this post was submitted on 11 Jan 2024
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That's quite a high bar. Can you give a Windows or Mac laptop to your elderly neighbour and not also provide them support?
I realise that I am only a sample set of one and my mother and father have very different usage patterns but they are both in their late 70s. My mother has an Ubuntu laptop and my father had a Windows one. He requires a lot more support. My mum's biggest issue is forgetting her password which is hardly the fault of the OS.
Edit: to be clear I'm not necessarily agreeing with the OP. I have no opinion on the needs of "most users".
It is a high bar, but so is "best for most people".
Like i said, its getting better and better, but i dont think its anywhere near close to "best for most".
As for anecdotes, my dad has been using Linux for years professionally, and occasionally needs help fixing something that broke in an update. Ill have to pry Win7 away from my mum at some point.
I think we need to be very careful making these kind of bold claims, as it can end up sounding very silly if it turns out to be untrue. "Year of the linux desktop", "Mission accomplished", etc.
I couldn’t give a Windows computer to my grandparents without it being buried under a pile of catalogs and magazines, maybe used once or twice. That’s anecdotal but I definitely don’t think it’s uncommon.