I need to install an OS for someone whose first impulse upon seeing a screen is to touch it, because they are young and their first assumption is a touchscreen.

They know their way around Windows and Windows is probably tought to them at school, so Windows might actually be the smart move… but I fucking hate it.

Is ZorinOS or similar polished enough that I can leave it to someone whose tech literacy is centered around Roblox, TikTok and evading parental locks? I don’t want to normalize the Windows-bullshit. But I don’t want their first Linux-experience to be frustrating.

    • superkret@feddit.org
      3·
      24 hours ago

      It was hyperbole. I used Silverblue for a bit trying to avoid layering packages entirely.
      But not being able to simply install CLI system tools I’m used to (like btop) or rummaging around in /etc felt really limiting. I realize that’s on me, cause these distros work differently.

        • superkret@feddit.org
          2·
          22 hours ago

          I meant not being able to rummage around in /etc .
          Since it is read-only, you always have to copy a config file into your home/user/.config/… before you can edit it.

          • HayadSont@discuss.online
            2·
            21 hours ago

            Sorry, I think there’s a misunderstanding.

            First of all, thank you for clarifying what you meant. I’m not native, so I haven’t seen “rummage” being used within that context. And while a LLM did (at least an attempt to) provide its meaning, it didn’t make sense… by which we have arrived at the misunderstanding.

            Since it is read-only

            Yes, for Fedora Atomic, (most of) /usr is read-only. Perhaps this also applies to some other folders of /, however this doesn’t apply to /etc as it’s not read-only; therefore, you can actually change its content. At best, you’d have to go sudo (or fill the credentials through polkit’s window); but that’s all. This part isn’t different from how it’s over on (traditional) Fedora. Compared to its non-Atomic variant, however, we do find the following changes regarding /etc:

            • The changes you apply to /etc are being kept track of. You can access these through ostree admin config-diff.
            • And, related to the previous, a pristine copy of /etc is kept at /usr/etc. And, that one, is actually read-only.

            So…, the following step, i.e.

            you always have to copy a config file into your home/user/.config/… before you can edit it.

            Isn’t required or anything. Heck, it’s the first time (after three years of Fedora Atomic) that I’ve seen something like that being mentioned within this context.

            • superkret@feddit.org
              2·
              21 hours ago

              Then either they changed that, or I didn’t understand it right, while I was using it.
              Probably the latter. That being said, my other frustration was a lack of easily discoverable in-depth documentation.
              But I wouldn’t be surprised if I was just too dumb to find that, too.

              • HayadSont@discuss.online
                3·
                21 hours ago

                That being said, my other frustration was a lack of easily discoverable in-depth documentation.

                That’s indeed a big concern. Thanks for mentioning that.

                FWIW, uBlue’s images (which are just opinionated takes on Fedora Atomic) have better documentation, but those have only more recently been a thing.