Linux

I haven't tried Scrinever. What follows is about trying to convert people to Linux, you can safely ignore the comment if you're not interested.

If the will doesn't come from him, he will certainly look for things he doesn't like and that will confort him in staying on Windows.

I'd say keep him informed and let him make his decisions with the information he has.

I'll likely get downvoted for this.

It doesn't seem like there's any advantage for them in switching to Linux.

It'll just make their experience harder for no real gains for them.

Not sure there's really much point in trying to push people to use Linux if they aren't interested in computers.

Imagine if someone came up to you raving about switching to a new car brand that has a 5% higher top speed and 10% more fuel efficiency for your money but the handbrake is in on the roof, you change gears with buttons instead of a gear stick and you fill the tires with water instead of air

Most people don't care about what software runs on their computer and just want the default because it works the same way everyone else's does

Only way Linux gets into the mainstream is if consumer hardware with it preinstalled gets popular, the steam deck is a good start

Why do you want other people to switch to Linux? I don't understand making fuss with relationships for an OS. Especially if they have Windows programs. Plus now everytime there is a problem, s/he will always call you. What does s/he think?

i think the most important part is that if they switch to linux, you are now their IT support, and they will rely on you. be patient and understanding with them, even if stuff is not necessarily broken.

It looks like it runs in wine. https://www.reddit.com/r/scrivener/comments/102pvtk/scrivener_on_linux_abandoned/

Mint is easiest for old windows users.

On the distros: Go with mint. ubuntu has snaps which are the perfect way to scare new users away. They make everything super slow to launch and cause errors that make no sense if you don't know how snaps work.

And worst of all, if you type "sudo apt install firefox", hit enter and press Y, you won't get what you asked for. You'll get the snap version of firefox and the only way to know that is if you read and understand the output of apt.

I don't think you'll find many people here who have used this particular software. I hadn't even heard of it until I read this post. Why not just try to get it to run on your machine? If you're scared of messing up something, just put it in a VM.

Edit: oh and try Bottles. That's a pretty easy way to get Windows stuff to run on Linux.

Honestly, I've found that for non tech-savvy people making any sort of major change results in confusion and frustration. Unless there's a reason that you're wanting them to switch at this particular point in time, and unless the impetus for the change is coming from them...just leave it, don't mess with a setup they're comfortable with.

If he drops Windows for Linux, he might as well opt for a free writing software. I read that Manuskript has pretty much all the features of Scrivener and is somewhat similar so the learning curve should not be too steep.

Maybe best to set it up in a separate partition or PC for a trial.

See also : https://alternativeto.net/software/scrivener/?license=opensource

Linux makes a fantastic writing / research machine but helping folks make the transition to Linux can be difficult.

Everyone comes at it from a different angle and with a different intensity. Sometimes just letting them explore available options can be what they need. I've found that allowing the transition to be an open, running conversation, can be really helpful and much less stressful. There's a lot to learn, even with Ubuntu, Mint, Fedora, etc..

If you haven't found them already, here's a few personal favorite writing apps/systems (in no particular order) I've enjoyed using over the years.

Fadein https://www.fadeinpro.com/

Focus writer https://gottcode.org/focuswriter/

Wordgrinder http://cowlark.com/wordgrinder/index.html

Emacs org-mode https://jacmoes.wordpress.com/2019/09/24/creative-writing-with-emacs/#Manuskript_and_the_cork_board

It works decently. I use it.

A lot of input in the comments, I'll just add mine in the mix.
I guess wanting to change the OS for someone can be good if:

• the current Windows version is EOL and/or has security issues/concerns,
• the hardware is too old to upgrade,
• the current user is fed up with crashes, popups, slowliness etc...

Now, I would go for Mint anyday instead of Ubuntu, because the default matte desktop feels more confortable when coming from windows.

As for Scrivener, I don't even know what it is, but Wine is quite good recently, so if you're tech/linux savy, you could try to make it work.

Totally unhelpful, but I love Scrivener.

I can't speak to running Scrivener, but other folks have that covered, so I thought I'd weigh in on your "extra irrelevant info."

If it were me, I'd just give them Fedora. I set up my partner's computer with it and they were fine. They adapted to Gnome like it was nothing, and everything went smoothly.

If you're worried about the UI, you could use some Gnome Extensions to set it up like Windows (dash to dock, Arc Menu, etc.) or set up a KDE, Cinnamon, or XFCE spin to work like Windows.

Mint is an okay choice for beginners, true, but if you're setting it up for them and will be their tech guru, any significant advantage is kinda lost. You're the one who's going to set up the starting packages and the DE and all that, which nowadays is about 90% of the advantage Mint has over Fedora when it comes to beginners. Because of that, since you're tech support, you should just set up what you're most comfortable running support for.

That's just my opinion, though.

Go with LMDE5. It will run faster the Windows has never ran on that hardware.