Has anyone tried either of these distros? I'm offering to provide a few of my nieces and nephews with some older computers to help them (and/or their parents) as they get to the age of where they might be writing papers and that kind of thing. I'd rather not spend $100s on Win7 and Office. I also want them to become accustomed to Linux because I think it will help them in the future become independent of expensive proprietary software as well as set them up to do "computer stuff" in the future.

All that to say, they and their parents have no idea what Linux is, so I want to start them out with something that is very easy and familiar to a Windows user. I personally use Ubuntu but certain things can be pretty tricky, and even I have difficulty doing some of them. For example, installing Chrome instead of Chromium, real Java instead of OpenJDK, adding repositories, building .tar's, etc. There's no way they'd be able figure all of that stuff out.

While searching for alternatives, I found Zorin and Linux Mint which appear to be Ubuntu derivatives. Mint seems like it's a little more Linux-y but perhaps a little easier to use than Ubuntu. Zorin appears to be more Windows-y, with a built-in Look Chooser to switch between Win7, WinXP, and Linux looks. It also makes it very easy to install different browsers, with Chrome coming pre-installed.

I'd appreciate any advice or information on either of these alternatives as well as other suggestions.

Mint.

What was the verdict on this...?

If I were one of these nieces, nephews, and siblings, I'd say why is my uncle so weird?

No one under 20 not a CS student or over 60 uses Linux.

And almost no one that these people will interact with in their normal lives uses Linux on a laptop or desktop. Niece will want to edit video like her friends do, whether on Mac or Win7, and she'll have to say "my uncle says Linux is better because it isn't proprietary so all our software is different. I still don't know how to use it."

So this desire to avoid proprietary (yet the most mainstream in the world) is really a political statement against commercial software.

Sorry for the rant but this is just an intellectual pursuit of the OP and against the purpose of computers - make them productive and ordinary.

Linux fanboys seem to ignore that the variety of Linux distributions does not nothing to further the cause. It muddies the market and directly contributes to the lack of momentum in the consumer market.

A Windows 7 Family Pack costs $150 or less for three licenses.

[This message has been edited by SpicewoodAg (edited 12/21/2011 4:20p).]

Depending on the hardware, i'd either go with lubuntu (ubuntu running LXDE for lower spec computers)

or just plain Ubuntu. I know there will be varying opinions on this, but I've tried probably 10 different distros in the past 3 years and I always end up coming back to Ubuntu. I even got my mom on it (was having to reinstall windows on her machine about every 8 months, no idea WTF she was doing to it) and cut my support for her from once every few months to basically never.

@SpicewoodAg

$150 was a little out of my price range. I wanted to stay below $50, which is what I paid for one of the computers off of Craigslist.

Both of the computers came with WinXP already installed so they'll be able to use "what their familiar with" as much as they want. I just wanted to give them the option of using Linux so they're not afraid of it like most people are. I imagine they'll get comfortable with it pretty quickly and learn that open-source, free software works just as well as expensive, proprietary software.

Open-source software has a ton of benefits. First of all, it's free and accessible to all who have a computer. The entire motivation of Ubuntu is to provide computers to every individual in the world. The different distros and software options do muddy the waters, I agree, but they also force change and improvements from one version to the next.

Once Win7 came out, I decided I would begin adjusting my habits and become accustomed to Linux so that I would never have to buy a Microsoft product again. That way when Win8 comes out in a couple of years, Microsoft will not see another dime from me. In fact, they didn't even see a dime from me when I got Win7...they paid me...Whoop! I'll save my hundreds of dollars and spend it elsewhere, perhaps donate it to a good cause, instead of making some CEO rich. I just wish someone had introduced me to it when I was in high school so that I could have made the switch sooner, and that's what I'm hoping to do here.

I'm just curious, SpicewoodAg, have you ever actually used Linux, I mean, besides the phone you're probably using?

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If I were one of these nieces, nephews, and siblings, I'd say why is my uncle so weird?

No one under 20 not a CS student or over 60 uses Linux.

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Dude, get the hell out of the nerdery.

OP, you're the coolest uncle ever.

For the record, I'm 23, have a full-time job, and still rock the nux.

Linux desktops/laptops will never be a mainstream product. It will never be familiar enough to the masses which use Windows or Mac. No mainstream PC maker will package it either with their hardware. It will be a hobbyist only system.

vm_boy - yes I have used Linux. It is meaningful to me much more as server OS. It isn't interesting enough to deal with different apps, fussing with distributions, hunting for apps.

I can afford to pay for software I want and have no problem with the price they charge for Windows or Office (or Mac OS if I were so inclined).

Stasco - didn't you just prove my point? You're not under 20 and not over 60.

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or just plain Ubuntu. I know there will be varying opinions on this, but I've tried probably 10 different distros in the past 3 years and I always end up coming back to Ubuntu.

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Ubuntu was great up through version 10.10. Then in 11.04 they introduced a much less usable and much less stable GUI.

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much less usable

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that's debatable

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and much less stable GUI.

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that i agree with.


but that's the beauty of linux. you can install any desktop environment you want.

based on the price he got these computers for, I'd put Lubuntu or Xubuntu on them.

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Ubuntu was great up through version 10.10

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This is a big reason of why I'm looking for alternative.

So here's what I did. I decided to install Mint on one and Zorin on the other. Whichever one I liked more, I would reformat the other computer and install the better OS. Essentially, both are Ubuntu that have been modified so, potentially, it's possible to go from one to the other after downloading certain apps and modifying certain settings, but since I was doing this to two computers, out-of-the-box performance was most important. Here's what I discovered.

Linux Mint Sucks-
1) I prefer Chrome, not Chromium, but the real Chrome. Mint comes prepackaged with Firefox. So, the first thing I did was attempt to install Chrome, which is way more hassle than it's worth, but that's what I want. Once Chrome is installed, I then have to change the preferred application for web browsing. That's easy, there's a Preferred Application application just for that...oh, but it doesn't work, either it didn't recognize Chrome, or it just didn't work.

2) Mint comes prepackaged with Thunderbird. Okay, sure, whatever. I like Evolution, but I can work with T-bird. However, in the bar up on the top right, there's today's date. You click on it and a mini calendar appears. At the bottom of the drop-down it says "Click to open Event". So I do. "Error. Evolution not found." <forehead slap>. So let's install Evolution. That's great, but don't try to make it the preferred application...

3) A lot of the fonts sizes and styles were really weird and seemed to be messed up.

Zorin OS is Awesome!
1) Chrome (not Chromium) comes prepackaged. If you would rather use Firefox, Opera, or Midori, you're in luck. It comes with an Internet Browser Manager. Under the icon of the appropriate icon is a toggle button: Install/Uninstall. It's that easy! Select which browser you prefer. Click install. Don't like Chrome? Click Uninstall. Genius!

2) Another cool feature of Zorin is the Look Chooser. It comes prepackaged looking exactly like Win7 with the same Start menu and the big quick-launch icons with Chrome, File Manager, and Banshee...just like Win7. You click the Start menu and you have the exact same listings as Win7. If you don't like the look of Win7 and you'd rather the environment look more like WinXP or Gnome, just open up the Look Chooser, find the one you like and click "Apply". Re-sign in (not restart) and everything will be as you expect it should be. If you pay for Zorin (it's actually a 7-10 pound donation), then it comes with 3 more looks: iOS, Win2000, WinVista. This is ideal for someone coming from Windows. It's comfortable, but as you get more accustomed to it, you can change to Gnome very easily.

3) PlayOnLinux, Wine, and Winetricks all come pre-installed. No more hassle trying to find and install those apps. You don't have to find some forum, download a .tar, make, build, install, whatever. It's done. Easy!

4) It has a cool boot up sound!

Obviously, I decided to go with Zorin. After the install, I probably spent 15 minutes on each tweaking stuff, like Chrome's download path. Easy stuff you'd have to (or at least want to) do with any OS. The only slightly annoying thing is the auto-mounting of the other partitions. It's pretty simple to do yourself, but in both of my cases, it gave me fits with a couple of partitions. Not sure why. It would be nice if they included a step for that in the install. Perhaps they do and I just haven't figured that out yet.

All in all, I recommmend you give Zorin a try. If you're frustrated with Ubuntu's unity and want to try something different; if you know (or are) a Windows user that "has to buy a new computer so they can run Windows 7 so that they can use Word and Excel and browse the internet"...I highly recommend Zorin. Try it! You'll like it!

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Stasco - didn't you just prove my point? You're not under 20 and not over 60.

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Sorry, thought you meant no one between 20 and 60 uses Linux, which of course makes no sense. Reading comprehension fail on my part.

What also makes no sense is why anyone here cares what people under 20 and over 60 do. Plus, the under 20 crowd is essentially platform independent now with the possible exception of gaming, but then most kids have a dedicated game console anyway. If not, let them read a quick 5 minute tutorial on Wine.