flatbield

Sadly even Linux is a fuss. This is primarily due to full os updates needed every four years plus the changing security landscape. Then there are the hardware issues and replacement every ten years. I guess a partial alternative is a rolling release but then you have the issue of constant change.

Windows 2000 was nice. MS could have pretty much stopped there.

Keep in mind that there is some history too. Linux was released under the GPL earlier then BSD became open source. It then developed faster and got more support. So it became the popular kernel.

Great. Any time someone has a successful business that supports Linux somehow it is just terrible. I always wonder if these are these real people or just FUD from competitors trying to make Linux support undesirable. Sure I prefer FOSS, but I’m also happy there is some commercial game support. Maybe I’ll use it some day, maybe I won’t.

Yes. I have used Linux for 26 years. Never have I ever considered leaving.

Antivirus is not the begin all and end all. I do not specifiically have AV installed and have had 0 issuses over the past 26 years of Linux use.

On the other hand I do only install software from trusted sources. I keep my system updated. I do scan things with VirusTotal if there is a question. I have wine installed but not the exe handler. I have a firewall. I do sometimes harden my systems and use security scanners to help with that. Probably biggest attack vectors are email attachments and the web browser. I am careful about attachments. In the brower I use uBlock Origin at a minimum. I segregate sensitive things too so even compromising my general user account would not be fatal. I also have good offline and offsite backups.

As for AV like stuff. I do sometimes install ClamAV or a rootkit scanner and sometimes do a manual scan but have never found anything. Same with my IDS. My WS for example has Tripwire but not all my systems and have never found anything.

My point really, I view security about process and defense in depth then AV specifically. Keep in mind that AV introduces attack vectors too.

Besides. What is there to really mange. There are only a few that one are likely to change. Every thing else is in /etc. Besides all of thia is in whole system backups and snapshots anyway.

For what it is worth, my Bluetooth hearing aids just work on Ubuntu. Have not tried BLE.

Various uses of “find” in particular. “xargs” sometimes too. The capabilities of “bash” in general including scripting and the whole redirection, piping, and multiprocessing capabilities in particular.

No. People do what they do.

What I find more laughable is people complaining profusely about windows but doing nothing about it.

Using something different is hard too. Most people are somewhere between cows and idiots. I have been using Python since the late 90s even on Windows and at work too. I got some strange reactions and push back over the years. You just have to not care. We see now how that turned out. Now everyone ahrees Python is useful.

However when many apps have a permission it becomes meaningless.

The thing about most default configs of any OS is that user storage is largely accessable to all apps. True of Linux, Android. Windows, …

Graphene has options to restrict that but you have to set it up that way. Android also has App sandboxing for app data.

Thinking through the threat model of course is always good as is hardening. All security is porous. Linux is fine generally. If one is exposing services on the public net it is not clear that any OS or software is sufficiently secure, that takes constant effort in terms of monitoring and management.

If you have never used a password on windows or some other authentication mechanism then your Windows is not very secure.

Most of the differences you quote are pretty much the same both systems.

I guess the one exception is the UAC prompt which on Linux is a bit more secure in that it requires a password. Some random person or app cannot just click through it.

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Ubuntu though I am less liking the snap dependence. I would avoid atomic distros for now. They are just the latest fad. Not saying bad though.

Transitioned my moms computer to Windows 11, 11 months go. Pretty easy. Her computer was originally for Windows 7 and is still fully supported. Her computer will always be Windows as I’m not local and other people have to be able to support her too. It is also what she knows. I love Linux but it is not for everyone.

Yes. No different. Some ways easier.

Just FYI my wife and her dad have used Linux for decades now. Both nontechnical users. I switched them in mid 00s.

Just keep in mind you will need to do the support when things break or on major upgrades. Otherwise she should have few issues.

Is there a reason to not just use du? Or use either and just look at certain trees? Or just get a bigger drive so it does not matter?

Distros. Pick something in the top 10 of https://distrowatch.com/ .

I use Debian or one of the derivatives of Debian.