There have been multiple accounts created with the sole purpose of posting advertisement posts or replies containing unsolicited advertising.

Accounts which solely post advertisements, or persistently post them may be terminated.

Is Linux (dumb)user friendly yet?

So I’m building a new computer before the end of the year and lemmy is obviously pushing me towards Linux.

I am not computer savvy, I have a family member that will help me set up my PC, but I do not want to be calling/messaging them every day when I want to open a program.

Basically my question comes down to: can I operate a Linux PC these days without needing to troubleshoot or type code.

I use my computer about once a week for a few hours I would say, so any time spent troubleshooting is time wasted.

Thanks!

EDIT: since a lot of people are asking what programs I typically use, I’ll just list my most used programs.

Word, Excel, ect(I’m fine with alternatives)

Spotify

Gimp (would have been a make or break, so I’m glad it’s supported)

Brave browser (browser is a browser)

Steam

Discord

I would say that while I could figure out how the kernels work, I’m at a point with computers these days where I don’t have the time. My priorities fall with a seamless daily experience. If I have the time to figure something out I can, but ideally my day to day usage being unbotherd is what I’m after.

A lot of the comments so far have been helpful! I’m definitely going to give Linux a fair shot with my new build, probably start with Mint.

CynicusRex , (edited )
@CynicusRex@slrpnk.net avatar

Yes. Linux has become more user-friendly than Windows. Things stay were they are so it is reliable. It doesn’t serve ads nor spies on the user so it is ethical. When updating one sees exactly what happens, and one can have perfect manual control of updates if one wants to. That and so much more.

Sidenote, perhaps consider using Vivaldi browser as it is superior for now, pre Manifest V3. However, if one wants to keep using uBlock Origin indefinitely regardless of the Manifest V3 transition, use LibreWolf which ships with uBlock Origin by default.

Over the years I went from Linux Mint to Xubuntu to EndeavourOS, and from desktop environment Xfce to KDE Plasma. To beginners who absolutely want the least amount of updates and don’t mind older software versions I’d suggest a Debian based distribution, and to everyone else I’d suggest an Arch-based distribution, specifically EndeavourOS, or Manjaro if one cannot install the former for some reason, but both are fine. Why? I like to update as soon as possible and to have access to most software without it being a hassle to install. Moreover, Arch has a ridiculously comprehensive wiki which most of the time has the answer to one’s problem.

KDE Plasma over Xfce because it’s a remarkably configurable feature-rich powerhouse, but I honestly feel bad and wish I could merge them both. If old machines feel too slow for the former, the choice would be Xfce in a heartbeat because it is fast, minimalistic, and also highly configurable.

I moved away from the aforementioned Debian/Ubuntu based distributions because Mint was too bloated and slow for my taste. Specifically, as a former gamer I am highly sensitive to the responsiveness of the cursor, therefore the move to Xubuntu with Xfce where the mouse movement felt snappy again. Unfortunately Snap packages came to both which caused more problems than it solved, so I moved to Arch-based distributions and never looked back.

TL;DR: if new computers did not come with Windows pre-installed—the absurdity of this monopoly remains mind blowing—Linux would be significantly more pleasant to use for most of the populace. I bet my life on that.

IronKrill , (edited )

Depends what you use and how you use it. With how I use my computer, I have issues on Windows that require terminal input to solve and are more confusing than many of the Linux issues I face, but the way I use Linux also requires terminal. Some applications just work better or only on terminal whether you’re on Windows or Linux and some debugging steps will inevitably take you down the dark road of decade old menus and terminal commands.

Day to day basic tasks though? It shouldn’t need any special knowledge, provided that you don’t follow the wrong online tutorials like I did when starting out. For example, Firefox was out of date so I looked up how to update Firefox. The package manager did not have a new version and I didn’t think to manually go into settings and refresh the repository (stores auto update, right? Well, no actually…). Basically I ended up trying to install via a .deb package from their website… it didn’t work and I felt Linux was dumb. What I should have done was update my OS and package manager first or simply sudo apt update && sudo apt upgrade (yes this is terminal, sorry). My point is, sometimes you have to realise the question you are asking is flawed and not the system.

the16bitgamer ,
@the16bitgamer@programming.dev avatar

Depends on the distro.

I found Linux Mint good enough for 99% of things, and most problems can be solved without a terminal.

Problem is you’d still need to know enough about Linux (just like with windows) to troubleshoot. For example, the files app was causing an error when plugging in drives, I need to figure out that the files app wasn’t call files, but nemo, it’s config lived in a hidden folder called .config in my home folder, and in .config I could delete my configuration to fix my issue.

In my view Linux is about Windows XP or 7 in terms of usability, a bit of a learning curve, but one worth learning.

A few modern improvements which makes using Linux easier.

Use Flatpaks where possible, it’s platform agnostic and usually supported by the actual devs.

AppImages (think portable exe for windows), are another option, but to “install” them you’d need an app called Gear Lever.

Check with an apps developer before installing, flatpaks can be packaged by anyone, and they might loose support (steam for example is installable via Deb not flatpak).

Codilingus ,

If you decide yes, I highly recommend Fedora Silverblue, or any of the distros based on silverblue/ublue. I myself love Bazzite for gaming.

Those are atomic and immutable, meaning you cannot easily break core files, and every single thing can be updated in the app store. It’s the windows equivalent of not being able to modify/delete C:\Windows; and getting firmware, drivers, applications, and Windows updates all in one click using the Microsoft Store.

bizdelnick ,

In depends on how dumb the user is. If you want to see drive C: and don’t want to learn why there’s no such a thing, forget about Linux (and any other OS except the only one you are familiar with). If you are ready to learn new concepts and just don’t want to remember numerous commands, that’s OK, just pick up a distro with advanced DE and graphical admin tools.

boredsquirrel ,
@boredsquirrel@slrpnk.net avatar

I guess uBlues main images are. I use Fedora Atomic Kinoite, which is not ready at all.

dumbass ,
@dumbass@leminal.space avatar

Mint is pretty dumbass proof.

jaypatelani ,
@jaypatelani@lemmy.ml avatar

I will recommend you Fedora Budgie Edition. You will never need to open terminal on it and interface is more user friendly.

data1701d ,
@data1701d@startrek.website avatar

Most of that sounds pretty easy to pull off. I have a few thoughts, though:

  • What games do you run in Steam?
  • Just a bit of a warning: Discord is annoying about updates, at least with the Debian version. I can’t remember what the Flatpak does.
  • For MS Office, most distros should come with LibreOffice. If you have problems with LibreOffice, then Google Docs should be fine.
  • You’ll have to run Spotify from the browser, but I imagine that won’t be a problem, as you’re probably not an audiophile
  • Run GIMP as a Flatpak, as distro versions tend to have weird bugs with the resynthesizer plugin.
ElvenMithril ,

On Fedora AFAIK you can have Spotify app.

data1701d ,
@data1701d@startrek.website avatar

I had no idea there was even a native Spotify port for Linux.

Manzas ,

I would say dual boot so you can use windows when you can’t figure something out

MyNameIsRichard ,
@MyNameIsRichard@lemmy.ml avatar

Or run Windows in a VM if you need it.

Manzas ,

You haven’t tried ,have you it is real slow like real slow.

MyNameIsRichard ,
@MyNameIsRichard@lemmy.ml avatar

No I haven’t. some version of Linux has been my only OS since the early 2000s. You would think that it would be in Microsoft’s interest to make it run well in VMs. Still, I guess it’s just another reason that Windows is crapware.

ninjaturtle , (edited )
@ninjaturtle@lemmy.today avatar

You should be fine doing what you want on Linux. Just make sure everything works before installing completely. There is a liveUSB mode that let’s you try it before you install.

Mint and PoP os are good ones to try.

Can also check out Zorin os which is pretty good too but doesn’t update as often.

eugenia ,
@eugenia@lemmy.ml avatar

If the PC you’re building has the latest and greatest hardware in it, you might find that Linux might not support that stuff yet. You might get lucky, but you might not either. It usually takes a little while to get new hardware supported. So it might be a better idea to install Linux on your older computer, then there’s no reason to buy a new PC anyway. Linux uses about half the RAM that Windows uses, for example, so it’s like you did an upgrade anyway. As long as you have over 4 GB of RAM, you’re fine for desktop usage. Windows requires 8 to run as well that Linux does at 4. You’d only need to upgrade if you’re after extreme gaming support.

kitnaht ,

There’s kind of a bell curve of users where their needs are so simple that Linux use is great for them. They’ll never do anything more complex than visit a webpage in Firefox, and that’s great.

Then as your needs get more and more complex, Linux isn’t quite a good fit – You’ll want to use a specific printer, or a specific software (looking at you solidworks!), or you’ll have some sort of organization that requires you use MS Office, etc. – There are ways around all of that stuff, but if you’re not already on the train, it can get frustrating.

Up until your needs get even more complex, where Linux starts becoming the best choice again - You want a tiling window manager, and ipv6 with firewall and ZFS on the network etc.

It’s the middle bell curve where your new user is already kind-of a power user, but not quite a technical-user yet that gets people.

WolvenSpectre ,
@WolvenSpectre@lemmy.ca avatar

I find that people who come from the old days of linux will often respond “you have to use terminal”, or “learn the operating system”, or even balk at people saying you can just use the GUI Interface/Desktop Environments. And then when you get help from expirienced users you get allot of terminal commands, which makes people think “I can’t use Linux without learning the terminal first”. In actuality it is just easier to show a person a command and ask for the results than it is to walk a person through getting the same info otherwise.

“OK, which Desktop Environment are you using?”.

“Desktop what?”.

“Which version of OS did you download and install?”.

“Cinnamon.”.

“X or Wayland?”.

“What’s a Wayland?”.

“OK, X. Is your system up to date and which kernel are you running?”.

…and so on. It is faster to just help working in the terminal. The Desktop Environments are fairly far along and most that I have worked with you could get by completely in the Desktop and not touch the terminal.

I would suggest Linux Mint, but for now I would stick to the non latest version of 21.3 as they bit off ALLOT in 22 and while it works for allot of people there are driver bugs they inherited from Ubuntu and have not implemented the fix for yet and allot of other pains in the toukus so if you want a version with the minimum of troubleshooting and stable Desktop Environments I would stick to 21.3 (If I had any sense I would be switching back to it from 22 myself).

If you want another option it would be Ubuntu and its Different Desktop ‘Spins’ to see which you like the most. Some people prefer to start off on Fedora and I am told it has a good DE, or some people recommend PopOS which had its own spin on a DE but they have let development lag on it as they developed their Cosmic Desktop for the Wayland project (the project that is superseding the X.org project for making windows).

Which ever you choose, good luck. I am in the same boat and I am trying to learn what I can before it is too late.

jol ,

Ubuntu is much less user hostile than windows. My parents only used Ubuntu for the past several years because they inherited my old laptop. They just want to Google stuff, so all they need is a familiar browser.

Oh for the love of Linus, block all notifications requests from websites at the browser level. Comon people accept all notifications requests and get inundated by them.

  • All
  • Subscribed
  • Moderated
  • Favorites
  • •
  • [email protected]
  • random
  • lifeLocal
  • goranko
  • All magazines
    •