this post was submitted on 11 Jan 2024
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Massive disagree. Most Linux distros are far far easier for people who just want the basic use case of loading a browser or playing a song.
I think you have this idea in your mind of Linux being this complex system where you need to open the terminal and be a hacker man. That's not what desktop Linux is like unless you're going for some niche neckbeardy setup.
If an old person had a PC with, say, Linux Mint, ChromeOS, or even Ubuntu on it, they'd almost certainly struggle far less than they would with Windows.
Windows is not easier. You just think it's easier because you're more used to it.
That’s absolutely not the idea I have in my head. If you read most of my replies here, I think I explain pretty clearly that the main issue I see with Linux is not actually the software itself, it’s that there’s not a good, normie-friendly support system for when things do go wrong or things aren’t immediately obvious.
I also tend to advocate for MacOS more than Windows. Although I’ve used both my whole life, I find macOS a lot more intuitive than windows, and I would generally never recommend windows unless there’s a specific need for it.
Well yeah, there's not really much of a unified support system (some distros do have support, be it free or paid, though). But there isn't for windows these days either.
I can't speak to whether you can contact Apple and ask for help.
You can absolutely contact Microsoft (or Apple) for support, plus basically any computer store will happily charge a small fee for basic tech support, or you can call the computer manufacturer or reseller. On the Linux side, unless you bought from something like System76, the chances of you finding an official support network that an elderly person would find usable and accessible are pretty slim.
Microsoft support is essentially dead.
And the computer store example applies for PCs in general, not just windows ones.
You can get support from your distro, not just hardware sellers.
Support networks for Windows is useless for anybody, nevermind old people. They absolutely do not have usable and accessible support.