So basically, my dad doesn’t have any tech literacy, like at all.
The only reason he learned how to ever use a computer was thanks to Linux (in my experience the elderly find it easier to use than Windows btw).
However, I moved to a different country long ago, and his old Ubuntu installation is getting extremely old. Not only that, but I forgot to install something like Rust Desk before I left, which means his browser etc hasn’t been updated in years (he forgot how to do updates and lost the page with instructions).
So, my solution now that I know he needs an updated system is to send him a USB drive and detailed printed instructions on how to install it with pictures by mail.
I’m planning on sending him Linux Mint, because I wanted to use the OEM install option in order to pre-install some programs (freetube, signal, and especially Rust Desk) using it in a virtual machine, and then turn that into an iso/img that I could flash to a USB so that it’s ready for him to just install once he gets it. I also need to be able to preemptively rename Rust Desk and change the icon to something he can easily identify so that if he needs help, he can easily find the program, ideally already pinned in the panel or with a desktop shortcut.
Problem is, I can’t figure out how to do that. I’ve been trying for 3 days. I tried converting the vdi into a img file using qemu but that causes errors when trying to run the img or iso (I think it’s still raw?). I even got desperate enough to try ChatGPT by it gave me a very advanced answer that I didn’t understand that involved calculating memory, or to use Cubic (which can’t modify Rustdesk), and it also gave me a solution that didn’t work.
I also noticed that the vdi is much bigger than the initial mint iso - I guess because everything has been unpacked in the virtual machine. Shrinking it so it can fit in my spare 8gb drive would be the next step of I even made it that far.
Don’t know how to help you with those vdi problems, but here is an out of the box thinking: tell him to ask a neighbor.
I have a similar situation so i got a hetzner VM and set up wireguard connections from both ends, so that vm serves as a hub/router. Then you can just ssh into the machine via vpn and do an update, upgrade or whatever.
If you stick with Ubuntu lts, it will require very little maintenance.
He had LTS, but that was 8 years ago.
The neighbors wouldn’t work, since on one side is an empty house and the other has also very tech illiterate people (and in the case of the parents of the neighbors, actually fully illiterate).
I like the idea to have though for the future