says Andrew Castillo, a stock trader from Los Angeles. “It has no political affiliations at all to me.”

He’s getting a head start distancing himself…

In contrast, my car stands for high mileage, oil changes, and having a trusted local mechanic.

Anyone can tell just by a quick look at it.

This thread is largely just basic computer skills advice that is necessary on Windows and Mac as well. (And that is great!)

So I’ll add the ones we skipped that have nothing to do with OS at all, but are the usual issues for new PC users:

• Give a quick overview of what the mouse is for.
• Talk about or just disable the CAPSLOCK key.
• Show them where to find and how to read the “do I have Internet?” icon (usually in the lower right, regardless of OS)
• (If not a laptop) Teach them that the monitor and the PC have separate power buttons. Maybe leave a sign out that says “Push both buttons to turn on.”

And as others have said:

• Show them how to search for and add software using the software center, (rather than download from random websites)

That it is another OS. It’s not Windows.

I used to feel that mattered, but today websites will detect my OS when it matters and just pick the right page (i.e. downloading something).

Then I double click the download to install it.

I, a tech nerd, forget what distro I’m running and eventually have to look it up, when I’m doing something weird enough that it matters.

For day to day stuff, I’m not sure that knowing my OS comes up anymore.

What version of Linux are you talking about?

I haven’t been recycle bin free in…any recent distro or desktop environment that I can remember.

Penis-face sure looks like he’s having a great time in that cold medicine ad!

Same here. I already use ADB for each new phone setup because it is so much faster, anyway.

Just be aware of any filter bubble you might create.

That’s a great point. I block pretty easily, but for rudeness, not for disagreement.

I’ve blocked some assholes that I wholeheartedly agree with, but I just don’t want to read them abrasively support things I believe in.

Yes. I block at the drop of a hat, but I’m still really not blocking all that many total users. Most folks here are very considerate.

It is funny though, I’ll often see half a conversation with an asshole - and I won’t know if it’s because the community is well moderated or because I just previously blocked the asshole.

More rarely, I’ll see half of an interesting good faoth conversation, and I’ll revisit and unblock someone.

One outcome will be a sea-level-rise in superfluous text that’s all coming from the same point-of-view and is pretty bland.

Searching the Internet for a banana bread recipe allows us to experience this full distopia, today.

The web used to be full of recipes. Now most of the web is copies of the same mediocre recipe wrapped in meaningless filler text and ads.

It feels like the village at the end of “A wrinkle in time”.

Cinnamon is a great choice. It’s the default on Linux Mint for good reason.

If she’s a Mac refugee, fuck if I know.

She could consider Linux Mint with KDE Plasma. KDE Plasma feels very like modern Mac, only nicer, to me.

I declare this very good.

I would put everything I can on the larger drive, and install Mint on the smaller one.

I can always move files to the smaller boot drive later, if I find a reason to.

They do look like bubbles.

they’ll lobby these techs as unsafe and dangerous and potentially ban their use outright, or require special licenses and degrees.

They have a strong foundation in the DRM built into HDMI. I suspect this is exactly the real reason it is there.

I’ve used both, and been very pleased with both.

Mint stood out, last time I installed it, because every decision was easy and factual and about me (what time zone, what keyboard).

I essentially just pressed “next” a bunch of times.

Kubuntu was nearly that good last time I tried it, as well.

Between the two, I generally recommend Mint primarily because it keeps the messaging simple and consistent with the community.

Secondarily, because Mint doesn’t have Snap (and I consider Snap bad, in a way that new Linux users are unlikely to appreciate until much later.)

Kevork Kechichian who is the new leader of Intel’s EVP and GM Data Center group spoke during his keynote pertaining to the upcoming Xeon 6+ Clearwater Forest announcement that the company needs to figure out how to make open-source more of an advantage to Intel and not its competitors.

I can’t say I’m shocked. As open specification chipsets become more common, available, and functional, FOSS advocates have fewer reasons to tolerate working at Intel.

There was a moment for Intel to copyleft important parts of their technology stack to stay relevant in the long term.

I think they missed it 5 or 10 years ago.

I’m open to critique, as to making this chart as helpful as possible.

The entire “New to Linux” section should probably just be “Mint” for anyone without an Nvidia graphics card.

For newbies, live USB test and installer experience are key, and Mint is still unmatched.

You can tell how competent someone is at something by how good they think AI is at that thing.

This is so true.

I recently had a colleague - ignorant of this perspective - give a training presentation on using AI to update a kind of bullshit job useless document.

Dozens of peers attended their presentation. They went on demonstrating relatively mindless prompt inputting for 40 minutes.

I keep remembering just how many people they shared their AI enthusiasm with.

I think they may honestly believe that AI has democratized the workplace, and that they will vibe code their way to successful startup CEO-ship in a year.

The phone space is ruled by apps. The phone makers and the companies developing apps prefer it this way.

That’s true, but for everything non-free, they always end up having a perfectly working web app that will accept my money.