OS / "computer" on USB stick ?

After using Linux for something like 15 years, I can't remember the last time an installation didn't go smoothly. Everything has always just worked without any tinkering. I have played around with a few distros and installed quite a few apps over the years. Often it was just curiosity that motivated me rather than actually needing the app. Once again, I can't remember the last time I struck a problem.

I have also installed Linux on a few machines for friends, all of whom are over 70 and none of them have had any issues.

Maybe the fact that most of the installs have been on machines that were a few years old is part of the reason there have been no problems. Although a couple of them were reasonably new laptops.

I don't doubt for one minute that others have had problems and I don't suggest for one minute that it is their fault. I just want to make the point that not everyone has problems and not everyone needs to resort to the CLI to sort things out. Some users manage to do all they need to do without ever being aware of the OS on their machine.

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Originally Posted by incisor

these days your tinkering with windows for ever to keep networking and other basics going after updates

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windows updates is easily the worst part of windows at the moment.
or is thw worst part the telemetry?

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Originally Posted by incisor

these days your tinkering with windows for ever to keep networking and other basics going after updates

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That's not my experience.

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Originally Posted by p38arover

That's not my experience.

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Please defer to your propensity thread........

Something has to go right for me - occasionally.

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Originally Posted by p38arover

It's a pain in the proverbial compared with Windows when installing apps.

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Originally Posted by Eevo

welcome to linux. thats what its like

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Linux flavours often have app stores. There was talk in the Linux community of having a standard app download and install procedure across all flavours to make it as easy as Windows.

Almost all Linux distributions, if not all, have "repositories". These have software applications that are tested to work with the Linux distribution, and almost never include any malicious code. It is very rarely that most users will have any occasion to install any software not in the repository. Even where the software can be supplied direct from whoever maintains it, there is rarely any reason to get it from there rather than the repository.

Some distributions are adopting one (or both) of two methods of packaging software that allow identical packages to be installed without ensuring that they will run on the distribution. Again, these are usually available from the distribution's repository, but also can be installed direct from the supplier. The only advantage seems to be that you may get a newer version of the software.

Software in the repository is almost always free of charge, and can be installed simply and quickly. Furthermore, for most distributions, the software in the repository is continually updated, and you are notified when updates are available, but you don't have to do the updates until convenient, although some allow you to automate this. For example, on my system, Firefox was updated from 75 to 76 on 9/5, and the Linux kernel itself on 30/4. Even most kernel updates do not require the system to be rebooted.

I used run a dual boot Ubuntu on my old xp laptop, also tried various distros with some success. No way I could handle the crap I would get from the rest of house hold if I ran Linux on our main PC.

My 14yo grand daughter has appropriated my old laptop with Mint, and the 10yo uses my old desktop (Mint) when she is here. Neither seems to be worried that they are not Windows, but I suppose you could call them "digital natives".

My old, hand-me-down laptop is now.... "Minted" [biggrin] Easy and no stress for this Card-Carrying Luddite.[bigsad]

Time will tell, though quietly confident we'll live happily ever after. - if i fix the intermittant CHARGE socket...and alas, the battery is past it's Best Before date. $65 on evilBay. (ASUS K52F series, i5 processor)

Thanks to all who replied and Encouraged. !

EDIT: During the installation, (dual O/S) it told me the HDD is 500 GB ! So I took the plunge and left it there, other option was buy & install a SSD... still might happen if this one dies.