I’m visiting my parents for the holidays and convinced them to let me switch them to Linux.
They use their computer for the typical basic stuff; email, YouTube, Word, Facebook, and occasionally printing/scanning.
I promised my mom that everything would look the same and work the same. I used Linux Mint and customized the theme to look like Windows 10. I even replaced the Mint “Start” button with the Windows logo.
So far they like it and everything runs great. Plus it’s snappier now that Windows isn’t hogging all the system resources.
I don’t believe in making GNU/Linux look exactly like Windows. It’s a different OS, and any attempt to fool users will be in vain.
I tell family members: “I don’t know anything about Windows/macOS.” (Because I don’t, at this point.) “I can only help you if you use what I use.” Usually, they stop asking me for help, and that’s great for me. If they say yes, I install Fedora with GNOME and whatever applications they expect to use. After a brief explanation of how GNOME works, people generally get used to it and are satisfied.
I share my laptop with Mom. It runs GNU Guix System with GNOME. She uses it to run Chrome for stuff she can’t get on her tablet. She’s used to it at this point.
I mean I was with you in the first half, I also tell my family either to use it I’m used to or don’t ask me for help. But I would not be so rude as to put gnome on it and force them to learn a completely different workflow.
Especially when 99.9% of what they do is in a web browser there’s no reason to change anything on them. I just used KDE plasma as it’s already extremely Windows 7 like in layout right out of the box couple more tweaks to make it a little more Windows 10 like and they don’t have to relearn a bunch of shit.
They don’t need to know how to install things, I have a tray applet helper for handling updates all they have to do is Click yes, doesn’t matter if they understand the differences between Windows and that. They just need to be able to open the web browser, open libreoffice, and occasionally click print. There’s no reason for me to force them into an entirely different workflow.
I’m glad that your mother figured it out and seems to be doing well, but to me it just feels like an unnecessary change
It is not rude to advocate for computing freedom and privacy, no, in fact, I think it’s everyone’s duty to carry GNU/Linux into their families and campaign for its adoption.
You should attempt to read the message again, I did not say Do not advocate for linux. I said do not pointlessly change the workflow. Gnome is a massive UI departure from windows and a workflow shift. Which is just completely unnecessary for the average person and just makes the transition hard for no reason.