[Update] Re: [OT] Granny-friendly Linux Distros?

[Uknown]

On Saturday, 25 May 2019 at 07:16:59 UTC, Nick Sabalausky 
(Abscissa) wrote:
> Thanks for the input, all.
> [...]
> - Apparently, Linux (libptp) and iOS both support PTP (ie, 
> treating a USB device as a digital camera and transferring 
> photos). Don't know what the UX is like on Linux, yet.
>
> [...]

MTP works fine with Android. However, MTP by design is very 
unreliable. Its practically useless for large files. With android 
phones though, KDE connect helps a lot.

> - That alone (photo and video transfer) accounts for the main 
> iPhone connectivity I was concerned with[...trying to get her 
> to actually use since she's constantly low in iPhone storage 
> space and doesn't know how to sync]. There *is* some iOS 
> connectivity (unfortunately forgot what) that is still 
> yet-to-be-working on Linux. But it seems that general, overall 
> phone-wide iPhone backups are possible on Linux, which is an 
> extra bonus on top of the photos/videos I'm mainly concerned 
> with.

  If you want to transfer large videos to the iPhone, you can try 
MTP. If it doesn't work, iTunes on Wine might be the way to go.

> - Apparently it's possible these days to use ribbon-based 
> versions of MS
>  Office (which she likes) through Wine. Although, TBH, she 
> doesn't seem to use Word (or other Office tools) all that much 
> anymore these days, AFAICT.

You can also install the latest LibreOffice as a back up, and 
configure it to use the ribbon UI. 
https://itsfoss.com/libreoffice-5-3-released/ Its just selecting 
the right view in the view menu.

> - I guess, as a last resort anyway, she can still just use her 
> old laptop and a USB HDD for anything her new laptop has any 
> issues with. (Although her old one doesn't do USB3, but 
> still...feasible.)
>
> [...]

As a Lubuntu user, didn't know this. Thanks.

> - These days, LXDE now has an offshoot I never knew existed, 
> called LXQt (ie, Like the name suggests, it's LXDE, but based 
> on Qt instead of &@#!%* GTK).
>
> [...]

GNOME is pretty much OSX + iOS

> - It turns out, based on actual hands-on experience, LXDE (Lub. 
> 18.04) is still just as crap as ever (though vastly faster than 
> stock Ubuntu), but LXQt (Lub. 18.10) is actually really, 
> really, *REALLY* freaking *GOOD*. In fact, *so* freaking good, 
> I'm REALLY tempted to ditch KDE in favor of LXQt myself!!!  
> (Biggest holdback is the fact that 
> <https://github.com/papylhomme/diskmonitor> doesn't have a 
> widget or systray tool for LXQt. God I wish [*proactive*!!] 
> S.M.A.R.T. tools like that were more standard!!! It's an 
> absolute SIN against computing that they aren't </rant>)
>
> [...]

Well a lot of the major DEs have manpower issues, and to add to 
this a massive transition from X11 to Wayland. Kind of hard to 
work on "minor" issues.

> - Trying to convert stock Ubuntu LTS to LXDE (let alone LXQt) 
> is...well...absolutely INSANE. I can't even find a freaking way 
> of *querying* whether I'm using LXDE vs LXQt (other than the 
> overly-objective question of "Does the UI seem crap or good?"), 
> let alone which version of which I'm running (and no, the 
> package managers don't help because even on Lubuntu they report 
> I have *NEITHER* LXDE *NOR* LXQt even installed!!!), let alone 
> trying to get Ubuntu LTS to use something Lubuntu added in a 
> non-LTS...just...forget it, screw the whole "replace stock 
> Ubuntu's godawful, Apple-envious, slow-as-f*** DE" notion 
> entirely...
>
> [...]

Never worth converting the DE on most Distros. Use what ever you 
got. Otehrwise you end up with broken system or a lot of bloat.


> "Summary" (That's "TL;DR" for you nerds...):
> ------------------------------------------------
>
> [...]

Dell laptops are actually sold with Linux (developer editions)

> 2. Get a modest USB3 HDD to handle archival needs and shuffling 
> data between old-and-new PCs (Because even today, direct LAN 
> data-transfer across different OSes (or even the same OS in 
> many unfortunate cases, especially if mobiles are involved) is 
> still a royal PITA).

USB3 HDDs are fairly cheap. Unfortunately we don't have a proper 
file system other than good old FAT32. You can try ExFat, but you 
will need to install extra software (I think its not necessary 
for Lubuntu)

> 3. Then I'll dual-boot-install Lubuntu 18.10 (non-LTS), but 
> retain an optional OEM Windoze partition just-in-case. I'll get 
> what she needs up-and-running on that, figure out how to set up 
> automatic updates, and leave it at that until Lubuntu has their 
> first LXQt-based LTS...at which point I'll update the system to 
> that, re-enable automatic updates, and laugh maniacally until 
> either A. It becomes clear I've made huge a mistake somewhere 
> or B. It becomes clear it's time for her NEXT new computer and 
> I'm forced to prepare ANOTHER round of questionable compromises 
> for the alleged sake of "progress"...
>
> [...]


Kill switches are offered by the Purism brand laptops : 
https://puri.sm/products/
They also satisfy most of the other requirements.
They're a privacy oriented brand, and they have linux 
pre-installed. might be worth checking out. I have no experience 
with their products though.
There's also System 76 https://system76.com/laptops for more 
performance oriented stuff.