this post was submitted on 20 Aug 2024
68 points (98.6% liked)

Linux

48364 readers
898 users here now

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Linux is a family of open source Unix-like operating systems based on the Linux kernel, an operating system kernel first released on September 17, 1991 by Linus Torvalds. Linux is typically packaged in a Linux distribution (or distro for short).

Distributions include the Linux kernel and supporting system software and libraries, many of which are provided by the GNU Project. Many Linux distributions use the word "Linux" in their name, but the Free Software Foundation uses the name GNU/Linux to emphasize the importance of GNU software, causing some controversy.

Rules

Related Communities

Community icon by Alpár-Etele Méder, licensed under CC BY 3.0

founded 5 years ago
MODERATORS
 

So a while back I threw Ubuntu 22 LTS on an old Surface Pro 3 and gave it to my Dad.

He loves it, but he's the type who's been burnt by updating software in the past, so he basically refuses any whenever prompted.

Been thinking about throwing Debian with Gnome on it for a while, and wondering if it's stable enough to just let updates happen automatically in the background?

I got no experience with Debian I basically jumped right on EndeavourOS as my main distro when I started using Linux full time.

you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments
[–] potentiallynotfelix@lemdro.id 7 points 3 months ago

Beware that Surface computers need a custom kernel for some features to work. It depends on the distro and the features you use, but I'd suggest you see the linux-surface project for more info. As for updates, standard Debian has a stable release model, and is one of the more stable Linux distros in general, so I don't think he would have issues with any automatic updates. I'd just say that you should try to be on standby for tech support, as Linux has many differences and is naturally a bit more prone to issues than Windows.