows, MS has lost her for good.

    I consider that as a huge achievement because when I tell people that I've abandoned Windows in favour of Linux, what I get is just "yeah but you're an IT expert". Which is kinda true, I guess.

    If however she mentions that she's on Linux when that topic comes up, it has a totally different impact because she's just an average user when it comes to IT.
  • 6
    4y
    @Fast-Nop it really is, people would normally think that Linux is massively difficult to use. I remember my grandmother wanted to play a mahjong game (apologies if I butchered the name) and her tablet was charging. I wasn't doing anything important with my laptop so I put it on for her and explained her how to get to it if she got stuck. She said that she preferred to use that system a million times more than Windows for how easy it was for her to use. And because the pc in question had a touchscreen she loved it even more. Granted she didn't do much, eventually she started watching videos on youtube, but she mentioned how clean and uncluttered it felt.

    A major issue I have with Linux people is how obsessively fanatic they get about distributions e.g "you're using ubuntu? pff what an idiot, ubuntu does <x> for which <y> in Arch is better, use that" or some sort of elitism of the sort, such fragmentation is what puts linux where its at if you ask me
  • 1
    4y
    @AleCx04 Well yeah anything other than Arch is like a vegetarian trying to make friends and finding out everyone's vegan. However, I don't care how uncool I'm with Mint - dogfooding is more important to me so that I'll catch any potential issues first. If I don't believe in the distro that I'm installing for other people, how would they?

    Btw., Mahjongg is among the games that I install for everyone, just like Solitaire, Minesweeper, and GNU Backgammon. Having some nice games available goes a long way for feeling success.

    I also love XSkat, but I guess you'll have to be German for that. ^^
  • 1
    4y
    @Nanos I partitioned a 100 GB for / which even on my machine with e.g. 8 GB for the Android NDK alone is still only at 24 GB usage. Also, I limited systemd to 50 MB of logs. Even /boot has a generous 1.5 GB.

    /home is on a partition of its own of course and currently at 400 GB while 1.4 TB are free. An SSD with 2 TB goes a long way.
  • 4
    4y
    @Nanos Actually, 100 MB of logs because I was too lazy to change the value. I got that from here: https://easylinuxtipsproject.blogspot.com/...

    I'm not a Linux expert, but my Google-Fu is black belt level. ;-)
  • 0
    4y
    @Nanos I'm a ST:NG geek and don't even have to click the link for knowing it's about the Pakleds. ^^

    Actually, I was searching along the lines of things to do after Linux Mint installation exactly because I didn't quite know what's good to do. That blog was a top value hit.

    Btw., I consider Mint as the better Ubuntu, especially the Mint flagship edition with Cinnamon. E.g. the KDE start menu left me scratching my head what that contraption even is.
  • 1
    4y
    @Nanos You don't need antivirus snakeoil in penguin land, just like you don't need regedit.exe.
  • 0
    4y
    Many points are just wrong. Many Windows updates do not require a reboot. And Linux updates do require a reboot as well to replace system libraries and/or kernel. The fact that it just runs fine before reboot does not mean it does not require it for finishing the update.
  • 1
    4y
    @iiii Windows updates require a reboot even for non-system updates because Windows cannot replace DLLs which are being used. Linux can do that.

    By consequence, Windows doesn't actually copy the updates into the right place like Linux does even for kernel updates, but into a temporary directory and then copies everything again during the boot.

    What Windows also sometimes has is SEVERAL reboots for updates. That's when they need the updated state for the update stack in order to finish the update.
  • 1
    4y
    @Fast-Nop AFAIK, Linux cannot completely replace libraries which are in use on the fly, but can make new processes use new version. But the problem is there are processes which cannot be halted without halting the whole system. They continue working with older library and only reboot will upgrade them. That's why libc update is a common reason for system reset: the main system processes rely on it and cannot be restarted without restarting the whole OS.
  • 1
    4y
    @Fast-Nop I agree that Linux modular design is an advantage compared to monolithic NT code of Windows. But it's just wrong to say that Linux upgrades so not require reboots. It just doesn't nag you about them.
  • 2
    4y
    @iiii Yeah, kernel updates and glibc require reboots. However, even "reboot" actually means "reboot" under Linux, not "reboot and then hang for 15 minutes minimum". Even hanging for an hour isn't unheard of, though that's not the norm.

    Plus that under Windows, even uninstalling applications can require a system reboot, which is pretty WTF.
  • 1
    4y
    @Fast-Nop isn't it for the same reason: something uses the files so they cannot be deleted right away?
  • 0
    4y
    @iiii Yeah, I guess that's what MS regards as efficient SW: misdesign it once, annoy the user on multiple occasions. ;-)
  • 0
    4y
    @Fast-Nop it's the evil of compatibility I guess
  • 0
    4y
    @Nanos It's more like saying you don't need a mask if you're out in the wild alone.
  • 0
    4y
    @Nanos not my case at all. My windis is configured to not do any reboots without explicit directive to do so.
  • 0
    4y
    @Nanos if you use anything other than home, then you have access to group policies. There's a policy to restrict reboots if anyone is logged in. Also you can configure other options there as well, like an update channel and getting experimental features, and ability to install everything which does not require a reboot on the fly.

    I've configured mine to use semi-anual channel which is not a "public beta" like it is for most people.
  • 0
    4y
    @Nanos We have a PS4 for games. No driver hassle - AMD and Nvidia constantly release driver updates to compensate bugs in games, which is pretty fucked up from an architectural POV. And no games that constantly require tomorrow's hardware.
  • 0
    4y
    @Fast-Nop except games for consoles are much more expensive
  • 1
    4y
    LOL... my SO likes Mint Cinnamon and took that as inspiration to try mint tea spiced up with cinnamon just to find out how that Linux tastes - as weird as that combo sounds, she likes it!
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