Re: Re: Call It "Linux that WORKS for Everyone ELSE, too"

Richard Steffens typed this on 04/30/2004 08:36 AM:
> Jonathan Daugherty wrote:
> 
>> # That's what I don't get about Linux people who try to get regular # 
>> non-geek computer users to switch and then are frustrated when they # 
>> don't.
>>
>> I see this a lot. I would personally rather evangelize to those in
>> whom I have sufficient confidence; I don't care if my grandmother uses
>> it.  I know it's a reality that she can't -- and that it's simply not
>> the right thing for her.
> 
> 
> The difference here is the casual user vs the advanced user. Right now, 
> it is easier to be a casual user of Windows. I support a number of 
> casual Windows users, most of the grandparent vintage. They don't care 
> that it's Windows; they just want it to work. On Monday, I'm going over 
> to help one of them "clean off her desktop." She could just as easily 
> have a Linux desktop cluttered with lots of useless (to her) icons.
> 
> These users need help setting up everything, so it won't matter if it's 
> Linux or Windows if it gets the job done. For some, that means it has to 
> be Windows, because a key reason they want the machine is a program 
> available only in Windows. For others, they just want e-mail and the web.

I found that telling people that I just don't have the time to help them 
re-install windows (..again) and if they want my help that they should 
consider something like linux which if they are on broadband or 
something I can login and help fix problems without leaving my desk. 
This has worked with a few people, usually being people that only use 
the pc for web/email/music/video/office anyways. Now that those features 
are easier to utilize in linux, there are less and less desktop features 
that are keeping people from considering something new. Usually showing 
them mozilla/firefox on windows helps start this process...and when they 
get comfortable, they still have their familiar web browser and are more 
open to trying linux.

Some people want to keep linux geeky and I think it will as long as new 
stuff is added to it and if my friends and family use it for a desktop, 
I am a-ok with that. Infact, I'd prefer to fix a linux desktop probably 
over a windows problem any day.

my pointless 2.3 cents,

-Robby



--
"you have fifty fingers, i have 27..."