Linux

I use Arch

Well, there it is.

Linux is spreading among gen z. Source: I'm 13 and use NixOS, and my friend who's around the same age as me also uses it.

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he has to work for or tinker for, I feel like I learned the most by trying to squeeze performance and usability out of outdated hardware.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.

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?

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!

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.

wholesome

At home, my parents are forced to use Windows and macOS because of their work, but all the machines at home are either Linux or a Linux/Windows dual-boot. The mobile phones run LineageOS. I haven't succeeded with my little brother, who's the only one with an iPhone.

Everyone's happy, and when there's a problem (which happens quite rarely), I'm asked, and it's solved in seconds. Most of the time, no one misses proprietary applications, and everyone's surprised that everything's free, hahaha.

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.

Windows really screwed itself over with how it handled its integrated app store. By making it Microsoft-owned and moderated with a bunch of caveats on the format (compared to most Linux package repositories) you ended up with shit like FOSS apps being repackaged and sold for money, low quality ports of apps, and a bunch of bullshit that made people avoid it like the plague.

Linux for its faults with how package management works is far superior to even MacOS when it comes to finding free or low cost software. You get 80% of your apps available thanks to flatpaks and new apps can be uploaded with very little hassle compared to even iOS or Android. No fees, no lengthy review process (which could be a disadvantage arguably) and software is much restricted by the platform host.

While GenZ/A may be known for being bad with computers, I think it might just be a sign that Windows is so outdated and poorly designed that people coming from better-designed platforms are confused at shit older folk just put up with for decades.

My 3 year old daughter has a 2010 MacBook running AntiX. She knows how to boot it, press Enter on the dual-boot screen, and is getting close to being able to select Stardew Valley from the app menu. She also enjoys playing GCompris.

Heyy, you should install this grub theme for your lil brother. I think he might love it

https://github.com/Lxtharia/minegrub-theme

I have used Linux for a while and transitioned the wife and kids to Linux Mint a couple years ago.

They know it is different than Windows but never miss anything as the alternatives are as good or better. The kids are used to mobile and tablets so know of app store and so on. The only downside is getting some games their friends play working, like Roblox. But for the most part alternatives like Minetest are fine (better).

The upside is IMHO massive in terms of privacy, security, user friendless and sysadm stuff.

It just works and we're happy with it!

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.