Page 2 of 2 FirstFirst 12
Results 11 to 19 of 19

Thread: Best distro for elders/technically unskilled?

  1. #11
    Join Date
    May 2008
    Beans
    1,427
    Distro
    Ubuntu Development Release

    Re: Best distro for elders/technically unskilled?

    If you want to never mess with your OS, grab Scientific Linux 6. It has some nice stuff out of the box and is less of a hassle to set up compared to Debian. It's based on Fedora, but is less "user friendly" than Ubuntu and will require some terminal work to get running at first.

    I say pop Ubuntu 10.04 on it if you don't want to change too much, though.

  2. #12
    Join Date
    Oct 2010
    Location
    The Big, Bad, World!
    Beans
    120
    Distro
    Ubuntu 11.10 Oneiric Ocelot

    Thumbs down Re: Best distro for elders/technically unskilled?

    Quote Originally Posted by biodiesel-bri View Post
    My 87 year old dad is currently running Kubuntu 10.04. My in-laws, and my wife are on Ubuntu. All have been happy users for years. This week my wife accidentally did a dist-upgrade and was exposed to Unity, and the feedback was, let's say, less than positive. I've been having serious stability and speed issues with Kubuntu, so with deep regrets it's time to shift the family to another distro.

    Unity will not fly with my elders/wife who are barely functional on their computer and perceive any change as extremely unwelcome.

    I'm currently evaluating:
    Debian
    Linux Mint
    Lubuntu

    I'd love to hear any other ideas out there. Here are the must-haves:
    Focus is on long term stability instead of rapid releases
    Interface as similar to Gnome 10.10-ish or KDE 3.6/4.x as possible
    - e.g. no ultra-lightweight X-windows, nothing edgy/different
    A solid, established community
    Minimal needs for tweaking, compiling, etc.
    Ability to run Flash (yeah, I know) and similar web standards
    Thunderbird email
    Firefox web browser
    Brain-dead simple burning audio CDs
    Simple WAV editing
    Lightweight graphics editing

    Thanks!
    Just go to the login screen, and left-click the bottom right panel, that has the desktop environment mode in there, and go down to "Ubuntu Classic Mode". This will bring them to the Gnome 2 Interface, and will become default, unless you change it again, if they have auto-login enabled, either try to disable auto-login and try this method, or search the net, because I am aware of a method of doing this, whilst logged into Ubuntu, although I cannot remember off of the top of my head

    Hope this helps....

    x-D

  3. #13
    Join Date
    Jun 2008
    Location
    Tucson, AZ
    Beans
    74
    Distro
    Lubuntu

    Re: Best distro for elders/technically unskilled?

    one of my favorite distros is Linux Mint Debian Edition very Ubuntu 10.04 like its a rolling release and is based off of the Debian Testing distro you should definitely check it out

  4. #14
    Join Date
    Sep 2010
    Beans
    9,205
    Distro
    Ubuntu Budgie 17.10 Artful Aardvark

    Re: Best distro for elders/technically unskilled?

    Quote Originally Posted by biodiesel-bri View Post
    My 87 year old dad is currently running Kubuntu 10.04. My in-laws, and my wife are on Ubuntu. All have been happy users for years. This week my wife accidentally did a dist-upgrade and was exposed to Unity, and the feedback was, let's say, less than positive. I've been having serious stability and speed issues with Kubuntu, so with deep regrets it's time to shift the family to another distro.

    Unity will not fly with my elders/wife who are barely functional on their computer and perceive any change as extremely unwelcome.

    I'm currently evaluating:
    Debian
    Linux Mint
    Lubuntu

    I'd love to hear any other ideas out there. Here are the must-haves:
    Focus is on long term stability instead of rapid releases
    Interface as similar to Gnome 10.10-ish or KDE 3.6/4.x as possible
    - e.g. no ultra-lightweight X-windows, nothing edgy/different
    A solid, established community
    Minimal needs for tweaking, compiling, etc.
    Ability to run Flash (yeah, I know) and similar web standards
    Thunderbird email
    Firefox web browser
    Brain-dead simple burning audio CDs
    Simple WAV editing
    Lightweight graphics editing

    Thanks!

    I have three installs of Linux Mint 10.10. It is;

    Professionally compiled.
    easy to look at layout
    Ease of use.
    Stable and not choppy

    Lubuntu 11.04 of the USB:

    Quick
    Frugal
    Bright
    Ease of Use

    aaaaaaaaanddddd....

    No Malware!! to worry about.

    I work with some elder PC users that use Win 7. It's a nightmare. For the most part they do really well but it's the antimalware/virus programs that get them discouraged. With Mint or Lubuntu there is not this constant hassle.


  5. #15
    Join Date
    Oct 2010
    Location
    The Big, Bad, World!
    Beans
    120
    Distro
    Ubuntu 11.10 Oneiric Ocelot

    Thumbs down Re: Best distro for elders/technically unskilled?

    Quote Originally Posted by ventrical View Post
    I have three installs of Linux Mint 10.10. It is;

    Professionally compiled.
    easy to look at layout
    Ease of use.
    Stable and not choppy

    Lubuntu 11.04 of the USB:

    Quick
    Frugal
    Bright
    Ease of Use

    aaaaaaaaanddddd....

    No Malware!! to worry about.

    I work with some elder PC users that use Win 7. It's a nightmare. For the most part they do really well but it's the antimalware/virus programs that get them discouraged. With Mint or Lubuntu there is not this constant hassle.

    Which is the same in any Linux Operating System. Well my heart lies with Ubuntu and its derivatives (Lubuntu, Kubuntu, Xubuntu, Edubuntu, etc), but for an elder person, have them try PCLinuxOS, it might be good for someone who wants a somewhat Windows looking PC!

    x-D

  6. #16
    Join Date
    Jun 2006
    Beans
    391
    Distro
    Xubuntu 12.04 Precise Pangolin

    Re: Best distro for elders/technically unskilled?

    I would argue for Linux Mint for your dad. The toolbar is at the bottom and Mint Menu and software store is simple and easy for folks to figure out. The only drawback is that your google searches are commandeered by even more advertising.

    As for everyone else, you can switch them back to Gnome classic but you're going to have to find an alternative once everything goes gnome 3. Maybe getting them to install xfce or lxde would be worth it?

  7. #17
    Join Date
    Jun 2007
    Location
    Atlanta, GA
    Beans
    802
    Distro
    Ubuntu 15.04 Vivid Vervet

    Re: Best distro for elders/technically unskilled?

    Ubuntu 10.04, has the "classic" Gnome interface and long-term support. I also like quite a bit Mandriva with KDE and openSUSE, also with KDE.
    Registered Linux user #436067
    Registered Ubuntu user #29066
    -----------------------------
    Linux assumes you know exactly what you are doing.

  8. #18
    Join Date
    Mar 2010
    Beans
    Hidden!

    Re: Best distro for elders/technically unskilled?

    Old folks who've had a go at Apple's products tend to like them very much.
    I'm not a fan of Apple, but I recognize the ease of use their OS provides.

    Get your father a Mac if possible. The middle-aged should be able to adapt to FLOSS.

  9. #19
    Join Date
    Feb 2009
    Beans
    107
    Distro
    Ubuntu Development Release

    Re: Best distro for elders/technically unskilled?

    Ubuntu 10.04.3 lts, put the most important shortcuts on desktop/panel and don't give them administrative privileges
    I set this up for my parents (mostly because of good translation) and they use it for browsing, emails and calling me on google voice
    No viruses, no breakages nor fixing yet and they don't even notice it
    ...when you look long into the abyss, the abyss also looks back at you

Page 2 of 2 FirstFirst 12

Bookmarks

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •