- for someone used to Windows 7, current Gnome desktop is a radical change rather than a moderate evolution - 32 bit support has ended, and JMG's hardware may be somewhat below what Ubuntu runs well on - with the large number of different user interface environments, finding tips that actually match what is on the screen may be challenging - with Canonical's push for big business (ubuntu.com is as Enterprisey as you can get without beaming up Spock), "little machine on the prairie" type of uses might get lost
Since JMG clearly would benefit from "it just works, smoothly" experience, and seems to not want a new hobby of computer tinkering, I don't see what a Pi installation would get him more than his existing laptop. All reviews I've seen of using it as a daily driver for non-programmers have hit one gotcha snag or another, sooner or later.
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branchandroot
Re: Ubuntu
Date: 2024-02-11 01:00 am (UTC)My concerns about recommending Ubuntu for JMG are
- for someone used to Windows 7, current Gnome desktop is a radical change rather than a moderate evolution
- 32 bit support has ended, and JMG's hardware may be somewhat below what Ubuntu runs well on
- with the large number of different user interface environments, finding tips that actually match what is on the screen may be challenging
- with Canonical's push for big business (ubuntu.com is as Enterprisey as you can get without beaming up Spock), "little machine on the prairie" type of uses might get lost
Since JMG clearly would benefit from "it just works, smoothly" experience, and seems to not want a new hobby of computer tinkering, I don't see what a Pi installation would get him more than his existing laptop. All reviews I've seen of using it as a daily driver for non-programmers have hit one gotcha snag or another, sooner or later.
C from C