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Ask Slashdot: the Best Linux Setup To Transition Windows Users?
First time accepted submitter Quantus347 writes "I am trying to convince a number of people to give Linux a chance, arguing that it has come a long way on the road of consumer usability. Can you, oh Wise Ones of Slashdot, recommend a Lunix setup that will be as similar as possible to a Windows environment (Windows 7 or XP). These people hate and fear change, and so will latch onto nearly any noticeable differences, so I'm thinking in terms of both front end functionality and the look of the interface. It would also be very important for them to have to go to the command line as little as possible during daily use (meaning as close to never as can be managed)."
I suggest giving showing them Windows 8 first. After that, the change to any of the major Linux distributions will seem trivial.
Can You Say Linux? I Knew That You Could.
With great hardware support and a polished UI, Ubuntu seems to just work in any case I've implemented it.
Can even go as far as to change out your themeing for an Aero/Win7/WinXP look and feel (Window Theme/Icon Set/Cursor Theme).
The simple fact is they will latch onto something and go back. Even if it was a perfect replica they would.
You are wasting your time.
Never used it, but it's designed for exactly this
http://zorin-os.com/
Personally I find Linux Mint to be the best one, as I prefer my desktop to be more similar to traditional desktop Gnome 2/Windows. Also its very fast and doesn't seem bloated.
Best case scenario, you are right and they can "get used to" the new Linux desktop in front of them. That still saddles YOU with being tier 1, 2, 3, n support for basically the rest of your life. Worst case, things go horribly wrong, days/weeks of work are lost, and you are on the hook for that too.
Just playing devil's advocate, but is supporting Windows 7 and MS office really that bad?
Before you do that ask yourself this: what is the benefit to them of changing? Obviously you're a big fan of linux on the desktop so the benefit to you is great but is it more useable? Does it have compelling features that windows doesn't have? Is it going to make their lives better? Or are you just an evangelist trying to convert them to your religion?
Not running as root by default is a Good Thing. As for running graphical administratory applications, that's what gksudo is for.
I know that and I don't even use Linux much (I've got an Ubuntu server install running Apache that I prod every couple of weeks).
Mint would be the next best choice.
They could use some good word of mouth from the Linux community as well. I'm still depressed that Canonical and Gnome both picked a very bad time to screw around with their usability. With the mess that is Windows 8 coming out, and Steam coming for Linux, there's never been a more promising time for Linux. UEFI still worries the crap out of me for the future though. I wish Google would come out with a 'Google/Chrome Linux' full distro to get some momentum behind adoption.
My first question is: Why? Why, if they're both hateful and fearful of change, would they need to change? Why not a newer version of Windows or a Mac?
Users aren't oriented towards their OS, they're oriented towards their tasks. Their typical question will begin with "How do I..." and then continue into "but then how do I...". So your first issue is to determine what they use and how they use it and then find out the best way to solve each of those individual use cases or problems. For example, "How do I manage my finances, I currently use Quicken?" or "How do I upload pictures from my camera?". You need to solve each of those use cases in a sane manner that's easy to use and just as good or better than what they have. Typical users, especially the ones you describe, don't want to spend any more time with their computer than they need to.
Don't underestimate a user's ability to forget things that they do on their computer. Again, they're task-oriented and so they won't necessarily remember that they need a certain program to update some infrequently used spreadsheet twice a year.
Only if you can help them complete their tasks should you switch; you shouldn't switch them to Linux because you perceive it as better; it might not be better for them and then they'll have a tainted view of Linux when in fact the problem was that they couldn't use their silly banner-creation software from 1999 on it.
Linux Mint with Cinnamon would be one of your best bets. "Everything" button in the lower left, system tray in the lower right, just like Windows, and yet you're still running (a fork of) Gnome 3, so you get all the latest bells and whistles.
It's better to vote for what you want and not get it than to vote for what you don't want and get it.
- E. Debs
Nobody much loves Unity, but Ubuntu 12.04 with either Gnome or KDE is pretty slick and easy to use.
I'm old enough to remember when discussions on Slashdot were well informed.
Whatever you choose, I suggest you keep them away from Unity and whatever happened to Gnome as of late.
IMHO, KDE is the closest, in its current incarnation, to a Windows experience. So, maybe Kubuntu will do. Another nice KDE-centric distro could be OpenSuSE, and they have also an awesome (and very underrated) control panel.
"The agriculture ministry is not in charge of Gundam" - Japanese ministry official.
Make sure you've found out what it is they do, and that you have apps lines up that can give them EVERYTHING they want. If you can't do that, then don't bother. I don't mean a program that "Does the same thing but maybe has some problems," or a program that "Is under active development and will totally support that real soon now." I mean applications that are either the same program, or otherwise 100% replacements for what they use now.
One problem I find with a lot of "You should just switch to Linux," advocates is that they think severely compromising your workflow is going to be a-ok with users. That users should be willing to make big tradeoffs in what they can do or how they do it just for the amazing privilege of using Linux. That, of course, goes over like a ton of bricks with the users.
For example it seems like if someone uses Photoshop and Illustrator it takes about 2 seconds before the knee-jerk "Use GIMP!" gets screamed. However what that says is that you aren't actually considering their use case, just finding a program that is nominally in the same area and deciding it is good enough. Not even close. For some people, GIMP is a fine Photoshop replacement. For others, not at all. GIMP is not at all on Photoshop's level so depending on what the person does it may not be an adequate replacement.
So that is step one: Evaluate what they do, what programs they use and what they use them to do. Then see if you can find replacement software in Linux that does ALL of that. If you can, ok then you can move on to the next step of finding something to make the transition as easy as possible. If you can't, then pack it in and don't bother, because you cannot in fact offer them an easy change. Any change you offer would be one where they would have to make compromises. That's ok for someone who is interested in changing and willing to compromise, that's not ok for someone who is happy and you are trying to convince them change for its own sake is good.
I would go with KDE, it's kind of similar (but way more powerful) to Windows in many ways. With a bit of tweaking (ie. double-click) you could make it pretty cosy for ex-MS users.
KDE is very polished now, no show-stopping or other annoying bugs. Personally - I use Arch, but thats not viable for someone who is not a power user.
You should search for a distro that has KDE by default (as the main DE), because offshoots like kubuntu have pretty poor integration and many features are broken. Taking this into consideration I think that OpenSuse would be a good choice.
I'd start by reading this (and if possible, having them read it as well):
http://linux.oneandoneis2.org/LNW.htm
Bottom line is, they *have* to want to change. If, as you say, they will latch onto any differences to decry the fact that Linux is not *exactly* like Windows, then, well, you're screwed and may as well not waste your time, because the fact is, Linux *is* different from Windows (the very reason why e.g. I use it).
One thing I've always found funny is that these same people have possibly gone through many changes in Windows and MS Office, always without complaint, because it was fed to them by Microsoft as "the next step". It will probably be the same once they get Windows 8 on a computer; they may think "this is hard to learn" but they will learn it without complaint. But put them in front of Linux and they'll cry foul and refuse to use it because "it's different". This mentality is very hard to beat; I stopped trying a few years ago and just let them writhe in their malware-infected sewers while I continue being able to work on Linux.
This is correct.
Precise 12.04 is not bug-free, but it's solid, fast even on several-year-old-hardware that wasn't top of the line even then, easy to learn, and requires minimal or no adjustments once you get it the way you like it. the fact that it will be actively supported for many years is a bonus. it's not perfect, but then nothing is. it's good enough.
for a new linux user, coming from MS or Apple OSes, unity -makes sense-, and has the level of professional polish they expect.
posting AC because I'm tired of getting downmodded by hardcore linux fanboys who think if you didn't compile it yourself, you should get out of their sandbox, and if you say you actually like unity you must have something wrong with you.
Few years ago I had an attempt to switch to Linux Debian. After I was unable to connect to a network printer, went back to Windows. It required sysadm expertise to configure it which is a showstopper for a Windows user.
Last week I gave it a new try with Linux Mint. This time connected to network printer perfectly. Even two finger scroll on TouchPad works. However I had few concerns:
- System freezes several times a day (even numlock doesn't work)
- Only Intel graphic card is used for display (No driver support for Nvidia card)
- It consumes laptop battery three time faster then on Windows
After few days I went back to Windows. Don't have two finger scroll, but can use Nvidia, battery is longer and it doesn't freeze. I'll try again eventually.
Mint supports Nvidia. I'm using a GeForce GTX 460 with the 295.49 driver. They have done much better keeping up with the latest driver versions than Ubuntu proper .
That nVidia card you have (the hybrid/switchable graphics) is the reason for Linus's now famous "F* you, nVidia" comment.
I'm starting to think GNU is the problem with "GNU/Linux" these days.
I'm not sure that dismissing a hybrid integrated / discreet video laptop as a "corner case" is entirely fair. Quite a few laptops have been made in that configuration, and it does make a pretty tremendous improvement in battery life to use the lesser GPU when you don't need the extra power of the discreet chip.
I'd personally say any case where Linux is left unable to use performance or battery life increasing features of a laptop is a pretty bad situation. Certainly for me to sell Mom & Dad on, "Here's your new OS! It kind of looks the same, but your battery only lasts half as long." Yeah Not gonna fly...
Man, we really need to stop thinking that everyone wants what we want. For an end user, that Apple-like, appliance experience may be just the ticket, and Unity is perfect for them. Only a handful of users in the world even KNOW what a desktop manager is; they don't want to tinker and customize, they just to run apps.
"We receive as friendly that which agrees with, we resist with dislike that which opposes us" - Faraday
Can you, oh Wise Ones of Slashdot, recommend a Lunix setup that will be as similar as possible to a Windows environment (Windows 7 or XP)
Yes, I can: Don't.
What you are trying is creating a rip-off. No matter how much better Linux is, no matter how close you come to the experience your test subjects have now, there will be some tiny little detail that is different and that will convince them that Linux sucks.
"Humans are funny", in the words of Tim Minchhin.
You should face their fears. Give them something that is different, but so well set up that they appreciate the difference. Look at Apple - every single one of their successful products for the past years worked like that. It was different - and better - than what else was on the market at the time. Getting used to an iPhone when you had a Nokia for several years did take a short while, but very, very quickly you wanted to do it, because it was the better experience.
You will not succeed in convincing someone that Linux is better by making it look like a cheap rip-off of their old windows environment. In the workplace, retraining costs are a factor that might justify such a decision, because most office drones have no intrinsic motivation for a change.
But that is exactly what you need to tap. Don't find out what your test subjects like about windows, you shouldn't care. Find out what they hate about it, and make sure that your Linux system is better in that regards and put this advantage in their face. If they hate the start menu (and who doesn't?), find a nice launcher application that opens automatically when they log in. If they hate how long it takes to boot, do everything to speed up your systems boot process and window system startup. If they hate UAC and all the other thousand notifications windows throws at you every other second ("scan started", "mouse found", "keyboad in different USB port this time", "someone posted something on the Internet", "look, I have WiFi!", "driver out of date", "are you still reading this?"...) then make sure that the notification system on your Linux box is set to be as unobtrusive and silent as possible.
Don't make the same mistake that some Linux freaks have been making for 10 years, probably the main reason the year of the Linux desktop has never happened and never will. Don't try to provide a better windows. Convince them of Linux, including the fact that it is different. Fear of change is vastly overrated. People don't fear change per se, they fear loss (of skills and knowledge) and disorientation. Address these fears instead of trying to avoid them.
Assorted stuff I do sometimes: Lemuria.org
Could have milked that situation for fun and profit..
"Oh this? I really shouldn't tell you this, but it's a advance release edition of Windows 8 for software developers."
"Cool! it looks really slick.. Know how I could get a copy?"
Looking around furtively, you reply; "Do you have any idea how secretive they are in Redmond? I could be fired/sued just for letting you see what you have already!"
"Well as long as you're in for a penny, do you think you could make a copy for me?"
"Oh gee... well there's absolutely no way that I can just give you a copy of the disk, you see, the installer is serialized and we'd both certainly get nastygrams from Microsoft's lawyers if we tried that, but... " (continue looking nervous and gasping for air)
"But what?"
(whispering very quietly) "You seem honest enough... If you brought me your laptop, I might be able to scrub the install codes and serial numbers, but I'd need at least a couple weeks to work on that and I'd have to charge for my time working on it, so you'd really be better off waiting 'til it's released publicly next year.."
"Really? How much would you charge?"
"You have to remember that we're talking about over 6 gigabytes of code I'd have to pore over to make sure it doesn't incriminate me and jeopardize you in the process."
"C',mon. just name your price!"
(looking flushed) "Keep your voice down.. We don't know who else is here, but for the hours I'd have to work on it, I'd normally be compensated around 5K, but since I'll benefit somewhat from analyzing the binaries, I suppose I could do it for you for maybe 1500."
"That is a lot of money!"
"Listen, I told you you'd be better off waiting. I don't work for free, I hope you understand that, but you are the one who's been expressing such an interest."
"True.. Look could I give you half in advance and the balance on delivery?"
(rubbing your temple for a couple of seconds) "I suppose I could work with you on that."
"Okay, deal!"
Now just install Ubuntu, and set up a few wallpaper images bearing a Windows 8 logo along with a Banner stating "For Development Use Only" on each one, Delete any stock backgrounds depicting penguins, or specifying Linux, Ubuntu, or such... Stick it in the closet and stall him when he calls over the next three weeks stating that you are still analyzing, debugging, getting video drivers to work, etc.. before giving it back to him a month later upon receipt of the final payment.
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