A Linux for the totally maintenance free

[Tom H]

On Tue, Oct 28, 2014 at 2:26 AM, Tim <ignored_mailbox at yahoo.com.au> wrote:
> On Mon, 2014-10-27 at 11:44 -0400, Tom H wrote:
>>
>> Why don't you install Fedora and put up with having to use an external
>> repo for non-free stuff (if necessary) and upgrading every 6 months or
>> so?
>
> For some people, or lots of people, upgrading every 6 months is a
> headache best avoided.  Quite apart from having to backup and restore,
> or backup and hope you don't have to restore, personal files and
> important settings, you have to deal with a changed user interface.  It
> nearly always changes subtly, at least, but there are also radical
> changes.  And it's not just a case of working them out, some of them are
> just horrible.

Users are used to subtle - and not-so-subtle - changes in UI. Windows
and OS X have them too.


> If you (the "not them," "you") are going to manage this for them, pick
> whichever system you prefer dealing with.  But if you'd like them to
> take over the burden, even if not for some time, then I'd pick a distro
> which is widely used by other people.  Personally, I think a Linux
> newbie is probably best served by Ubuntu, it's meant for people like
> them, and is widely used by people like them.  Other distros are more
> aimed at the computer savvy geeks and already long-term Linux user.

Ubuntu's main advantage is that it allows a user to install non-free
packages out of the box.

Its installer's streamlined and simple but Anaconda isn't far behind,
although it was closer before the spoke-and-wheel weirdness.


> If a new user is going to ask a support question of someone, or their
> ISP, which Linux distro do you think they're most likely to get an
> answer about?

Judging from the hits that you get when you search for a problem,
Ubuntu. Although you do get many Arch hits, which is unsurprising
given how good its documentation is.

I'm not sure that there are many ISPs that support Linux.