<![CDATA[So... My plan to build a Linux laptop for my mom didn't go exactly as I hoped, BUT: my mom is using Linux, and she's very happy with it!]]>So... My plan to build a Linux laptop for my mom didn't go exactly as I hoped, BUT: my mom is using Linux, and she's very happy with it! 😄

I had an elaborate plan prepared to install Debian root on ZFS, setup remote access, automated snapshots, remote backups, etc. See my two previous polls for the idea; thanks again for your valuable help! It did give me a lot of ideas, and also made me realise that it's okay not to have the "perfect" setup right away.

On install day, a few things happened: a) I wasn't having the best day (thanks long covid!), b) the drive configuration was less ideal than I had hoped (dual boot with Windows on same drive, instead of separate disks), c) there was more data and programs to configure than anticipated, and I had some trouble there as well. d) of course, I had to explain how it works as well.

Basically, I ran out of time and energy.

So I went with plain ext4 in the end, but was able to configure a functional setup for her at least. All in all, not too bad. If she continues to love it, I can always make small (or big; perhaps FreeBSD is ready next year?) tweaks in the future.

But the key takeaway: my mom is a proud Linux user now!! 🎉

#Linux #Debian #LaptopLinux

]]>https://board.circlewithadot.net/topic/748c5861-7698-45e5-82cf-5a772ecc75e3/so...-my-plan-to-build-a-linux-laptop-for-my-mom-didn-t-go-exactly-as-i-hoped-but-my-mom-is-using-linux-and-she-s-very-happy-with-itRSS for NodeFri, 01 May 2026 00:13:26 GMTTue, 07 Apr 2026 09:43:47 GMT60<![CDATA[Reply to So... My plan to build a Linux laptop for my mom didn't go exactly as I hoped, BUT: my mom is using Linux, and she's very happy with it! on Tue, 07 Apr 2026 11:00:05 GMT]]>@drajt great to hear that it's working well for them!

]]>https://board.circlewithadot.net/post/https://kedara.social/users/ruben/statuses/01KNKSJZFCC0Y4XH981S8YE202https://board.circlewithadot.net/post/https://kedara.social/users/ruben/statuses/01KNKSJZFCC0Y4XH981S8YE202Tue, 07 Apr 2026 11:00:05 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to So... My plan to build a Linux laptop for my mom didn't go exactly as I hoped, BUT: my mom is using Linux, and she's very happy with it! on Tue, 07 Apr 2026 10:39:05 GMT]]>@ruben I put my step-father on Debian over a decade ago. My sister-in-law over 5 years ago and my mother-in-law last year. In all cases they took to it from day one without a problem.

I tweaked the desktop, fonts, colours etc, and always used KDE. I've got remote access, but I almost never need it.

It takes a while to configure something up, but it's worth it as the out of box experience isn't perfect. Windows 11 is pretty dire, I can't comment about MacOS.

]]>https://board.circlewithadot.net/post/https://fosstodon.org/users/drajt/statuses/116362991708504575https://board.circlewithadot.net/post/https://fosstodon.org/users/drajt/statuses/116362991708504575Tue, 07 Apr 2026 10:39:05 GMT