Post #1043622

2026-04-07 09:43 UTC

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

Replies (4)

@drajt@fosstodon.org 2026-04-07 10:39

@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.

Open ##1043630
@MythingPerson@mastodon.social 2026-04-07 11:18

@ruben 👏👏👏😁

Open ##1043631
@spiezmaestro@social.spiezmaestro.ch 2026-04-07 11:37

@ruben great stuff. Can I ask what setup you settled on for remote access?

Open ##1043632
@Cambion@mastodon.nl 2026-04-07 11:38

@ruben I like this story a lot, thanks for sharing 😁. I think there is another key takeaway in this: sometimes we nerds want to make stuff super fancy and nice, think everything out and make it super cool. But most of the time, regular Average Joe end users don't care much about that at all and are often just as happy with something simple and plain :blobcatadorable:. Hope your mom keeps enjoying it 👏👏👏:awesome:!

Open ##1043633