Linux

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Linux is a family of open source Unix-like operating systems based on the Linux kernel, an operating system kernel first released on September 17, 1991 by Linus Torvalds. Linux is typically packaged in a Linux distribution (or distro for short).

Distributions include the Linux kernel and supporting system software and libraries, many of which are provided by the GNU Project. Many Linux distributions use the word "Linux" in their name, but the Free Software Foundation uses the name GNU/Linux to emphasize the importance of GNU software, causing some controversy.

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Just installed Mint for my elderly in-laws (midwest.social)

submitted 3 weeks ago by falk1856@midwest.social to c/linux@lemmy.ml

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When I was visiting my wife's family for Thanksgiving, my father-in-law told me that his laptop was telling him that if he didn't upgrade to Win11 he be vulnerable to all sorts of malware. They're both retired and on a fixed income so he was panicking over buying a new machine. I put Mint on his existing laptop and walked him through its use. Fingers crossed that he'll be able to handle it. I haven't had any support calls from him yet but I'll find out how it's going when I see him in a few days.

Does anyone have any tips for supporting older family members on Linux if they have absolutely no experience with it?

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[–] netvor@lemmy.world 3 points 3 weeks ago

point taken. I see how it can be a good balance of pros/cons.

re: debianland, i'm not sure i understand the question so...

Certain major version of a "traditional distro", say debian 13 provides fixed list of libraries and apps (which get updated during the lifetime but only to necessary extent). each of those can only depend on a particular version selected by debian. eg. if for libfoo, the provided version is libfoo-1.2, then anyone who depends on libfoo must depend on libfoo-1.2. (if that can't be achieved before release then that package is simply removed.)

note that two versions of the same package can't co-exist on the same system. (this is basically true for debianland and fedoraland; because packages share the same filesystem it would be not feasible to make it work without huge amount of added complexity and bug surface. definitely not on a distro-wide level).

honestly i've never used backports; I don't know what process they use to select versions; i would assume that it's basically on a best effort basis.

personally if i don't find the stable version new enough, I look for vendor repo, appimage or flatpak (roughly in that order)