Get Real or How NOT To Convert Your Grandma to Linux
[ Wednesday, 4 July 2007, trashcat ]
Last week I’d been given a chance to make minor language correction to the article Understanding the Common User: All should be simple as it can, which suggested that Linux nerds should look down at beginners with care and empathy. If it’s stated this way, I can’t agree more. What I’m not so sure about is the assumption, that we (the nerds) should really convince everyone in the world that Linux is easy to use and that virtually everyone can be taught to use it. This very article, inspired by the former one, deals with how to treat people that know nothing about Linux, how to teach them what Linux is about and how not to do it to wrong people.
By Karol Trojanowski
AWESOME: I’ve just installed Linux on my cat! [PIC]
The mentioned article inspired me to think about what is wrong with the Linux community. I’m using the term rather ironically. This “community” is full of nerds hyper-enthusiastic about Linux, who have been around for less than a year. The general consensus among these people is that Linux is superior to anything you could ever imagine, everyone should use it. Enough people reading this article will agree that it’s a very inaccurate statement, and that *the nerds* already knew that but both will agree that it’s the opinion shared by many, too many people out there. Take a look at Digg and see what I mean. (Fortunately, many zealots are getting buried.) It scares the hell out of people who aren’t familiar with Linux. Why is it like that? And why is that situation hurting Linux?
Isn’t it actually true, that Linux is that great?
That may be true. I mean, if you know what you’re doing, nothing will beat Linux (Open Source in general), because it leaves you in control. And that is great, because if you’ve learnt how to handle Linux, you are in control of your PC. But from what I’ve experienced, that’s not what the average Joe wants. Generally people don’t care if they have control, because they want to be guided by hand. To this point, that is what the said article was saying. I don’t agree however that we should go to all lengths to convert everyone as Linux users. Nerds tend to brag that nowadays Linux is as easy as Windows or OS X, but come on, let’s get real.
I’m installing you Linux, I’m not kidding!
The said article says, that we should make a beginner feel at home when starting their experience with Linux. Okay, that’s all right. Put your grandma in front of the screen and show her Firefox, Thunderbird, how to play a DVD with Kaffeine, maybe show that OpenOffice.org Writer doesn’t differ from Word that much. But sit back and ask yourself, why are you doing this? Are you doing this because you want your grandma to have a better desktop or Web experience, or are you doing this to prove you just can? Once you think about it, you should realize grandma is already doing well with Windows, and there is no particular reason that she should just stop using it, as long as she paid for it. Besides, such a situation, when the user is just technologically impaired (no offence to your grandma) can be sustained only if you’re around sufficiently often. There will always be something to fix, there will always be something that doesn’t work right away. Admit that. While KDE and GNOME provide a great desktops experience, there’s no chance that a user won’t run into trouble that requires some commands to be typed in the console. Hell with that, they will most likely have problems that require them to read tons of documentation, search mailing lists or Google Groups and to spend at least the whole afternoon while trying to fix a seemingly obvious issue. You can, of course, say that most of the inconveniences come out of lack of support from hardware vendors or incompatibility with closed standards, but apart from that, Linux is hardly automatic. No single piece of software on Linux configures itself by itself to the point that there are no adjustments needed to get it working. There’s a lot of external tools that help you out, but they aren’t always reliable. If a beginner is compelled to go through it, it’s great, then Linux is for them. But if they feel overwhelmed, don’t push them. The Linux desktop is getting more and more rewarding, but even given that, moving the technologically indifferent to Linux and making them stay technologically indifferent is just not humane.
The claim that Linux is for everyone just keeps failing and failing
So stop bringing it up. If you tell that to a lot of people, many of them will be interested, but Linux will fail to meet their expectations. Once that is done, it is very difficult to erase the bad impression they have got. Many people tell me, when I start telling them about Linux, that they’ve tried it before, because someone had told them that it would be a great replacement for Windows and is just as easy, but they have found it very hard instead, and hence quit it. Some people even recoil any time I say the word “Linux”. And that is because they have experienced violence from Linux enthusiasts. Violence - because they had been told that they should use Linux, and if they wouldn’t, they would be treated as ignorant or unintelligent. How was that supposed to work?
A wand does magic in a wizard’s hand. Otherwise, it’s just a stick
Instead, let’s start telling people that Linux, once tamed, dramatically increases one’s control over what they are doing while using a personal computer. Let’s tell them straight away, that Linux has a great command line interface that greatly helps automation and is often favored over graphical interfaces. Things like that. Saying it in a way that “there’s a slight disadvantage, you’ll have to type some commands in, once in a while” spoils the whole idea of the shell. Tell them what the advantages are, don’t push and let them decide. Don’t be over-protective of them. Linux is based on freedom, isn’t it?
Linux has a steep learning curve. Projects like Ubuntu only postpone the exposure, and thus are in some way an illusion. I’m not attacking Ubuntu, but as you may have already noticed, I somehow disagree with its goals. After the first few bumps there comes the period when users is able to use the desktop and desktop applications that don’t substantially differ from those encountered in their previous OS. If they peek into the seams and start tearing them to see what’s inside, there begins the second period, in which they start to discover. After they’ve pondered enough to know how to set a working environment up by themselves, it means that they are in control. And only then they can admit that they take advantage of Linux, and that is not entirely true either, because now the sky is the limit. And that is the path that we should lead users along.
I’ll stick with my abacus
I don’t mean that we should stop making great, easy to use applications and distributions. We need them, we love to work in friendly environments that save us time. However, targeting people that are happy with reinstalling Windows every three months is a miss. Tell everyone about Linux, tell about its advantages and disadvantages, but don’t expect everyone to use it and don’t make everyone use it. Linux is not for everyone. Linux is for people who want productivity by freedom and control. Most people you pass in the street don’t give a care for that, really. The difference in security doesn’t mean anything to them either, because they’ve already assumed that it’s the way computers work, that it’s inevitable for them to be eventually infected.
I know that there’s Ubuntu or PCLinuxOS, distributions that are easy to install and use. You can install one on your mom’s PC. You can teach her to browse the web with Firefox or Konqueror, to get her mail with Thunderbird or Evolution, show her how to play a DVD, etc. I need to admit that I have done exactly that. Although after all she seems to do perfectly fine, it was terrible. I had her call me several times a day, sometimes over issues that only I could resolve. But eventually she’s just doing everything she’s been doing on Windows, and if I had known how much time I would spend converting her, I would have just bought a licensed copy of XP. And with proper care most security threats can be avoided in Windows. Maybe there will be, after thousands of hours of hard work, a distribution that will run flawlessly everywhere, without you moving a finger. I, for one, would rather spend that time doing some real work.
About the Author
Karol Trojanowski ( karoltrojanowski at o2 dot pl ) is a third year undergraduate currently studying theoretical physics in the Jagiellonian University of Cracow, Poland. His experience with Linux began eight years ago. After two years of ditching Linux and going back, he’s established Linux as his casual OS. His current distribution of choice is PLD Linux which is a very little known, but a very big and mature, and pretty much DIY distro.
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Spot on!
Wow, that article has really given me a new outlook on Linux. I must say, that I would be considered one of those “hyper-enthusiastic” nerds, and after reading this article, I am really questioning what I am actually “fighting” for (this is a good thing… I hope). Will I ever leave Linux? No. But will I now think before spreading “hype” (for lack of a better term) about a product that may truly not be right for some people? Yes.
Your article has made me think on so many levels!
Thank you!
One more point,
I’d suggest that everyone read the
Linux Advocacy mini-HOWTO before recommending Linux to someone.
While I too am one of the new hip Linux converts I usually only starts advocating when people bother me with Windows questions. That either shuts them down or they want to hear more. This weekend my sister asked me about Windows photo software and I gave her a test run with F-Spot and Gimp on a freshly installed Linux Mint installation. The test failed miserably as F-Spot not only locked the computer due to driver issues (with some OpenGL effects in slideshow) but it also didn’t let her apply effects to the pictures. On top of that somehow Gimp couldn’t save the files that where opened from F-Spot. I’ve never seen such a mess, ever!
I reckon an import step in becoming a better Linux citizen is to learn the signs about when to shut up. }:(
Considering I moved both my mum and dad to Linux, I don’t think its a major issue. As long as you convert people in the right fashion
The only “Con” I found, was that I spent about a week with them to train them up on Linux. (created a little booklet with notes for them to use).
Its been 8 months since that week…Neither mum or dad has bothered me in relation to computer problems. (Which is a first, because Windows always had some sort of weird issue it brings every week…You really do miss that!).
The problem is, most people don’t think like a problem solver. They don’t take the time to understand people’s requirements with their PCs. They just toss them onto Linux or some other OS and call it a day…WRONG! You must sit down with the people and talk to them about their uses, and determine if Linux is for them.
The important thing about promoting Linux is to find out if it provides better benefits but doesn’t compromise on uses compared to their existing solution. As well, we must determine if they really want to convert to another OS or looking for “another Windows”.
If you can do everything you did in Windows, under Linux, then go right ahead and move. That’s what I did back in 2005. (It was only this year, had my parents started talking about Linux, and now, they love it).
I wouldn’t try to force or corner people into Linux. I would demonstrate it, and discuss what it can and cannot do (at this time), and let the people decide.
@tumbleweed2
Yes, that’s right, you can convert anyone to Linux if you’re always there to help them. They, however, become a ‘passive’ or ’stationary’ user who freaks out whenever you change their environment by upgrading a piece of software, for example.
Windows is static, it’s like always the same and thus comforts users, who want to do things always in the same fashion and achieve identical results.
That’s not going to happen in Linux, which is in constant motion.
I’m currently preparing a major move, switching my parents to KMail from Thunderbird
(over performance issues and consistency with KDE)
Except that her ADSL link and virus-infested Win32 box are a hazard to herself and everyone else on the Net (and she’s a boon for the spammers, phishers and other net-perps out there). Then the day it doesn’t work (for mysterious reasons that no one can fathom) she will expect you to fix it for her. So you reboot a few times, maybe uninstall and reinstall a few packages, eventually just reinstall everything from scratch.
It cannot be said enough times, Microsoft Windows does NOT “just work”… it mostly works pretty good, some of the time until for no particular reason it just doesn’t work. There in itself is the number one reason why people try and convert their grandparents to Linux — lower support costs, less painful headaches. In a word: reliability.
You haven’t seen Vista yet and the new MS-Office… are you in for a shock
But I agree that many of the changes I’ve seen in Gnome have been pointless shuffles for the sake of change and no other reason. If developers had to pay dearly for every change they inflict on the user then they would pick the smallest number of most important issues to deal with and leave well enough alone for the rest of it.
Tel, you’re right on spot.
The author is starting from the wrong assumption. People will expect you to help them with their computer whether it is a Linux or a Win box. And believe me, a LOT of people ask for help with Windows.
I also agree with some points of Tactus. I’m going to change my policy: If you want my help on a PC, please use Linux, if you’re using Windows you’re on your own. Start with Live CDs, if they don’t work, well thats all i can do with your PC.
Oh it’s not that simple. Although Windows breaks a lot, there’s always a definite solution: format c: and start over. It doesn’t take much knowledge to do. Most Linux issues require doing things that make the average user go “wtf?”.
Please excuse me, I am not discouraging advocating Linux. I’m trying to show that convincing people that Linux is easy fails.
You can retort that eventually every Windows user will come across an issue that will overpower them. And it doesn’t differ from what happens in Linux. But in Linux they’ll be banging a wall.
Well, I admit that it’s a weak statement, but I don’t really believe that there will ever be a “configuration wizard” that will handle every situation imaginable. We should accustom users to the use of the console and with reading documentation and HOWTOs. At least those who give a care.
FTA: “Don’t be over-protective of them“
I’ve been testing Ubuntu Feisty 7.04 on a variety of typical systems including my own laptop. It works. It’s not crashing, and once the Wifi and multimedia fiddling is done by a geek it IS fit for normal “grandma Millie” type users.
The only major trouble point is setting up dual-screen stuff. XORG7.3 and Gutsy should solve that.
Thumbs Up ! I agree with you.
but I am an ubuntu user because I like hard things, and I like to be diffrent, not because it is easier than Windows.
and I enjoy ubuntu because I do things by myself.
great blog , I will link to you
;
Should I mention that OS X is built upon a FreeBSD base, and that users can EASILY access all the advanced features of using a REAL UNIX like os very easily? You have a console app, and all the good toys. You have access to PORTS and even darwine
What could be better?
Oh, and just FWI, OS X 10.5 when run on INTEL hardware, officially qualifies as UNIX as prescribed by Open Group (the owners of the Trademark) and Apple has licensed the Logos
But other than that. Love the article. And yes, I feel that CARE should be taken when advocating Linux. Mainly because some people just LIKE windows, and will do EVERYTHING they can, to find a way to HATE anything else you give them
-GeekGirl
You’re kidding right? OSX is as much UNIX as Win98 was DOS. OSX uses NeXT, a trivial BSD as it’s underpinnings to accomplish those most basic functions and definitions of an OS, everything else is OSX built on top of it. As Win98 was built upon DOS.
Well, perhaps i’ll give it a little credit, i can access FTP from the terminal. Well shucks i still can’t seem to write to that http://FTP. Show me a flavor of UNIX that can’t WRITE to an FTP it can access, certainly OSX doesn’t count.
“Oh it’s not that simple. Although Windows breaks a lot, there’s always a definite solution: format c: and start over. It doesn’t take much knowledge to do. Most Linux issues require doing things that make the average user go “wtf?”.”
Who is doing the format C and reinstalling? You or the person you’re helping? Because you can reinstall Linux too. And if the person you’re helping is doing the reinstall by himself then he can reinstall Linux by himself. Because you know you can reinstall Linux, no special knowledge to that now a days.
“You can retort that eventually every Windows user will come across an issue that will overpower them. And it doesn’t differ from what happens in Linux. But in Linux they’ll be banging a wall.”
Why? Because you say so? Have you ever helped a clueless Windows user? Ive seen quite a bunch bang a wall…heck, even I have gotten very frustrated trying to solve Windows issues.
Gus, installing Linux over again doesn’t help in most situations.
If there’s a problem in making a printer print in Linux, reinstalling Linux rarely will make it better.
Yes, Windows can be frustrating. I am frustrated at even seeing Windows. But Windows issues can be solved with “use a bigger hammer” logic, while Linux ones require experience and insight. And I’m not talking about changing your wallpaper. Try configuring cable, ADSL, WiFi or DRI on some graphics cards.
I complete agree i think that linux is not for all people, like windows is not for all and mac is not for all people, anything is for all each person need different things.
Geekgirl, you have it wrong. These people don’t want to advocate UNIX, they want to shout and scream about linux, you hear open source mentioned all the time, with out the *BSDs being involved.
Great article.
In my experiences with converting people, you cannot just take their native desktop away and expect no problems, that is just unrealistic.
It is true that with many users you just can’t convert them. For those that you believe can be converted you must take a lead from tha animal kingdom and ween them. For all of my first conversion installations I setup the dual boot option so they an use what they know and experiment with Linux until they are comfortable enough to request to have windows taken away. The learning curve is steep, all you can really do is lead the users to water and hope they are thirsty enough(intriqued enough) to drink.
I totally agree with you. I myself use GNU/Linux to experiment around whilst having Windows as my primary OS and I have given up trying to get *everyone* to GNU/Linux.
The thing with GNU/Linux is that it’s too fragmented. You have, let’s say, 10 distros, each featuring a super neat feature, but no distro with all 10 together! And as a matter of fact Windows is easier to use for me than GNU/Linux is. The reason? simple: the file structure. I understand Windows’s file structure (Program Files for Programs, Documents and Settings for documents…etc). In GNU/Linux? Dang I have no clue. Files are scattered everywhere such that the computer understands everything but I don’t, and guess what I don’t want to either. (goboLinux is a new distro having a neat file structure, but apart from that everything else sucks in it. The distro ain’t user friendly.) *sigh*
1. Linux is indeed easier to install. Example: Ubuntu.
2. It’s a plain lie to say Linux were harder resolve issues than windows.
3. Gnome, KDE are more powerful than the windows desktop.
4. With Linux has no viruses and a lot of qualitative programs without viruses as well. There are way more qualitative programs for Linux (.deb) than average users think.
5. Linux is yours, forever, for free. Windows is not yours, not even for money - it belongs to Microsoft and you may not even try to understand how it works under the hood, not to mention trying changing its ‘bowels’. The Windows Vista EULA prohibits that explicitly.
6. How much did windows change within 5 years, from XP to Vista. How many ppl are happy with that? Why did Dell start selling XP again? Now compare the huge changes to the better Linux evolved during the last 5 years. It’s that simple, just do the math.
Where have you been the last 3 or 4 years?
With grandma, you’re far safer with Linux than any Windows, Vista and XP included? You’ll be improving her desktop/internet experience.
Put a non-maintained Windows and an inexperienced user on the net, and the system won’t last more than a few weeks. I’ve seen numerous friends with a useless brand-new computer simply because after a few weeks it just couldn’t boot.
Linux (Ubuntu) is the *only* OS that lasted more than a few days with my mom. I’ve installed it in February (I live far), haven’t been able to go back to her place since and she’s still using it everyday.
Have you spent so much time with Windows that you think an OS that crashes is because of the Lame user? Even Apple Macs last ages in the hands of a newbie. But you still think we want to install Linux at our friends for ideologic purposes?
Get real. We install Linux because we want to have a life, and stop fixing PCs every week.
I have installed xubuntu on my mothers computer and it works great. My mother has vary little idea how computers work at all so I figured her not knowing Linux would be the same as her not knowing windows. She just needs to get to Firefox and skype. Linux does however make it much easier for me to remote admin.
I have tried to convince my father and people I work with to check out Linux but I can see it’s an up hill battle without much reward. My father works a lot with flash (and any 3rd party apps for it). I think it will work with wine but but why go though the extra hassle and I’m less sure of the 3rd party apps.
People I work with like to play games so it’s a similar situation.
In the end it is easier for people to use windows here (Thailand). Every thing that you would have to buy can be bought, including windows (any version) for about $2. Pirated of course but the only way you can get most software here and why go out of your way to pay more if piracy if so prevalent.
One problem with the main Linux distros if there reliance on the net. Many people are still on dial up here. Again making it easier to go to the store for something pirated.
Some shops do sell linux distros (I bought my first distro, SUSE a coule years back) but the pricing system is based on how many cds are bought, making any distro with a package repository on cd three to five times the price of windows.
Perhaps this will change some day but I don’t see it changing soon. In the meantime I’m happy with Xubuntu and happy to show it to anyone interested though I have no illusions of creating a mass conversion in the environment.
I should have proofread that.
Lots of family members use Linux. I converted basically because I was getting frustrated by how my Grandma was required to get ‘under the Windows hood’ for her in order to remain doing simple things like surfing safely:
- update the OS
- update the virus scanner
- update the firewall program
- update the spyware prevention
- regularly check on spyware
Simply running Windows isn’t easy at all: it’s a security risk.
Hi,
Thanks for taking the time to write your article, but I had to stop at the “I’m installing you Linux, I’m not Kidding” section. Specifically, when I read this part:
There will always be something to fix, there will always be something that doesn’t work right away. Admit that. While KDE and GNOME provide a great desktops experience, there’s no chance that a user won’t run into trouble that requires some commands to be typed in the console. Hell with that, they will most likely have problems that require them to read tons of documentation, search mailing lists or Google Groups and to spend at least the whole afternoon while trying to fix a seemingly obvious issue.
You are simply wrong. Now, those unsure will think that they have the correct information to use as ammo in their minds to either completely disreguard Linux, or decide to actively not like it. Just because they have read your words.
The rest of your article may be good, may touch upon petinent facts, but as I have written, I had to stop where I did, what you have written is just not true.
“Should I mention that OS X is built upon a FreeBSD base” GeekGirl, no, this is not right. OS X has a Darwin, which is a BSD, base.
I find the “install Linux to your mother’s computer” talk quite amusing. She’s a Windows software developer, after all.
To the point: You hit nail to the head. Last time I installed Ubuntu, I found it really easy and straightforward. BUT, I’ve maintained Linux servers. Whenever someone ask if Ubuntu is really that easy, I say something along the lines of
“Well, there are some things to configure, and they’re totally different from Windows. If you’re ready to invest some time, it can work for you. You can get the same things done.”
Perhaps I’m just Lazy Enough to not want to support anyone’s Linux installation.
I forgot one thing: the users I’m talking to usually have intermediade skillset and have been using Windows for some time. They’re harder to convert, and less likely to be satisfied.
For beginners Linux may actually be as easy or hard to use as Windows.
There’s another benefit to converting people to Linux. While someone may have already paid for a Windows license, most people aren’t aware that they have a choice. Showing them Linux helps them to realize that Windows — although ubiquitous — is not always the best option. These people then have the opportunity to choose Linux for their next computer. With Dell and System76, this is now easier than ever before. If they choose to stick with Windows, that’s fine with me… but I always want my friends and family to know that they have the right to own their computer and customize it as they see fit, without the interference of a corporation like Microsoft.
@fLuXy
Why are people so obcessed by file structure. It doesn’t seam to matter if people run Linux or windows, still the same problem.
As a Linux user I really wonder why should ordinary users have to know where about this. Programs in Linux (and windows) are installed and uninstalled by package managers. It is the job of the package manager to keep track of where things goes. There is as little need for the ordinary Linux user to know about this, as there are for the ordinary windows user to know the structure of the windows registry.
Once installed, people should access their software from the program menu, or if its a CLI program just type the name of the command in a terminal window (in Linux you have good command line completion so you probably won’t even need to type the full name) Installing or unistalling software should be as simple as checking or unchecking a checkbox in your package manager- In Linux it is this simple.
In a way you are right though. Why is it so hard to hide things as
/proc, /etc, /dev, /usr, /lib, /var, /bin, /sbin, /boot, /var from ordinary users, they make no sense unless you do advanced system administration or are a developer. Displaying this to ordinary user just makes them confused and have them think - Do I really have to learn all that, when in fact they don’t. Apple hides these files and nobody seam to complain, unfortunately MacOS-X have very poor package management abilities that makes it hard to track software dependencies but that’s another matter.
We can only speculate on why these files are not hidden by default in most Linux distros (GNOME allready contains all the functionality needed to configure it this way). My guess is that it has to do with many Linux developers having too small penises. If they can’t make Linux look hard how can they claim to be computerwizzards and wonderboys to compensate for their lack of equippment in other areas.
So, if you are installing Linux for your grandparents, do them a favor and hide these files so they can concentrate on using the computer instead of figuring out how it works. So, how do you make files hidden in GNOME? Just create a text file called .hidden, and list the files you want to hide in it.
As for me, I just install my family Linux, because I’d rather support their Linux installation than Windows. Once it’s all set up, hardly anything breaks — you can’t say that about your typical Windows box.
I just tell them „well, you can go ahead and use Windows if you want, but I just won’t help you if it breaks”. My grandpa and my technophobic aunt are both using Linux, and are quite happy at that.
A good article with some very good advice, however, I believe we need to give “Joe Sixpack” some credit. “Computer Illiterate” dosen’t mean “Stupid”, and once the average user realizes they have the tools to keep their computers running, they are generally willing to learn to make use of them. My most successful “converts” have been average non-technical Windows users who believed they couldn’t fix their BSOD boxes, and I showed them how to salvage their data using Live Linux distros. Some of them now run Dual-Boot systems, or have migrated to a total Linux environment. Some of them still run Windows, but at least they have a working knowledge of Linux and aren’t afraid to make use of it when they need to. One person in particular purchased and returned three Windows computers in the past year because he couldn’t keep them running for longer than a few days at a time. I set him up with an old P3 650 laptop running Simply MEPIS 6.0, showed him how to use it, and after several weeks he is still very pleased with it.
Yes, it’s a waste of your time and energy to try to convince a satisfied Windows user that Linux is better - especially the die-hard fanatics who can’t see past the smoke and mirrors of MicroSoft - BUT, to let someone believe that they are simply too “Non-Technical” to make use of Linux is like telling them they can never learn how to drive a car with a Stick-Shift.
I am a teacher and have introduced Linux to many students and teachers. Students rarely have any difficult using Linux with little introduction. Teachers may have issues if they are technophobes or power users because their comfort level has been affected. Overall, I would say Linux is very user friendly if it is installed by the system administrator or OEM. Then it will just work like any other GUI system.
TFA article seriously neglects the damage M$ has done to businesses, markets and consumers by exercising its monopoly illegally and unethically.
see http://www.usdoj.gov/atr/cases/ms_findings.htm
M$ harms consumers whenever M$ wishes to exclude competitors from the marketplace. End-users suffer collateral damage when they lack the choice of operating system.
It is the right thing to do, providing Grandma with a cooperative product of the world rather than making her a slave of M$.
Isn’t this all missing the point, actually? Of course, there are many technology lovers who think Linux is great, but even many tech-savvy people realize that it’s actually not giving them much to learn a very complex system. Linux *is* very complex under the hood and nobody is really trying to simplify things (esp. for us geeks).
Why should I care about /etc/*, even if I know C++, Python, Ruby, PHP, Perl, and whatnot? Of course, the command line is useful in certain situations and then I’m happy that I can quickly rename a bunch of files or modify their contents in an automated way. But when it comes to solving stupid problems in configuration files or spending all day long on configuring an application to make it easy to use because the developer thought that he should show the world how much he knows, then I’d rather delete Linux from my computer and only use Windows.
Yes, I love great new technology, but I will only use it if it actually saves my time on the long run and makes me more productive. Linux often makes me spend hours on stupid problems and I really don’t see how the few times where the command-line saves me can give me all the lost days of hacking Linux back.
What really drives me crazy is when GPL zealots tell me that my life is better if I don’t use proprietary codecs/software, so nearly all distros come without them. Cool, then I can’t watch my videos? Well, then just *play* with Linux yourself and I’ll stay on Windows where everything actually works for most people (except for those 2% who have problems because of crappy hardware).
Do we really need all the complexity under the hood? Why do we need /etc/fstab if all that could be automated? Why do we need an overly complicated folder structure? Why can’t you just make things simple where the complexity doesn’t help anyone? Sometimes I have the impression that the Linux community is trying to give geeks a lot to explore, at the expense of unnecessary complexity. Get rid of that! Give power-users tools to do complex and uncommon tasks (command-line) and give us a very simple (just-works, almost no configuration) GUI that makes the easy tasks really easy. Even at the system level, the computer should be *easy* for power-users to learn and understand. Give us common, unified standards and rules for everything: One single configuration file format! A clear and simple folder structure! Automate system stuff like FS mounting at the kernel or API level if power-users don’t *really* need to deal with that.
Under the hood, Linux is still no desktop OS. You just slapped a GUI on top of it, but left the server underneath, with scripts that run ifconfig for setting up networking, and so on. Stop building a middle layer between the end-user and the programmer. Rather, provide a component system that allows for easily building customizations in your favorite programming language, so beginners and advanced users can manipulate program behavior without making configuration files so ridiculously complex that even an computer expert new to Linux can’t handle them!
Give experts what they really need. Stop making nerds with too much spare time happy. Make the system easy to use at all levels. Maybe then you’ll actually become successful.
. But eventually she’s just doing everything she’s been doing on Windows, and if I had known how much time I would spend converting her, I would have just bought a licensed copy of XP
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Really?
Dude, she must be some royal screwup.
When my dad switched, he went from Office 2003 to OpenOffice with no problems. He used Thuderbird and Firefox before so that stayed the same. He still uses VLC.
I had to show him a new software to listen to mp3 and to burn cd’s. And voila, painless switch. This is were you turn it off, this is where your files are and this is the software to view a dvd.
Voila.
No virus programs, firewalls, adware sweeps.
Nothing.
He know where to save his files and doesnt erase things by mistake.
He never did more than what he wanted to learn and enjoys surfing the web, listening to online news, IMing his friends in europe and so on.
My mom just got a new laptop and never touched a computer so we went straight to Linux. Most of her favorite apps are on Gmail (calendar, spreadsheet, docs, pictures) and no problem.
I’ve done the same thing with my older family members (cousins, aunts, uncles, etc) over the last 6-12months and my troubleshooting time has been DRASTICALLY cut back.
If youre the familys’ ‘computer guy’, you know its hard to say no but it was getting so ridiculous that I told them: if you want free tech support, its my way.
And it wasnt hard, I gave everyone a dozen or so Live CD’s with different Gnome, KDE, X versions and told them to check them out. The ones who were still running Win2000 on their old P3-800 had a slightly less glitzy selection but were stunned at how much faster their new OS was.
Power users who liked to fiddle in the settings were the ones who had more trouble because they were used to doing things a certain way. 3 family members who had Mac experience at work were among the easiest converts.
It seemed that older people who had very little computer knowledge were the easiest to bring over to Gnu/Linux
With the amount of time I have saved with their computer troubles, I would have PAID for Linux distros.
That;s the great thing about Gnu/Linux, some people like me think that it is a time saver and some will use and would rather overpay for crappy and buggy software.
Go figure.
Rob
I’m an educator. I’ve discovered that the biggest problem with Linux adoption is not the kids. Not at all. Rather, it’s the MCSE folks in IT who seem scared of losing their jobs if Linux takes hold in their school. This is immediately followed by technophobe teachers who took four years to learn Windows after–and I quote–”having our Macs taken away from us.” Too many in my profession seem to think that plopping a kid in front of Reader Rabbit = teaching. Of course, as any true teacher will quickly confirm (but usually only in private), that’s wrong.
Here’s an example of what happens when you put a kid in front of Linux. In this case, it’s Kubuntu Dapper Drake (I like the long-term support releases). One of my fifth-graders wanted to try out my laptop, since “it looks cool.” I told her sure, give it a shot. First question she asked was, “where’s Internet Explorer?” I pointed her to the Firefox icon, and off she went. She took to it like a baby duck to water. She had no trouble finding OpenOffice.org, either, though she did ask me about the “funny names” of Writer, Calc, Impress, and Base. Understandable, since she’d only used MS Office before that and is accustomed to the names of those programs. But she had no trouble using OO.o Writer the same way that she uses MS Word in class.
She then asked me, “is this Vista?” I surpressed a horse laugh and told her no, this is Linux. Now she wants to try it at home, so I gave her a Kubuntu Live CD, with specific instructions to talk to her parents before she does anything. You cannot imagine how it made me feel to watch her little 11-year-old eyes light up like that.
We are doing a disservice to our children by force-feeding Microsoft on them. And the IT folks in schools should pull their heads out and remember that our core mission is educating kids, not necessarily MCSE job protection. Linux is just fundamentally a better platform to use technology to educate kids. Many of my teacher colleagues would do well to open their minds, too.
Lots and lots of demands… Since you’ve hurt my personal feelings (a little bit, I admit) here’s my take:
I think I am a geek myself and I like challenges. Are you sure simplicity and geekness are not mutually exclusive?
Yeah, I can almost feel your pain - that’s when too much power (i.e. configurability) becomes obstacle.
Easy now. You’d only delete one particular Linux distribution and there are so many of them! Then again, there are only a handful of Windows distributions (or rather, versions or releases) in which all things seem to be taken care of. Mind you, if something goes really wrong with Windows registry, I for one, cannot repair that. On the other hand, I was always able to fix my Linux installs. Luck? Knowledge? Both?
Yeah, that’s silly to some extent. But in my opinion the ultimate goal (open and free codecs, drivers and other software) is fair and noble. I hope you’d agree if there were such things already, you won’t have problems with them at all. All would just work and you wouldn’t even have noticed.
I would rather call that working towards improving the current situation.
This is very opportunistic and I can sense *lots* of impatience. “You silly Linux! Do what I say, and do it now! Or go to h*ll!”. Know what? Check back with Linux in five years, you would not recognize it.
I think you haven’t seen the Gobo Linux then.
It’s called standards compliance. Linux systems are (mostly) compatible with POSIX standard and/or UNIX specifics. Hint: you might not know the importance of this fact.
Sound like you know *exactly* what the best Linux system should look like. GNU General Public Licence gives you the best opportunity of your life: a power to create *your own* Linux distribution. Do it and earn lots of money! I’m serious - you can start with Linux From Scratch, for example.
Reality check: it ain’t gonna happen soon. Linux is only a kernel (obviously) and the rest is comprised of GNU project tools and lots of programs and projects scattered all over Internet. Distributions just tie those building blocks togehter. The Grand Unification will not happen soon, because nobody has control of *all* the open-source projects out there. In fact, everyone can start a new project any time he wants. And nobody has the power to tell everyone how their config files should look like. This is so very Darwinian, so get over it.
*If* you want an open-source operating system that comes from one place as a well-integrated whole entity, give a shot to a one of the BSD family distributions. It’s open, most programs you likely use should be ported and Berkeley university has a tight control of their *BSD offerings. Interested?
Again, right now you ask *thousands* of programmers all over the world to modify their mostly working programs to follow your only-briefly-described functionality. Do you realize how much effort would that take? And for what? I estimate that lots of people are already comfortable with the current status quo. That said, some unification in system configuration areas wouldn’t hurt.
Look, if you haven’t figured out that yet yourself. Free and open-source software community works because of constructive criticism. If one finds a flaw, one should offer ideas, solutions and preferably patches to existing source code. Linux is a moving target, it constantly evolves. You either like it or not. Just making lots of complaints and demands will not buy you new friends from the community (rather the opposite, or the label of “Troll”). Remember, you got your Linux for free, right? And then you expect it to fulfill exactly all your specific needs?
How about getting to the right people with regard to bugs or problems with their programs? How about issuing a bug report or feature request in Bugzilla? How about creating a translation for some package? How about writing a small patch so the program would do what you wanted, and other people could benefit from that as well? Have you done that, huh? I did that **ALL**. And I am simply amazed by the positive responses I always got in return.
And remeber, Linux is Not Windows. It’s not better or worse, it’s just different.
Or maybe you should finally *buy* SLED, Linspire or Mandriva - lots of things are already done there, have nice configurations GUIs and work out of the box.
I installed Edubuntu onto both of my home computers a couple of years ago, we all started using it including the children. It is like an experienced car driver having to drive another car, it’s easy to switch.
Indeed I gave our local school principal an Edubuntu CD over a year ago, with a little initial guidance he has now installed it onto nearly all of his computers including his laptop, he adds accounts, sets up email etc. I told him how he can set up an Edubuntu terminal server, and then holding his hand while he pressed enter at the install screen questions, he has done it all himself, he’s unplugged the thin clients hard drives and is amazed at how quite the room now is. A year ago faced with a bill of $1800 to upgrade his library software he found Koha, payed someone $300 to install it, done. He says that soon he’ll convert the last few computers. Children pick it up with ease, and they can install it at home for free. I do like it.
I’ve installed linux on my sisters computer, not because i wanted to prove something to myself but i wanted my sisters to have a stable and secure desktop. When they had WinXP, they had a LOT of spyware and viruses… They just loved linux (they are not geeks, they are just typical 20 yo girls who wants to chat, use msn or skype, download music/videoclips and surf the internet) and i don’t have to clean their computer from viruses and spywares every two weeks… The only thing that a desktop computer user needs to know is HIS desktop… There is no need for him to enter the root filesystem. (That’s why MS hid the files of the hard disk drives in winXP and that’s why ubuntu shows you only the Home and the Media folder)
“there’s no chance that a user won’t run into trouble that requires some commands to be typed in the console.”
I have to disagree with this. As a relatively new Linux user I have found that by using SimplyMEPIS 6.5 I don’t need the console. I occasionally use it for experimentation, but it is not needed to have a good running secure machine that is free and comes with almost, if not all, the software you’ll need.
Let me start by admitting that I haven’t read all the comments, but I did read the whole article.
My opinion is that nowadays Linux *is* easier to install, handles basic hardware better and provides a much more stable and secure desktop for “normal” work.
I believe that average windows users will feel pretty confortable using a linux desktop *if* their mind is set to “try something that may be better in some ways”. Not the people that say: “I’m used to windows and windows’ apps and I see no reason to change, not even to something possibly better” (I’ve heard this about OS X too).
Who of the so-called “technologically impaired” installs windows on their own pc? Most of them don’t. Others (geeks?) do it for them. It is a complex, frustrating and time consuming process… Any recent linux distro installs quickly within few (informative) configuration screens, without consecutive reboots and plays nice with other installed OSs.
For its price, what kind of software package does windows make available for users after installation? Think DVDs, PDFs, *Office, Ogg, Archive management (zip, rar, tgz), Messaging, Email, Imaging… Yes, it means hundreds of added MB of commercial software with huge licensing costs (or shamelessly pirated) or hundreds of MB of open source alternatives… My point here is simple: Value for money.
I have to admit that gaming support is really really bad. Who’s to blame? Many. Who is loosing because of it?
I am a Linux user for almost 9 years and I use a Linux desktop exclusively for about 5.
Windows users around me aren’t changing to Linux because of the following main reasons:
1. lazyness
2. lack of interest and/or desire to improve efficiency
3. shameless piracy
At the end of the day, Operating Systems are just sandboxes for applications. Applications are what allow us to improve our efficiency at whatever tasks that computers do better. If different platforms provide similar (or the same) applications for our work or personal tasks, switching between them becomes painless. Why this struggle and why is everyone addicted to Microsoft products and we’re all discussing how hard is it to switch to Linux? Piracy, Microsoft’s market domination and further locking techniques, which may well become the route of their eventual demise.
Cheers everyone!
I have my mother running PCLinux2007. She’s been on windows since 1993. I’ve been her tech support the entire time. In this one case, she has had WAY less need for help since switching. I would spend a couple hours a month helping out with tech questions, or helping fight what ever problems were to arise. With PCLOS, there has been almost no down time (she didn’t know what program to use with her scanner). She is quite happy, and actually is beginning to understand linux a little bit.