Hacker News Reader

Comment by cannonedhamster | Hacker News Reader

I say this in all seriousness, Linux is probably a better experience if that's all she does. Give something like Ubuntu or elementary os test run with a live version and see if she's missing anything you'll either find out she needs Office specifically or it will probably work for her. Linux right now is in a great spot for people who need little customization and people who really love to tinker. If you're in the middle of that group is where friction lives. If linux won't work for you then the suggestions above are great.

View on HN

Story: when my partner's several year old computer was running slowly, I convinced them to try dual booting Linux. Encountered a few problems here or there, but I could help with those. A couple years on, they wiped the old Windows partition because they weren't using it any more. Today they're still using the (now 6-7 year old) computer because it's running fast enough.

On the other hand, they ended up learning some Python and shell scripting as a result, and will probably switch to Arch Linux when the computer is eventually replaced (soon). So while your S.O. might handle Linux just fine, you also run the risk of turning them into an OS nerd. ;-)

When my daughter was a teenager, I bought her a laptop and put Debian on it, configured to mimic the Windows look-and-feel. She never noticed, until the day that she wanted to install a AAA game.

Manjaro comes OOTB with MS Office 365, and it's super easy to install, easier than Ubuntu if you're doing Nvidia drivers. I personally can't comment on how well their Office works as I avoid anything Microsoft makes, but it's an option.

> Manjaro comes OOTB with MS Office 365

Huh?

They include wrapper apps for office online. You can just use the web apps in any browser on any OS though.

The nVidia Optimus drivers are still unusable on Linux. This makes the nVidia card in the laptop a dead weight.

AMD laptops with Vega are becoming more available [0]. I'd guess, with all the positive media push around AMD, we're going to see a lot of new AMD laptops hit the market later this year into early next. I mean Intel's latest NUC even has AMD Vega in it. NVidia shot themselves in the foot with regard to a horrid Linux driver experience. In general it's fine for desktop systems but when you're forced to log out of a session to do a driver context switch on a laptop it gets old fast.

[0] https://www.lenovo.com/us/en/laptops/thinkpad/thinkpad-t-ser...

I disagree. More likely than not the parent commenter will now be her tech support when x doesn’t work or is finicky, which is ALWAYS the case.

I disagree as well. A little while ago, my parents complained that their computer was getting too slow. I took a look and its a little old and they had Windows 10 on it. I removed it, installed Ubuntu 18.04 and since then, they have never even mentioned it.

All they do is check email, watch Netflix, and do some word documents sometimes. I had to initially show them where to find LibreOffice but other than that, they've been happy since.

Ubuntu has reached that soft spot where its perfect for anyone who is in need of a simple, easy to use computer that does not do work using some specialized software.

Disagree. I set my parents up with Ubuntu 18.04 LTS a year ago and I've only ever heard about how fast their computer is now.

Reply on news.ycombinator.com