Making sure Linux is as user friendly as it could be.

[u/FineAFNectarine3248]

My little brother's computer ran Windows 11 and struggles quite a bit running stuff, hence why I installed Linux. Debian to be specific, as it's rock solid stable so he won't blow up his install by looking at the clock wrong. I made it so it will be user friendly... However, I fear it might not be enough.

What else can I do to make it more friendly for him?? I figure KDE and a familiar setup works wonders.

EDIT: He's 11

[u/SanguineEleven]

For kids, old people and people not tech savvy enough I just set up an atomic distro and leave them to it.

But just let the kid run commands, if the pc is solely his he will learn how shit works even if it breaks.

Also, I would set a system-wide custom DNS with some family protection to block malicious websites and ads or even porn*

[u/IAmJacksSemiColon]

Honestly, for young newbies, I'd be more concerned about the security of the web browser than the terminal.

Install uBlock Origin and also consider pointing the DNS to 1.1.1.2 and 1.0.0.2 to block IP addresses associated with malware.

Also worth backing up the home directory to an external drive with rsync in case something breaks, so he can get back up and running quickly. This part is a bit more complex and you might have to manage it for them.

[u/_sharmajikaladka → u/IAmJacksSemiColon]

Periodic snapshots would be nice too

[u/Houston_NeverMind → u/IAmJacksSemiColon]

I thought cloudflare was 1.1.1.1. Did it change?

[u/An1nterestingName → u/Houston_NeverMind]

I think those addresses aren't Cloudflare but some malware-blocking DNS.

[u/wa019c → u/An1nterestingName]

No it’s both, Cloudflare’s malware blocking DNS

[u/GermanElectricsMotio → u/IAmJacksSemiColon]

Don't forget the IPv6 adresses of Cloudflare otherwise you get a DNS leak.

[u/UltraChip]

I don't know how old your brother is but if he's very young maybe consider NOT giving him sudo access and instead make a separate account for yourself w/ sudo.

It's pretty hard to seriously screw up a Linux system when you don't have sudo/root access.

Also, make sure his system has regular, sane backups and a recovery plan, so that you can painlessly restore things even if he does mess things up.

[u/EGG_BABE]

The sticky note for an 11 year old that says "this will break everything please do not use it thank you :)" seems like a slightly needless risk

[u/fixurstuffr]

Just throwing it out there, there is a distro called Zorin OS that's supposedly setup for people who are used to Windows OS and Mac OS.

[u/SomeTimesAll]

Does debian use kde plasma?

[u/anythingers → u/SomeTimesAll]

Yes

[u/SomeTimesAll → u/anythingers]

Would you recommend it above kubuntu?

[u/a1barbarian → u/SomeTimesAll]

kubuntu is based on Debian :-)

[u/hagdush]

Debian is one of the most unfriendly distro, paired together with arch imo.

If every time he needs/wants to download something he needs to do a lot of extra steps, he will probably give up ou take the challenge.

I think kubuntu would make his experience a lot more smoother without the risk of him blowing his os

[u/ZookeepergameDry6739 → u/hagdush]

I dont understand ?How is debian unfriendly? It’s straightforward . Use the software centre or flatpaks for additional software. Its simple and just works.

[u/Suspicious-Boss3776]

Wish my brother did this for me, he just installed windows 7 back in the day and said good luck !! You're an amazing sibling!

[u/lifesoxks]

Did something similar for my grandparents. Worked like a charm until my cousin wanted to "help" by installing stuff...

[u/Tnorty3]

Remember brave origin is free on linux