I’m trying to set up a Linux laptop for a friend who lives in another city. They have only ever used Windows, and likely won’t have easy access to fix issues (not that I’m an expert).

First off, is it a good idea to give them a Linux PC at all? Have others had good/bad experiences giving technophobes Linux?

Secondly, if I go ahead with it, what’s a good, stable, “safe” OS for a beginner? I’m shy of anything that’s a rolling release (e.g. Arch, Manjaro etc) as “bleeding edge” can break things more often than not. I’m leaning towards Debian or something Debian based. But I’ve also heard good things about Fedora.

If I was the one using the PC, I’d have installed Fedora, as I’ve heard it’s well-maintained. Then again there’s been some good buzz about Debian 12. What would your advice be? Thanks!

  • @pcouy
    2•1 year ago

    I’m pretty sure you can’t run the offline MS office on a Linux computer, even with the recent breakthroughs in the wine/proton area.

    While the online in-browser 365 worked fine for me, I’ve found it quite limited. LibreOffice has some compatibility issues documents going back and forth between it and Ms Office.

    I usually don’t use any “* Office”, but when I must, one software that works quite well for me is OnlyOffice