Do you recommend Trisquel to others?
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I've used Trisquel for a few years now, and I had hoped by now I would be familiar enough with the system to recommend it to others, but there's something that stops me. It might be a combination of multiple things, but it's difficult for me to figure out why I'm hesitant.
I think my main concern is that something might break with someone's Trisquel installation and they won't know how to fix it.
For example,
currently I get an error when I try to upgrade from Trisquel 10 to 11. I suspect this is because I previously upgraded from Trisquel 9 to 10, but it could be because I installed something from outside of Trisquel repositories. I tried to replicate the error on a VM but was unsuccessful; I get errors as soon as I try to update on Trisquel 9, which makes sense because it's no longer supported. The issue could be kind of my fault, but it affects my view of the system regardless - it means I don't have enough information to say whether unmodified Trisquel is reliable. Additionally, I installed programs from outside of Trisquel because I found the main system lacking, and it seems plausible that others could have reasons to install programs from outside of Trisquel repos as well. Guix may help with this, but it's too soon for me to tell.
Some other things that may contribute to my hesitancy to recommend the system to others are that I do a lot of things with the terminal but don't expect typical users to use the terminal, and that some links to documentation don't work (e.g. in Abrowser settings).
It's questionable whether the particular problems I see with Trisquel that I bring up matter, but for some reason I am hesitant to recommend Trisquel. I do sometimes tell people that I *don't* recommend Windows, and I occasionally tell people I think Trisquel, Guix, or Hyperbola are better, but I'm unsure of what I should actually be recommending.
What kinds of recommendations do you make to people regarding operating systems? Why?
I do not recommend any other distributions, and if the computer is not compatible, what I recommend is that you sell the computer and buy one that is compatible. When new users do refuse to study how their new system works and ask you for help. You can start a lucrative technical service business. I'll always tell them that if they're going to change the system, they're going to use other programs, which do the same but differently. I would never take a Trisquel user to install software that is not in the repositories, except that it is also free software. Because I think doing that means taking them to division and helplessness.
What sort of problems do people ask for help about?
As mentioned elsewhere in this thread, one should make sure the onboard wifi chipset is compatible with libre software. And if it is not, advise or provide a compatible USB adapter. Especially in cases where Ethernet may not be an option, but also in cases where it may be.
That said, I have been recommending and/or installing Trisquel since Belenos the same way I used to recommend and/or install Ubuntu in earlier days. No complaint, no insuperable hurdle, and a beautiful learning curve where the user becomes the actual owner of their computer.
The only users who firmly declined going for a fully free system were heavy gamers who valued graphic card performance above all. They would probably have been asking for help about problems using non-free firmware.
Certainly, only with free software can the user recover their own sovereignty and therefore, ownership over their computer.
I am a translator!
I recommend Trisquel to anyone already using some GNU/Linux system but I explain that they will have to use a USB adapter for wifi and check whether they are currently using some non-free software for which they can't use a replacement.
For people using Windows or MacOS now who absolutely want to have the wifi of their laptop work and to use certain non-free software, I suggest Linux Mint, but I tell them that I can't help them that much with it, while with Trisquel I can.
currently I get an error when I try to upgrade from Trisquel 10 to 11
This kind of operation is only every 1.5 year or so, then I think you could assist them for this. I would assume that the easiest is to backup user data, make a fresh install and restore user data.
I installed programs from outside of Trisquel because I found the main system lacking, and it seems plausible that others could have reasons to install programs from outside of Trisquel repos as well.
Flatpak is probably the easiest method, but indeed it is command line. That said, flathub provides the commands, one only needs to copy paste, and most users don't install new software so frequently.
I do a lot of things with the terminal but don't expect typical users to use the terminal
I have a natural tendency to use the terminal but I try forcing myself to search for graphical tools for every day tasks and use them so that I am able to help users that prefer not to use the terminal.
One thing for which I could not find a solution is to enable the backports, but that is a one-time action, so perhaps not such a problem to use command line.
some links to documentation don't work (e.g. in Abrowser settings).
Which one for example?
>One thing for which I could not find a solution is to enable the backports, but that is a one-time action, so perhaps not such a problem to use command line.
Enable backports using GUI?
You can use software-properties, if you use KDE, then update to the latest software-properties release to have a visible tool in the menu.
Cheers!
Regarding "I explain that they will have to use a USB adapter for wifi":
I use Trisquel mini 11 on a hp Compaq Mini CQ10-400, wifi has worked on it from the beginning, without any problems, without(!) a USB adapter for wifi.
Regarding installing software from outside of Trisquel, I think any flatpaks are probably pretty unlikely to break anything since flatpak is part of the Trisquel repos and the flatpaks themselves are sandboxed. When I first started using Trisquel I downloaded various .deb files and .sh installers, as well as enabling PPAs. More recently I haven't been doing that as much, instead using better methods like flatpak and guix, although I do still use some programs from pip and I have the deadsnakes PPA enabled still. I'm not sure whether it's because I didn't know about better options, or because better options have appeared recently. I see that yt-dlp is in aramo backports but not nabia-backports, but then I also somehow didn't understand what backports was until just now, so maybe it's a combination of both. Aside (if anyone knows): why isn't backports enabled by default?
I have a natural tendency to use the terminal but I try forcing myself to search for graphical tools for every day tasks and use them so that I am able to help users that prefer not to use the terminal.
Cool to know that I'm not the only person who tries to do this. I still end up using the terminal for a lot of things though.
Regarding documentation links, one example is triple-equal-sign -> Settings (or type in "about:preferences") -> "Learn more" next to "Enable Container Tabs", it links to https://trisquel.info/en/wiki/containers which doesn't exist
Also, totally unrelated, but my post preview is showing https://trisquel.info/files/repository_0.png as an attachment?
Just putting this here for reference, the broken documentation links in Abrowser are due to a change of app.support.baseURL to https://trisquel.info/wiki/ [1]. For Firefox, that would be something like https://support.mozilla.com/1/firefox/129.0.2/Trisquel/en-US/ instead. As for actually fixing the issue, I think people could copy/modify relevant info from Mozilla pages to Trisquel wiki pages (Mozilla content appears to be CC-BY-SA-3.0 [2]).
[1] (Requires JS) https://gitlab.trisquel.org/trisquel/package-helpers/-/blob/aramo/helpers/DATA/firefox/settings.js?ref_type=heads#L70
[2] https://www.mozilla.org/en-US/foundation/licensing/website-content/
I recommend Trisquel to every one I talk to about it. I appreciate Trisquel's dedication to freedom and respect to privacy but also have had virtually nothing but rock solid performance from it. Usually, I make my recommendation without a shred of hope that my recommendee will in fact give it a try. If one did express an interest, I would offer to assist. After they save everything they need to keep on a flash drive or DVD, and assuming that the Trisquel Live operates OK, we could create a '/' partition and a '/home' partition. If their hardware isn't supported I probably would suggest Fedora. If I manage to get a Windows user successfully using any version of GNU/Linux they can learn about it and eventually upgrade to purely free versions when they are ready.
Very nice replies here!
I also recommend Trisquel, and even though I know little, I've helped with installation, setup and some questions, common (or uncommon) to new users. I find I learn by giving support, and that is a big fat bonus.
After that there is the forum, which I'm also happy to recommend.
I tell people about Trisquel and I install Trisquel on fmaily member's computers when their Windows dies and they need me to get them on the internet. But almost nobody ever asks for my recommendation. Even though my friends and family know that I make my living working with computers, they don't ask my opinion on what OS they should be running. That's probably because most people don't even know what an OS is, or that you can change it. Most of them just know they've either bought a Windows or an Apple computer, or a Chromebook. They don't seem to understand that the operating system is different than the hardware and can be changed.
Amazing to hear that! I wish we were family, so I could ask your opinion on everything computer, face to face... and, as it seems, without competition :)
Well you know a lot yourself! I'd be the one calling you for advice.
I'd be the one calling you for advice
Oh Andy, that would make my day!!
I find it's hard to know what we know, specially if most of what we know comes from guessing. The more I guess, the less I know what I know!
I am a member!
I do not recommend Trisquel to friends or family. I can't justify recommending my folks buy inferior hardware, like the old TP USB wifi thing, for some dubious notion of freedom. I also can't justify suggesting my folks pay the "freedom tax", for old hardware. I paid a premium for a rebranded Cleevo, from Think Penguin. I also don't want to undo or teach my folks how to undo application program configuration choices, the Trisquel team has set up in their rebranded Firefox and Thunderbird. Here, I speak to, among other things, Pidgin being set up such that an apparmor profile prevents it from being accessible with the screen reader, for one. Your Thundervird is set up such that neither the wizard, nor manual configuration, will allow it to connect to gmail, and who knows where else. I worked around this by putting an old ".thunderbird" folder and calling it ".icedove" in my home folder. I don't know all the changes you may have made to Firefox for our supposed own good. I gave the boyfriend a mainstream laptop, bought at an appliance store, with Linuxmint installed, and he's happy so far.
...dubious notion of freedom...
If you do no like freedom or trisquel, why you are a member of trisquel team?
Next to your avatar `I am a member!`
>"Your Thundervird is set up such that neither the wizard, nor manual configuration, will allow it to connect to gmail"
Sounds like an awesome advantage to running Trisquel! I guess I'd better start recommending it more, keep people from getting all their data slurped up by gmail and sold by Google.
+1 andyprough, couldn't agree more, what a perk to shout about!
I Talked with others about Trisquel GNU/Linux, but problem is people like me in 20s age, are mostly using only smartphones with non~free software as base.
I'm mostly new to topics about free software activism.