this post was submitted on 20 Jul 2023
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My brother is 12 and just like other people of his age he can't use a computer properly because he is only familiar with mobile devices and dumbed-down computers

I recently dual-booted Fedora KDE and Windows 10 on his laptop. Showed him Discovery and told him, "This is the app store. Everything you'll ever need is here, and if you can't find something just tell me and I'll add it there". I also set up bottles telling him "Your non-steam games are here". He installed Steam and other apps himself

I guess he is a better Linux user than Linus Sebastian since he installed Steam without breaking his OS...

The tech support questions and stuff like "Can you install this for me?" or "Is this a virus?" dropped to zero. He only asks me things like "What was the name of PowerPoint for Linux" once in a while

After a week I have hardly ever seen my brother use Windows. He says Fedora is "like iOS" and he absolutely loved it

I use Arch and he keeps telling me "Why are you doing that nerdy terminal stuff just use Fedora". He also keeps explaining to me why Fedora better than my "nerd OS"

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[–] z00s@lemmy.world 1 points 1 year ago (4 children)

I still maintained that Linus fucked up those Linux videos on purpose. Not sure why but for a guy in the tech industry he really played dumb.

Really pissed me off. What has he got against Linux?

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[–] warmaster@lemmy.world 1 points 1 year ago (1 children)

IDK about plasma, but in GNOME, if you search for PowerPoint, it shows LibreOffice Impress as a result.

[–] omidmnz@lemmy.world 1 points 1 year ago (1 children)

I was looking for a similar comment. Plasma does exactly that too. These are probably provided from this line in its .desktop file:

Keywords=Slideshow;Slides;OpenDocument Presentation;Microsoft PowerPoint;Microsoft Works;OpenOffice Impress;odp;ppt;pptx;
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[–] AnonymousLlama@kbin.social 1 points 1 year ago

Good work son

[–] MrCheeze445@lemmy.dbzer0.com 1 points 1 year ago (4 children)

maybe unpopular opinion here but while it was user error, Linus breaking the OS by installing steam is something that should have never been possible, anyways glad to hear your brother is learning Linux!

[–] this_is_router@feddit.de 0 points 1 year ago (1 children)

the os should do as i say, that includes breaking it if i please. the problem are people writing into the terminal "i understand that i uninstall half my os with this command but want to do it anyway" and then wonder why half their os gets uninstalled.

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[–] super_user_do@feddit.it 1 points 1 year ago

My grandfather uses Ubuntu (bad distro bruh) and he loves it

My 11 year old brother had been using PopOS for a while. Unfortunately Roblox recently intentionally broke Wine support and I had to put Windows on his computer.

[–] Lotsen@lemmy.dbzer0.com 1 points 1 year ago

Su Linux is most likely the answer to lering younger people to use computers fedora is especially good becouse it has a nice package manager (dnf) that is easy to understand

As someone who is interested in starting into the world of linux, was having a second hard drive necessary for creating a dual boot system or were you able to do it all on one hard drive?

[–] mbryson@lemmy.ca 1 points 1 year ago

I had the same thought process seeing the software repository on Linux Mint for the first time. It really is set up like a MacOS or general Appstore interface.

Happy for your brother getting comfortable with Linux so quickly! Way to go!

[–] FierroGamer@sh.itjust.works 1 points 1 year ago

That's amazing and encouraging, I want to hear more stories like this because when my kid grows up I plan on trying to guide him into not being tech illiterate, so far my plan is (more or less, but not exactly) to start him with a crappy but usable computer and give him upgrades he has to work for or tinker for, I feel like I learned the most by trying to squeeze performance and usability out of outdated hardware.

I don't intend to make him have my passion for computers, my intention is that he'll have the initiative to Google problems and the curiosity to solve them when it's not that easy, just having those two can get you 80%-90% there.

[–] Flaky@iusearchlinux.fyi 0 points 1 year ago (1 children)

This is great lol. When my friend tried Linux Mint he had to go into the terminal to install Brave, as they don't just provide a .DEB like other browsers do. Maybe I should recommend Fedora to him as well.

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[–] Anticorp@lemmy.ml 0 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Do you think I would have a similar experience if I got my 70 year old mother to install Linux? She's on the other side of the country, but she's always asking me questions about Windows 11 and breaking things. I have never even used Windows 11, so my capacity to help her isn't great, especially since we haven't been able to get Remote Desktop working since she switched from 10 to 11.

[–] BCsven@lemmy.ca 0 points 1 year ago (1 children)

My wife is bad with tech and was frustrated with Windows. i set her up with linux and GNOME. Its a simple interface. Settings are all in one place like a phone. Files, Photos in the overview tray. No more frustration with "what is Windows doing now?" and No more "why is this so slow"

[–] Anticorp@lemmy.ml 0 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Is she happier with it than Windows? Does she struggle less? My mom already used Libra office, so at least that much wouldn't be an adjustment. My fear is that she'll lock up the first time she has to use the terminal or install something that isn't in the software center.

PS, Gnome is simple, but it's also awesome! I've been using Linux off and on for 20 years now and I prefer Gnome.

[–] BCsven@lemmy.ca 0 points 1 year ago (2 children)

She could careless about the OS, just as long as it is peppy like her phone and simple. So yes much happier than her Windows experience. some distros do a nice job at presenting a software store that is easy, like ZorinOS or ElementaryOS. if she isn't getting IT help from anybody and you think terminal install may become an issue, there is OpenSUSE with oneclick install of downloaded RPMs (if you are outside of repos). But SUSE is a bit of its own learning curve.

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[–] MrSlicer@lemmy.world 0 points 1 year ago (2 children)

I don't think I want to meet a 12 year old who uses power point. Jk lol

[–] Nioxic@lemmy.world 1 points 1 year ago

Lots of kids have to present their school projects etc using powerpoint or similar.

[–] thanevim@kbin.social 0 points 1 year ago (1 children)

I mean, it's pretty much required in school. I had about 5 presentations each grade from late elementary through the end of high school

[–] neo@lemmy.comfysnug.space 1 points 1 year ago

i graduated after 2000 and was not expected to do so much as a single powerpoint presentation

[–] wolre@lemmy.world 0 points 1 year ago (1 children)

I mean, the outcome speaks for itself. Although I would likely have gone for Gnome instead of KDE for somebody who is completely new to Linux and not exactly techy. I use KDE myself, but I have to say that the out-of-the-box look and feel of Gnome is a lot more polished.

[–] yogurtwrong@lemmy.world 0 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Yeah, I installed KDE because it functions similarly to Windows. But something like Budgie would be ok too I guess

Also, I think young people like theming. My brother uses KDE's theme store a lot

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