All true. Case in point; one of the things I use my most used PC for is watching tv using the Kodi program. So far they have not gotten a simple installer program for Linux so I found a website that walked me through using the Terminal, what to type to install Kodi, then found it wasn’t quite the version I wanted so I found another site with a slightly different command line install and ended up with what I wanted. Linux is far easier to learn than Kodi was for me; especially since it’s so close to being in the Windows type format. I really do wish I had tried Linux again sooner. I played with it for quite a while 10 years ago but it still wasn’t what I wanted for a home computer. Close but still not there at the time. Now my 3 Windows computers, one laptop and two PC’s, will all be dual boot with Zorin being the default OS. If I were to start fresh with a new hard drive; I’d just leave off the Windows OS completely but it doesn’t hurt them to have it installed if the hard drive is plenty big enough.
I used to help friends and family a lot before they all got to be super computer techs (hahaha). The one thing I think helped them a lot was teaching them how to ask the right questions in Google to find the answers they needed. It takes a little while to get that down and use as few words as possible to ask the questions. It’s also how they all ended up being super geeks. Now I can’t tell them anything because they know it all. Hehehehe...
Just for fun I think I will get a hard drive for my home office PC to try the various Linux distro’s so I have personal experience with them; especially Mint. Who knows; I might like it even better. On my old XP cheapy laptop I had to massage Linux on using a few more tries than my more up to date PC needed. It was a straight forward install on the PC but I did have to reinstall “grub” to get it dual boot properly. I think the command was sudo update-grub2 or something very close to that. May not have needed the hyphen; just a space.
I chose Zorin simply because the tech articles said it was closest to the Windows format. It’s a fun hobby too if someone enjoys the challenge they bring sometimes. Gotta have a second working computer for Internet access though to find the answers. A smart phone would probably work fine too.
[[The one thing I think helped them a lot was teaching them how to ask the right questions in Google to find the answers they needed.]]
Yup- bingo- the key is knowing how to phrase the searches most of the time-
[[Just for fun I think I will get a hard drive for my home office PC to try the various Linux distro’s so I have personal experience with them; especially Mint.]]
Most linuxs are all about the same- read a good article on the ‘differences’ between the many flavors- they basically advised ot just find one you like and stick with it- as the differences really aren’t radical enough to warrant switching- I tried a lot in the beginning, but settled on mint (although i think i might try zorin again in a virtual machine- which by hte way is a great way to try different flavors of linux- or even other os’s- they are easy to set up- and once you have the os’es isntalled, you can save the file and install on other computers running virtual box too- once you have all your settings the way you liek them- )
The only real differences between the flavors is that supposedly Debian is supposed to be ‘more secure’ and ‘more stable’ - but it’s harder to learn- more command line than mint- it’s a little geekier than other flavors- but it’s the stand by for many- I think lots of folks like red hat and a few others too- but i never tried them- did try Debian- but didn’t like the extra geekiness needed to run it- I like things as simple as possible- too old to relearn lol- (which is why I wish I’d tried it years ago- coulda learned it much easier back then)
I stick with the cinnamon flavors of linux- most like windows menus to me-
[[Just for fun I think I will get a hard drive for my home office PC to try the various Linux distro’s so I have personal experience with them; especially Mint.]]
That’s what I did, i have several old cheap hard drives with a few flavors of linux, all with dual boot windows installed too, and all my settings and apps the way i like them- that way if anything happens to my main pc- i can plop in a hard-drive and up and running as quickly as i can install the HD-
[[sudo update-grub2]]
Yup- i think that’s it- it’s not too difficult, but something a newbie like me had to search for- but found it pretty quick as grub can corrupt from time to time-
[[It’s a fun hobby too if someone enjoys the challenge they bring sometimes.]]
Oh absolutely- love messing around with linux installs- it’s so quick to install and try- and with HD’s being so cheap these days, especially at used computer shops- (I bought several for around $10 each), it’s fun and quick to try new ones- and i do learn a little with each flavor as there are some differences- but like i mentioned, they all are fairly similar-
[[Gotta have a second working computer for Internet access though to find the answers.]]
Another option if you don’t have one is to just use the ISO disk to connect to net and save any files you need to a second HD either internal or external usb or to thumb drives-
Do you have linux that comes up first in the dual boot menu? I chose that way so i don’t have ot hit any keys when starting and it goes automatically to linux- couldn’t figure out how to get it like that for a long time- then found that installing linux second would over-ride windows boot menu, and install it’s own-
Anyhow- great fun linux- really have enjoyed getting to know the OS’es - and love love love how easy and quick they are to install- I don’t even bother backing it up anymore as it takes only about an hour extra to get everything back to the way I like it (windows by contrast will literally take me almost a week- with hte slow as molasses windows updates, the many many security fixes that need ot be made, getting menus how i like them etc-
And like you mentioned, it’s probably even easier than windows to use for basic stuff- (although i still have to use windows for photoshop- can’t quite get to where i like gimp- and for running windows only games-)