I’m talking about like your mom if she started using Linux, and just needs it to be able to open a web browser and check Facebook or her email or something. A student that just needs a laptop to do homework and take notes, or someone that just wants to play games on Steam and chat on discord.

I’m working on a Windows - > Linux guide targeting people like this and I want to make sure it can be understood by just about anybody. A problem that I’ve noticed is that most guides trying to do something like this seem to operate under the assumption that the viewer already knows what Linux is and has already made up their mind about switching, or that they’re already pretty computer savvy. This guide won’t be that, I’m writing a guide and keeping my parents in mind the whole time.

Because of this there’s some things I probably won’t talk about. Do these people really need to know that it’s actually GNU+Linux? No, I don’t think so. Should I explain how to install, use and configure hyprland, or compile a custom gaming kernel? I dont think that’s really necessary. You get what I’m saying? I don’t want to over complicate this and scare people off.

That being said I also want to make sure that I’m not over simplifying by skipping on key things they should know. So what are some key concepts or things that you think even the most basic of Linux users should understand? Bonus points if you can provide a solid entry level explanation of it too.

  • monovergent@lemmy.ml
    12·
    1 day ago

    Package managers:

    • Repositories
    • Update mechanism. Many of my friends and family are used to updates being either automatic, nagged, or nonexistent. Not an issue on auto-updating distros, but could get ugly on vanilla Arch or Debian.
    • Resisting the urge to install loose executables from websites

    File system:

    • Write caching. Windows doesn’t do this for most USB drives so people get away without safely ejecting for years. On Linux, the safe eject button does matter.
    • File hierarchy and mount points. When I first used Linux, I was very confused by the lack of the Program Files and Users folders, My Computer page, and drive letters.
    • File permissions, especially executables
    • Partitioning and how to format drives in the absence of a format dialog in the file explorer

    Bash shell:

    • It’s not the incomplete mess that made cmd or Powershell so intimidating
    • Resisting the urge to paste in commands and scripts without knowing what they do