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How Do You Advocate Linux in 5 Minutes?
xtracto writes "I just returned from buying certain Linux magazine. While looking at the 'Computing' stand in the library, and right after I grabbed a copy of the Linux magazine, a guy asked me if I used Linux. After that, the man told me he had tried to use Linux, but he had found it difficult. I told him the first things that came to my mind: that it depended on the distribution (he tried Kubuntu). I recommended him to look for a Linux User Group near his hometown (he told me he didn't live near a city). What would you tell these kinds of people? Not so long ago, and to my surprise, a relative who is completely computer illiterate started talking about Linux, but the general thought is that 'it is harder than Windows'. How do you advocate Linux to people who are more comfortable using Windows?"
Very few. And those who put in bug reports about usability issues are usually either ignored or shouted down, especially if they don't include a patch to fix it. I'm sure this will get marked as Flamebait, but I've tried submitting usability bugs several times to different projects with no results.
Only programmers are respected in the open source world. If you can point out a usability problem like "Gnome apps don't alphabetize files in the Open dialog right" but you can't write code to fix it, you're sunk.
Oh, and I didn't make that up. Gnome apps *don't* alphabetize files right. You'd think that in the year 2007 being able to alphabetize a list of files is a solved problem, but not in the Linux world.
Comment of the year
Sorry but a BSOD is not "just normal Windows". There is something wrong either with this system or his hardware. If it is hardware then Linux (or any OS you run on the system) may also fail to work because of it. If it is Windows itself there is most likely a simple fix. Most likely is a buggy driver.
Windows is not perfect however stating it is "normal" for a complete system crash is not true these days.
Now back to your post I agree with you, Live CDs are great. I have given around 50-60 to people in the past 2 years or so. Almost everyone thinks it is impressive you can run it without needing to install it (those you don't do not understand what an operating system is). Sadly I do not think any of them stuck with Linux. The reasons are common (hardware support, applications, complexity). I have never tried to force anyone to use Linux. Use what you like IMHO. I try and support Linux as much as I can but it is very difficult when everything in Windows 'Just Works(tm)'.
A lot of people see computers as a tool to do something, like a drill or a BBQ. A drill makes holes, a BBQ cooks food, a computer surfs the internet and does word processing. They don't have to build the drill from small parts to drill a hole, they don't have to rub two sticks together to get fire for the BBQ and so they don't want to have to work on their computer to get it to surf the internet.