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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?"
Maybe a way to brand people on the arm, something catchy like "www.ubuntu.com" with a little penguin logo.
I Am My Own Worst Enemy
Best way to advocate for anything, really. "Try Linux and I'll give you oral sex!" works wonders. I haven't had anyone refuse to try Linux yet.
The best way to advocate Linux is to ask some questions. What doesn't the guy like about Windows that's making him even consider Linux? What kinds of things does he do in Windows and what apps does he use? Why does he think Linux is harder than Windows?
When you know that, you know the selling points of Linux that you can spool out in 5 minutes. The biggest difficulty in evangelizing anything is when you talk at people instead of with them. If you ask questions, he'll provide you with all the talking points that will be most effective.
But it's worth mentioning... It all depends on the person's needs. Sometimes Windows will be the person's best option for a comfortable operating environment, because they have peripherals and software that Linux just doesn't have a good solution for supporting or replacing. If the guy's not ready for Linux or it's not ready for him, be honest. That way, when the situation changes, he's going to trust your advice and be ready to switch because of it.
- Greg
Start a happiness pandemic
Linux is like a religion for people who really ought to be putting their intelligence to better use than a religion. Stop wasting time thinking of ways to get your neighbours to accept Linux as their personal saviour from malware, and start teaching yourself C++ and get to work improving things.
Linux is not customer ready OS right now (like for grandpa or smth.). If it would it would be mainstream right now. But it isn't. The fact that it is not customer OS does not degrades its value. Linux (and other alternative free-as-in-speech unix OSes) has great value once you learn how to harvest it and make Linux to work for you.
;)
So with that in mind Linux is an OS for professionals and hobbyists/hackers.
For professionals right now it is I think mandatory to know Linux in *some* way. Even just in way to see that Windows works better for you. But it is essential to know Linux in way that lets you make clear decision of what to use. But anyway nobody ever got fired for buying MS - or was he?
For hobbyists Linux is a Must Have - if you are into computing and you like it you must try Linux since it may make nice things for you in some way or another. It does not mean that you need to dump Windows and go Linux exclusively - but it means that Linux has great potential and it is worth to use.
Linux advocacy has nothing to do with ease of use compared to Windows or whatever. If Windows is easier to use for you than go on - use it.
It's entirely situational. The key is no-pressure. It's their machine, and they shouldn't be forced into using something they're not comfortable with.
...Rob
The American Dream isn't an SUV and a house in the suburbs; it's Don't Tread On Me.
Checking your dependencies and recompiling your kernel is just like emptying the deleted items folder in Outlook Express. Honest!
See this first.
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
Let it sell itself to the right customer.
I think that not everyone is ready to use linux. Let's face it: linux is not for everyone. You need to be smart. When most of people I know ask me about linux, I sedolm recommended to try it out because I know they can't even handle Windows XP. It's sad but it's true.
And just like most Linux advocates, you just don't get it.
The iPod was not about its features, or its interface, or its design, or its marketing, it was ALL of those things understood and executed simultaneously by a company and a person who Just Got It.
It really makes me laugh when people say "This product has everything this one had and is $100 cheaper, why wasn't it more successful?" The fact is, it wasn't, that's the hard truth, and it's your job to figure out why. I'll give you a hint: it's not one thing, or two things, or even five things. You have to understand your product and your users on a much higher level than features and price.
So then think, gee, Linux is free and Windows and MacOS are hundreds of dollars, and they all offer exactly the same features... and take a hint. There's something wrong with Linux, and it's not just one thing. It's the whole philosophy that software is just its features and nothing more. Once you Get It, then you can talk about Marketing It.
Here's a start: Linux needs to tuck the command line under the carpet. Blasphemy! [Runs and hides]
But seriously, if you disagree with that, then Linux will never see widespread adoption, and your mentality is the reason.
"!"
Amen.
But I'd go further and say that the problem with Linux acutally is just one thing.
It's not the dominant operating system.
That one fact alone means a whole lot to the average person. They want something they can get help with from people they know, the want something they can replace easily, they want the dominant operating system. Just like most people want the dominant movie format, and will wait to get it.
90% market dominance isn't just a result of good marketing, it's the primary "feature" of windows. Nothing else will be able to offer that feature by definition.
What's going to have to happen is for Microsoft to either adopt Linux/open source (I tend to think this is actually likely in the long term future) or Linux is going to have to be so vastly superior to Windows for the average person so as to make the 90% market share "feature" irrelevant.
It's not going to happen through advocacy.
That said, my money's on virtualization. We'll probably all be running multiple OS's simultaneously before Windows loses 5% marketshare.
If moderation could change anything, it would be illegal.
Hmmm, I disagree with this. My job is teaching adult education. I teach IT at my local college for adults and we cater for anyone who is 16+. The average age of my students however is 56 and I have students as old as 88.
It's fine to say "They just need someone else to do it for them." because I agree with you, it's true. However it's not practical. I have a large number of students who don't have anyone to look after their computers for them. In fact the major reason for the older people gettings computers is to keep in touch with family who live a long way away or abroad. The worst thing is they often have "a mate from the pub who knows computers". This person is nearly always a complete idiot and has no knowledge of computers but does however know how to reinstall Windows. This is what they beliee qualifies them as an expert.
Now imagine putting Linux in front of these people with no direct support. apt-get? emerge? rpm? How is that easier that sticking in a disc, having it run and clicking next 3 times. These are people who can barely use a mouse, will they know how to search for the correct software? They would rather (and are better off) going to a store and asking for the software, and being sold something that will match their needs AND is eay to install.
I have had more than a handful of students say they have lost several years of digital photos of their grandchildren because a friend formatted their computer and reinstalled Windows. When quizzed about the actual problem it's nearly always a very simple one. In one case it was the keyboard not putting the correct characters on screen (I am in the UK and the keyboard was set to a US layout).
You know, it's been ten years since I moved from my Amiga to Linux, but those two sentences still piss me off.
I'd like the Slashdot audience to know that the (traitor) parent poster is in no way representative for us ex-Amiga users. We still foam at the mouth.
The Linux logic is way too different from that of Windows and new users first have to forget their Microsoft ways. And they will only do so if they are *very* motivated or if you show them how to do stuff. Those users obviously aren't tech savvy or else they probably wouldn't have much trouble with Windows or would have switched to something else on their own.
So if you give a CD to someone, follow up on it, offer assistance, if the person finds it intriguing, point him/her to a LUG or invest some of your time.
Or you might as well be handing out coasters.
May contain traces of nut.
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