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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.

jalapeno_popper561 ,

Linux Mint is pretty user friendly. I’m also not a fan of typing code, but so far the only thing I’ve HAD to use terminal for came with really easy instructions and the commands were listed out (like a recipe) so all I had to do was copy/paste and things worked out just fine.

The 1 issue I ran into was upgrading from LM 21.3 to 22. I had to go back to 21.3 because 22 couldn’t connect to wifi (I’m guessing because my machine is old) but 21.3 works perfect. My other machine is a lot newer and just about to the end of its warranty period, so once that’s up I plan to switch that one to Linux as well.

SandbagTiara2816 ,

What do you typically use your computer for? That’s going to have a major impact. If it’s pretty basic stuff (web browsing, text editing, etc) you shouldn’t have any issue. If it’s something that’s more complicated or unusual, then sometimes it’s easy to do and sometimes not, depending on what you want to do. In general, a little bit of comfort searching the web and working in the command line helps a lot with troubleshooting Linux

cabbage ,
@cabbage@piefed.social avatar

A test could be to start by using Libre software on Windows.

Switch to LibbreOffice or some other alternative instead of Word. Gimp, Inkscape, and Krita for graphical stuff. Whatever proprietary software you use, check if it exists for Linux; if not, see if you can find an alternative you're happy with.

For the people I know, Word is the biggest deal breaker.

deadbeef79000 ,

Yes it is. Pick a newbie friendly distribution. Say Ubuntu.

IMHO Windows is only “user friendly” because it’s preinstalled on most PC’s.

User friendliness comes with experience.

just_another_person , (edited )

I assume you’re talking about Desktop Environments. Yes, of course. KDE and Gnome rival MacOS as far as usability goes. The better part is that other software development groups port their software over to Linux as well and make it as seamless as possible.

People run into confusion here when people flood the comments on user questions like this, so let me shut that down right now.

If you need something that is a straight Desktop Environment, get a distro with KDE or Gnome, and a known OS that will have a lot of user base getting questions and answers if you even run into any.

Fedora or Ubuntu. Don’t listen to anyone arguing for their preferred favorites.

Don’t listen to performance comments.

You want a solid, no issues, not needing to look for help kind of distro. It’s those two, no question, and they both have KDE and Gnome variants.

That’s really about it.

wulf ,

Fully agree with this. There will be a slight learning curve since it will be different from what your used to, but it’s friendly enough to figure out.

If you know the windows program you want to use just search something like “Linux alternative for x” (sometimes there is specific KDE or Gnome progs)

thayerw ,

I would maybe add Linux Mint to that list, but otherwise you’re spot on. Fedora and Ubuntu are the easiest and most robust systems for novice computer users.

just_another_person ,

Linux Mint is Ubuntu with specific changes.

Feathercrown ,

That’s how all distros work. They exist so that you don’t have to make changes yourself.

subtext ,

Only thing I might add would be potentially Bluefin. It is Fedora with Gnome, except Atomic. It markets itself as:

The best of both worlds: the reliability and ease of use of a Chromebook, with the power of a GNOME desktop.

It’s been fantastic for me with automatic updates and everything installed through flathub so you don’t bork your system with any misconfigured installs.

projectbluefin.io

just_another_person , (edited )

No. This is your own spin.

Why the fuck can’t y’all just let people have it easy and try shit out before you feel you MUST say your piece about your own fucking experience and offer complicated alternatives?

Fedora and Ubuntu for beginners. That’s it. Nobody’s asking for performance or immutable bullshit until you confused them with it. STFU!

subtext ,

Well this is literally Fedora, and I offered it for consideration, not a recommendation. This seems a tad hostile.

just_another_person ,

*Immutable. Get lost.

subtext ,

Also: should you wish for something with Fedora literally in the name, Fedora Silverblue and Fedora Kionite are the upstream—published by the Fedora Project—versions of Bluefin that use GNOME and KDE, respectively.

Either could be an excellent choice should you wish for

Atomic

The whole system is updated in one go, and an update will not apply if anything goes wrong, meaning you will always have a working computer.

fedoraproject.org/atomic-desktops/silverblue/

fedoraproject.org/atomic-desktops/kinoite/

JustMarkov ,

There’s also a KDE spin called Aurora: getaurora.dev

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