# Linux distribution recommendations for my mom's PC **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [February 3, 2009, 1:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/linux-distribution-recommendations-for-my-moms-pc/484189 "2009-02-03T01:11:49Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 5\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Simplicio](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c37758/32.png) [@Simplicio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Simplicio)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2009, 1:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/linux-distribution-recommendations-for-my-moms-pc/484189/21 "2009-02-04T13:04:27Z")
> [@Askance](#): > > No mention of openSuSE? For the Word Processing, OpenOffice. I have to tend to several computers (with fairly generic hardware) with SUSE on them at work, and they’re all a mess. I had to reinstall CUPS to get it to work, the task bar keeps disappearing and has to be killed/restarted to get it back, GIMP and sound never worked on 10.2, and yesterday the software manager would crash whenever I tried to add any online repository. Not sure if the 10.2/10.3 versions are just particularly screwed up, I’m just unlucky enough to have problems across several (4) different computers or if the OS just inherintly sucks, but I wouldn’t strongly recommend against it. I have Ubuntu on two desktops at home and its been pretty flawless, I’m tempted to put it on my gf’s computer next time she upgrades, as it really does seem to be ready for primetime even for people who aren’t computer savy. ---
**Author:** ![yoyodyne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/a9a28c/32.png) [@yoyodyne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yoyodyne)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2009, 2:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/linux-distribution-recommendations-for-my-moms-pc/484189/22 "2009-02-04T14:20:47Z")
> [@KneadToKnow](#): > > Math. $0 \< $130 Your “support cost” and her frustration will be higher. It’s up to you to decide if that’s worth $130. ---
**Author:** ![Caffeine.addict](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f475e1/32.png) [@Caffeine.addict](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Caffeine.addict)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2009, 3:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/linux-distribution-recommendations-for-my-moms-pc/484189/23 "2009-02-04T15:18:09Z")
Its been two years for me, but I liked Ubuntu and Mepis. Mepis was faster on my older machine. Once you get them set up, they are pretty low maintenance. ---
**Author:** ![Derleth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Derleth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Derleth)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2009, 3:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/linux-distribution-recommendations-for-my-moms-pc/484189/24 "2009-02-04T15:46:33Z")
> [@yoyodyne](#): > > Your “support cost” and her frustration will be higher. It’s up to you to decide if that’s worth $130. This used to be true, but concerted efforts on the part of both Linux developers and Microsoft have reversed the trend. Ubuntu especially gives headache-free usage. ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2009, 1:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/linux-distribution-recommendations-for-my-moms-pc/484189/25 "2009-02-06T01:15:47Z")
> [@Tuckerfan](#): > > Puppylinux is worth checking out. Very small (less than 100 megs) and looks similar to windows. The one strike against is that it’s not easy to install new programs on it if you’re a n00b, and if you go with the default apps installed, some of them might not be as up to date as they could be. Still, with it be Linux, it’s very secure, and the speed of it is amazing. I had it running on a 1.7ghz machine while running XP on a 2 ghz machine. The machine running Puppylinux was **dramatically** faster. I installed Puppy on a number of quite old laptops and it ran surprisingly well. The version I installed didn’t impose any kind of login process though - it just booted straight into the desktop - a bit like Win98. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/linux-distribution-recommendations-for-my-moms-pc/484189.md?page=1)