cd command.
No joke, when I started, it was the thing I stalled on the most as it's so basic no one explains
this post was submitted on 16 Oct 2025
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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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Communication is the key. And the problem is most Linux users aren't able to grasp how the language they use is opaque to new users who don't share their knowledge base. Just the word distro is already a barrier to new users cuz they don't know what it means and yet Linux users throw it around as if everyone knows what it means. These basic terms are the biggest barrier I think. Most people who just use a computer check their email don't know what a bios is. They don't know how to boot from a flash drive. That's going to be your biggest barrier. Language and the basic stuff you don't think of as remarkable.
Understanding the proper way to install apps is the biggest one. Make it clear that .exe files are for Windows only.
I wouldn't try to go further than that, I feel that's the biggest thing a general user really needs to know.
The way Linux treats many things as part of the file system (devices, sockets, etc.) that Windows doesn’t.
This may be a controversial inclusion, and it’s based on my relatively unsophisticated understanding of Linux. I believe the reason casual computer users hate Linux (generalizing here) is that “Linux” is not one thing.
Commercial operating systems are monoliths. Windows 11 is Windows 11. macOS is macOS. Apart from a few surface-level settings, all instances of them are the same. If you know how to use that operating system, you can go to almost any computer running that OS and start using it, just like you use the one you have at home.
“Linux” is entirely modular. There’s no single thing called “Linux.” You can pick and choose each component to build up your own customized OS from the ground up, and distros take advantage of this. I know just within my household, I have three Linux systems, and casual usage varies wildly across the three. One is a SteamDeck, which is a different kind of thing, but if I just take the two computers as an example, on one, you have an application menu in the top left where the other has an application menu in the bottom left. Also, those menus look completely different. That alone is enough to frustrate a casual user. Now take the fact that they each have different settings panels, different bundled apps, etc. and you have a recipe for making users always feel lost when moving from one system to another.
I don’t think this means you need to teach how to use every available desktop environment, window manager, or sound settings panel, but I do think it would be useful to introduce this concept as part of your curriculum. The sad part is that I think a lot of your audience will tune out at this point because they never had to know that on the commercials OSes, but I think it’s important to be forthcoming about it rather than having your audience blindsided by it.
I think there's a certain kind of user who doesn't really learn concepts, but rote actions. They click the start menu and then excel to open excel, but they don't really understand that the start menu is an application launcher and Excel is an application that can be opened in other ways. It's very one dimensional.
Then when something changes, like the application launcher is moved, they freak out. They don't have a mental model.
That's how my mother is, anyway. It's all magic with no underlying coherent anything. Not sure how to fix that, because it usually comes up when they're mad or scared, and that's not a time anyone will learn.
This is something that I actually planned on explaining! A big reason I myself like to use Linux is because it's modular and can be customized and used in so many ways just to meet your needs which I think is ideal. An operating system shouldn't be a one size fits all kind of thing!
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Honestly if you can install windows on a machine and use it then you can install linux on a machine and use it. especially if its an out of the box distro (like my favorite zorin). when downloading something from the web you have to choose linux instead of windows and its usually .debian so its good for it to be a debian based distro. if someone else install the linux for the person then they just need the same skills they needed to run windows. mouse moves the same. login is same. doubleclick is the same. etc. etc.
More maintainers should charge for iso's. Nobody's gonna compile them themselves or trust "pirated" iso's. It's a real genius move from Zorin.
zorin has a free version though. the paid gives you the gui chooser basically which is not necessary to me. If I had a job I might pay but that would be just to support. Want to sign up for status coup news first though. Need that postive cash flow though so who knows.
Rtfm. That problem? it's almost always a permission issue.
How to backup their home directory, even if it is a basic method like mounting an external drive and drag and dropping files.
If it's just Desktop usage, not much difference than using anything else. Make sure to install updates when asked, and that's about it.
Just be clear that downloading anything for Windows will not be compatible.
Something I don't think is mentioned because someone who knows how to use windows can figure it out: what to do when a window freezes, the keyboard command to reboot, other common things that go wrong and how to get around them. I use a gui task manager and it's basically just like windows, but if the computer freezes on someone who doesn't know what to do you will be receiving a phone call.
apple bad ; windows worse