Ubuntu used to send you a CD-ROM ready to use free of charge back in the day.

I’ve done this whole process hundreds of times and it’s straightforward now, but the first times where really confusing, I totally understand you.

you basically want to put the installer file in a USB, but you can’t simply copy and paste it because it needs to be “bootable”, that’s why you use a tool like Etcher or similar.

any link in the official Linux Mint page will point you to reputable sources so just pick the first one. the beauty of open source is that it’s not as centralized as a big corporation’s software, you have choices, confusing at first, I know, but it’s worth it once you get past the learning stage

thank you so much!

anyone knows what the sleeping cat in the thumbnail is?

I’ve never seen this widget before

Hope you enjoy your new laptop!

I’ve been 100% Linux for a few years now and absolutely love it. It’s not perfect, every now and then things break and become somehow frustrating, but it’s a different type of frustrating compared with Windows forcing ads or Apple gaslighting you into something, we are a huge community of users that want the best for our users, not greedy investors.

In my case I’ve stuck with Mint +XFCE for old computers and Kubuntu (Ubuntu + KDE) for new ones. Tried others but Ubuntu/Mint “just works” and eases a ton of pain, I haven’t got much free time to bother.

In terms of keeping him safe online look into some content filtering for the whole home network, either paid or self-hosted.

Projects that act upon physical stuff are the most rewarding. Something simple such as building a simple Python script that interacts with a smart home API and turns switches on/off or changes light colors around the house are relatively simple and require no hardware/mechanics if you’re not into robotics, soldering or circuit boards.

You’ve got a great kid :)