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Microsoft gets tired of “Microslop,” bans the word on its Discord, then locks the server after backlash
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this post was submitted on 02 Mar 2026
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Not sure I follow. There are plenty of free distros of Linux and BSD, and many are easy enough to use, especially Linux ones. Anyone who doesn't need a particular piece of Windows- or Mac-specific software can set themselves up with one of these for free.
If the concern is making the UI look like Mac, you can find desktop environments and themes for Linux that aim to do that. (I expect you can do it in BSD too since it runs some of the same desktop environments.) There are even Linux distros like ElementaryOS that aim for a Mac-ish feel, though personally I wouldn't choose my whole distro based on a desktop theme since you can tweak that stuff on any distro. If you search for "make linux look like MacOS" you'll find plenty of sites with instructions.
Ohh, I can see how that may have been taken in an unfriendly way! My b. I mean my parental units aren't going to put in the work, and I'm close enough to visit, but have my own things to do before and after work, and on weekends, too. So I don't want to argue them into getting it and argue them into doing any updates and bug fixes, nor give up the five minutes that turns into hours doing it for them when I have my home to clean, meal prep, walking the fur baby, grocery shopping, etc. They want the iOS look and feel, not the effort and at their age, I don't blame them. I don't even know if I want the effort, but windows is almost useless at this point and if I understand correctly, mint looks pretty easy ootb?
Anyway I wrote the post before work and expected you to know exactly what I meant, so I am sorry if it seemed unfriendly/unappreciative. You deserve better. And it will probably happen again at some point, with you or anyone else, but I will try to do better.
Its OK, I didn't find your comment rude, I just felt like I didn't understand. Mint is very easy and does tend to just work. It's a good choice, the only drawback really being that its kernel and some of its packages are not always the latest. But most people won't notice or care about that. I use Mint among other distros on some of my machines.
I agree with your reasoning: switch your own machine to Linux and get to know it. Leave your parents using what they find easiest, if they're not technically inclined. Pushing someone to use something because you think it's a good idea never works if they aren't enthusiastic too. You just end up receiving frustrated messages holding you responsible for every little thing the machine does that they don't like. Better not to insert yourself into the picture.
Thanks, I appreciate you taking my comment in good faith. Wouldn't the kernal/packages not being the latest be a potential security vulnerability? Are there other distros you would recommend to someone not particularly technically inclined? What about firewalls or other security measures? Can I install straight from a USB or is there some prepatory work to be done, besides partitioning? Can Linux handle partitioning for me? By the by, I've also been reading about Windows deleting the Linux partition. Is that preventable? Is there some sort of tutorial for dummies? I may have certain LDs that mess with understanding certain things so it would potentially need to be "for a dummy's dummy." I know that's a lot of questions, and I don't really expect you to answer them all, hence the request for a decent dummy's tutorial. And all those questions are really why I've not yet done it. I really don't want to be without my laptop for a week trying to figure out my mistakes while doing everything else, because after work, my brain wants recuperation. Dealing with people who have their own physical and mental health issues can be rewarding, but extremely tiresome.