Starting Linux: seeking friendly forums for ignorant newbies

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Rainey

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This is Joanna, Rainey's daughter. My mother's seen recommendations from Miss M and others and wants to try Linux out on her aging MacBook Pro (stating out with a dual-boot or CD-based system for the test run). I'm trying to figure out how to make that happen, and I do not understand computers well at all. I've found lots of articles and some forums full of conflicting information and/or what looks like useful information written at a level I can't comprehend. Could any of you RT Linuxers recommend friendly forums/reliable info sources for ignorant newbies?

I am still trying to figure out very basic stuff like whether I have to have an external hard drive for system backup or whether I can use either a capacious flash drive or the internal hard drive of another elderly Mac, whether the choice between dual-boot or CD-loaded Linux has any implications for how easy it is to transfer Mac word processing, web and photo files into the Linux system, etc.

I'm really grateful for RabbitTalk's courteous culture and great knowledge base, and I hope there's something like that out there for computers...Any suggestions greatly appreciated.
 
I am not the household authority on Linux, but my only piece of advice would be to go look at the Ubuntu Linux webpage, forums, etc. It is one of the more streamlined linux flavours where installation is concerned, and I bet they have a beginner FAQ that could answer some of these questions for you.

I'd try to answer, but I feel like I'd be making some huge assumption about intended use/context. So perhaps I'll avoid sticking my foot in my mouth this time.
 
Ubuntu is one of the best. I use the gnome Ubuntu which is just Ubuntu with a different desktop. On Windows you can use a program called unetbooten to create a bootable flash drive. I'm not sure about mac OS. Once you get Ubuntu on a flash drive, you can try it out before you permanently install it. Just be aware it will be somewhat slower than a regular install. <br /><br /> __________ Mon Jan 09, 2017 9:51 am __________ <br /><br /> I was just curious how this was going?
 
Joanna is making progress, but as I did when I started here on RT, the more answers she gets the more questions arise. I really appreciate her being willing to do this (with my vision problems, I don't think I could do it myself) and we both are grateful to the folks on here and on the recommended sites who patiently answer questions and the next question, and . . .
 
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