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Re:Googlebook by fwipsy on Tuesday May 12, 2026 @03:52PM (#48113537)
I used to think so too, but when my extremely-non-techy mother's Chromebook died, she was able to switch from chrome OS to Ubuntu with minimal fuss. Chrome OS has some specific features, but if you just need a web browser Ubuntu works fine.
Re:Googlebook by sneak on Tuesday May 12, 2026 @08:05PM (#48116210)
You say this only because she hasn’t been ransomwared yet, which is impossible on ChromeOS.
Re:Googlebook by array_key_first on Wednesday May 13, 2026 @12:08AM (#48117696)
It's also very rare on Linux. On Linux, 99% of software comes from trusted repositories. The odds of randomware existing in the Ubuntu repos is low.

It's not the wild wild West like Windows. There are structural reasons why Linux desktops are less susceptible to malware, as well as the obvious marketshare issue.

Re:Googlebook by fwipsy on Wednesday May 13, 2026 @10:06AM (#48122088)
It's also a non-issue if you use Ubuntu like chrome OS. She doesn't have any data stored locally.

More generally, this feels roughly equivalent to saying "it's better to live in a tent than a house, because a house will crush you when an earthquake happens."